Page 30 of The Great Maple Mistake

Viv stands and walks me to the door. “I will. Be careful going home.”

She opens the front door, and I step out onto the porch. “I will. Night.”

“Night, hon.”

I turn and skip down the porch steps, walking briskly along the sidewalk toward my house. Before I reach the end of the block, I glance up at Cody’s window and hope when we finally do have our talk, he doesn’t hate me after. I turn the corner and start jogging home, trying to outrun my trepidation.

Chapter 13

Alex

“Okay, Charlie, you can bring in the puppy, please.” Charlie hurries forward with Bella, the wiggling Weimaraner puppy. She’s on loan for the shoot from the local animal shelter, and her handler is off perusing the bake sale items that the Rocktogenarians have set up in the firehouse parking lot. They said they knew the shoot would attract people, and it would be a shame not to take advantage of the crowd to raise a few dollars for the firehouse. It’s actually quite thoughtful. I’m pretty sure it’s Eleanor’s doing.

Charlie stops next to me, eyes glued to mine, and I have to fight my urge to laugh. It’s been this way for the past hour, as we’ve worked through the first three volunteer models. Charlie’s sixteen, and if he’s anything like a typical teenaged boy, he’s getting an eyeful of sexy firefighters and trying desperately not to pop a boner. Especially in front of his dad’s best friend. I can’t blame him. The bodies these firefighters have are ridiculous. I don’t mention any of that to Charlie, though.

He and I don’t really know each other that well, yet. He only came to live with Finn a few months ago, after his mom andadopted dad were killed in a car accident. He’s a good kid and seems to be adjusting as well as can be expected for someone who had their entire life turned on its head. Finn’s boyfriend Drake has been a huge help, though. He and Charlie share a love of music, and that seems to be helping Charlie come out of his shell.

I think of Cody’s family situation, which is almost identical to Charlie’s. Yeah, there’s a twenty-ish-year age gap between them, but losing a parent at any age is tough. Maybe Cody would be willing to talk to him. Maybe asking would be overstepping. Cody might not want to talk about it. And that’s fair. It’s something to keep in mind, though.

“Thanks, Charlie.” I take the leash from him. He’s a good-looking kid. Practically a mini-me to Finn, with his floppy brown hair and tall, rangy body. Give him some time to settle, and I’m sure he’ll have his pick of dates. From the way he’s avoiding both the male and female firefighters, I’m guessing he’s not ruling out any gender. Maybe something else he and Cody have in common?

Since that’s also not really any of my business, I get back to the task at hand. “Kylee, would you mind moving in front of the fire truck and setting a foot on the first step?” She nods and gets into position. It’s not an overly sexual pose, but that’s not what the chief and I want from this calendar. We’re going for sexy but not sexual. Which is why Kylee is wearing her turnout pants and a close-fitting, navy blue tank top. It still shows every plane and dip of her six-pack and leaves her muscular arms bare, but it covers her breasts completely, even as the form-hugging fabric accentuates them. Details are left to the imagination, and sometimes that’s even better than showing everything. She has her shoulder-length, brown hair down in waves and just enough makeup to accentuate her pretty blue eyes. She looks hot, and with all the attention she’s getting from the onlookers, she’sprobably aware. “Okay, Charlie, hand Kylee the puppy, please.” Charlie’s eyes go wide, but he nods and picks up Bella, turns around, walking briskly toward Kylee with the puppy as a kind of shield.

He shouldn’t have worried, because Kylee only has eyes for Bella. “Oooh, sweet baby!” She gathers the puppy into her arms, and I start taking pictures.

“Kylee, look over here.” She lifts her face, her huge smile still in place, and I keep shooting. Bella isn’t pleased that the attention isn’t on her, and she surges up, licking Kylee’s cheek. That makes Kylee laugh, and I know I’m going to have a difficult choice when it comes to which photo to use. These two are magic together. Kylee drops to one knee, Bella clutched against her body, head thrown back, laughing while trying to avoid Bella’s tongue bath. “You two are making my job easy.” Kylee eventually falls backward, lying on the ground while Bella scrambles off, seeing her opportunity to get to Kylee’s face.

A familiar voice calls out from behind me. “Hey, Kylee, I think Bella is trying to tell you that you need to take her home with you. How does Toni feel about puppies?”

Laughing, she glances our way. “Toni loves them. She’d adore Bella.”

Cody steps closer, and I can feel the heat from his body against my back. It’s been a week since he fell asleep on our date, and he’s been desperately trying to make it up to me since. Even after I told him he didn’t have to because I understand why he was so tired. We’ve seen each other twice since then, and he’s been incredibly attentive and affectionate but not pushy. He doesn’t have to be. He gets within five feet of me, and my Cody-meter goes off. The two of us have chemistry. So much chemistry. He smiles at me, and my body goes from zero to ten thousand. I want to climb him, strip him bare, and rub myself over every inch of him before I fuck him senseless. And I think I’m ready totell him that. He leans down so his lips are right next to my ear, and I shiver with anticipation. “If she adopts Bella, I think you owe me.”

I turn my head so our mouths are close together. “Owe you what?” I’m trying to keep my voice low. I don’t want to necessarily draw attention to us. But I can’t help myself.

“I haven’t decided. Have any suggestions?”

“A few.” I lean back, settling against him, letting his chest support some of my weight. “Maybe we can talk about that after the shoot. You’re not working today, right?” The chief rearranged the schedule so the firefighters who are part of the calendar shoot have the day off.

“Nope. I’m all yours.”

Oh god. If only. “Maybe you want to come over for D&D tonight? We can talk about it after the game.”

“Sure. Do I know anyone who’ll be there?”

I tick off the friends who are playing. “Finn, you know him. And Mickey. His dad owns Red’s diner. Sam, they’re a teacher at Maplewood Elementary with my mom, but they’re our age. Andre, he’s a librarian at the Maplewood library, and Jason, who works on his family’s maple farm.”

“What about your dad and Luke? Do they play?”

I shake my head. “No. And they won’t be home until later. Luke’s going to Mom’s for dinner, and Dad has some Ad Council meeting or something in Dairy. They’ll both be gone until at least ten.”

“Mmm.” His hum tickles the fine hairs on my ear, sending shivers through me. “Maybe after the game, we can watch a movie.”

“Maybe. The game starts at six. We order pizza sometimes, and everyone brings snacks. Depending on how the story plays out, the session can go long, but I’d love for you to hang around after the game ends.” I lean into him. “No matter what time thatis.” I really want him to say yes because damn, I want us awake, naked, and doing wonderfully orgasmic things to each other. But first we have to talk.

Cody’s hands rest on my hips. “Yes, please.”

I’m still taking pictures, though I’m not sure if any of them will be usable. “Sounds like a plan. Now, aren’t you up next?”

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