Page 31 of The Fireman and the Flirt

Fuck. I had definitely made things inappropriate between us. I had to make this right, but I got the feeling that I would never be seeing Cary again.

Fortunately, the next day, I started my first shift on Sourwood’s fire fighting squad. I used my required workout and time spent cleaning the firetruck to take my mind off Cary and houses and showers large enough for two people.

Hannah and I met to look at houses a few days later. She took us on a tour of four different properties, and by the end, the houses began to blend together. Which one had the breakfast nook? Which one had the two-car garage? Why had Cary cut me off cold?

She was professional and good at her job, but there were no Cary-like quips, no hints of nerves in her voice.

We stopped at a Starbucks to regroup and go over my opinions on each property. Hannah took out her laptop to take notes, but I only had one comment.

“I think Cary is mad at me,” I said. I gulped down my black coffee and took a bite of the snowman cookie Hannah had gotten for me.

“He’s bitten off more than he can chew. We share clients all the time. We’re a team.” There was something about her attitude that was trying too hard. “What’s important is finding you the best house.”

Yes, that was the most important thing…but then why was I letting this thing with Cary overshadow finding a place to live?

“Is he mad at me?” I repeated.

“No,” she said, betraying a hint of doubt.

“Does he do this often? Handing clients off to you via email? It doesn’t seem like his style.

“It is odd, I’ll admit. I think he’s just stressed.”

“Hannah.” I turned on my deep dad voice, the one used when I knew Jolene was hiding something from me, the voice that saidI’m not the enemy but I also won’t allow secrets in my house.“If you know something, please tell me.” I leaned in. “I promise I won’t drop you as my agent if you tell me the truth.”

She sipped her coffee nervously. “Yes, this is unlike Cary.”

“I knew it.” I slammed the table.

“He asked me to start working with you, didn’t say why. Maybe things…I don’t know, maybe because you two knew each other from before, he felt it was a conflict of interest?”

She wasn’t buying what she was saying. Neither was I.

“We were joking around at the last house we saw together, and I might’ve overstepped.” I spun my coffee cup, letting the condensation form a perfect circle on the table.

She leaned forward, face lit up with curiosity. “What did you say?”

I could feel myself turn red. If I was going to get to the truth, then I had to be honest. “I asked if he’d ever had sex in a house he was showing.”

Hannah snorted.

“I shouldn’t have asked him something like that. We were joking around, and it got out of hand.”

“That isn’t something that would make him stop working with you. He has a good sense of humor.”

“He does,” I said wistfully. We hadn’t spent much time together, but he was already one of the funniest people I’d known. He put me in a good mood, and I liked to think I did the same for him.

“What else did you say?”

“He said he wouldn’t do something like that, like you said. And then I said something like, ‘Are you sure about that, Gearhead?’ Because of his nickname in high school.”

Hannah’s face dropped like it had plummeted down an elevator shaft.

“You called him Gearhead?”

“I heard that was his nickname. It was supposed to be a fun callback to high school.”

“Do you know how he got it?”

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