Page 58 of Firecracker

Her eyelashes fluttered and he sensed her nerves. And yet, her lips tipped up at the corners and the air around them became charged and hot as their eye contact extended. He gave her a slow smile back.

“I just need help installing it,” Mila added.

Right. The pole.

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck. “Did you ask Jamie?”

Mila frowned. “No.”

“I kinda think you have to. This is his building.”

“No, no, I think it’s okay, it’s not permanent. It stays up with pressure or something.”

“Let me see the directions for this thing. If it’s not too hard to take down, maybe he’d be okay with it. But you really want this in the middle of your living room?”

“Not really.” Mila made a face. “But Arden wouldn’t agree to it being in her place.”

Tyler barked out a laugh. “Attagirl, Arden.”

“I wouldn’t mind it,” she said. “But the place isn’t that big.”

“Jamie wouldn’t evict you,” Mila added.

“He won’t evictyou,” Arden chided.

“He could fire me.”

Arden laughed. “He won’t do that either.”

Tyler read the installation instructions and looked up at the ceiling. “Okay, you can install it with friction so we aren’t going to damage the floor or ceiling.” He squinted. “I hope it’s strong enough to hold your weight.”

“What are you saying, Tyler?” Mila frowned. “Are you saying we’re heavy?”

“Jesus. No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just imagining you doing some kind of spin and the pole falls down and you fly into the wall or something.”

Arden covered her smile with her hand. “No, we don’t want that.”

“I know!” Mila held her hands up. “You can try it out for us. If it’ll take your weight, it’ll take ours.”

“I amnotswinging around on a stripper pole.”

“Why not? You’re a firefighter. Don’t you slide down poles at work?”

“No.”

“What? There’s no pole at the fire station?”

“Nope. Sorry. You want this here or in your spare room?”

“Let’s put in the spare room. Then I can leave it up.”

“Jamie should be okay with it, since it’s tension mounted. But you know what you’re gonna have to do.”

“What?”

“Demonstrate it.”

Mila and Arden laughed.

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