doubted that. “Why?” she asked.
He arched the brow again. “Why what?”
“Why are you willing to talk to me?” She’d expected the arrogance and the argument. She hadn’t expected him to be open to reason or even to a conversation. “I thought you had a date.”
She swallowed a groan as she remembered that she had one. She had intended to call Howard on the drive across town to cancel their date. But then she’d gotten distracted rehearsing what she would say when she confronted Wyatt Andrews. All those words had left her mind the moment he’d made his suggestive comment.
He glanced to the doorway behind her and remarked, “Here’s my date now.”
So much for that conversation. She doubted he would pass up a sure thing to instead just talk to a woman he’d figured was frigid. She turned around to leave and to check out his date. But a man—as tall and muscular as Wyatt—blocked the doorway. He was the one who had directed her where to find Wyatt.
The man laughed. “You should be so lucky as to date me.”
Wyatt grinned. “You wouldn’t turn me down,” he said. “You’re so tense and edgy, you’d definitely go home with me at the end of the night.”
Both men laughed. But Fiona failed to see the humor. Her pulse quickened instead. Was Wyatt expecting her to go home with him at the end of the night?
“If you’re busy...” They could do this another night. That didn’t mean that he wouldn’t expect her to go home with him that night, too.
“Have you changed your mind about making me listen to reason?” Wyatt teased.
The other man laughed again—harder. “If he’s willing to listen to reason, you should take him up on that,” he advised. “And we didn’t actually have any plans. He’s just messing with me.”
Was he just messing with her, too? Probably. But she hadn’t driven across town to just yell at him. Or slap him. She’d wanted to talk to him—to get him to help her. His influence was why Matthew had dropped out of college; he was the only one who could get her brother to change his mind and get his life back on track.
“The bar around the corner?” she asked. “Which way?”
“To the right,” he said. “I’ll be there before you finish your first drink.”
She had no intention of drinking with him. And she definitely had no intention of going home with him.
She wanted only to talk.
But since she wasn’t going to see him with so few clothes on again, she couldn’t resist letting her gaze slip once more—over his chest and down his six-pack abs. She was definitely not drinking with him; she couldn’t risk losing control. And because she never risked losing control, she hadn’t built up a tolerance for alcohol. She was the proverbial lightweight when it came to drinking.
If she had too many drinks, she might go home with him. She jerked her attention away from all that naked flesh and muscle and turned toward the door.
“I’ll be there right after I hit the shower,” he promised.
And an image of him standing completely naked beneath a spray of water sprang to her mind. Her skin flushed again and heated more than it had with her temper. She quickened her step. Because of the heels, she couldn’t run. But she had the urge to run—and to keep running.
* * *
THE WOMAN HAD some ass, wriggling inside that snug skirt as she walked away. But Wyatt wasn’t the only one watching her leave. Braden actually craned his neck to stare as she turned outside the door and headed down the hall.
When she’d disappeared from sight entirely, the captain finally turned back to Wyatt and let out a low whistle. “I hate to admit it, but you might be right about me,” he said. “What bar are you meeting her at? The Filling Station?”
It was the only bar around the corner. But Wyatt wasn’t about to point that out to his boss. Feeling tense and edgy himself, he shook his head. “Not her.”
Braden whistled again. “It’s not like you to stake a claim. Thought you didn’t get attached...”
“I’m not,” he protested. “Not at all—especially not to Fiona.”
“Fiona...” Braden murmured wistfully. Or lustfully...
Hearing the lust, Wyatt smacked the other man’s shoulder. “Hey, she’s a friend’s sister, so she’s off-limits.” At least to him.
Braden snorted. “I’ve met the sister of every man on the team.”
Wyatt believed it. Braden was the kind of superintendent who made it a point to meet the families of all his team members...though for a couple of them the team was the only family they had. Wyatt’s parents had been killed when he was eleven. And another one of the guys—Cody Mallehan—had been an orphan, too.
Braden continued, “She is not related to any of them.”
“I have friends outside the team.” Because of the wives who had made them give up the jobs they had loved. But she wasn’t related to any of them, either. “She’s the sister of one of the kids I’ve been mentoring.”
Except that Matt wasn’t a kid anymore. So he should be able to make decisions without his sister’s interference. Even if those decisions were wrong, he needed to figure it out for himself—not have someone berate him for it. Matt had told Wyatt that Fiona was bossy and controlling, which was part of the reason why the half siblings weren’t close. The other part was that they hadn’t been raised together.
“Then she’s not off-limits to me,” Braden pointed out. “I think I will join you at the bar.”
Wyatt smacked him again—a little harder. “She’s off-limits to you, too.”
“I may have met most of the kids you mentor...”
Because Wyatt had brought them around the firehouse. He hoped he hadn’t inadvertently influenced Matt’s decision to try to join the Forest Service Fire Department.
“But I’m not friends with any of them,” Braden continued.
“That’s not why she’s off-limits to you,” Wyatt said. “She’s off-limits because she’s the type of woman you need to avoid.”
“What type is that?” Braden asked. “Sexy as sin?”
“The type that wants you to make a commitment and then gives you ultimatums or walks away,” Wyatt warned him. “And you’ve already had one of those.”
Braden sighed. “It’s not always the wife who gives the ultimatums, you know.”
Wyatt narrowed his eyes and studied his friend. “Do you want to talk?” he asked. “I can cancel with Fiona...” But his stomach muscles tightened, his gut clenching in protest.
Why? She was probably just going to yell at him. She had been pissed even before he’d
