Page 3 of Take a Hike
“Except for the Charlotte part.” Charlie made a face. Her full name sounded so proper and not-her.
“I’ll help you kneecap anyone who calls you Charlotte,” Lou promised.
Sending a sideways smirk toward Bennett, who’d suddenly sobered, Charlie gave Lou a grateful nod. “I knew I’d like you.”
“Ditto.” Lou extended her fist, and Charlie bumped it.
“Okay, down to business,” Fifi said, and Lou and Daisy leaned closer, their eyes alight with interest.
“Yes, tell us everything.” Lou leaned on her forearms, close enough to Fifi that she could keep her voice low. “You wereextremelyand unhelpfully vague on the phone. Who’s your latest skip? How can we help?”
“Our mom,” Fifi said.
Before she could elaborate, Lou jumped in again. “Your mom? She’s here?”
“Not yet.” Charlie grinned, pulling out the key she’d found in her mom’s closet. “But she will be.”
The door jangled as a customer entered. Charlie glanced over automatically at the sound, closing her fingers protectivelyaround the key, but then she did a double take. The man striding toward them was out-of-this-world gorgeous—all muscles and bad attitude, wrapped in a black “Field County Fire Department” T-shirt. His thickly lashed blue eyes stood out dramatically against his tan skin and black-as-night hair, his gaze spitting fire and ill-temper at everyone in the shop.
“Holy moly,” Charlie muttered, resisting the urge to fan herself.
“You’re not kidding,” Lou said just as quietly. “Here comes trouble.” Straightening, she put on a customer-service smile. “Hey, Kieran. What can I get you?”
In response, he thrust a sheet of paper at her. Lou stared at the list with such a horrified expression that Charlie was intrigued.
“What is it?” She craned her neck, trying to read what was on the paper. “A robbery note?”
Kieran snapped his head to the side so he could pin her with the full force of his glare. Unfortunately for him, she wasn’t easily pinned—especially when she was curious. Popping up onto the counter, she pivoted around on her butt so she could swing her legs over and hop down next to Lou, who stared at her with envy.
“You made that look so easy,” Lou complained, the note forgotten in her hand. “I’ve attempted jumping over the counter during customer lulls, and it’s always ended in tears and/or broken things.”
“I’ll coach you,” Charlie promised, tugging the paper out of Lou’s grip. Running her gaze over the scribbles, she frowned.“This is just a coffee order.”
“Abigcoffee order,” Lou corrected, a note of tragedy entering her voice. “Ahumungouscoffee order. What is this?” Glaring at Kieran, she pinched the paper, pulling it from Charlie’s grip and holding it away from her like it smelled.
“Coffee maker at the station broke.” Kieran’s voice sounded like he gargled with whisky and broken glass every morning, and the baritone rasp sent a funny little shiver down Charlie’s spine. Cocking her head, she eyed the firefighter curiously, trying to figure out why the grumpy, muscly guy had caught her attention. She was used to hanging out with cranky, hot guys since her sisters—except for Molly—seemed to share a type. Despite this, Kieran was…intriguing.
He met her gaze and dialed his glare up to eleven, and Charlie started to grin. He was so cranky and delicious—who knew that the mountains held such a delight? His scowl shifted to bafflement as their stare-off continued, and he seemed almost relieved when he turned his attention to a wilting Lou.
“This is going to takehours,” Lou warned. “Am I going to have a horde of caffeine-deprived, ill-tempered firefighters descending on me in fifteen minutes, demanding their beverage of choice? Because listening to those drama queens whine is not going to work for me.”
Kieran gave an audible huff and yanked out his phone, stabbing at the screen like it was the cause of all his woes. Charlie realized that she was leaning closer to where he stood on the other side of the counter. There was something about the guy that made her want to push all his buttons.
“They won’t come here,” he barked in that raspy voice before meeting Charlie’s gaze again. “What?” His glare was a challenge, one she was all too happy to meet.
“You’re mesmerizing,” she said, unable to stop smiling at him. She hadn’t expected to be so entertained in this tiny town, and finding someone new who reacted so dramatically to her teasing delighted her. Her sisters—and most everyone who knew her, honestly—had learned to ignore the more outrageous things that came out of her mouth, but here was a gorgeous firefighter whose temper flared higher with each of her quips. It wasexhilarating.
He managed to hold on to his scowl, but Charlie could tell it was an effort, which only made her grin widen. She knew her dimples were in full effect, giving her an innocent, sweet appearance that her twin Cara deserved but Charlie absolutely did not.
“Tell me you’re featured front and center in the local firefighter calendar.”
“Nope,” Lou said absently, already organizing empty cups in an assembly-line fashion. “He refuses. There was even a petition with eighty-seven signatures demanding that he participate, but nope. He wasn’t swayed by community pressure—and that sort of petition doesn’t have any legal weight, unfortunately.”
“Hmm…” Charlie hummed, her eyes on his torso, making it obvious she was mentally peeling off his shirt. From that five-o’clock shadow, she was guessing he had a nicely furred, werewolf-esque chest.
“Was that a murder-club petition?” Fifi asked, hiding herlaughter very poorly. Even Bennett was snickering.
“Of course not.” Daisy looked a bit offended. “We don’t bother with non-death issues like that.”
