Read The Fireman Who Loved Me for Free Online

crowd.”
    They were the youngest patrons at the Orange Tree by at least thirty years. Ever the gentleman, Brody held Melissa’s chair for her. She peered at him through her lashes while pretending to look at the menu. He had a controlled physicality that kept drawing her eyes to him. There was something so . . . intriguing about him. He was all easy strength and restrained power. Which brought to mind something else she’d been wondering about.
    “What about your real date?”
    “My real date?”
    “The girl who bid for you. How much did you end up going for?”
    “Nothing.”
    She stared. No one had bid on Captain Brody? “That’s terrible. If I’d been there, I mean if I’d been there to bid, instead of being dragged there on false pretenses by my grandmother, I definitely would have bid on you.” In fact, he was the only one she would have considered.
    “That’s very supportive of you, but what I meant was, I wasn’t on the auction block. I was just there to keep an eye on my guys.”
    Melissa’s face burned.
    The waitress appeared. She, like most of her customers, was on the far side of seventy, wiry and powdered. “You two youngsters ready, or ya need more time? We got a special tonight. Baked salmon. Easy on the intestinal tract. And if you want the chocolate soufflé, better order it now.”
    Melissa felt a fit of giggles threaten. This whole situation was absurd. If she tried to order, she’d lose it. She gave Brody a pleading look.
    “Two specials,” said Brody, who clearly had no trouble taking command. “Two soufflés. And your best Chardonnay.”
    Melissa managed to keep her cool until the waitress left. Under Brody’s curious gaze, she admitted, “She lost me at ‘intestinal tract.’ ” The last two words came out in a spurt of giggles. Had the phrase “intestinal tract” always amused her, or did Brody make her giddy? Either way, she couldn’t help it. She surrendered to the waves of laughter.
    Brody watched her with a bemused smile, then leaned in. She noticed how broad his shoulders were. Something else she wasn’t used to. “You okay? All done?”
    She nodded, wiping her eyes.
    “Then let’s get back to what we were just talking about. I believe the last thing you said was, you definitely would have bid on me.”
    “It was just a hypothetical.”
    “Then hypothetically, we could pretend this is the date we would have had if I had been up for auction and if you had bid for me.”
    “Would our hypothetical date include dinner that’s easy on the intestinal tract?” She giggled again. Giggling was so unlike her. She hadn’t even had wine yet.
    “Oh, an easily digestible dinner is just the beginning.”
    “Really? What’s next?”
    “Well, I was thinking I’d take you . . . your grandmother . . . dancing at the Oasis. The Les Barrett band is playing, and I understand she’s a fan. And then, if she . . . you . . . still have energy, there’s a movie about a Scrabble competition that’s supposed to be interesting . . . What’s wrong?”
    Melissa stared at him in fascination. “You really thought about this. Grans loves to dance. Les Barrett is an old friend of hers. And Scrabble is her passion.”
    “I know.” Brody ducked his head and sipped his water. “I did a little research. I’ve got a friend who’s good at digging up information.”
    “That is really—” Melissa began indignantly.
    “Did you know your grandmother has five outstanding parking tickets and a couple moving violations?”
    “—extremely—”
    “I took care of the tickets. Can’t touch the violations.” He seemed to brace himself for her verdict.
    “—sweet,” finished Melissa softly.
    “Well, she did bid a lot of money.”
    Her face fell at the reminder. “My Grans has made up her mind to get me married off, whatever it takes. I’m sure she thought it was money well spent.”
    The waitress arrived and plunked a bottle of wine on their table, then filled two glasses