been on duty the night James Wilder suffered the fatal heart attack. And they’d tried valiantly—but unsuccessfully—to save his life. As a result, the two had been added to the guest list.
“I gave Simone a ride home that night,” Mike said.
“Yeah, I remember.” Leif smiled. “She looked like maybe she’d had a little too much to drink.”
“Well, one thing led to another and…” Mike blew out a loaded sigh.
“No kidding?” Leif grinned, knowing how much Mike cared for Simone and immediately making the appropriate jump. “Are you two still seeing each other?”
“Not like that. She says she just wants to be friends.”
“Hey, that’s life. I’ve had my share of women tell me the same thing. That is, until Linda and I hooked up.”
Leif was dating a kindergarten teacher he’d met when her class had come to the fire station for a field trip. Leif didn’t kiss and tell, either, but Mike knew that they’d been sleeping together.
One morning about a month ago, Leif hadn’t come home the night before. He’d apparently left his head-lamps on and couldn’t get his car to start. So he’d had to call Mike and ask for a ride to work.
Linda seemed like a nice woman, and Mike hoped they’d be happy.
“So what’s the problem?” Leif asked. “Just cut bait and run.”
“I would, but I can’t help believing that Simone and I are meant for each other. But she’s so…” Mike didn’t want to go into too much personal detail. “So damn set in her ways.”
Leif placed a hand on Mike’s back. “I know it hurts, man. But you can’t chase after a woman who clearly isn’t interested. There are stalking laws and all that.”
Mike clucked his tongue. “I’m not a stalker. And I know when a woman isn’t interested. If I truly believed it, I’d back way off.”
“So she’s given you reason to believe there’s hope?”
“Yeah.” She’d admitted that she cared for him. And he couldn’t help believing her, especially when he remembered the way she’d looked at him when they’d made love—talk about someone wearing their heart on their sleeve.
At three in the morning, she’d lost that tipsy glow, and it had been replaced by something else. Something laden with an emotion a man couldn’t mistake for friendship or simple desire.
But maybe he’d read her wrong.
Maybe she didn’t have the right kind of feelings for him, and he’d been pushing her too hard.
“Chasing after her just isn’t cool,” Leif added. “It makes you look needy.”
His partner had a point. Mike had made himself too available. It might be best if he backed off.
“Linda has a couple of friends. They’re both single and hot. Without a doubt, either of them would drop everything to go out on a date with you.”
The trouble was, Mike didn’t want to go out with anyone other than Simone. And he sure as hell didn’t want to go out with anyone when Simone was having his baby.
Damn.
His baby.
Their baby.
“What you need is a diversion,” Leif said. “And have I got the woman for you. Her name is Christy, and she’s about five-two. She’s a school librarian, but don’t think that means she’s prim and proper. She’s bright, well read and funny.”
Mike needed to get his mind off Simone, all right. But not by dating another woman. “I may back off with Simone. But I’m not ready to go out with anyone else.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Suit yourself,” Leif said. “But promise me you’ll stop pining for a woman who doesn’t want you.”
While Mike could see the value in that advice, he couldn’t completely give up on Simone.
Not just yet.
But how could a woman be so stubborn?
Mike still hoped to change her mind, but he was beginning to have his doubts. He suspected that was why the seed of a plan B began to form. A plan that he’d implement if backed into a corner.
A move that could end any dream Mike had of him and Simone creating a family together.
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