Operation Date Escape

away from the curb. “What’s the address?”
    She recited it off to him as she buckled her seatbelt. “It’ll be on our left. The office is a restored Victorian house with white siding and light blue shutters.
    “I know the place.” He’d passed by the old Victorian many times on calls, but had never paid it much mind. Now every time he would pass by it he ’d be thinking about her.
    She turned to him. “So how long have you been a firefighter?”
    His grip tightened on the wheel. “Close to fifteen years,” he replied, waiting for her to respond like the other women he’d dated had.
    “Wow. That’s a long time.”
    He nodded. “I suppose so.”
    “I think that’s great.”
    Her comment took him by surprise. His gaze left the road ahead to settle on her face. “You do?”
    She laughed softly. “I wouldn’t have said so if I didn’t mean it. I told you before. I admire someone who dedicates their life to rescuing others from accidents and burning buildings, and...” she added with a blush, “trees.”
    Laughter rumbled in his chest. “Yeah, well , we firefighters go through hours of training to teach us the proper technique for rescuing sexy women from trees.”
    “Is that so?” she replied, her tone just as teasing.
    “Okay,” he confessed, “so I might be exaggerating a little bit about the how-to-rescue-a-sexy-woman training, but not about what I said about your being sexy.”
    She averted her gaze, looking out the passenger window. “I’m not the least bit sexy.”
    “I beg to differ as would all the guys at the firehouse.”
    Kelsie turned to face him, one bent, jean-clad knee resting atop the bench seat. “Tell me more.”
    “About how hot the guys at the firehouse think you are?” he asked with a grin as he turned onto the main street.
    “No,” she said, laughing softly. “About you. What made you decide to pursue a career in firefighting? I can only imagine the kind of dedication and strength, both mentally and physically, it takes to do that.”
    She didn’t seem the least bit uneasy about his chosen career, just curious. The tension he’d felt moments before when she’d begun asking about his job melted away.
    “After graduation I went through several unfulfilling jobs before I finally decided to follow in my father’s footsteps and become a firefighter.”
    “Oh, I didn’t realize you and your father worked together.”
    “We don’t. He retired about two years ago, but even then we didn’t work together. He worked out of Station 72 in Upper Arlington, but retired a few years ago and took Mom to Florida. She hates the cold winters.”
    “Your mother must be very proud of you.”
    “She’d be happier if I would settle down and give her grandchildren.”
    “Oh, believe me, I can sympathize with you there. Only my mother thinks it’s going to take my getting a boob job to get her some grandkids.”
    He chuckled. “Unless I missed something in my medic training, breasts have nothing to do with the reproductive system.”
    “Not according to my mother. Big boobs are like honeysuckle blooms to bees. Men swarm to them. Catch a man’s attention and the rest will follow. Sort of a prelude to reproduction.” She glanced down at her shirt. “Needless to say I didn’t follow her advice.”
    “I’m glad.”
    “What?”
    “I think you look good just the way you are.”
    Color flooded her cheeks, turning them a deep shade of pink that only made her more attractive to Cole. “Thanks,” she said with a warm smile. “ I don’t suppose you could convince my mother of that, do you?”
    “I’d be happy to give it a try.”
    “On second thought,” she said, “never mind. If I took a guy like you home with me─”
    “You mean a guy who’s too perfect,” he said, cutting her off with a frown. Tryi ng to shake this good guy image she had of him was damn hard.
    “Exactly. If I took you to my mother’s, she would have her tape measure out in a flash.”
    His brows shot up. “Excuse me?”
    She laughed. “Not for what you’re thinking.” Then she quickly added, “It’s worse.”
    “Worse?”
    She nodded. “Yes. She’d be sizing you up for a wedding tux.”
    “Oh.” That wasn’t nearly as disturbing as having her mother want to measure his... Cole pushed that thought aside with another chuckle. Despite Kelsie’s concerns about her mother’s reaction to him, he really had to find some way to meet the woman. Maybe work on scoring some Brownie