Page 104 of The Fireman and the Flirt

“Yeah. He’s kind of…we’re kind of like…going out.” She swooped out of her chair and raced to the kitchen counter for the yogurt, her back turned to us.

Cary put a calming hand on my forearm, helping to quell what he called my patriarchal urges. I wasn’t trying to be sexist, but I was also a teenage boy once. He made me meet his eyes and signaled for me to chill.

“His name is Arjun. We’ve been dating for three weeks,” Jolene said confidently. For a middle schooler, three weeks was substantial.

“That’s great. Can your dad and I say hi to him and his mom when they stop by?” Cary asked, and I tried to follow his lead.

“Correction: wewillbe saying hi.” Itriedto follow his lead. Was it wrong of me to want to know who my daughter was getting in a car with?

“Dad, please don’t embarrass me.”

“I’m not going to embarrass you. I’d like to meet this boy’s mom and jot down her license plate.”

“Dad!”

Cary stood up, keeping a hand on my chest. “Your dad is just going to say a quick hello, and that’s it. He won’t embarrass you. I will keep him on a tight leash.”

I held up my hand as if swearing on a bible. Although now that Cary had mentioned leashes, my mind was wandering to some interesting places.

A little bit later, after Cary and I had gotten dressed and Cary had washed off his face, a sky blue SUV pulled up the driveway. Cary and I followed Jolene outside.

“How does my face look?” she asked Cary.

“Clean, clear, and under control.” Cary winked back at her. “Now go get your man.”

She heaved out a sigh of relief. Under her confident demeanor was a trace of nerves. Being a teenager meant she was always nervous about something. She beelined to the car and got into the backseat.

“Why is she getting into the backseat with him?” I grumbled.

“Where else would she sit? Did you want the mom to strap her to the roof of the car like a christmas tree?” Cary said out of the corner of his mouth before putting on his big, agent smile and waving at the mom. “Hello! I’m Cary, and this is Jolene’s dad Derek.”

The mom and her son got out of the car, leaving Jolene no choice but to follow them. She couldn’t escape that easily. The mom was dressed sharply like Cary, a Burberry trench coat over a powersuit. Her son was like most boys his age: skinny, awkward, his proportions a bit off. He wore thick glasses and a mischievous glint danced behind them.

“Hi! I’m Sarita. Nice to meet you.” She shook our hands with a firm grip.

“Thanks for driving Jolene,” I said.

“My pleasure. She’s on the way, so it’s no trouble. Here’s my card in case you need to get in touch with me.” She handed over a creamy, thick business card. Cary peered at it over my shoulder. Something told me he was already wondering if she could be a client.

“You ready?” Sarita turned back to the kids.

Her son gave her a thumbs up.

“It’s nice to meet you, Arjun.” I shook the kid’s hand and was ready to give him a slightly firm shake, but he beat me to it, his hand squeezing around mine.

“You too, sir.”

Cary gave an exaggerated nod of approval at the sir line.

“You kids have a good day at school,” I said. Jolene gave me a silent nod of gratitude for not going full dad on him.

Sarita walked back to her car, typing a message on her phone. Arjun held Jolene’s hand.

“Arjun, a word,” Cary said just before they made their way to the SUV.

“Yes, sir?” he asked.

“You treat her well, and with respect. Because if you don’t, if you hurt her in any way, I will find out, and I will rain down vengeance upon you. Are we clear?”

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