Page 33 of Hot Response
They both had iPhones, so she hadn’t taken her charger out of her bag. She plugged her phone into his charger and set it on his nightstand. Her hand hovered there for a few seconds,sotempted to open the drawer and peek inside. But she didn’t. He’d trusted her with his apartment and she had to respect that, even if she wanted to snoop in the worst way.
But as she reached for the lamp switch to turn it off, she noticed the bookshelf on the far wall. It didn’t hold many books, which didn’t surprise her. It looked like mostly safety manuals and job-related books, but what caught her eye was the frame sitting on the top shelf.
She got out of the bed to take a better look, then covered her mouth with her hand because she had no idea what to make of the fact Gavin had a framed photo of him checking out her ass in his bedroom.
Stalker.She forced herself to give the word consideration before discarding that theory. While they may have gone from verbal sparring on the job to her being alone in his apartment fairly quickly, he didn’t exhibit any red-flag behavior. And if he had an unhealthy obsession with her, he probably would have framed a photo in which he could actually see her face. Not that she didn’t have a good ass, but this was the only picture. And it was one that would have come to him by way of other firefighters, so it was probably a joke. Why he’d put it in his bedroom was a mystery, though.
She liked Gavin and he seemed like a great guy. And if he was a creep, gossip about him would have spread through the first responders’ grapevine by now. They didn’t all know each other, but some things got talked about. But, on the other hand, she was about to sleep in the man’s bed.
After unplugging her phone, she snapped a picture of the bookshelf and sent it to him. She was expecting a text message back, so it startled her when it rang.
“Hello,” was all she said, giving him nothing of her frame of mind.
“Okay, that looks weird, but I can totally explain.” His words were rushed, as if he thought she might hang up or not give him time to talk. “I meant to take it with me and then forgot.”
“That explains why it’s here now, but not why it was here in the first place.”
“Right. So it’s from your brother’s Snapchat and—”
“I know the source of the picture.”
“You knew about it?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t sure ifyouknew about it, but obviously you do.”
“Okay, so Carter and Jeff’s daughter go to school together. They’re not close friends, but he included her because he knows her dad’s a firefighter and she showed it to Jeff. Carter didn’t know that her dad and I are on the same crew. Anyway, I showed up for tour one morning and the guys had printed it out and framed it. It was sitting on the TV stand.”
Cait had to bite back a chuckle. She wasn’t quite ready to let him off the hook, even though he was confirming her theory the other guys in the house had used the picture to give him a bunch of shit about her.
“I didn’t want to throw it away,” he continued. “I don’t know why, but I wasn’t tossing it in the garbage, so I stuck it in my bag. And then, when I got home, I still didn’t want to throw it away. But the guys stop by my place a lot, so I...I put it in my bedroom. And this morning, when I was making the bed, I saw it and was going to throw it in my bag, but obviously I forgot.”
She climbed back into his bed and turned off the lamp. It was warm, so she left the covers back, but she rested her head on his pillow. “I think it’s cute you didn’t want to throw it away.”
“Cute is better than stalker.”
“That was my first thought.”
“Ouch.”
“But only for a few seconds. I figured out it was a firehouse gag.”
“So you’re not going to run screaming into the night, then?”
She laughed. “I’m not the screaming type, and I’d have to put on clothes before I could leave. It seemed easier to ask you about it first.”
There was a long moment of silence and then she heard him clear his throat. “So if you saw the picture, you’re sleeping in my bed?”
“It’s a nice bed.”
“And you’re not wearing any clothes?”
No, I’m not and you should get in that Jeep and see how fast you can get back here.
“Goodnight, Gavin.” She smiled and hit the disconnect button.
A few seconds later, her phone chimed.Sweet dreams, Cait.
Chapter Nine
