Spark Of Desire (19 page)

“Oh, we’re friends. Funny, I’ve never had a friend shove me against a wall and kiss me like that.” She pulled her arm out of his grasp and started away again.

“Is that what you’re mad about? Wait.” Kevin chased her to the Victorian’s property line. He hated the fact that she kept getting away. Why was she bringing their kiss up now where the guys might hear her?

“If you want to fight with me, will you please try to look at me while you’re doing it? Don’t worry, your buddies won’t catch you with me,” she hissed.

“What does that mean?”

“You keep looking back at the station. I saw your face when your captain said one of the other captains had been watching me at the gym. You are ashamed to be seen with me.”

“What?” Kevin tried to remember what expression he might have been wearing when Cap mentioned Bartlett had watched her work out. Jealousy, most likely. After all, if Bartlett had seen her at the gym, he’d seen her in her bike shorts and tank top. Kevin couldn’t remember right now if Bartlett was married, but he knew he had to be older. “What makes you think that? I’m not.”

Jessica pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t have time for this,” she groaned.

“I’ll prove I’m not. What are you doing August twenty-second?”

“I don’t know. What day is it?”

“It’s a Saturday.” Kevin itched to hug her. Ashamed? Where had she gotten that idea? How did she manage to make him feel like such a heel all the time?

“I’m opening the store and going to the gym after work.”

“Can you get the afternoon off?”

She sighed and checked her watch. “Yes, I can get the afternoon off.”

“Good, then you can come with me to Jack and Kate’s wedding.” He wished he knew how to read minds because he couldn’t make anything out from her face.

“Jack and Kate’s wedding?” she asked, staring at him.

“My friend who’s getting married. I told you I needed a date. I want you to be my date.” Kevin would have preferred it to come out as less of an order and more a request, but somehow he’d turned it inside out in the asking. Behind his back he crossed his fingers. He wanted to believe he was solving two problems, gaining a date and convincing Jessica he wasn’t ashamed of her. If he tried hard enough to convince himself, he might.

“You want me to go to a wedding with you that will be attended by all your firefighter pals?” she said.

“Yes.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“Because I still need a date.” He shrugged, hoping she would believe his story.

“All right,” she said. Her eyes still had a suspicious gleam. “I’ll see if I can get the day off. The twenty-second?”

“The twenty-second of August.” He remembered how easily she’d remembered the dates of the exams. Why did she need to confirm the date of the wedding? “It’s informal. They’re having the ceremony in the park and having a picnic reception right after.”

“Okay. I’m meeting Bobbie at the gym tomorrow at ten, do you want to join us?”

“Sure.” Kevin grinned at her. Jack would forgive him if he canceled out again. Jack owed him a couple anyway.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.” She walked away.

Kevin watched her sashay down the road and realized she didn’t mean to, she just had those kind of hips. Generous, curvy, womanly hips. He remembered how it had felt to slide his hands around them. To feel them crushed against his.

And now he was taking her to Jack’s wedding to convince her he wasn’t ashamed to be seen with her while trying to convince everyone around him he wasn’t interested in dating her.

* * * *

Jessica closed the door of her apartment feeling wired and drained at the same time. Somehow she had to make it through the opening at the art gallery tonight. Kevin had seemed pleased to see her when she first arrived, but then he’d left her to Lew. Lew was nice, but she’d planned on working with Kevin. She’d wanted to work with Kevin. All morning she’d been preparing to be professional with Kevin, not Lew.

She didn’t think she’d done a bad job. Even though a gaggle of admirers had formed behind her, she’d managed to pay attention. When Kevin told her the captain wanted to see her, she’d kept calm and she’d pulled off the interview without screwing up. The fact that some man she didn’t know was watching her at the gym did make her feel a little paranoid. Did they treat all hopefuls this way? The captain had a copy of her application. Kevin must have told him she was coming to the station. Was he short a crew member? If she got into the department, would she end up on Kevin’s crew?

After her shower, she pulled on the halter top navy blue dress and sandals she’d set out this morning. At least at the opening, she’d have a chance to pick apart the entire encounter for hidden meanings and missteps among friends.

Julie and her husband stood near the door. Julie looked like she’d been sucking lemons all day. As soon as Jessica got close enough, Julie said, “Would you look at the garbage this woman does? How did your field trip go?”

Jessica looked at the art on the wall inside the door. It was a three-person show and only one of those three people was one from the store. Her friend Bess’s art at least looked like art. Portraits, landscapes, etc. Not especially good, but not weird. The stuff on this wall fell into the weird category. The nearest one looked like smashed dinner plates cemented onto a two-by-six. Check that, it was smashed dinner plates cemented onto a two-by-six.

“My favorite is that one.” Julie pointed at an empty white shelf with a card on it that read
think
.

“What is it?” Jessica asked. She looked around the room for Bess.

“A Think Space.” Julie sneered, ducking her mouth behind the rim of her cup, which was probably spiked Kool-Aid knowing the group in this co-op. “The artiste is over there.”

Jessica looked in the direction Julie had gestured. The weird artist girl who hung out at Meechan’s stood across the room beneath one of the larger and stranger pieces, flailing her arms around.

“So how did the field trip go?” Julie asked again. Sonya had arrived at Julie’s elbow and stood waiting for a report.

“I’m not sure. Kevin didn’t go through the tools on the truck with me. This other guy, Lew, did.”

“Is Lew cute?” Sonya asked.

“He’s very deliberate. Reddish hair, green eyes. I guess he was cute. He was a good teacher, though. He showed me everything and explained how to use it. Then the captain wanted to talk to me. I guess I’m being watched.”

“Watched?” Julie wrinkled her nose. “That sounds creepy.”

“One of the captains has a membership at my gym, and he’s been spying on me when I work out, and one of the others was at the party.”

“That’s got to be good,” Diana announced. Jessica hadn’t noticed her join the group.

“I hope so. Captain Stoker said I was very qualified.”

“Okay, so the captain likes you, blah blah blah. Let’s get to the good part. What happened with Kevin?” Julie encouraged.

“We talked before I left the station, and he asked me to his friend’s wedding.”

The three women gasped. Julie’s husband looked puzzled.

“I think it’s just a friendly thing.” Jessica was glad she hadn’t told them about the kiss or they’d have lynched her for that comment.

“No,” Sonya said. “Not to a wedding. Not in the ambivalent state you two are in. He likes you.”

“He’s been worried about finding a date since I met him. He might just be getting desperate.” Jessica ground her teeth together. She didn’t want him to be desperate; she wanted him to have chosen to take her. “And I sort of forced his hand.”

“How?” Julie folded her arms.

“I told him he was ashamed to be seen with me. He kept looking back at the station like he didn’t want to get caught talking to me,” she added.

“Did you actually say that to him?” Diana asked.

“Yes.” When she did it, it hadn’t seemed that outrageous.

“Subtlety’R’Us.” Julie smiled, rolling her eyes.

“Like you can talk. You are one of the least subtle people I have ever met. Besides, it makes me mad. He gets all freaked out any time he thinks his fellow firefighters are going to see him talking to me. Do I have an eye growing out of the middle of my forehead or something?” Jessica huffed. “He said it’s because his one friend is a Lothario. Granted, Dan did hit on me as soon as I showed up, but I can handle myself. I’m a big girl.” Jessica bit her lip. That was part of the problem. She was a
big
girl.

“He must not be ashamed of you if he‘s taking you to his best friend‘s wedding.” Sonya patted her arm. “Is he in the wedding? If he’s in the wedding party, you’re going to spend most of the time sitting by yourself. Or rather, sitting with his buddies.”

“He said it was informal, and he didn’t say anything about being in the wedding.” Jessica frowned. They seemed to think it was significant that he asked her, so why did she still feel like there was something wrong about the whole thing?

“I don’t understand why it’s important that he asked her to a wedding.” Julie’s husband Aron said. Jessica thanked him silently.

“Because it is.” Julie said. “It’s an important relationship-type occasion with family and friends and so forth. You just don’t ask any handy girl to a wedding. You ask someone you have intentions with.”

“But she said he needed a date. Maybe he didn’t want to go alone.” Aron shrugged.

“Doofus.” Julie swatted Aron. “It’s his best friend’s wedding. He’d be better off going alone than taking the first bimbo that crossed his path. I’ve seen this guy. He’s not lacking for company.”

Jessica watched their silly exchange. For years she’d been watching them have basically the same conversation. She couldn’t imagine ever having that kind of chummy chatter with Kevin. They always seemed to be on the verge of snapping at one another, but that might be her own frustration. This time, she could only hope Julie was right, and someday she and Kevin could settle into a relationship where they could banter like Julie and Aron did.

“What are you going to wear?” Diana asked.

Jessica stared at her. That question hadn’t even occurred to her. “I don’t know.”

“Wear that. It looks great,” Sonya said.

“It does. You have the shoulders of a Greek god, doesn’t she honey?” Julie elbowed her husband.

“Goddess,” Aron corrected.

Jessica glanced down at the dress. She always thought of it as her Marilyn Monroe dress because of the halter top. Kevin might like it. Maybe it would prove to him that she wasn’t a big awkward Amazon. “Do you think so?”

“Come on. You are the only woman in this building who could pull that dress off right now.” Julie nodded, agreeing with herself. “It would make me look like a sack of potatoes.” Her husband rolled his eyes heavenward.

Jessica smoothed the dress over her hips. She had always liked it.

“Take a shawl with you,” Diana suggested. “In case it gets cold.”

“I don’t have a shawl.”

“I do.” Sonya grinned. “I’ll bring it in to work.”

Chapter 10

Kevin sat on his bunk, pretending to read until Jack got out of the shower. It had been non-stop all day. They had been at the last scene for four hours in the pouring rain and hadn’t been able to eat dinner until eight.

“What is it, and why haven’t you been able to help me with my house?” Jack dropped onto the bunk next to Kevin’s, rubbing his hair with a towel.

“I’ve been busy.” Kevin closed the book without marking his place and tossed it on his pillow.

“With your girlfriend?”

“She isn’t my girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Jack grinned. “So you’re just very good friends?”

“Cut it out. This is serious.” Kevin started picking a string out of the blanket draped across the foot of his bed. “I don’t know what to do about Jessica.”

“Didn’t your father have this talk with you?”

Kevin collapsed backward and thumped his head on the wall. He stared across the room, wondering why he ever thought Jack would be any help at all.

“So this is serious,” Jack said. He dropped the towel into his lap and finger-combed his hair into place. “What’s wrong?”