“Then why didn’t you try to get the attention of someone in authority?” Omar asked.
“I...” She had been too absorbed with trying to keep her eye on the person she believed to be the arsonist. “I’m not sure it would have done any good. The authorities in the city seem completely inept at catching this perp.”
“Ouch.” Omar made a face. “For such a beautiful lady, you certainly know how to hurt a guy’s feelings.”
Then he smiled. And Gabrielle’s jaw went slack. She couldn’t believe it. He was flirting with her!
“Omar!”
The firefighter turned. Another firefighter—Gabrielle recognized Mason Foley, because he had been in the papers some months earlier—was striding toward them through the alley. “Did you find something?”
“Thought I did,” Omar answered. “But I was wrong, apparently.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed on Gabrielle. “Her?”
“I saw her in the crowd,” Omar explained. “She was acting suspicious. I saw her take off, so I did too. When I caught up to her, she said she was in pursuit of the alleged arsonist.”
“Until he got in the way and stopped me,” Gabrielle quipped.
“You’re Gabrielle Leonard, aren’t you?” Mason asked.
“Yes.” At least this guy didn’t only read the sports pages, she thought sourly.
“The guy got away,” Omar said. “Did you see anyone running down Clark Street?”
Mason shook his head. “Naw.”
“Damn.”
Gabrielle looked up at Omar. There was something about him that looked familiar. And his name...
Yes! It came to her. Hadn’t he dated a friend of a friend? Two, from what she remembered. Both had been head over heels for Omar, but he’d broken their hearts. There was some story about a love triangle. It had been a few years back. But it was becoming clearer in her mind. Omar had played both the women. In the end, both had been devastated.
“Omar, we need you back at the truck,” Mason said.
Omar suddenly met her gaze. And there was that look again. Now Gabrielle could define it. It was the bedroom eye. She quickly averted her gaze to Mason, who nodded at her, and said, “Have a good day.”
Then she looked at Omar again, and though it was a quick glance, she felt something she didn’t want to feel. A spark of attraction. There was an undeniable sizzle between the two of them.
She jerked her gaze away and turned down the alley.
“Gabrielle,” Omar called.
But she pretended not to hear. Because the last thing she wanted to do was have any further involvement with him.
* * *
“Don’t quit your day job,” Tyler McKenzie joked when all of the firefighters had returned to Station Two. “You’d make a lousy detective, Omar.”
The guys had a good laugh at Omar’s expense. Mason, having gotten a kick out of the fact that Omar had “nabbed” Gabrielle Leonard, had enthusiastically shared the story. With everyone.
“Very funny, Tyler,” Omar said.
“Wasn’t Stacy Jackson out there with Channel 10 news?” Mason asked. “Maybe she’s the arsonist.”
More raucous laughter from the guys.
Omar rolled his eyes. Okay, so he had made a colossal mistake. Gabrielle Leonard was clearly not the arsonist.
“I couldn’t see her face,” Omar said. “She was wearing a hat.” Though he wouldn’t have recognized her even in the light of day. He never tuned in to to any Cable Four programming.
“Surprising,” Tyler said. “You mean there’s actually a woman in Ocean City you don’t recognize? I thought you’ve dated all of them.”
“You keep that up, you won’t make it to your wedding,” Omar warned him.
Tyler had recently gotten engaged—for the second time. His first engagement had been a mistake, something Omar and the other guys at the station had known almost from the beginning. But Tyler had hung on far longer than he should have, trying to make things work. It had been futile.
But a few months ago, Tyler had met someone else. Their connection had been wild and furious, and now he seemed happier than ever.
Omar had felt an instant connection to Gabrielle, as well. Sure, she was beautiful. That was obvious. But it wasn’t simply her beauty. There was something else. There had to be—because she had been undeniably angry with him, yet he still felt a spark.
“What was some woman from a TV station doing at the fire scene anyway?” Omar asked.
“She’s not just some woman,” Mason said. “She’s Gabrielle Leonard. A local celebrity.”
“Yeah well, I never watch community television.”
“We don’t even want to know what stations you watch!” Tyler said, then laughed.
“You’re a regular comedian today,” Omar said to Tyler. “I don’t have to watch it, when I can be out there living it.”
There was a round of ooohs and enthusiastic laughter. Someone patted him on the back, and said, “Our resident stud.”
Omar chuckled. His reputation at the station was one of a ladies’ man. And it was true, he had dated a lot. But he hadn’t dated seriously, at least not in recent years. For that reason, the guys all thought he wasn’t serious about finding a girlfriend.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t serious about it. He just hadn’t met anyone who had really intrigued him. Oh, he’d met plenty of beautiful women. And he dated many of them. But they all failed to interest him past the initial attraction. So what was he supposed to do? Settle?
“That’s our Omar,” one of the paramedics said. She was female, and she liked to tease Omar for his playboy ways.
It wasn’t that he was simply a playboy. At least, that’s not how he set out to live his life. And he knew he wasn’t getting any younger. He was thirty-six. Like practically the rest of society, the idea of settling down and having a family was one that appealed to him. But he first had to find the right woman.
Omar knew that if he told his colleagues at the station that, they would break into spontaneous laughter. He had to take responsibility for his own reputation, but part of his carefree attitude had been an act. He didn’t talk about it, but Omar had lost the love of his life. Losing Mika had devastated him. And since her death, he hadn’t met anyone else who could compare.
His mind went back to Gabrielle. He’d felt something with her in that alley. Something he wanted to explore.
The
