Heating up the Holidays

1

BRADLEY GRIFFIN closed his locker at the firehouse and breathed a sigh of relief that his stress-filled twenty-four-hour shift was finally over. After picking up his duffel bag, he waved goodbye to the guys polishing the pristine red ladder truck. He hoped their shift would be quieter than his had been, but he doubted it-the Christmas season always proved busy for firefighters.

Fires and emergencies were always difficult, but they just seemed much more so to him at this time of year, when good cheer was supposed to prevail. In his mind’s eye he could still see the soot-and-tear-streaked faces of the family whose house had burned last night. The parents and two young children had made it out alive, thank God, but their home and all their belongings, including the Christmas presents stacked under their tree, were lost, leaving them with nothing except each other. How many times over the last seven years had he seen that same heart-wrenching combination of terror and desolation in people’s eyes? Too many to count. Yet, he still wouldn’t trade jobs with anyone. Wouldn’t trade those moments when a life was saved, a loved one brought back from the brink. That family last night…they’d clung to each other and the fact that they were alive to rebuild. Unfortunately not everyone was so lucky.

He walked toward the open bay doors, the sight of the bright California sunshine a welcome relief after the smoke-blackened dawn sky he’d stood beneath only hours earlier. He pulled in a deep breath, loving the smell of the firehouse-the lemony cleaning fluid the guys used to keep the place spotless, combined with a hint of what he called automotive potpourri, mixed with a whiff of the salty breeze blowing off the ocean. Through the doors he caught sight of the sparkling blue Pacific running onto the sandy beach. Lots of skaters, walkers and joggers already out and about this morning, he noticed. A beautiful sunny day like this always brought the crowds to Ocean Harbor Beach, the laid-back surfing town where he’d lived his entire life. And now that he had forty-eight off, he couldn’t wait to join them. Two days to regroup. To put the pressures of the job behind him. To concentrate on happier things, like Christmas. Which was only a week away. Which meant it was about time he started Christmas shopping.

“Yo, Brad.”

Brad turned at the familiar greeting. His best friend and fellow firefighter Jim Ballard exited the station’s kitchen and loped toward him. Jim had come on duty an hour ago and clearly it was his turn to cook; he carried a spatula and wore an apron that advised in bold print: Firefighters Do It With Heat. Brad sent up a silent prayer of thanks he was off duty. He loved Jim like a brother, but he was the station’s worst cook.

He gave Jim’s black-and-red-stain-splattered apron a skeptical glance. “Soot and…ketchup?” he guessed, hoping it wasn’t blood. “Doesn’t bode well for the morning meal.”

Jim looked down at the apron then shrugged. “Had a little mishap with the huevos rancheros. Nothing a few handfuls of jalapeños won’t fix.”

Brad’s stomach clenched in sympathy for those poor bastards polishing the truck. “What’s up?”

“Been looking for you. Found out something you might find interesting.” Jim lowered his voice. “About Antonia Rizzo.”

Brad’s entire body quickened at the mention of her name, which totally annoyed and confused him-as it had from the first moment he’d seen her three months ago, when her florist shop, Blooming Pails, had opened in Santa Rey, the town just south of Ocean Harbor Beach, famous for its seaside boardwalk. He’d stopped by on opening day, not so much to buy flowers-really he didn’t need any flowers-but more because he was walking right by the store and figured he’d be neighborly. Not to mention score one of the free cannoli set on a huge ceramic tray just inside the door. He’d taken one bite of the delicious, chocolate-chip-and-cream-filled Italian pastry and his eyes had glazed with sheer bliss. In the next instant he’d taken one look at Antonia-or as everyone called her, Toni-Rizzo and forgotten how to swallow. Damn near forgotten how to breathe. Sure as hell forgot how to speak English.

Holy smokin’ cannoli.

His stupefied gaze had tracked over a mass of shiny, dark brown, spiral mess-with-me curls that loosely danced around her shoulders. Her chocolate-brown eyes sparkled as she wrapped a colorful bouquet in green paper and chatted with the customer purchasing the flowers. Her smile…damn, her smile was gorgeous and sexy all at once, her full lips glossy with something dewy-pink and flanked by a pair of shallow dimples. She laughed, a deep, throaty sound, followed by a slightly husky voice that brought to mind hot, sultry nights and tangled sheets.

His gaze had skimmed lower and he knew that as delicious as that cannoli was, it didn’t hold a candle to Antonia Rizzo’s feminine form. Damn. Even her curves had curves. She was striking and vivid and sexy as hell, and everything male in him went on red alert. In the space of a nanosecond he fell totally, irreparably in lust. Which admittedly had happened to him before, but never to this extent. Never to the point where he actually forgot where he was. What he was doing. And what his damn name was.

Once he recalled he was Brad-or Bill-or at least something that started with a B, he approached her. Smiled. Complimented her on her fabulous cannoli. Flirted. She was polite, but didn’t return any of the flirtatious lobs he tossed. He bought a bouquet of flowers, which he immediately gave to her, along with an invitation to dinner. She’d thanked him, handed him back the flowers and broken his heart by saying she was already involved.

Whoever he was, the guy was damn lucky. Brad had departed the shop deflated, unable to shake the feeling that he’d lost out on something really great. He’d never experienced such a strong reaction to a woman, and she was unavailable. What kind of crap was that?

He told himself he was better off, that he wasn’t looking for a girlfriend. Reminded himself of the wringer his last two girlfriends had put him through. Sandy hadn’t been able to deal with the dangerous aspects of his job; what had started out as concern for his safety, which he’d appreciated, had eventually deteriorated into constant nagging to quit the fire department, which he hadn’t appreciated. And then Janna had been Sandy’s complete opposite-she loved everything about the fire department. Unfortunately she loved firefighters a little too much, as Brad learned when he caught her riding a guy from a neighboring town’s hook-and-ladder company like he was the winning horse in the Kentucky Derby. A guy Brad had considered a friend.

Ever since that unappetizing scene four months ago, he’d flown under the radar. He supposed he should have jumped right back into the dating whirlpool, but his heart just hadn’t been in it. He wanted another girlfriend like he wanted a gaping hole in his head. But for reasons he couldn’t figure, even picking up one of the endless smorgasbord of bikini-clad babes who frequented the beach and local bars and engaging in a few hours of mindless, no-strings-attached sex didn’t hold the allure it once had. After Janna he’d indulged a couple of times, but both occasions had left him feeling empty and filled with an unsettling loneliness.

Yet even before his last two breakups, he’d felt the stirrings of this weird discontent, one he finally traced back to last July, when he’d served as best man at Greg and Tanya’s wedding. He’d never seen his older brother so happy. As they’d watched Tanya walk down the aisle, he’d said to Greg, “She’s beautiful.” Greg had nodded. “Best thing that’s ever happened to me.” And Brad had thought it was too bad Tanya didn’t have a sister. Two months later, he’d seen Toni Rizzo and it was as if he’d been hooked up to a nuclear reactor.

Even though she wasn’t available, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He kept comparing his reaction to other women to his reaction to her. And every other woman came up short. It had quickly turned into something of a quest-find a woman who turned him on and attracted him the way she had. He hadn’t succeeded, and because he hadn’t, he’d spent a lot of nights alone in his bed, tossing and turning, frustrated, lonely and wishing like hell he could forget her.

Unable to keep from doing so, he found himself frequently stopping by her shop in the hope that she’d respond to one of his opening conversational gambits, and maybe he’d find her no longer “involved.” No such luck. Toni was unfailingly polite, but her “I’m not interested” vibe never wavered. And after three months of buying flowers and plants he didn’t need, his small ranch house looked downright girly and his mother had received so many bouquets from him, she was convinced he was up to something. Or that she’d contracted some dread disease and he wasn’t telling her.

“What about Toni?” Brad asked, keeping his tone casual.

“Good news and bad news.” Jim grinned. “And you’re gonna owe me.”

“Fine. Good news first.”

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

Whoa. That wasn’t good news-that was freakin’ excellent news.

“Not only that,” Jim continued, “but apparently she hasn’t had one for a while. Like six months.”

Brad’s eyes narrowed. “She told me she was involved.”

“Right. Obviously to blow you off. Which leads to the bad news.”

“Which is…?”

“She doesn’t like firefighters.”

Brad frowned. “What do you mean?”

“She. Doesn’t. Like. Firefighters. What part don’t you get?”

Great. Was she another woman who couldn’t handle the danger his job entailed? As soon as the question entered his mind, something told him the answer was no. Whereas Sandy had turned out to be a needy, clingy sort of woman, Toni struck him as very confident. And far too independent and smart to be unreasonable about a man’s job involving some danger. There had to be another reason. “Why doesn’t she like firefighters?”

“Don’t know.” Jim shrugged. “If I had to guess, I’d say she probably got her heart broken by one, but who knows? Who can figure out women?”

“How do you know all this?”

Jim rolled his eyes. “Because I’m thirty years old and in spite of knowing a lot of them, women are impossible to understand.”

This time Brad rolled his eyes. “I mean, how do you know she doesn’t have a boyfriend or like firefighters?”

“Oh. Bobby T told me,” Jim said, referring to the bartender at Breezes, one of Santa Rey’s most popular beachfront bars. Since Bobby’s last name contained about seventeen letters and was completely unpronounceable, especially after a couple of beers, he was simply Bobby T. “Toni and that gal who works with her went to the bar last night and had one of those long, boring, involved chick chats. Since business was slow, Bobby couldn’t help but overhear bits and pieces. They even drew him into the convo a few times. I saw him this morning before I came on duty and he told me. And now I’m telling you. Figured you’d want to know, especially if you plan to make a move. Once word of this gets out, guys’ll be all over Toni like wet on water.”

A sensation that felt exactly like jealousy rippled through Brad. “Right. Except, in case it’s escaped your notice, I’m a firefighter.”

“Uh-huh.” Jim pointed his spatula at the ladder truck. “Yeah, the big shiny red truck kinda gave it away. But I doubt that’s gonna stop you. You’ve been panting after this woman for three months. Keeping your distance because you thought she was involved. Now you know she’s not.”

“I haven’t been panting,” Brad felt compelled to object. “Breathing heavy, maybe.”

“Panting,” Jim insisted. “Dude, I’ve known you since tenth grade and I’ve never seen you so…I don’t even know the word to describe it, about a woman. Discombobulated. Stupefied. Like a deer in the headlights.” Jim shook his head. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. I’m thinkin’ this could only lead to trouble.”

Brad knew what Jim meant by trouble-a serious entanglement. But who said anything had to be serious? He grinned. “Trouble is my middle name.”

“Like hell.” Jim’s smile turned downright evil. “It’s Theodore.”

Damn. There were definitely disadvantages to having friends for years. Brad shot Jim a glare meant to deep-fry him on the spot. “Those will be interesting last words, should you make the mistake of repeating them.” His nickname at the station was already embarrassing enough. He didn’t need a derivative of Teddy Bear or some such cutesy crap to live down. “Don’t you have eggs and toast to burn?”

Jim lifted his hands in an exaggerated backing-off gesture. “Yup. You wanna stay for breakfast?”

“Tempting as that sounds, I’m gonna blast outta here.” He nodded toward the guys polishing the truck. “Don’t poison those poor boys.”

“Are you kidding? They’d eat tire treads if I poured melted cheese on them.”

“Do you know how to melt cheese?”

“Sure. That’s what blowtorches are for.”

Brad wasn’t sure Jim was kidding. “Good thing we’re fully equipped with fire extinguishers.” He clapped his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “Hope your shift’s quieter than mine was.”

“Enjoy your days off. Got any plans?”

“Since Christmas is next week, figured I’d better start shopping.”

Jim laughed. “Bet I know where you’re going first.”

Brad chuckled. “Oh, yeah. Got me some flowers to buy. Wish me luck.”

“I wish you luck, dude. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”

Maybe he would. But he was determined. He didn’t fear going after what he wanted-no one had ever given him anything so he’d been doing that his entire life. And he wanted Toni Rizzo-in a way he hadn’t wanted any woman in a long time. Yeah, he wanted her. Naked. In his bed. Under him. Over him. Putting out the damn fire she’d lit in him the moment he’d seen her.

Yet he wanted something more. Wanted to get to know her. He didn’t have any doubt they’d get along in bed, but he also wanted to know if they’d get along outside the bedroom, something he hadn’t been interested in finding out about a woman for a very long time. He couldn’t explain it, it didn’t make sense, but there it was. So in-his-face he couldn’t deny it. She was at the top of his Christmas list. At the bottom, too. And everywhere in between. And now that he knew she wasn’t taken, there was nothing to stop him.

Well, except her crazy aversion to firefighters. But he had every intention of changing her mind.

After all, how difficult could that be?

2

TONI RIZZO stood behind the long granite counter at Blooming Pails and deftly worked sprigs of mistletoe, poinsettia, red and white roses and fragrant pine into the two dozen centerpieces she was putting together for this evening’s Wilson/Mayberry wedding. Nothing like December nuptials to boost business, which was precisely what she needed. Only three months remained until the bank’s first six-month evaluation, and she had to make damn sure her revenues showed growth. The loan she’d taken out to open the shop included a clause that she was subject to a twice-yearly review for the first two years. If sales were maintained or grew each quarter, she kept her low interest rate. If she failed to maintain or increase sales, her interest rate would go up. Which would put a financial strain on her fledgling business she simply couldn’t afford-one that could result in her losing Blooming Pails and everything she’d worked so hard for.

So far, sales had been decent for the holiday season, but it was an active time of year for any business and she needed her sales to be much better than merely decent. This month was do-or-die time to generate enough revenues to keep that interest rate down. She had to cultivate customers to keep the sales up after the holidays were over. Because if her business failed, she’d find herself right back where she’d been three years ago-out of work, her career in tatters, and being smothered by her well-meaning but overwhelming family who were relentless in their quest to drag her ass back home and into the family business. That alone was incentive enough to make sure Blooming Pails succeeded. The fifty-mile buffer she’d put between herself and the fam when she moved to Santa Rey had saved her sanity. She had every intention of keeping her ass right here, and working that ass off in her shop.

She shot a quick downward look over her shoulder and grimaced. Yeah-if only it were possible to actually work her ass off. Of course, even if she ever managed to-and in her twenty-eight years she hadn’t managed-her mother would whip up a few trays of antipasto and lasagna to put some meat on her bones. And if her mother failed, Nana Rose would take up the banner. Her grandmother would fix her eyeballs on Toni with what she called the Stare of Death and command, “Eat, Antonia. Mangia. Men do not like women who look like pencils.”

Thanks to the Rizzo boobs and butt, which had been passed down through generations of Rizzo women, along with the wildly curly hair from which her surname was derived, she’d never know if Nana Rose’s statement was true.

Not that she currently gave a rat’s ass about what men liked. Hell, no. Men were, in a word, pains in the ass. Okay, so that was four words, but still. After freeing herself from her last disastrous romantic entanglement, she’d sworn off the male species. Someday, after she’d gotten Blooming Pails off the ground and the shop didn’t require all her attention, then she’d consider dipping her toe back into the shark-infested dating waters. But even then only if she met someone worthy of her attention. Someone who accepted her as she was-flaws and all. Who didn’t cheat. Who had some integrity. Who made her laugh. Whom she wanted to share her life with.

“Good luck with that,” she muttered.

But for now, she had zero time for a man. Blooming Pails required all her focus and tender loving care. Unfortunately Blooming Pails didn’t keep her warm at night, and after six dateless, sexless months she was feeling definite twinges of loneliness. Not to mention sexual frustration. Sexual frustration that became more acute with each passing day.

She glanced out the window and caught sight of a young couple across the street walking a puppy on a leash. The small dog yipped and ran in circles, chasing its tail, then rolled over for a belly rub. When the laughing couple crouched down, the puppy jumped into the woman’s arms and covered her chin with exuberant kisses.

“If only that adorable, loving, amusing dog came in a man,” Toni said with sigh.

Yup, she should just forget about men and get herself a dog.

Just then her attention was caught by a familiar figure striding past her window. A tall familiar figure with broad shoulders, sun-streaked golden-brown hair and a killer smile. And just as it always did when Brad Griffin came by, her pulse skipped a beat. Which was really annoying since a skipping pulse was the last thing she wanted around him. Yeah, he was good-looking-okay, great-looking-but it didn’t matter. Even if she had time for a man-which she didn’t-he was a firefighter and she absolutely wasn’t having any of that. Bitterness welled in her throat and she pressed her lips together. Never again.

The first time she’d seen him, on Blooming Pails’s opening day, she’d nearly swallowed her tongue. Standing in a shaft of dazzling sunlight, biting into one of the homemade cannoli she’d put out to tempt customers, was the personification of her every sexual fantasy. Yowza. Big, strong and utterly gorgeous, he looked like a cross between a sun god and one of those beautifully rugged guys who populated men’s cologne ads. Everything female in her had snapped to attention and in a heartbeat she fell in lust. She might not have time for a relationship, but she could carve out a few minutes to relieve her sexual drought with this guy.

But then she’d noticed the emblem on the T-shirt which stretched across his broad chest. The T-shirt bearing the words Ocean Harbor Beach Fire Department. And she’d deflated like a popped balloon. How freakin’ unfair was it that the first guy in months to give her a jolt-and a freakin’ lightning-bolt jolt it had been-was a firefighter? Just to be sure, she’d casually asked him while she wrapped up the bouquet he ordered, hoping he’d tell her the shirt belonged to a friend or he’d bought it secondhand and he was an accountant. A waiter. A mechanic. Anything but a firefighter.

But he’d confirmed his occupation. And sealed his fate, at least as far as she was concerned. Even though her hormones screamed in protest, there was no way she’d act on that spark of attraction. When he’d given her the bouquet she’d just wrapped and asked her to dinner-and okay, it was a romantic gesture that from anyone else would have worked-she’d claimed she was involved. Which wasn’t a lie. Exactly. She was involved. With her new business. Settling into this new town. Keeping her busybody family at arm’s length.

She’d hoped her claim, along with her cool demeanor, would deter him, but he came in every week. And each time her pulse annoyingly jumped through hoops. He was always friendly and talkative and amusing and subtly flirtatious and way too tempting and she wished like hell he’d go away. On each visit he purchased something, either flowers or a plant, although it was clear he barely knew the difference between a daisy and a rose. Obviously he either had one woman in his life who really liked flowers or a bunch of different women. Given his good looks and the number of beach babes populating the boardwalk, she’d bet on a bunch of different women.

And now here he was again. Walking by her window. She hoped he was just taking a stroll, enjoying the lovely day. Maybe he wouldn’t come in-

The door opened, announcing his presence with a tinkling of the Christmas bells she’d attached to the top of the jamb along with mistletoe. Damn. And she couldn’t fob him off on Jayne as her assistant was running an errand. Maybe she’d return soon and Toni could perform the Brad pass-off. For now, however, she’d have to deal with him.

Their gazes met and her stupid pulse performed a somersault. Crap. Why did he have to be so attractive?

He’s not merely attractive, her suddenly alert hormones informed her. He is steaming hot.

Okay, fine. Steaming hot. Lots of men were steaming hot. Didn’t they litter those men’s cologne ads? Yes, they did. So what was it about this one that got under her skin? Maybe she was allergic to him. She instantly brightened. That’s all this was-a pesky allergy. One antihistamine and she’d be cured.

It’ll take more than an allergy pill to purge this guy from your system, her talkative hormones whispered. And he hasn’t even touched you. Or kissed you.

Touched her…kissed her…

An image popped into her mind, of him walking toward her. Not stopping or slowing down, just wrapping those strong arms around her, picking her up and still walking, until her back hit the wall. Settling his beautiful mouth on hers. His tongue slipping past her lips. His hard, muscular body pressing against her-

“’Morning, gorgeous.”

The deep masculine voice yanked Toni from her sensual reverie and she blinked. And realized he’d walked to the counter. And that now only the three-foot-wide slab of granite-and a dozen centerpieces-separated them. Three feet and a bunch of flowers she could easily reach across. Or jump over.

Heat rushed into her face and she inwardly winced. Great. Now she’d look blotchy. Annoyance-at herself for her runaway thoughts and at him for looking so damn tempting-skittered through her. A good dose of irritation followed, thanks to the way her heart sped up because he’d called her gorgeous. He undoubtedly called every woman that. It irked her no end that she wasn’t as immune to such meaningless flattery as she’d thought.

“Good morning,” she said, looking down, partly to keep from staring at him, partly to hide the flame scorching her cheeks. She stabbed pine into the centerpiece in front of her with far more force than necessary.

“You okay?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “You look sorta…flushed.”

Her head jerked up at that. Their gazes collided and she found herself staring into his beautiful, ocean-colored eyes, the sort you could drown in while trying to figure out if they were more green or blue.

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice laced with a hint of challenge, daring him to disagree.

Instead he nodded. Then grinned. “You sure are.”

That damn grin crinkled the corners of those beautiful eyes and annoyingly seemed to peel away several layers of muscle from her legs.

“It’s just the reflection of all these red leaves and decorations and lights,” she said, waving her hand to encompass the store.

His gaze followed her hand, pausing on the Christmas tree set in the window. “Pretty tree,” he said. “Is that a new addition?”

“It’s been there for the past two weeks.”

He returned his attention to her and smiled. Whoa. The grin was pretty damn great, but the full smile was potent with a capital P. Warm, flirty and intimate all at the same time. Another few layers of strength fled her knees without a backward glance. She stabbed in another piece of pine and pretended she didn’t feel it.

“Guess I was too busy looking at you to notice,” he said. “What are all those little red envelopes hanging on it?”

For an answer she handed him a flyer from the pile on the end of the counter. “The Twelve Steamy Nights of Christmas,” he read. His gaze flicked back up to hers. “Sounds promising.”

“It’s for charity,” she said quickly, groaning inwardly as the words poured from her like a flood-a curse that occurred whenever she was nervous. And dammit, he made her nervous. “Each envelope contains a gift for a…sensual night out.” Crap. Her tongue had tripped on the word sensual. “Local restaurants have donated meal cards, shops in the area gave gift cards, that sort of thing. For a twenty-five-dollar donation, you can pick any envelope you want. All the proceeds go to local charities.”

He nodded. “Very nice. Your idea?”

“Yes. It seemed a good way to introduce myself and Blooming Pails to the community and do some good at the same time.” Which was absolutely true-although the full truth was that after six months with zero sex, the idea was also inspired by her own deep desire for a steamy, sensual Christmas gift. But since nothing remotely resembling sexy, steamy, sensual-all those lovely S words-hovered in her immediate future, she’d just live vicariously through her customers.

“Great idea. Lots of folks need help, especially this time of year. A fire last night in Ocean Harbor Beach left a family homeless.”

Toni’s stomach clenched. “I’m sorry to hear that. Anyone hurt?”

“No, but they lost everything.”

“If they’re still alive, they didn’t lose anything that really matters.”

“True,” he agreed. “But it’s still a tough situation. The guys at all the stations in the county participate in a toy drive every Christmas. It’s really hard to think of kids not having a present from Santa to open.”

Toni nodded. She recalled the faces of such children, such families, who’d lost everything. Even now, three years later, with that life behind her, the images still haunted her. To this day she still jumped at the sound of a fire alarm, and adrenaline pumped at the sight of a fire truck. She blinked away the heart-wrenching memories and said, “The toy drive’s a great idea. Even as we speak, my assistant is dropping off our donation at the Santa Rey station.” An errand Toni had thought she was so smart sending Jayne off on so she wouldn’t have to visit the firehouse. Little had she known Brad would show up here while Jayne was gone.

“On behalf of all of us, I thank you.” He glanced back down at the flyer. “It says if you bring your little red envelope here the day you’re using the contents, Blooming Pails will provide a free rose for the date.” He looked at her and zoom went her pulse. “Pretty romantic.”

Was he laughing at her? It was impossible to tell, just something else annoying about him. She could usually read people very well, but Bradley Griffin and his unwanted sex appeal kept clogging up her receptors. “You have something against romance? Or roses?”

“Heck no. And to prove it, I’ll buy one of the red envelopes.” He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and she absolutely didn’t notice the fascinating play of muscles beneath his snug black T-shirt. Or the way his jeans clung to his lean hips and long muscular legs. Nope. Didn’t notice a thing. Besides, what was the big deal? She knew damn well what great shape firefighters had to be in. Just because his shape looked better than most didn’t mean she had to stare.

He pulled out his wallet and handed her twenty-five dollars. Their fingers brushed as the money exchanged hands, shooting a tingle straight up her arm. “Which envelope should I pick?”

Any one. Then take your tempting, sexy self out of here and don’t come back. She shrugged. “Your choice.”

He leaned a bit closer and she pulled in a quick breath, one that filled her head with his scent. God, he smelled good. Clean. Like sunshine and freshly showered man. She had to lock her knees and grip the edge of the counter to keep from giving in to the temptation to bury her nose against his neck and simply breathe him in.

“What if I said you were my choice?” he asked softly.

She forced her gaze to remain steady on his-his gaze that was filled with unmistakable interest. And heat. Enough heat to make her feel as if someone had just set a match to her skin. “I’d say you were trying to pick something off the wrong tree.”

For an answer he just smiled-which was bad enough on her already weakened knees, but then he winked.

Oh, God. Why did he have to wink? A man that good-looking shouldn’t be allowed to wink. Especially at her-a woman who harbored a freakish weakness for winking. And what this man could do with one wink…good lord, she needed to ring up his purchase and send him on his way.

She turned and headed toward the cash register. From the corner of her eye, she watched him peruse the tree, as if choosing a card was a monumental decision. Finally, he plucked one from an upper branch then walked toward her waggling the envelope between his long, strong fingers. “Wanna see what I got?”

God, do I ever. I wanna see everything you’ve got. She firmly told her inner voice to shut the hell up then picked up several roses and resumed her work. “If you want to show me.”

The heat that flared in his eyes stilled her hands. And damn near stopped her heart. Okay, wrong thing to say. Why, oh, why didn’t life have a rewind button? Or a judge to rule on such things. Your honor, I’d like my last statement stricken from the record.

“Oh, I definitely want to show you.”

Her mouth went dry. It simply wasn’t right how this man turned her on just standing there. Why couldn’t he be an accountant? Anything but a firefighter? She briefly wondered if Nana Rose had put some sort of Sicilian curse on her love life.

With his gaze on hers, he opened the credit-card-sized envelope and slipped out its contents. Then he looked down. And smiled. Then looked up at her. With a heated expression that threatened to melt the soles of her sneakers.

“This must be my lucky day,” he murmured. He pulled out his wallet and handed her another twenty-five bucks. “I’ll take another.”

Before she could recover from her surprise, he headed back toward the tree. Her gaze zeroed in on his ass. And what a fine ass it was. The man definitely had a great walkaway. When he crouched down to mull over the envelopes near the bottom of the tree, her head tilted to admire the view, while in her mind’s eye his jeans-along with the rest of his clothes-miraculously disappeared. When he returned a moment later holding another envelope, she realized she was still standing precisely where he’d left her, holding the twenty-five bucks, her head still tilted to one side, and the fantasy-induced image of his bare backside fried into her brain.

“Wanna see what I’ve got now?”

I just saw it. And it was fiiiine. She blinked away the image of a naked Brad and shrugged. “You can show me what’s in the envelope-since I have a feeling you will no matter what I say.”

“C’mon, you’re as curious as I am.”

True, unfortunately. Insatiably curious about what his skin would feel like beneath her fingertips. What his kiss would taste like. How his large hands would feel skimming down her body. How quickly they could bring each other to orgasm. How long they could make it last before coming together.

All things she desperately wished she wasn’t curious about.

He opened the envelope and perused its contents. “Perfect. This really is my lucky day.” He set the gift card from the first envelope he’d opened on the counter and slid it toward her.

Toni looked at it and her eyebrows shot up. “Perfect? Really? A red-and-white peppermint-striped lace Christmas thong from Mimi’s Intimate Apparel on Third Street?” She pushed the card back toward him. “Congratulations, although really, I would have pegged you for a boxer man myself.”

He pushed the card back toward her. “Glad to know you’ve been thinking about what’s under my clothes.”

“I’ve done no such thing,” she lied, ignoring the fact that she sounded like a prudish schoolmarm. A lying prudish schoolmarm. She pushed the card back toward him. “Have fun with that.”

“That’s my fondest hope.” With a single fingertip he once again pushed the card back toward her. “For you.”

Again, her brows shot upward. “Me?”

“You. Doesn’t take much of a leap of imagination to figure that that peppermint-striped thong would look a hell of a lot better on you than me.”

She slid the card back at him. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

He slid it right back to her. “C’mon. Help a guy out.” He flashed a devilish grin. “The boys at the station would razz me no end if I showed up in something from Mimi’s Intimate Apparel. You have no idea how brutal those guys can be.”

Actually she did. All too well. Never again. She pushed the card back to him, this time with a bit more force. “As much as I appreciate the thought, I have to decline. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding someone else to give those panties to.”

“Seems I already am having trouble.” Once again he pushed the card toward her, this time setting the red envelope next to it. “Since you don’t want it, why don’t you just put the card back on the tree? And instead, I’ll offer you this one.” He set the second card on the counter and nudged it toward her.

She looked down at the gift card for dinner for two at Sea Shells, Santa Rey’s most popular beachside restaurant.

“Have dinner with me,” he said softly.

Her insides threatened to melt into goo and she gritted her teeth against the appalling affect he had on her. She turned the card around so it faced him then pushed both it and the other one back toward him. And stiffened her rapidly weakening spine. “Thanks, but we already had this conversation. I told you I was involved.”

“I know. But I heard that you aren’t.”

“You heard wrong.”

“You have a boyfriend?”

She hesitated, cursing the fact that she wasn’t a better liar. That brief hesitation clanged out like a choir of church bells that she didn’t have a boyfriend. A triumphant gleam entered his eyes. “You don’t.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m looking for one,” she said.

“So I won’t be your boyfriend. I’ll just be the guy you go out to dinner with. What’s the harm in one little date?”

“I’m trying to get my business off the ground. I’m too busy right now to date.”

“Then what’s the harm in one little dinner? Or are you going to tell me you’re too busy to eat?”

Toni tucked a wayward curl behind her ear and drew a deep breath. “Look, I might as well tell you, Brad…you’re just not my type.”

“Because I’m a firefighter.”

It wasn’t a question. So clearly he’d heard something from someone. Well, good. It saved her from making explanations she wasn’t inclined to give. “That’s right.”

“Care to tell me what you have against my occupation?”

“No. And I can’t see how it matters. Listen, you seem like a nice guy-”

“I am. Ask my mom. She’ll tell you.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice, as if imparting a great secret. “Don’t ask my older brother, though. He’ll tell you I’m a pain in the ass.”

She had to force herself not to grin. “I appreciate you buying the gift cards, but I won’t go out to dinner with you.”

“Because I’m a firefighter.”

“Yes.”

“So, if I were say, an accountant, you’d go to dinner with me?”

“You’re not an accountant.”

“But if I were?” he insisted.

She desperately wanted to tell him no, but knew she’d never make it sound convincing given that every hormone in her body was shouting yes! “Fine. Yes, if you were an accountant, or a cowboy, or even a circus clown, I’d go to dinner with you. But you’re not, so I won’t.” She nodded toward the dozen centerpieces. “And now, unless there’s something else you’d like to purchase, I really need to get back to work.”

He studied her for several long seconds and she forced herself to hold his gaze so he could see she meant it and wasn’t being coy. Finally he gave a tight nod. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He scooped up the two gift cards and slipped them in his back pocket. “See ya, Toni,” he said softly, then turned and walked toward the door. The bell tinkled as he departed and Toni stared at the now-empty doorway. He was gone. Good. And undoubtedly wouldn’t be back. Even better. She’d probably never see him again. Excellent. She was glad. Really, really glad.

She returned her attention to her centerpieces. And ignored her little inner voice that told her she was a big fat liar.

3

LESS THAN a minute after Brad departed the shop, the door opened again. Toni’s heart jumped, thinking he had returned, but instead Jayne hurried in, her cheeks flushed, eyes bright, toting a shopping bag. Toni told herself that the odd feeling rushing through her was relief. Of course it was. It certainly wasn’t disappointment.

“Sorry I took so long,” Jayne said. “I got tied up at the firehouse. Not literally, of course,” she added with a laugh. “but when I arrived bearing toys, I was an instant hit with the firefighters.”

“Uh-huh. And I’m sure the fact that you’re blond and cute had nothing to do with it.”

“Uh-huh. And I’m also very happily married, and in case you’ve forgotten…” she turned to the side and struck a pose, one that emphasized the gentle swell of her belly “…five months pregnant, which is why I drank nothing but seltzer at Breezes last night. Speaking of firefighters, wasn’t that Brad Griffin I just saw leaving the shop?”

Toni nodded. “He bought two gift cards from our tree.” Have dinner with me.

“That was nice of him.”

I’m a nice guy. Ask my mom. “The Twelve Steamy Nights of Christmas is a big hit. Every card makes a great gift.”

“And speaking of gifts…I have not one, but two for you. And both of them have to do with Brad Griffin.”

Toni’s gaze shifted to the shopping bag Jayne set on the counter. “There’s a voodoo doll of him in that bag that I can stick pins in to make him go away?”

“Nope. Even better.” Jayne reached for her bright green Blooming Pails apron. “I got scoop on him.”

Toni shook her head. “Forget it. I know everything I need to know. Not interested.”

Jayne joined her behind the counter and set to trimming roses for the centerpieces. “Not even in his nickname at the Ocean Harbor Beach firehouse? It’s very…interesting.”

Toni pursed her lips. What the hell. Might as well make conversation. “Fine. You can tell me, but only because you’re clearly dying to. What is it, and how did you find out?”

“The guys were only too pleased to tell me when they gave me those.” She nodded her chin toward the shopping bag she’d placed on the counter.

“Those?”

Jayne set down her clippers and reached into the bag. “One for each of us.”

She handed Toni a calendar. The front showed a muscular firefighter sporting six-pack abs, leaning against a fire truck. Bright crimson letters proclaimed that Firefighters Like It Hot.

“Very nice,” Toni said, setting the calendar aside. “But I hope you didn’t pay too much for it. This calendar is from two years ago.”

“It was free. The calendar was made to raise funds for fire safety and awareness after those tens of thousands of acres burned a few years back. The station had some copies left over and the guys are giving them to folks who donate toys.”

“But who needs a calendar that’s two years old?”

“Eye candy never goes out of date. For instance-check out Mr. December.”

Suppressing a sigh, Toni picked up the glossy calendar and turned to December. And found herself staring at Brad. Brad whose skin gleamed wet from the water trickling out of the fire hose nozzle draped around his broad, muscular shoulders. Brad who wore only a sexy smile and his yellow bunker pants, which hung dangerously low on his lean hips, held up by a single red suspender. Brad, whose gorgeous blue-green eyes seemed to bore into hers, inviting her to join him in a little water fun.

Her gaze skimmed over his defined pecs and ridged abdomen and she barely resisted the urge to fan herself. A small Cross of Saint Florian tattoo, the badge of firefighters, adorned his chest, right above the place where she’d feel his heart beat if she were to touch him.

“Nice hose, huh?”

Jayne’s voice yanked Toni from the stupor into which she’d fallen. To her dismay she was tracing her fingertip over his tattoo. She snatched her hand away as if the paper had burned her. “I didn’t know he’d posed for a calendar.”

“I think there’s a lot you don’t know about him-something he’d clearly like to change since he’s in here every week. And if you think it’s because he likes flowers, you’re nuts.”

Toni somehow managed to pull her gaze away from the photograph. “He asked me out again when he was here this morning.”

“Please tell me you said yes.”

“I said no.”

Jayne shook her head and pointed to the picture. “Are you crazy?”

“No, I’m busy. And not looking for any distractions. Especially with a-”

“Firefighter. I know. But who says you have to marry the guy? Just use him for sex.”

“What would Tim think if he heard you talking like this?” she asked, referring to Jayne’s studly husband, who owned Santa Rey’s largest surf shop.

“As long as I’m not using Brad for sex, he wouldn’t care.” She looked over Toni’s shoulder at the photo and heaved a gushy sigh. “That is one fine-looking man. Too bad about the nickname this picture spawned.”

Bad? There was nothing bad about it. Mystified, she asked, “What’s his nickname?”

“Would you believe…Elf?”

“Elf?” Toni shook her head. “How’d they get Elf from this picture? He’s gotta be six-four, and nothing on him looks small.” Nope, not a thing.

“The hat.”

Toni’s gaze shifted to his head. And for the first time she noticed that a green hat, the sort Christmas elves in malls wore, was perched on his head at a rakish angle. “Oh.”

“Definitely not what one notices first about this picture,” Jayne said.

Toni hadn’t noticed it at all. “Uh…no.” She could think of a few nicknames the photo would inspire, and none of them were Elf. Steamy, for instance. Or Red-Hot. She doubted he cared for Elf, and she couldn’t blame him.

“He certainly has a nice body,” Jayne said, picking up her shears once again.

An understatement if Toni ever heard one. “Uh-huh.”

“And really nice eyes.”

“I guess.”

“And a great smile.”

“I suppose.” If you liked slightly crooked, devilish and devastatingly sexy smiles. She forced herself to snap the calendar closed then slipped it back in the shopping bag. After setting the bag beneath the counter, she once again returned her attention to the centerpieces.

“And lovely lips,” Jayne said.

Toni heaved an inward sigh. Really lovely lips. The kind that looked soft yet firm at the same time. The kind that undoubtedly knew how to kiss extremely well.

“After we finish these centerpieces, we need to start on the floral arrangement for the Chamber of Commerce,” Toni said.

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Yes, I am. Because there’s nothing left to discuss.”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re extremely stubborn?”

“Yes. My mother. And my nana. And my three brothers. And my sister.”

“Not your father?”

“I’m sure he would have if he’d been able to squeeze in a word around Mom, Nana and the siblings. Now, about the Chamber of Commerce arrangement…”

For the next hour, Toni kept the conversation strictly business. A steady stream of customers trickled in and she took several phone orders. She and Jayne had just finished the wedding arrangements when the door opened. Toni looked up from the box where she was packing the fragrant centerpieces. And stared. At Brad. At least she thought it was Brad. It looked like Brad, but his golden brown hair was flattened down and parted on the side. And what the hell was he wearing?

Her gaze skimmed over black-rimmed glasses whose hinges appeared held together by tape. A white dress shirt with half a dozen pens sticking out of the pocket. Black dress pants that were hiked up way too high on his waist which showed off the dreaded white socks/black shoes combo.

He walked toward her and she realized it was indeed Brad. He stopped in front of the counter and smiled. “Hi, Toni. Hi, Jayne.”

“Is that you, Brad?” Jayne asked, squinting at him.

“Sure is. How do you like my new look?”

“It’s, um, interesting,” Jayne said, clearly trying to be diplomatic.

“What do you think?” he asked Toni.

“You look kinda…nerdy.”

Instead of appearing insulted, he smiled. “Perfect. That’s how accountants are supposed to look, right?”

“So this is for a costume party?” Jayne asked with a laugh.

Brad shook his head. “No. It’s for a date.” He reached in his back pocket and pulled out a gift card. Toni instantly recognized it as the one he’d bought just an hour ago-dinner for two at Sea Shells. He set the card on the counter and pushed it slowly toward her. “You wanted an accountant-you got one. Have dinner with me.”

Warmth rushed through Toni at the gesture. It was funny and annoying and romantic and ridiculous, and to her horror she felt the word yes rush into her throat. She forced it back and fixed him with a stern stare. “I’ve heard of makeovers, but this is definitely a makeunder.”

Looking confused, he pushed up his taped glasses. “Isn’t this what accountants look like?”

“Yeah-in comic strips and cartoons. You look like you got attacked by a copy of The Nerd’s Complete Guide to Bad Fashion.”

“Is that so? Well, at the last accountant convention I attended, this is what I wore and I was the height of fashion. Really. I mean that.”

“Uh-huh.”

He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Hey, you’re the one who wanted an accountant. I’m just trying to be accommodating.”

“I was actually thinking more along the lines of an accountant who might wear an Armani suit.”

“According to The Nerd’s Complete Guide to Bad Fashion, accountants don’t wear Armani. They wear high-water pants and pocket protectors.” He pointed to the array of writing implements in his shirt pocket. “And always carry bandages in case their pens stab them in the boob.”

A giggle escaped her and she coughed to cover it. “You’re not an accountant.”

“Oh, yeah?” He leaned closer and flashed her a naughty grin. “Wanna see my assets?”

More than I’ll ever let you know. “Keep talking like that and I’ll report you to the IRS.” She pushed the gift card back toward him.

“So even though you said you wanted an accountant and I’ve turned into an accountant, the answer is still no?”

“Correct.” Although she had to give him props for ingenuity. Not that she had any intention of telling him that, of course.

He leaned back and stared at her through those ridiculous glasses and she had to press her lips together to keep from laughing. “What would you say if I told you you’re a hard woman to please?”

“I’d say you were right.”

He muttered something under his breath about women being fickle-hearted creatures then retrieved his gift card and slipped it back in his pants pocket. “No argument here. Well, I guess I’d better go. I have um, accounting-type things to do.”

“You mean like tax returns?” Toni asked.

“Yeah. Stuff like that. See ya.”

How unfair was it that even dressed in high-water pants, the man looked utterly delicious? As soon as the door closed behind him, Jayne planted her hands on her hips and shot Toni The Look.

“I guess you’re wondering what that was all about,” Toni said, ignoring The Look and reaching for another centerpiece.

“Actually, I was able to connect the dots pretty well. What I want to know is how you could possibly turn him down! Did you not see how sweet that was? How romantic? Obviously the guy is totally into you. When’s the last time a man made such an effort?”

Since she couldn’t remember if any man had ever made such an effort, she merely shrugged.

“If I weren’t so in love and so knocked up, I’d have dinner with him. What are you, made of steel?”

“Titanium,” Toni corrected, although, given how tempted she’d been to accept his invitation, she had to wonder if it was true.

“Well, just remember that even titanium can melt if exposed to hot enough temperatures.”

“Noted. Why don’t you start on the Chamber of Commerce piece while I finish boxing these centerpieces?”

“Fine,” Jayne grumbled, her lower lip sticking out in a pout. “I’ll do that while you box centerpieces and regret letting that beautiful man get away.”

“No regrets,” Toni said with a smile, but even as the words left her mouth she wondered if they were true.

Forty-five minutes later, Toni was just adding a bright red satin bow to a poinsettia for her latest customer when the bell above the door jingled. She glanced that way, noting the tall man dressed in jeans, a denim shirt and a ten-gallon hat whose brim shadowed his features. Smiling, she handed the woman the plant then turned toward the man. And froze as recognition hit her.

“Howdy, ma’am,” Brad said in a slow drawl, his lips curving upward in a smile. He then touched the brim of his hat and nodded a greeting to Jayne.

Jayne shot him a grin. “Don’t tell me-she said she’d rather date a cowboy than a firefighter.”

“That’s the truth,” Brad replied in his exaggerated drawl. He stepped up to the counter and slapped down the dinner gift card in front of Toni. With his eyes gleaming at her, he said, “Thought I’d mosey on over here and see if I couldn’t convince you to share some vittles with me.” He pushed back his hat and gave her a sexy smile that she suspected could actually melt titanium. “Whattaya say, little lady? Have dinner with me. If you do, I’ll dazzle you with some of my cowboy wisdom.”

Dammit, she was having a hard time resisting this. God knows if he really were a cowboy, she’d take him up on his offer in a snap. But he wasn’t. So she crossed her arms over her chest and shot him a skeptical look. “Cowboy wisdom?”

“That’s right. Such as, don’t squat with your spurs on.”

Toni considered, then nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Always drink upstream from the herd. If you’re riding ahead of the herd, look back once in a while to make sure it’s still there. Never slap a man who’s chewing tobacco.” He gave a solemn nod. “Yes, ma’am, words to live by.” He pushed the gift card closer to her and lowered his voice. “Have dinner with me.”

The heat in his eyes, the intimacy in his tone, touched something deep inside Toni. Something she didn’t want touched. Especially not by him. For three years she’d never once wavered from her resolve to avoid firefighters. Had never been even remotely tempted to do so. The fact that she was now so sorely tempted confused and irritated her. And actually scared her. And on top of that, the timing was all wrong. She simply didn’t have time for this. For him. For anyone.

She pushed the gift card back. “Look, I appreciate the effort you’ve put in here, but-”

“So have dinner with me.”

She had to force herself to shake her head. Force herself to say, “No. Thank you, but no. And I recall the rest of our earlier conversation. Please don’t show up here dressed as a circus clown. This is very flattering, but the answer is still no.”

He heaved a sigh and slipped the gift card back in his pocket. “Well, as they say on the ranch, if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.” He tipped his hat, then without another word, turned and loped out of the store.

“Okay, that does it,” Jayne said, reaching for the phone. “I’m calling the men in the white coats. You’re totally certifiable. You must have a lump of granite where your heart belongs. Not to mention rocks in your head to turn him down.”

“I’m sure you mean that in the nicest way,” Toni said, unable to keep the traces of hurt and annoyance from her voice.

“Actually, I don’t. Look, I understand your aversion to firefighters-”

“Thank you. Because it doesn’t seem as if you do.”

Jayne reached out and clasped Toni’s hand. “I really do, sweetie. And I agree with you. What happened to you was awful and wrong and very, very hurtful. You have every right to feel the way you do. But in this particular case, I think you’re making a mistake to pile Brad into the same category as those idiots you worked with. They’re the ones who hurt you-not Brad. He seems really sweet and sincere, and God knows, he’s sexy as hell. And obviously he has a sense of humor. How many times have I heard you say you’d love to meet a man with a sense of humor?”

“And I would. Someday. Not now. And never, if he’s a firefighter.”

“It’s only dinner. A simple meal.”

A humorless sound escaped Toni. “A simple meal. The problem is I somehow don’t think it would remain simple. And that…scares me.” There. She’d said it out loud.

“Of course it could be simple-if that’s what you want.”

“You really think I should have said yes?”

“Yes. I really think you should have. Maybe he’s a really great guy whose only fault is saving people’s lives for a living. That beast.”

“Maybe he’s a real jerk.”

“Maybe. Don’t you want to know? I know I would.”

Toni pulled in a long breath. Dammit, she did want to know. She didn’t want to want to know, but she did. Which was really annoying. And frightening.

“What if I discover he isn’t a jerk?”

“Would that really be so terrible?” Jayne asked, her big blue eyes filled with compassion.

“Yes. No.” Toni raked her hands through her curls. “I don’t know. I have so much on my plate right now, with the shop and upcoming bank review-I need a man like I need a bad rash.”

“I disagree. After six months with no sex, I think a man is exactly what you need. A few man-induced orgasms would be a perfect Christmas gift to give yourself.”

Toni refused to consider how perfect a few man-induced orgasms would be. “If he isn’t a jerk…I’m afraid…I don’t want to end up liking a guy whose occupation would remind me every day of something I’ve worked very hard to put behind me and forget.”

“Well, as I said before, it isn’t necessary that you marry the guy. Again-you haven’t had sex in six months.”

“Way to rub it in.”

“I’m just stating a fact.” Jayne grabbed the calendar from the bag beneath the counter and flashed Mr. December’s picture. “If that’s not enough to make you want to end your sexless streak, you don’t have a pulse.”

Toni grabbed the calendar and shoved it back beneath the counter. “Fine. He’s hot. Fine. I’m horny. Doesn’t matter since he’s gone and won’t be back. It’s for the best.” Right. Completely for the best.

“But if he came back?”

“He won’t. I was very clear.”

“But if he did?” Jayne persisted.

“If he did, then I’d-”

The door opened and the jingling bell cut off her words. She turned and her pulse stuttered as Brad, dressed, she guessed, as himself, in jeans and a green polo shirt, entered. With his gaze steady on hers, he approached the counter. God help her, he looked good enough to eat. An image instantly popped into her mind. Of her running her tongue down his torso. Licking her way beneath his waistband-

“It occurred to me,” he said when he stood in front of her, “that you never mentioned a teacher.”

Toni had to swallow to find her voice. “Teacher?”

He nodded. “In addition to being a firefighter, I’m also a teacher. At the Ocean Harbor Beach Community College.”

“What do you teach?”

“An Emergency Medical Technician training course. I worked as an EMT before joining the fire department. I teach on my off days.”

“I see…Professor.”

He flashed a grin then pulled out the now-very-familiar gift card from his back pocket and set it on the counter. “Another cowboy bit of wisdom is-when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. So that’s what I’m doing.” He nudged the card toward her. “Have dinner with me. C’mon, Toni. Just one little dinner.”

Dammit. Her resolve was melting like chocolate left in the sun. “How do you know so much about cowboy wisdom?”

“I spent three summers during high school working on my uncle’s ranch in Wyoming. I’d be happy to tell you all about it over dinner.”

“Are you always this persistent?”

All traces of amusement faded from his eyes, which now looked more green than blue thanks to his shirt. “No.”

That single softly spoken word rendered a direct hit to her rapidly weakening resolve.

“And just so you know,” he continued, “I can keep this up for a while. I have the next two days off.”

“What about your class?”

“The semester ended last week. School doesn’t start again until after the new year.” He nudged the card closer to her. “So…are you free tonight? Please say yes. I really don’t want to come back here dressed as a circus clown.”

Her lips twitched. “Would you?”

His gaze dipped to her mouth and heat flared in his eyes. Heat that sizzled over to her like an electric current and whooshed straight to her core. He raised his eyes to hers. “Yes, I would.”

Somehow resisting the urge to wave her hand in front of her flushed face, she fixed him with a hard stare. “Just one dinner.” After all, what could be the harm in one little dinner? A girl had to eat-right?

Relief flickered in his eyes. “One dinner,” he agreed. “Tonight?”

Might as well make it tonight and get it over with, she decided. Surely this one ill-advised meal that she annoyingly couldn’t seem to resist would drive home the fact that getting involved in any way with a firefighter was a bad idea. Meanwhile, she’d just pretend he was nothing more than a teacher. A really hot teacher. A really hot teacher she already knew looked incredible all wet.

“Tonight,” she agreed. She’d give him one evening, then put him from her mind. And put her focus back where it belonged-on her business.

A huge grin split his handsome face. “I’ll pick you up-”

“I’ll meet you at Sea Shells,” she said firmly. “Eight o’clock.”

“Eight o’clock,” he agreed. After saying goodbye to Jayne, he left the store. The instant the door closed behind him, Jayne said, “Thank God you said yes. If you hadn’t, I would have told Santa to let a reindeer kick you. I would have kicked you.”

“It’s just dinner,” Toni said, trying to ignore the fissure of jittery anticipation running through her.

“Of course it is,” Jayne agreed in a calm voice. “Still, be sure to bring some condoms. Just in case you decide you want dessert.”

4

BRAD SAT in a corner booth at the bustling Sea Shells restaurant and forced himself not to look at his watch; he knew less than a minute had passed since he’d last peeked at the time. Which meant it was five minutes to eight. Five minutes that he suspected were going to pass ve-e-ery slowly.

Dammit, he was nervous. He tried to recall the last time he’d felt so jumpy about a date and realized it was probably in high school. Great. Thirty years old and struck down by teenageritis. It was just a date. Just one little dinner.

Yeah. With a woman you’ve wanted for three months. With a woman you clearly have one shot with. Screw this up and you’re finished.

No pressure.

Yet in spite of his nervousness, he felt more alive than he had in months. Because of the number of women who made themselves available to the guys at the station, it had been a long time since he’d actually had to do any pursuing. In fact, he didn’t know one firefighter who was single who had trouble finding a woman. When was the last time he’d had to put any effort into getting a date or a one-night stand? Damned if he could remember. But then, when was the last time he’d experienced the sort of wild attraction he felt toward Toni?

Never. He never had.

In an effort to relax and not glance at his watch again, he looked out the window at the foamy waves rushing onto the sand. The star-studded sky resembled diamonds tossed on inky velvet, and the full moon cast the beach with a bright silvery glow that reflected off the water. A few people walked along the sand: teenagers jostling each other, a family with two small children who chased the seabirds darting near the waves’ edge, couples holding hands. He studied one couple in particular, their arms wrapped around each other. They were chatting and laughing, smiling, completely absorbed in each other. Even though they didn’t look anything like Greg and Tanya, the love and happiness that radiated from them reminded him of his brother and his bride, and a pang of unmistakable envy hit Brad right in the chest.

“It’s a beautiful night. Can’t remember when I’ve seen so many stars.”

His head jerked around at the slightly husky feminine voice, and he found himself staring up at Toni. Toni, whose shiny dark curls spilled over her bare shoulders. Toni, whose big brown eyes were locked on his. Toni, whose full lips gleamed with a touch of gloss that looked good enough to lick. Toni, whose killer curves were highlighted by a strapless Christmasy-red dress that immediately set him on fire.

Talk about a hit right in the chest.

He stood and tried not to stare, but failed. “Hi,” he managed, feeling like a tongue-tied teen standing before his fantasy girl. “You look…Wow.”

His gaze swept over her, noting the smooth, creamy skin that showed just a hint of cleavage, the way the dress hugged her feminine form to her hips then flared to flirt around her knees, the sexy peep-toe silver heels, the red-polished toes that matched her dress. Damn, even her feet were beautiful. And those heels made her legs look endless. He raised his gaze back to hers, and noted her looking him over. He hoped his dark gray dress pants and white dress shirt met with her approval because she sure as hell met with his.

He wanted to add that she looked amazing. Gorgeous. Classy. Incredible. Instead he could only repeat, “Wow.”

Color rushed into her cheeks. “Thanks.” Her gaze wandered over him again and her lips twitched. “What happened to your high-water pants?”

“I retired them. Apparently I need to look for something by Armani.”

He stepped behind her to hold her chair, and found himself less than a foot away from her bare shoulders. The expanse of smooth, satiny skin beckoned his fingers like a siren’s call and he had to grasp the back of the chair to keep from touching her. The subtle scent of flowers wafted toward him and he couldn’t keep from leaning a bit closer to catch the elusive fragrance. She smelled incredible. Like a garden in the sunshine.

She shot him a half smile over her shoulder, murmured, “Thank you,” then gracefully sat. After pushing in her chair, he resettled himself in the seat opposite her. And wondered how he was going to make it through the meal without giving in to the overwhelming urge to touch her. The craving to kiss her. How the hell was he even going to make conversation with her when all he could do was stare? She’d done something to her eyes…applied some sort of smoky makeup that reeled him in like a fish on a hook. Made it impossible to look away from her.

“For you,” she said. He managed to drag his gaze from hers and saw that she held out a single red rose. “As the Twelve Steamy Nights of Christmas flyer promised, if you come into Blooming Pails the day you use your gift card, you receive a rose. Since you came in-several times-I thought it only fair that you get yours.”

He reached for the bloom, taking the opportunity to brush his fingers against hers. An electric tingle rushed up his arm. One that kept on going and settled in his groin. She stilled at the contact and he wondered if she felt this same…whatever the hell it was…that he did.

“No woman has ever given me a flower before.”

“How many flower-shop owners have you taken to dinner?”

“You’re the first.”

She flashed a smile. “That could be why.”

“I have something for you, too,” he said, reaching down for the small silver-and-green gift bag he’d set by his feet.

She frowned when he placed the bag on the table in front of her. “That’s a…gift.”

“Well, ’tis the season. You gave me one.”

She shook her head. “No, I didn’t. I brought you the flower you were entitled to.”

“Then don’t consider this a gift. Consider it a favor.”

Still frowning, she peeked in the bag. Then looked at him over its bright foil edge. “The gift card for the thong at Mimi’s Intimate Apparel?”

He nodded. “Seriously, you’d be doing me a huge favor by taking it off my hands. It’s not like I can wear it.”

“There must be fifty other women you could give it to.”

“Actually, no. And even if there were, I want you to have it. Since it came off the tree in your store, it’s only fitting it be yours.”

She said nothing for several seconds and he could almost see her internal debate as to whether she should accept the present. Finally she said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He shot her a wink. “I hope you’ll think of me when you wear it.”

Another crimson blush suffused her cheeks and he nearly groaned. He tried to remember the last time he’d seen a female over the age of fourteen blush, and came up blank. Silence swelled between them and he frantically searched his mind for something to say. Something other than I want to kiss you so badly I can hardly think straight. He was saved when the waiter appeared with their menus and the wine list.

“Do you prefer red or white?” Brad asked her. “Or maybe champagne?”

“Chardonnay, please.”

He consulted the list and ordered a bottle. After the waiter departed, Brad opened his menu, but couldn’t concentrate on it since he was so busy looking at her. After a quick perusal of her menu, she closed it and set it aside. He gave up and did the same. Before he could think up anything brilliant to say, the waiter reappeared with their wine. After he’d poured them each a glass, he turned to Toni to take her order. Brad’s gaze zeroed in on her glossy lips, watching her form each word, imagining that gorgeous mouth pressed against his.

“And for you, sir?” the waiter asked, turning toward him.

“The same for me,” Brad said, unable to look away from Toni. He had no idea what she’d ordered, but since he pretty much liked everything except broccoli, it didn’t really matter. Hell, he’d even eat broccoli if that’s what she’d ordered. As far as he was concerned, this meal definitely fell into the category of “it doesn’t matter what you’re eating, it’s who you’re eating with.”

After the waiter left, he picked up his wineglass and held it aloft. “To…” He hesitated, unwilling to say what he really wanted to for fear of scaring her off. Us. Beginnings. An incredible night.

“An enjoyable evening,” he finished.

She inclined her head and touched the rim of her glass to his. After taking a sip, he set down his drink and said, “So, tell me why you don’t like firefighters.”

She raised her brows. “Boy, you don’t waste any time.”

“If this is the only date I’m going to get, I don’t have any time to waste.”

“This isn’t a date,” she reminded him. “It’s just-to use your words-one little dinner.”

Not if I can help it. If he had his way, this one little dinner was going to turn into one hot night followed by one hot morning. Then repeat same. Until neither of them could move and this fire she had lit in him was put out.

Obviously a plan best not put on the table right now.

“Okay,” he agreed. “So since this is the one little dinner I’m going to get, tell me why you don’t like firefighters.” He studied her for several seconds then guessed, “Bad breakup?”

“I suppose you could describe it like that, but not in the way you’re suggesting. It’s nothing to do with a boyfriend.” She drew a deep breath, then with her gaze steady on his, said, “I used to be a firefighter.”

Brad couldn’t hide his surprise. “Used to be? What happened? Were you injured?”

“Not physically, although it came close. You sure you want to hear this?”

“Absolutely.”

“All right. During college I dated a firefighter-nothing serious, but it whetted my interest, and even after the guy was gone, the interest in a firefighting career remained. I enrolled in fire school and became certified as a paramedic. Four years ago, I was hired by a station in Woodton, a small city about one hundred miles east of Santa Barbara, which is where I’m from. It was my first experience living away from home, and I thought everything was going to be perfect.”

She paused to take a sip of wine and he sat back, waiting for her to continue. “But I take it everything wasn’t perfect,” he said.

“Everything was a disaster. I was the first woman to be hired at that station. I think the only reason I was is because the chief felt pressured to break that gender barrier. Unfortunately, almost without exception, the men I worked with resented having a woman there. I was the interloper in the all-boys’ club and they let me know from day one that they weren’t going to make it easy on me.”

Brad nodded. As much as he disagreed with that mentality, he knew it existed. “They made your life difficult.”

She made a humorless sound. “Difficult would have been a blessing. It was hell. I have three brothers so God knows I can take teasing, practical jokes and potty humor. But this was…mean. Even vicious. The guys who weren’t actively harassing me just turned a blind eye to what was going on. In spite of passing every physical and written test with flying colors, none of them believed that a woman who ‘looked like me’-” she made air quotes around the words “-could do the job. The stress was incredible, but I was determined not to quit. The abuse got so bad I finally filed a sexual-harassment suit, figuring things couldn’t get much worse. I was wrong.”

She looked away from him and ran her finger around the base of her wineglass. Sympathy for her plight, the unfairness of it, filled him, and unable to keep from doing so, he reached out and touched her hand. Her skin was warm and silky and a tingle sizzled up his arm. “What happened?”

“It got to the point where I actually feared for my life because I didn’t trust any of them to have my back.” Her eyes bored into his. “You know that your life depends on your partners. I didn’t have any. It was a small station and we all needed each other, but I couldn’t depend on them. Not one of them. I knew that with every fire, every rescue, my life was endangered. I accepted that risk. But I wasn’t willing to accept that I could be injured or even die because my coworkers wouldn’t have my back. So I quit.”

Outrage on her behalf joined sympathy and he squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry, Toni. How long did you tough it out?”

She slipped her fingers from his and again picked up her wineglass. Her hand shook slightly. Obviously the memories still distressed her. “A year and a half.”

He nodded, impressed. “I give you a lot of credit for hanging in that long.”

She looked at him over the rim of her glass. “You don’t think I’m a quitter?”

“Hell, no. Given the impossible circumstances, I think you did the right thing. What became of your sexual-harassment suit?”

“I dropped it. Once I quit, I didn’t want anything to do with any of it. I packed up my things and moved back home to Santa Barbara.”

“And that’s why you don’t like firefighters,” he murmured. “Now I get it. But, Toni, you know we’re not all like that. If I’d been at that station, I would have had your back.”

She shot him a clearly skeptical look. “You wouldn’t have gone along with the crowd?”

Her question hit him like a slap. “No. Not my style. Never has been.” He leaned forward and fixed his gaze on hers. “As much as I’m sympathetic to what happened to you-and believe me, I think it sucks-you’re making assumptions about me based on the bad behavior of people I don’t even know. I’ve been a firefighter for seven years and during that time I’ve worked with some great people and some real jerks. Here’s a news flash-there are great people and real jerks in every profession.” He cocked a single brow. “Probably even in the flower business.”

She blinked. Then narrowed her eyes and studied him for a long moment. He strongly sensed he was about to pass or fail some test he hadn’t studied for, so he remained silent under her regard and wished he knew what she was thinking. Finally, a sheepish expression crossed her face. “You’re right, of course. I don’t know you. You might be a prince among men-”

“My mother will tell you I am,” he broke in.

“No doubt. But it’s her job to think so. My mother would say the same about my three brothers and all of them are pains in the butt.”

“And as their sister, it’s your job to think so.”

“Touché,” she said with a quick laugh, then sobered. “I…I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m afraid that given my experiences, I cast a dubious eye on everyone in your profession.”

“Understandable-I’d feel the same way. But I’m not one of those guys. So I’m asking you not to feel that way about me. At least until you get to know me better. Then if you think I’m an asshole, well, okay.” He smiled and held out his hand. “Deal?”

Her gaze shifted down to his hand then back to his face. He could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. Could tell that she was fighting her desire to stay away from anything that had to do with firefighters, and what he hoped was desire for him. Or at least a desire to give him a chance.

Finally she extended her hand. “Deal.”

His fingers wrapped around hers and a combination of relief and anticipation raced through him. Instead of shaking her hand, he brought it to his mouth and pressed his lips against the back of her fingers. Her breath caught slightly at the gesture-definitely a good sign.

“I’ll have you know it took some effort for me to put aside my prejudices and make that deal,” he said. “I’ve had some very difficult dealings with florists. Most recently today.”

She nodded. “I don’t doubt it. Florists can be notoriously hard to deal with.”

“Lucky for me I like a challenge.”

Encouraged by the fact that she didn’t pull her hand away, he lightly brushed his fingers against hers, exploring their softness. Her hands were small but capable-looking, which they’d have to be for her to have passed the grueling firefighter tests. Clearly, on top of having an incredible shape, she was in good physical condition.

“So, continue your story,” he urged, scooting closer. He snagged her other hand and slowly played with her fingers. “How did you get from returning home to Santa Barbara to owning a flower shop fifty miles away in Santa Rey?”

“My family owns the largest nursery in Santa Barbara, so I grew up learning the business.”

Damn, she had the softest hands he’d ever touched. He slowly traced the length of each of her fingers with his fingertips. “You didn’t want to work at your family’s place?”

“I did. But after a few years I wanted to be my own boss. Create something that was mine. Plus, I needed to put some distance between myself and my loving but smothering family.” She looked down at their touching hands then back at him. “That’s, um, really distracting.”

He brushed the pad of his thumb over the velvety skin of her inner wrist. “Distracting in a good way?”

“Distracting in an I-can’t-remember-what-we-were-talking-about way.”

“That’s a good way. You were telling me how much you like me.”

Amusement glittered in her eyes. “Was I?”

“Yup. And you were about to tell me how it’s possible that a gorgeous, intelligent woman like you isn’t taken.”

“What makes you think I’m intelligent?”

“I’m a very good judge of character.” He smiled. “Besides, the fact that you accepted my invitation proves it.”

She rolled her eyes, but then smiled. “You know I didn’t want to.”

He turned one of her hands over and lightly traced the lines on her palm. “Yeah, I got that. I’m hoping you’re not sorry.”

“Not yet. But the night’s still young.” Her eyes seemed to darken. “That feels really…hmm…nice.”

The smoky tone of her voice had him shifting in his chair. Damn. Just her voice turned him on. What would happen if she touched him? Stupid question. He knew damn well what would happen. He’d go up in flames.

She slowly spread her fingers wider, a gesture that shouldn’t have struck him as sexy as it did. But then, he found everything about her sexy and had since minute one.

“So, why aren’t you taken?” he asked, continuing to caress her fingers.

“Actually, I am-by my business. It requires all my time and attention. Now, and for the foreseeable future.”

Obviously a not-very-subtle warning that she didn’t have time for him. A warning he was determined to ignore, and convince her to ignore, as well. “Okay, I’ll rephrase. How is it possible that an intelligent woman who looks like you, who smells as good as you do, whose skin is as soft as yours, doesn’t have a boyfriend?”

“After I discovered my last boyfriend required a dictionary, I gave him the heave-ho and haven’t felt inclined to replace him.”

“Dictionary?”

“Yes. He didn’t know the definition of some pretty basic words. Like honesty. And integrity.” She leaned a bit closer and lowered her voice as if imparting a great secret. “He thought monogamy was a type of wood.”

Brad could only shake his head. “What kind of idiot would cheat on you?”

She flashed him a smile, one which raised his temperature several degrees. “Compliment noted-thank you.”

“Compliment sincerely given-you’re welcome. How long ago since you heaved him?”

“Six months. What about you? How is it possible that an intelligent man who looks like you doesn’t have a girlfriend?”

“Sadly, my last girlfriend couldn’t even spell monogamy, let alone mistake it for a type of wood. Like you, I gave her the heave-ho and haven’t felt inclined to replace her.”

“Not to repeat your words verbatim, but what kind of idiot would cheat on you?”

“Not to repeat your words verbatim, but compliment noted-thank you. I’m lucky I came out of it as unscathed as I did. I wasn’t heartbroken. Just royally pissed off. I’d considered the guy a friend.”

She winced. “Ouch. At least my dirtbag ex didn’t cheat with anyone I knew…” Her words trailed off and her gaze dipped to the table where he was lightly massaging her fingers, one at a time.

“That feels…ahhhh…incredible, especially after putting together dozens of arrangements today.” When she looked at him again, her eyes were half-closed. She made a low, sexy sound of approval that had him shifting against the swelling going on behind his pants’ zipper.

“So why haven’t you replaced your girlfriend?” she asked. “Obviously you don’t lack opportunity. Firefighters attract women like bees to honey, and this town and Ocean Harbor Beach are both littered with young, gorgeous women, who wear bikinis most of the time. You can’t walk two feet without bumping into a dozen of them.”

“Exactly. And after a while, they became…interchangeable. They can’t seem to talk about anything other than clothes, their drama-filled lives, their girlfriends and former boyfriends and celebrities. I think the operative word you used is young. When I was in my twenties, that was fine, but since hitting thirty…my tastes have changed. So I guess it’s actually more accurate to say that I hadn’t met anyone in a long time who really interested me.” He lifted her hand and with his gaze steady on hers, pressed a kiss against the warm palm he’d been caressing. “Until three months ago. When I walked into Blooming Pails.”

5

TONI WATCHED heat flare in Brad’s eyes as he pressed another kiss against her palm, liquefying her insides. Whoa. His mouth felt reeeally good against her skin. And looked reeeally good there, too. And…oh, God, had he just touched her palm with his tongue?

Oooh, yes. He had. Mama mia. Good thing she was sitting down, because that single tongue flick left her legs feeling like melted wax. It left her spine feeling that way, too. So much so that she’d like to lie down. With Brad. Right now.

He brushed his lips against her inner wrist and she actually felt her eyes glaze over. When the hell had that little bit of skin become so sensitive? And who had run the electric circuit from her wrist straight to her nipples-which were now hard and aching? Clearly her six-months-long sexless state had screwed up her internal wiring.

His gaze dipped and he stilled at what she assumed was the sight of her erect nipples pressing against the velvet of her dress. When he raised his gaze back to hers, his eyes all but breathed smoke. “Toni,” he said softly.

Just the way he said her name rippled a heated shiver down her spine. Good grief, how had she resisted this man for three months? She was either insane or deserved a medal of fortitude. How could she hope to resist him tonight?

You can’t, her inner voice flatly informed her.

Her inner voice was right.

Sure, she could try to lie to herself, but what was the point? She might as well face it. The guy was hot, sexy, gorgeous, funny, romantic, smart and totally into her. He oozed sex appeal and sex sounded so incredibly…appealing. In a word, he was irresistible.

Exactly, agreed her triumphant inner voice. So stop trying to resist!

Sex on a first date wasn’t normally her style, but hey-they’d agreed this wasn’t a date. It was just one little dinner. One little dinner that would lead to one little bout of sex. One little dinner during which it was now time to turn the tables and make him suffer for a while. Heh, heh, heh.

He appeared about to say something else, but just then the waiter appeared bearing their salads. After pressing another quick kiss to her palm, Brad released her hand and Toni curled her fingers inward to keep the warmth of his mouth against her skin. After topping off their wineglasses, the waiter faded away. She reached for her fork and speared a bit of radicchio, watching him do the same. She waited until Brad had taken a bite then slipped her foot from her shoe.

“Tell me about your family,” she said. Under the cover of the long tablecloth, she slid her bare foot against his calf.

He stopped in midchew. Went perfectly still while she slowly rubbed her instep along his shin. For several seconds his hot gaze bored into hers. Then he chewed twice and swallowed. “Huh?”

“Your family. Any more at home like you…Elf?”

She had to fight to hide her smile when his face colored slightly. He groaned and shook his head. “Who told you?”

“Word gets around. I saw your picture, Mr. December. Very nice.”

“You mean, embarrassing. I’ll never live that down.”

“Believe me, you have nothing to be embarrassed about.” Her foot snaked up to his knee.

He set his fork down so quickly it clanged against his salad plate. He shifted slightly, and she felt him stretch out his leg. “Thanks. Glad you approve.”

Her gaze flicked to his chest. “I liked your tat. Did it hurt when you got it?”

“Not a bit, thanks to an overindulgence of…” He sucked in a quick breath as her toes brushed against his hard thigh.

Several long seconds of silence passed during which he looked at her as if she were a glittering diamond and he was a jewel thief. Finally she prompted, “You were saying?”

“Saying?”

“About your tattoo.”

“Oh. Right.” He shook his head and gave a short laugh. “Sweetheart, if you want to make conversation and touch me, you’ll need to expect some lulls.”

She popped a bit of cucumber into her mouth. “Turnabout is fair play.”

“Believe me, I wasn’t complaining.” He picked up his fork and stabbed a bite of tomato. “Tequila,” he said to finish his sentence. “A well-documented tattoo-painkiller.”

“You mentioned a brother-is it just the two of you?”

He nodded, somewhat jerkily as she continued to stroke his leg with her foot. “Greg’s two years older and got married this past summer. Never seen a guy so happy.”

Toni sighed. “I wish my brothers would get married. Then maybe they’d concentrate on their own love lives rather than mine. I love them and they’re good guys, but ridiculously overprotective. They can’t seem to grasp that I’m not twelve years old any longer.”

“Is that why you put some miles between you?”

“Yes. I love my family, but we clash. I guess I’m something of a rebel and the black sheep. My mother literally took to her bed when I said I wanted to be a firefighter. You’d have thought I’d announced a plan to blow up a major city. I’m the first one not to work in the family business.”

“But you did for a while.”

She took a sip of wine, then said, “Yes. But I found it impossible to live my own life. Mom and my sister-who’s married-were always trying to fix me up, and Mom constantly poured on the guilt that I wasn’t married and giving her grandbabies. Yet she hated every guy I dated. And believe me, dating wasn’t easy with three overprotective brothers scowling at anything with a penis that came within ten feet of me.

“Then, last year, my Nana Rose moved in with Mom and Dad. She’s exactly the same as my mom, only feistier. I like peace. Quiet. But there’s practically this glowing ring of nitpicking tumult surrounding all of them. And when they form groups…” She shook her head. “Run for the hills. I truly do love them and I know they mean well, but I can only handle them in small doses. Sometimes I think even fifty miles isn’t enough distance between us. Five hundred might have been smarter.”

“What about your dad?”

“The calm eye in the storm. He just smiles and goes to work and enjoys his hobbies and lets all the chaos roll off him like water off a duck’s back. I think he’s the only one not hoping I’ll fail.”

“Fail at what?”

“My business. Even though they haven’t said so out loud, I strongly suspect the rest of the family secretly hopes Blooming Pails will go belly-up, thus making it necessary-in their minds-for me to move back home and work again at the family nursery.”

“Any chance that’ll happen?”

“The business going belly-up or me moving back home?”

“Both.”

“Absolutely not to moving back home. I’ve fought too hard for my independence. As for Blooming Pails not making it…a lot depends on what happens in the next three months.” She gave him a brief overview of her loan situation and the bank evaluation coming up at the end of the next quarter. “If my interest rate goes up, I’m afraid that will be the beginning of the end, so this is really make-it-or-break-it time for me. Which is why I’m devoting all my time and attention to work. Which is why I don’t date.” She didn’t bother to add especially not firefighters.

“No problem, since we’ve agreed this isn’t a date-it’s just one little dinner.”

“Right.” She skimmed her foot beneath his pant leg, brushing her toes over his sock until she encountered warm, firm skin. “Now that you know all about my crazy family, what about yours?”

The way his eyes smoldered made her feel as if she’d stepped into a furnace. “My folks are great. Very little nitpicking and tumult. Like you, I like peace. My job is stressful enough-I’m lucky I don’t have any extra because of my family.”

“Very lucky. Is your dad a firefighter?”

“Nope. Schoolteacher. So are my mom and brother. Right in Ocean Harbor Beach, where I was born and raised. I might have followed that path except the summer I was fourteen I worked on my uncle’s ranch in Wyoming.”

“Where you learned your cowboy wisdom.”

“Right. There was a drought that year and a brush fire broke out on some back acres. It quickly spread, and if not for the fast work of the firefighters, my uncle might have lost everything. Watching those guys work…the die was cast right then and there. Made me the rebel who broke with the tradition in my family.”

“Well, not completely-you’re still a teacher.”

“True. I guess it’s in the blood. Still…” He raised his wineglass. “Here’s to rebellion.”

She touched her glass to his. Then slipped her toes from beneath his pant leg to shimmy her foot along the top of his thigh. “Right. To doing things we probably shouldn’t.”

He briefly closed his eyes. When he opened them, the fire in their depths scorched her. There was no doubt he wanted her. And God help her, she wanted him. More than she’d expected to. Certainly more than she wanted to. But no way she was willing to stop now. She shifted her foot to slowly caress his inner thigh, stopping just short of touching him where she was most tempted to touch.

“You’re driving me crazy,” he said in a strained voice.

“Just like you did to me. Want me to stop?”

“Hell, no.”

“Good.” She enjoyed another taste of her salad, chewing slowly, still stroking him, watching him watch her. After she swallowed, she asked, “So what do you like to do when you’re not fighting fires or teaching classes?”

“Take beautiful florists to dinner.”

“Thank you. Besides that.”

“Surf. Swim. Hike. Kayak. Fish. Kick back and watch TV. Take beautiful florists to dinner.”

She shifted her foot a hair higher on his leg. “You said that last one already.”

“Did I? I’m afraid I’m…distracted. But at any rate, it bears repeating.” He cleared his throat and took another bite of his salad. “So, what else do you like to do besides arrange flowers and play a wicked game of footsie?”

She smiled. “Swim. Run. Hike. Read. Cook. Play tennis. Fix up old cars.”

“Fix up old cars? Seriously?”

She nodded. “Something I inherited from my dad who’s an automotive genius. I drive a ’64 Mustang convertible that I rebuilt. Took me six years to do it, but I love that car.”

He leaned forward. “That’s my dream car.”

She glided her foot a bit higher, until it just brushed his groin. He sucked in a sharp breath. “Maybe you’d like me to take you for a ride.”

With his eyes burning into hers, he set down his fork, reached beneath the table, and lightly clasped her foot. Then he shifted a little lower in his chair and pressed her instep against his erection. “There’s no maybe about it.”

Oh, my. Whoever had nicknamed this man Elf didn’t know what the hell they were talking about.

“The question is,” he said in a low, husky voice, “are we still talking about cars?”

“What if I said we weren’t?”

He rolled his hips slightly forward, a gesture that set up an insistent throb between her legs and made her yearn to touch that lovely hard, male flesh with more than her foot. “I’d say you’d been peeking at my Christmas list.” Then he did something exquisite with his hands on her arch that brought a gasp of pleasure to her lips.

“Ohhh…that feels…hmmmmm. If you don’t stop that in about three or four hours, I’m going to get really angry.”

“Did you just give me permission to touch you for the next three or four hours? It sounds like you’ve been peeking at my Christmas list again.”

“I thought only children made Christmas lists.”

“Clearly not, as I have one. And you’re all over it. And there’s nothing childish about it.”

Good God, Toni was ready to slither to the floor. She loved having her feet rubbed and he had very talented hands. Hands that she wanted on more than her feet. As quickly as possible. Summoning the remnants of her wilted strength, she slid her foot from his grasp and slipped it back into her shoe.

“You didn’t like?” he asked.

She pushed back her hair from her overheated face. “Oh, I liked. But if you kept doing whatever glorious thing you were doing to my foot, I was going to have an orgasm.”

His eyes darkened. He pushed aside his forgotten salad and reached for her hand. “I wouldn’t have minded that one bit. Seems to me that when you reach boil…well, that’s a bad time to turn down the heat.”

A breathless laugh escaped her as his fingers entwined with hers. “I think Santa needs to know that you’re naughty.”

He gave her a slow smile that melted what was left of her spine. “And that you’re nice. And that I really like you.”

The unsettling realization hit her that she liked him, too. Which she hadn’t counted on. And wasn’t particularly happy about. In an effort to lighten up a moment that suddenly felt way too serious, she said, “You don’t know me.”

“Aside from the obvious fact that you’re gorgeous, I’ve managed to pick up quite a bit over the last three months during my visits to your shop. I know you’re creative, talented, independent, smart, hardworking and have the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. And now I know a lot more than I did an hour ago. And I like everything I’ve seen. And heard.” He drew her hand to his mouth and touched his tongue to the center of her palm. “And touched.”

“You want to go to bed with me.”

“True. But that’s a statement you could safely make to any breathing guy on the planet.” He reached out his other hand and traced his fingers gently over her cheek. “But-I also want to get to know you.”

It took all her willpower not to lean into his hand and purr like a kitten. Her mind was warning her to slow down, reminding her that as charming as he was, he was a firefighter and she wanted no part of that ever again. That, except for tonight, she had no time to devote to getting to know him. But her heart and her body were screaming at her that for the purposes of sex, his occupation didn’t matter, and to move full steam ahead. And those screams quickly drowned out everything else.

“What if I said I’m only interested in sex?” she asked.

She expected him to agree instantly, but instead he studied her through very serious eyes. Finally he replied, “I sure as hell wouldn’t turn you down, but I think we’d both be missing out. I know we’ll be great together in bed-I think maybe we could be great together out of it, as well. For the purposes of full disclosure-I’d like to find out.”

Given his honesty, she couldn’t give him less than the truth in return. “For the purposes of full disclosure-as much as I appreciate that, I’m not looking for a boyfriend. I’m not looking for anything past tonight.”

His gaze searched hers. “I’ll take tonight.” He traced the outline of her lips with a single fingertip. “But be warned-I’m going to do my damnedest to change your mind.”

A sensation that felt alarmingly like eager anticipation rippled through her. “I won’t change my mind.” And she meant it. She’d take this night to douse the fire he’d lit in her, but that was it. No point in prolonging something that couldn’t lead anywhere.

“Well, in that case, I don’t want to waste any time. What would you say if I suggested we get our meal to go?”

Toni captured his hand and gently bit the end of his finger. “I’d say how fast can you get the waiter over here?”

6

THE SIX MINUTES and forty-two seconds-not that Brad was counting-it required to take care of the bill and get their meals to go were an exercise in torture. He would have been perfectly happy just to leave the gift card and some cash to cover their wine and tip and forget the meal-he was starving, but not for anything packed in a container. The only thing that kept him from grabbing Toni’s hand and dragging her out of the restaurant immediately was the fact that he knew they’d soon be working up an appetite. And since his fridge was pretty bare, and he wasn’t much of a cook under the best of circumstances, better they have some decent food available later.

Now, clutching the bag filled with to-go containers in one hand, and his other hand holding hers, he led the way through the crowded restaurant to the exit, trying to curb the edgy impatience clawing at him. Even though he’d barely touched her, hadn’t even kissed her, he already felt like a powder keg with a lighted torch waving over it-one instant away from detonation. His house was only fifteen minutes away. He’d waited three months to kiss her. He could wait another fifteen minutes.

The instant they were outside, however, he realized he wasn’t going to make it another fifteen seconds. Walking so fast he was almost jogging, he rounded the corner of the brick building and drew her into the deep shadows. Dropped the bag. Then pulled her into his arms.

“Can’t wait,” he said in a harsh whisper, barely realizing he said the words out loud.

“Thank God,” she whispered back, winding her arms around his neck.

With his heart rapping against his ribs, he lowered his head. Her lips parted and she rose on her toes, meeting his mouth with an urgency that matched his. He’d meant this to be a soft, exploring kiss, but the instant their lips touched, the powder keg exploded. In a heartbeat, the kiss turned fierce. Demanding. Deeply intimate. Their tongues met, and with a groan, he stepped back several paces until his shoulders hit the brick wall. He spread his legs and, curved one splayed hand over the luscious swell of her ass, urging her tighter against him, while his other hand plunged into her soft mass of curls to hold her head.

She tasted…perfect. Felt…perfect. She squirmed against him, a full-body caress, all her feminine softness touching all his male hardness, and he swore he was going to lose his mind. His control teetered dangerously close to the edge and she wasn’t doing a damn thing to keep it from plunging into oblivion. She fisted her hands in his hair, dragging his head lower and opened her mouth wider. With a growl he sank deeper into their kiss, dancing his tongue against hers with a rhythm that blatantly imitated the act his body was screaming to share with hers. Right here. Right now. He rolled his hips, pressing his erection against the juncture of her thighs, and she responded by rubbing herself against him.

A bit of sanity somehow managed to pierce the stranglehold of lust gripping him, warning him he needed to stop this madness-right now-while he still could. He wanted her naked. Hot. Wet. Under him. Over him. And this sure as hell wasn’t the place.

With an effort that nearly killed him, he broke off their kiss and raised his head. Her lips remained parted and she was breathing as heavily as he.

Damn. He’d known sparks would fly between them, but this…this was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. His legs felt like rubber and his hands were unsteady. She looked up at him through glittering, half-closed eyes.

After licking her lips, a gesture that had him gritting his teeth, she whispered, “Whoa. That was…”

“Yeah. I know.” He dropped a hard, quick kiss against her mouth. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

She ran her tongue along his bottom lip and he groaned. “Agreed. And I think maybe you’d better not kiss me again until-”

“We’re somewhere we can’t get arrested?”

“Exactly. How far away do you live?”

He forced himself to set her away from him then pushed off the wall. Grabbing her hand, he scooped up the bag of food and started out at a rapid pace toward the parking lot. “Fifteen minutes.” Fifteen interminable minutes.

“I’m only five. So I vote for my place.”

“Done.” He glanced at her and his jaw tightened at the sight of her beautifully messed curls and swollen lips. “But even five’s going to be hard.”

Her gaze flicked to his tented pants. “Very hard.”

So damn hard, walking was uncomfortable. “If you keep looking at me like that, we won’t make it out of the parking lot, possible arrest or not. Where are you parked?”

She pointed just ahead and he caught sight of the ’64 Mustang. “You?”

“Next row.” He waited while she unlocked her door. “It’s an homage to your legs that I can’t take my eyes off them long enough to admire your very excellent ride,” he said, watching her slide into the front seat.

She shot him a sexy smile. “Thanks. Follow me.”

Hell, yeah. Anywhere she wanted to go. He jogged to his pickup and tailed her through the dark, quiet streets of Santa Rey. He opened the windows in an attempt to allow the cool, ocean-scented air to relieve the feverish sensation coating his skin, but it did little to abate the heat consuming him.

Five minutes and eighteen seconds later-not that he was counting-Toni pulled into the driveway of a small stucco ranch on a peaceful side street. After parking behind her, he grabbed the food, exited his truck, and cut across the neat postage stamp of a lawn. Just as he joined her, she opened the front door.

He followed her in, and with his gaze on hers, pushed the door closed behind him. She dropped her purse and walked toward him with a sinful sway of her hips that momentarily stupefied him. Before he could fully recover, she reached behind him and locked the door. Then she set her hands on his chest and pushed him back against the wood panel. Reaching up, she twined her arms around his neck.

“Now finish what you started,” she whispered against his lips. The bag of food hit the floor, and with a groan he yanked her against him.

Toni moaned as Brad’s mouth came down on hers, hot, hard and demanding. Never in her life could she recall wanting a man this much-feeling such sharp, raw hunger, such desperation.

“Normally I prefer slow,” she said between panting breaths and frantic kisses, her fingers impatiently jerking his shirt from his waistband. “But not now. I want your hands and mouth on me. Mine on yours.” His body buried in hers. Hers wrapped around him. And all these damn clothes simply had to go. Her hands plunged beneath his shirt and settled on the warm skin of his ridged abdomen. “Now.”

“Now sounds good to me,” he muttered against her neck. Clearly he felt the same urgency as she, and clearly he knew his way around women’s clothing because no sooner had he spoken than the zipper on her dress was down, the material was bunched around her waist, her strapless bra was on the floor, and his hands were cupping her breasts.

A gasp of pleasure escaped her as he teased her nipples. His tongue blazed a trail down her neck, over her chest, then drew one tight, aching peak into the wet heat of his mouth. Toni arched her back, offering more of herself, an invitation he instantly took her up on. Each tug of his lips, each circle of his tongue shot fire straight to her womb. Moisture pooled between her thighs and she shamelessly gyrated against his hardness, desperately seeking relief.

He made a sound that resembled a growl, then turned them. With her shoulders pressed against the door, she watched him drop to his knees, dragging her dress and panties down with him. When the velvet and bit of lace hit her ankles, she stepped out of the pool of material and kicked it aside, leaving her wearing only her heels.

“Spread your legs,” he said, the hoarse words blowing hot against her stomach as he pressed kisses to her quivering skin. Feeling as if she were about combust, she set her legs wide apart. And was rewarded with a long, slow swipe of his tongue over her swollen folds.

A moan escaped her, one that turned into a gasp of pleasure when he thrust two fingers deep inside her. “Beautiful,” he murmured, then lazily circled his tongue around her clitoris. “Wet. Hot. Delicious.”

The back of her head hit the door and her eyes slid shut. He lifted her right leg and settled it over his shoulder, opening her more fully for his fingers, mouth and tongue. Need knifed through her and she fisted her fingers in his hair, unable to hold off the orgasm screaming toward her like a bullet. He performed some sort of magic with his mouth and fingers and her climax roared through her, hot pulses of intense pleasure that dragged a cry from her throat.

The spasms had barely tapered off when she felt him scoop her up in his arms. And a damn good thing he did, too. Otherwise she would have slithered to the floor in a mass of trembling, sated flesh. Still, even as she reveled in his strength, the independent feminist in her felt compelled to say, “I can walk.” A weak protest at best. An outright lie at worst.

He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “This is completely selfish on my part. I can’t keep my hands off you.”

“Well, in that case, carry on.” She wound her arms more firmly around his neck and leaned forward to lightly scrape her teeth over his earlobe. “Literally.”

“Bedroom?”

She toed off her shoes, pointed down the hallway with her foot and he started walking. “Sorry I came so fast,” she said, nibbling on his neck. God, he smelled good. Tasted good. Like warm, clean, freshly showered man.

“No apology necessary. I can’t wait to see how fast you can come again.”

She huffed out a laugh. “Given how long it’s been since I’ve had sex and given your extreme sexiness, I think it’s going to be an embarrassingly short period of time. I’m afraid I’m feeling somewhat…” she gave his neck a little bite “…insatiable.”

“That’s a shame. Really. God knows I have plenty of reasons to complain because of that, but I’ll try to keep a stiff upper lip and take it like a man.”

“Stiff will serve you well.”

“Stiff is not a problem, believe me.”

He strode into her bedroom and set her on her queen-size bed. She landed on the pale yellow comforter with a gentle bounce. When he started to unbutton his shirt, she immediately scooted to the edge of the mattress and stood.

“Oh, no,” she said, shooing his fingers aside and applying herself to his shirt buttons. “You undressed me. You don’t get to undress you, too.”

“Okay.” He raised his hands and filled his palms with her breasts.

Toni laughed and firmly set his hands back at his sides. “Nor do you get to distract the undresser. I didn’t distract you when you were stripping me bare.”

“Wanna bet?”

She cocked a brow and resumed flicking open buttons. “What did I do?”

“You stood there.” He brushed the backs of his fingers up and down her abdomen. “That’s all it took.”

“Clearly you’re easily distracted.”

“Actually, I’m not. It’s more that you’re incredibly distracting.”

She finished with the buttons and slowly pushed the shirt down his arms where it fell on the carpet with a quiet whoosh. Her avid gaze took in the fascinating display of toned muscle then zeroed in on his tattoo. “Very nice,” she murmured, splaying her hands on his ridged abdomen then gliding her palms slowly upward. “Your calendar shot was lovely, but it doesn’t do you justice, Mr. December.”

“Glad you liked it…” His voice trailed off into a low growl of approval when she leaned forward and lightly traced his tattoo with her tongue. Her hands skimmed down to his belt which she quickly opened, along with the button on his pants. Then she gently pushed him until he sat on the edge of the bed. He leaned back and with his weight propped on his elbows, he watched her through glittering eyes as she slipped off his black dress shoes and tugged off his socks. Then her gaze slowly tracked up his long legs and muscular torso. With his pants unfastened at the waist and that huge bulge pressing behind his zipper, he looked positively sinful.

Stepping between his legs, she slowly lowered his zipper then curled her fingers around the waistband of both his pants and underwear. He lifted his hips and she slid the garments down his legs, dropping them on the floor where they landed next to his shirt. Her avid gaze fastened on his erection which rose thick and hard, curving upward nearly to his navel.

“Spread your legs.” It was the same thing he’d said to her, and, like her, he obeyed the command. She ran a single fingertip up the length of his shaft, enjoying the sharp breath he sucked in. Enjoying even more the long breath he exhaled when she wrapped her fingers around him and squeezed.

“I’m not going to last if you keep doing that,” he warned in a strained voice.

For an answer, she leaned down and in the name of payback gave his erection a long, slow lick. His drawn-out groan encouraged her to repeat the lick, ending with a lazy swirl of her tongue around the head before drawing him deep into her mouth.

His breath came in a sharp hiss. “Toni…” His fingers sifted through her hair. When she swirled her tongue around him again, he made an agonized sound and urged her head up.

“Can’t take anymore,” he said, between urgent kisses against her lips.

Female satisfaction filled her. Perfect. Right where she wanted him. She reached for one of the condoms she’d bought earlier that day and had stashed in the drawer of her bedside table-minus the one she’d tucked in her purse-and tore open the package. After sheathing him, she straddled his hips and slowly took him into her body until he was buried to the hilt.

Toni rocked her hips and her long sigh of pleasure mingled with his groan. She rode him, slowly at first, running her hands over his chest, exploring every muscle, loving how they tensed and jumped beneath her fingertips. He rolled his hips in perfect unison to her quickening movements while his hands molded her breasts and his long fingers teased her aching nipples. When her climax overtook her, he grasped her hips and thrust upward as she ground down, embedding him deeper. Their moans and ragged breaths filled the room. Deep spasms shook her, and when they faded into delicious aftershocks, she melted against his broad chest like warm honey.

Where he found the strength to move she couldn’t imagine, but seconds later she found herself on her back looking up into his eyes. She stretched beneath him, reveling in the delicious sensation of his body on top of hers. Still inside hers.

He pushed back a tangled curl that clung to her damp cheek then brushed his lips over hers. “Sorry I came so fast that time.”

“Your timing was perfect.”

“Good. Next time will be better. I’ll last longer-now that the edge is off.”

A huff of laughter escaped her. “I don’t know how much better it could possibly get. But, hey, I’m willing to find out.”

“Glad to hear it.” He touched his forehead to hers. “Toni…do you have any idea how much I’ve wanted you?”

Her heart performed a swooping dive at both the tender gesture and the quiet words that sounded way too serious. And serious was to be avoided at all costs. Her mind knew it, but for reasons she neither liked nor understood, her heart didn’t seem to be falling in line. Which meant it was time to stop thinking.

Framing his face between her hands, she shot him a wicked half smile. “I think you demonstrated how much. But…what would you say if I told you I need some more data. Just to be sure.”

He nuzzled the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder joined. “I’d say let’s take this to the shower and I’d be happy to provide further information.” He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. “What would you say about that?”

“I’d say that’s the perfect answer.”

7

TONI WAS putting together a birthday bouquet of red and white roses, freesia and white hydrangea when Jayne arrived at Blooming Pails the next morning. Her pregnant friend studied her for several seconds, then said, “Three.”

“Three?”

Jayne nodded. “I’m guessing that neon glow emanating from you is the result of three orgasms.”

Toni shook her head. “Wrong.”

Jayne’s face fell. “You didn’t have sex with him? Good God, you are made of titanium.”

“Oh, we had sex. You’re just wrong about three.” Toni peeked at her over a white rose. “Try six.”

Jayne’s eyes goggled. “Six? You had six orgasms last night?”

“It actually might have been seven. I think I had an out-of-body experience at one point and may have missed one.”

Jayne plopped onto the nearest stool. “I want details.”

A wave of heat engulfed Toni. She couldn’t possibly tell Jayne the finer points of what she and Brad had shared. And not just sexual intimacies. No, they’d also shared laughter and conversation during their reheated meal where they’d discovered many common interests. They both enjoyed action flicks. Sports. Classic cars. Butter-pecan ice cream. Had similar political views. She’d never met a man with whom she felt so at ease and who was so easy to be with.

And as for the sex, it had been…incredible. After those first two frantic encounters, time had seemed to stand still as they’d spent hours in leisurely sensual exploration. Touching, talking, laughing, learning. If she lived to be one hundred, she’d never forget the way Brad had plucked the petals from the rose she’d given him and strategically placed them on her naked body. Had then settled himself between her splayed thighs and with their hands entwined above her head and his gaze steady on hers, had made soft, slow love to her with the scent of roses rising between them.

Blinking away the image, Toni forced a laugh. “You want more details than six, possibly seven orgasms and one out-of-body experience? Suffice it to say, it was a pleasurable night.”

“Obviously.” Jayne chuckled. “Can you even walk?”

“I’m a bit tender,” Toni admitted, looking down to hide the flush heating her face. “But in a good way.”

“Did you get any sleep?”

“Not much, yet I’m feeling surprisingly exhilarated.”

“Hardly surprising. The postcoital glow you’re tossing off could light up a cave. So when are you seeing him again?”

Toni’s fingers briefly faltered, then she shrugged. “What makes you think I am? The operative words in one-night stand are one and night.”

Jayne’s mouth dropped open. “Are you crazy? How could you even consider not seeing again a man who gave you six orgasms and an out-of-body experience? You need to lock yourself in a room with him and toss away the key.”

“You seem to be forgetting that I’m not looking for a time-consuming, work-disrupting boyfriend. Most especially not a firefighter one.”

“So just make him your love slave.”

“I don’t want a love slave.”

Jayne reached out and touched her hand to Toni’s forehead. “How is it you don’t have a raging fever that’s causing this delirium of yours? I think he’d make a great boyfriend. You could change his nickname from Elf to Mr. Orgasm.”

Hmmm…Mr. Orgasm had a certain ring to it. Then reality returned with a thump. “So let him be your boyfriend.”

“My husband would strongly object. And what I’ll need in a few months is a babysitter, not a boyfriend.”

“What I need right now is help picking out two dozen white roses for an anniversary bouquet. Not a boyfriend.”

Jayne pursed her lips. “How did you leave things with him?”

“I thanked him for a lovely evening. Told him I’d enjoyed our ‘one little dinner.’” She made air quotes around the description of their evening. More like their one big sex romp.

Jayne’s brows shot up. “He didn’t ask to see you again?”

“He asked, I refused. He left, I came to work, and that’s all there is to it.”

“He accepted your refusal? He didn’t argue?”

“No.” And Toni refused to acknowledge the unreasonable prick of hurt that had caused. She was glad he hadn’t protested. His acceptance had simply surprised her. She’d been sorely tempted to say yes to his invitation, which was reason enough to refuse. She couldn’t afford a man cluttering up her life right now. Didn’t want another relationship. Didn’t want anyone or anything that would divert her attention from making her business a success and impinge on her independence.

“Obviously he doesn’t want a relationship any more than I do,” Toni said lightly. “We had our night and now it’s back to work. Back to reality.” Back to long, lonely nights, her inner voice whispered. She ignored the pesky voice and wrapped her finished bouquet in green tissue paper. Fine. So the nights would be long and lonely, but she wouldn’t have to answer to or please anyone other than herself. Her time was her own-to devote to herself and her business.

“So you wouldn’t care if tonight he treated some other woman to six, maybe seven orgasms and an out-of-body experience?”

A blast of white-hot jealousy pierced Toni right through the heart. And scared the crap out of her. Damn. This wasn’t good. She tossed back her hair and forced a smile. “Why would I?”

“For someone who wouldn’t care, it looks like steam is about to shoot from your ears. I recently read an article that stated one of the differences between lust and love is with lust you don’t feel possessive, but when love is involved, you’re very possessive.”

Toni looked toward the ceiling. “There is no love involved. I barely know him.”

“It’s not as if you just met him yesterday. He’s been coming in here for the past three months. And those six, maybe seven orgasms tell me you know him pretty damn well.”

“I don’t know him well enough to confuse lust with anything that resembles love.”

Jayne shook her head and made a tsking sound. “Honey, I knew Tim was the guy for me three minutes into our first conversation. We were engaged two months later and married three months after that. That was five years ago and I’m so deliriously happy I can barely stand it.” She reached out and took Toni’s hand. “I know you’re not looking for a boyfriend, but the truth is there’s no good timing when it comes to these things. I certainly wasn’t looking when Tim came along. Do you want my opinion?”

“Is there any point in me saying no?”

“Nope,” Jayne said with a grin. “Listen-the right guy won’t take away your independence. He’ll enhance it. Maybe Brad isn’t the right guy, but I think that any guy who turns you on so much that you lose count of your orgasms and who makes you turn green at the thought of him touching another woman warrants another date.”

“I didn’t turn green,” Toni lied. “And it wasn’t a date.”

“Honey, you were greener than our fake Christmas tree. And it was a date-obviously a damn good one, too.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Toni said, ignoring the sinking sensation in her stomach. “He seemed perfectly happy to accept my decision not to see him again.” Right. And the feeling cramping her insides right now as she spoke those words was relief. Yeah. Relief. Whew. What a relief.

“Maybe he just didn’t want to argue about it then.” Jayne’s gaze fixed on something beyond Toni’s shoulder. “Seems we’re about to find out.”

Toni turned and her heart jumped at the sight of Brad walking across the street toward the shop. He carried a long rectangular white box, just like the ones she used to pack long-stemmed flowers.

“This should be interesting,” Jayne said, and there was no missing the smirk in her voice. “I’ll be in the back, starting on the anniversary bouquet.”

“Don’t you dare leave me-”

“Alone with that gorgeous, sexy, six-or was it seven?-orgasm man?” Jayne broke in. “Yeah, I’m a monster. You can thank me later. Just remember-there’s nothing wrong with having a one-night stand twice.”

No sooner had Jayne disappeared into the back of the shop than the door opened and Brad walked in. Their gazes met and although Toni tried her damnedest to appear nonchalant, she wasn’t certain she succeeded. Looking into his eyes, a myriad of images from last night played through her mind. Their soapy hands caressing each other in the shower. Warm water cascading over them as she braced herself against the cool tiles and pushed back, arching her spine to take him deeper. His body on hers. Hers on his. Him thrusting deep inside her. Her crying out his name-

“Hi,” he said.

She blinked away the sensual memories and pulled in a much-needed breath. “Hi.”

He crossed the tiled floor and set the long white box on the counter separating them. “What’s this?” she asked nodding toward the box.

“For you. I wanted to give you flowers, but…” he looked around the shop then back at her “…it seems you already have plenty of those. So I improvised.”

Dammit, she didn’t want to be charmed. Didn’t want to feel this bubble of giddy pleasure gurgling inside her. “It looks like a flower box,” she said, sliding off the bright red ribbon. “Did you visit the competition?”

He reached out and ran one fingertip down her cheek. “You don’t have any competition, Toni.”

Everything inside her did something that felt suspiciously like melting. She wanted to call a time-out. Give herself a few minutes to regroup. To steel herself against him. It simply wasn’t right how he turned her to mush like this.

Not trusting her voice, Toni opted to remain silent. She removed the lid, separated the layers of white tissue paper and stared. At twelve long-stemmed roses made from-

“Chocolate,” she murmured, looking at the glistening candy flowers mounted on extra long lollypop sticks.

“Somehow roses remind me of you.”

Warmth rushed into her cheeks. Before she could think up a reply, he continued, “I figured since you deserved roses and like chocolate…” His words trailed off and she looked up to find him staring at her with a serious expression. “I know I agreed to just one dinner, to just one night, but after last night…I want more.” He reached out and took her hand. “I think, at least I hope, you do, too.”

God help her, part of her did want more. The lonely and he’s-so-sexy-and-funny-and-charming-and-sexy part of her wanted another night like last night. Who wouldn’t? But her cautious side, the part that needed to live for herself and concentrate on her fledgling business told her that she was playing with fire. And with a firefighter no less-the one profession she’d vowed to avoid at all costs.

“Toni…” He entwined their fingers. “I’ve gone on lots of dates but never one like last night. There’s something between us, something I’ve never felt before. I felt it the first time I looked at you.”

“That was lust, Brad. I’m sure you’ve felt that plenty of times.”

“But not like that. It was lust but more. And I’m old enough and experienced enough to know the difference.”

“I told you…I don’t want a boyfriend.”

“I didn’t particularly want a girlfriend, but here we are.”

Toni’s heart was thudding so hard she wondered if he could hear it. In light of his honesty, she couldn’t in good conscience give him any less. “The problem is…I’m scared. I really don’t want…this. Not now. Please try to understand-I’ve spent the last few years fighting to reestablish myself, first after the end of my disastrous firefighting career and then after finally pulling away from my smothering family. I’m finally on my own. I don’t want to give that up. And I have a business that needs all my attention. I can’t ignore my responsibilities.”

“I don’t expect you to give up anything. Wouldn’t want or ask you to ignore your responsibilities. One of the things I like about you is that you aren’t a clinging vine. And if it makes you feel any better, I’m scared, too.” He lifted her hand and touched his lips to the backs of her fingers. “How about we be scared together?”

Toni tried to summon her willpower, but couldn’t seem to find it. Which was scary and frustrating and downright annoying. She finally heaved a resigned sigh. “You know, I don’t want to like you.”

“I don’t want to like you, either.” One corner of his lips quirked. “Especially if you aren’t going to like me back. Problem is, I do like you. A lot.” He reached out and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear, an intimate gesture that made her heart stutter. “Have dinner with me tonight.”

“You already asked me that this morning.”

“And you said no. Which is why I’m asking again.”

“You didn’t argue about it this morning.”

“That’s because cowboy wisdom taught me that there’re two ways to argue with a woman-and neither one works.” He shot her a devilish grin that dissolved whatever was left of her knees. “So instead of arguing, I figured I’d just ask again.”

“Just one more little dinner?”

“You’ve got to admit, the first little dinner went pretty damn well.”

Did it ever. She had to face facts-maybe there was a woman on the planet who could say no to another date with this guy and his chocolate roses, but she wasn’t that woman. What harm could one more date do?

“Okay. One more little dinner. Do you like pasta?”

“Love it. You want to go to an Italian place? Francini’s on Moore Street is very good.”

“Actually, seeing as how we couldn’t wait to leave the restaurant last night, what would you say if I asked you to eat at my place? I’ll cook.”

He treated her to another one of those slow, devastatingly sexy smiles. “I’d say I’ll bring the wine.”

8

BRAD PULLED the cork from the bottle of merlot and glanced at the clock on his kitchen stove-ten minutes to eight. Perfect. Toni was due to arrive in ten minutes for what would be their third date. And based on how well the other two had gone, it was going to be a fantastic night.

Leaving the wine on the counter to breathe, he took a last quick look around his small ranch house. The place was freakishly neat and clean-hell, he’d even vacuumed. Not that he was normally a slob, but he’d made sure there were no dust bunnies or dirty socks littering the floor for Toni’s first visit to his home. Candles lit? Check. Soft jazz playing? Check. Lights dimmed? Steaks marinating? Check, check. Condoms in the bedroom? Check. Condom in his jeans’ pocket? Check. And God knows he needed one there. He’d learned very quickly to be very prepared when he and Toni were alone together.

He heard her car pull into the driveway and shook his head at the anticipation that rushed through him. He couldn’t ever recall experiencing this acute sense of eagerness. He’d never wanted to see a woman more. Touch one more. Share a meal and conversation with one more. Make love to one more.

He hadn’t seen her since she’d made him dinner at her place three nights ago, but she hadn’t been out of his thoughts for an instant, and he suspected that that was going to be an ongoing affliction. Hell, she hadn’t been out of his thoughts before he’d made love to her. Wasn’t much chance she would be now that he knew what every inch of her skin felt like. Tasted like.

Their date at her place had been…incredible. In addition to being beautiful, smart, witty and sexy as hell, the woman could cook. She’d bewitched him in the kitchen with her delicious pasta, then blown his mind in the bedroom. Three times. He hadn’t been able to see her the following night as he was scheduled for a shift at the station, or the night after that as she’d already had plans with her friend and coworker Jayne. Which brought them to tonight.

He was relieved she’d accepted his invitation without an argument, although he hadn’t been thrilled when she’d referred to tonight as their third one-night stand. If she still thought this was just sex…well, she was dead wrong.

His common sense told him that he needed to take things slow-that he’d spook her if he came on too strong. And it was just a good idea in general not to rush into emotional entanglements. Of course, in the past that had never been a problem. How ironic that now, with Toni, he was more than ready and willing to zoom ahead, and she was the skittish one.

So he’d take his time, let her take hers, allow their relationship to bloom slowly, but in his heart, he knew time wasn’t going to make any difference. In his heart-his heart that Toni had stolen the very first time he saw her-he didn’t doubt for a minute where this was going to end up.

A knock sounded on the door and he drew a careful, calming breath. Right this minute, his goal was not to pounce on her the instant he saw her. In spite of the inferno raging in him, he’d be cool. Refined. Well-behaved. They had the whole night ahead of them. He was perfectly in control. No problem.

Then he answered the door. And in a heartbeat, cool, refined, well-behaved and in control took a direct hit. She was just so damn appealing and gorgeous, with those big brown eyes and full pink lips and dark curly hair. His gaze skimmed over her tan knee-length raincoat which was belted at her waist, then lingered on her bare legs and high heels. Clearly she was wearing a dress. Lucky him.

He took her hand and drew her forward, leaning down to give her a kiss-a kiss he forced himself to keep deliberately light. Because if he didn’t, they wouldn’t make it out of the foyer.

“C’mon in,” he said, stepping back, proud of his restraint in not pouncing on her like a starved dog.

“Thanks.”

She moved into the small entrance and he briefly closed his eyes, breathing in a lungful of the subtle flowery scent she left in her wake. Damn. How was it that she smelled better than any woman on the planet? He took a few extra seconds closing and locking the door so he could corral his badly dented willpower. Then, after drawing another calming breath, he turned around.

“I hope you like…” His voice trailed off as he watched her open her raincoat. The garment slithered down her arms to puddle at her feet. She stood before him, naked except for her heels and a pair of tiny red-and-white-striped panties. He froze in place-although how that was possible when he felt as if he stood in an oven he didn’t know.

“You hope I like what?” she asked in a smoky purr.

Damned if he could remember. His gaze zeroed in on her erect nipples. “Huh?”

“What’s the matter, handsome? Cat got your tongue?”

He had to clear his throat-twice-to locate his voice. “Actually, I think I swallowed it.”

“A pity, as I was hoping you’d be putting that talented tongue to good use.” She turned, revealing that her barely-there panties were a thong. “I redeemed the gift card you gave me from Mimi’s Intimate Apparel.” After finishing a slow twirl that left him feeling more glazed than a doughnut, she stepped toward him with a sinful sway of her hips.

“I hope you like,” she said in a sexy whisper.

Whatever miniscule amount of cool, refined and well-behaved he might have retained evaporated in a puff of steam. With a growl he yanked her against him. Kissed her with all the pent-up want and need and urgency that had been clawing at him since the last time he’d touched her.

“God, I missed you.” The unstoppable words came out as a groan against her neck. One hand skimmed down her smooth back to curve around her lush bare bottom while he filled his other hand with her breast.

“Show me,” she demanded, gyrating against him while she jerked his polo shirt upward. “Show me how much.”

In the space of mere seconds he had her pressed against the door, his shirt was on the floor and his erection freed and sheathed with the condom he-thank God-had had in his pocket. Her thong was disposed of with one hard yank. With raw, desperate hunger scraping through him, he curved his hands around her ass and lifted her. And buried himself in her silky wet heat with a single hard thrust.

Her gasp turned into a throaty moan and she wrapped her legs around his hips. He would have told her to hold on tight, but words were beyond him. He pulled nearly all the way out of her tight warmth, then sank deep again. And again. Over and over, each thrust harder, deeper, faster. Sweat broke out on his brow, and he gritted his teeth against the intense pleasure, trying to hold off his climax as long as possible. The instant she cried out and pulsed around him, he let himself go.

When the shudders racking him finally faded, and with her still wrapped around him, he slowly sank to his knees, then settled his butt on his heels. Her head flopped limply against his damp shoulder, and he remained buried deep inside her. Still breathing heavily, he tunneled his fingers through her wildly mussed hair and drew her head back. She looked stunned and dazed. Sated and sexy as hell. And more beautiful than any woman he’d ever seen. The area around his heart seemed to go hollow, then filled so quickly he felt as if he were drowning. Which pretty much described the way he’d felt since the minute he’d seen her three months ago.

“Toni,” he murmured against her lips. And then he gave her the slow, deep, intimate kiss he’d meant to give her when she arrived. Before she’d dropped her coat and fried him where he stood.

When he lifted his head, her eyelids fluttered open. She trailed her fingertips over his jaw, then her lips slowly curved upward. “Whoa, baby. My favorite dinner-Hard and Fast Against the Door. What’s for dessert?”

“That wasn’t dinner, that was just the appetizer.”

“Even better. What’s for dinner?”

“Damned if I can remember. My entire thought process jumped the track when you dropped your coat.”

“Want some cheese with that whine?” she said with a teasing grin.

He leaned forward and nuzzled her soft, fragrant neck. “Wine…I have wine.”

“That’s a good start.”

“Actually this…” he drew her body tighter against his “…was a very good start.”

“I agree.” She raised one brow. “Seems you did miss me.”

He had. Much more than he was willing to admit for fear of scaring her off. “Maybe a little. Obviously I was happy to see you.”

“Got that.”

“Wearing so little.”

Her lips twitched. “Got that, too.”

His gaze flicked down to her breasts which were pressed against his chest. “Shame you don’t have any clothes with you.”

“I have some in my car.”

He brushed his lips over hers. “Sweetheart, believe me, you won’t need them.”

Twenty minutes later, after a quick shower, Brad tossed on a pair of boxer briefs, loaned Toni a T-shirt, then led her into the kitchen. He noted her looking around while he poured their wine and he wondered if this might be a good time to broach the subject that had been on his mind for days-Christmas. And them spending the holiday-or at least part of it-together. He’d delayed mentioning it for fear she’d say no, but since Christmas Eve was tomorrow, he didn’t have a huge window of time left to work with.

“I like your house,” she said, leaning against the counter, her gaze tracking over the white kitchen cabinets, then into the den with its coffee-colored sectional sofa, oak entertainment center and flat screen TV. “Do you own it or rent it?”

“Own. My grandfather passed away a few years ago and left me a little money. I figured a house, even a small house, was a good investment.”

Handing her a glass, his gaze wandered down her form. The soft white cotton clung to her every curve and barely covered the essentials. “I like the way you look in my T-shirt.”

She smiled and accepted the glass. “I think you’re just easy to please.”

“Actually, I’m very particular. Especially about who wears my T-shirts.”

She raised her glass. “Happy holidays.”

“Happy holidays,” he repeated, touching his rim to hers. After taking a sip, he said in a casual tone, “Speaking of the holidays, what are your plans?”

“I’ll be heading to Santa Barbara tomorrow after work for Christmas Eve dinner-aka The Huge Italian Seafood Festival-at my mother’s. Spending the night there, then Christmas Day at my sister’s house. Much eating, opening of gifts and the inevitable arguments will ensue. How about you?”

“I’m on duty from seven tomorrow morning til seven Christmas morning. After that I’ll catch some sleep then head over to my folks’ house. My brother and his wife will be there, too.” He moved to stand in front of her. Reached out and tucked a silky curl behind her ear. “I was thinking maybe you’d like to join us. Either for dinner, or dessert, or just a drink.”

She went perfectly still. Even in the muted light he could see she paled a bit. “You mean like…meet the family?”

Uh-oh. Didn’t sound like she liked the idea. Part of his brain warned him to back off, but the other part told him to push on. Hell, she’d have to meet them sooner or later. Besides, he’d already issued the invite-he couldn’t take it back now. “They don’t bite,” he said lightly. “At least not much.”

The loudest silence he’d ever heard seemed to echo through the room. Finally she set down her wineglass, then stepped away from him. “Look, Brad, I don’t think-”

A faint musical ring tone interrupted her words. She frowned and cocked her head. “That’s my cell phone. And it’s Jayne’s ring tone. I left her at the store to finish a centerpiece. I’m sorry-I don’t think she’d call unless something was wrong.” She hurried toward the foyer where her coat hung on the brass coatrack.

“No problem,” he called after her, grasping on to any excuse to not have her finish the very unpromising sounding thing she’d been about to say. He felt, literally, saved by the bell. “I need to see to the steaks anyway. Take your time.”

TONI ESCAPED to the foyer, feeling literally, saved by the bell. Brad’s suggestion that she meet his family, share part of the Christmas holiday with him, with them, had stunned her. Meeting the family was…serious. Which was why most guys avoided it like the plague. God knows she had no intention of bringing home any man she didn’t intend to marry. Unless, of course, she wanted to scare the guy off-one meeting with her evil-eye-giving family would surely send him screaming into the night.

No one brought their one-night stand to meet their parents. And no one invited their casual sex partner to a holiday meal. It simply wasn’t done. Clearly Brad believed that their one-okay three-night stand was something more than sex.

It is something more than sex, you doofus, her inner voice testily informed her. Just because you don’t want it to be and keep denying it, doesn’t make it any less true.

Drat. Her and her pain-in-the-ass inner voice were going to have a serious talk right after she finished with her phone call. She fished her cell from her coat pocket and flipped it open.

“Hi, Jayne. What’s up?”

“Hey, Toni. I’m so sorry to interrupt your date-”

“No problem. Trouble with the centerpiece?”

“No. It’s finished. But when I was putting the copy of the invoice on your desk, I found something odd and figured I’d better ask you about it.”

“What is it?”

“An order. It was underneath the book of bank-deposit slips. It’s in your handwriting, but it hasn’t been entered in either the appointment book or the order ledger.”

Toni frowned. Impossible. As soon as an order was taken it was entered into both logs. “What’s it for?”

“Saint Mary’s Cathedral. For five dozen poinsettias, six altar arrangements, and three dozen smaller arrangements. You noted on the order that the church van would arrive at 10:00 a.m. on the twenty-fourth for pickup. Since the twenty-fourth is tomorrow-”

“Oh. My. God.” Toni froze. Then the bottom seemed to fall out of her stomach. For several seconds the room actually went dark and dots swam before her eyes. Pressing her hand against her churning midriff, she leaned against the wall and tried to catch her stuttering breath.

The order for Saint Mary’s Cathedral. The huge order. The sort of high-profile order that could mean tons of business for her. The sort of order that could result in enough revenues to insure a successful bank evaluation. She’d spoken to the church secretary on the phone earlier in the week. Taken the order. She’d been very excited about getting it, but at the same time distracted. In a rush. Because by the time she hung up with the woman Toni had realized she was running late for her first “little dinner” at Sea Shells with Brad. So instead of doing what she should have done-taking the time to enter the order in the proper books, she’d left it on her desk and hurried off to get ready for her evening with Brad, promising herself she’d take care of the paperwork first thing in the morning. Instead she’d clearly set the bank-deposit book on top of the order. And had completely forgotten all about it. Until just now. Oh, God.

How could she have forgotten? How could she not have remembered it for four whole days?

But, of course, she knew the answer.

Brad.

Since that first night together, she’d been wandering around in a sensual, lust-glazed, emotionally confused haze. Instead of concentrating on her work and her business, she’d allowed her thoughts to wander to him constantly. She’d known getting involved right now was a mistake-that her business required all her focus. But had she listened to her better judgment? No. Instead she’d allowed her attention to be diverted. And now she was facing a business disaster of biblical proportions. If she’d failed to fill the order…God, she couldn’t even think of the consequences. The lost business of such a big client, and the other work that could have potentially come her way if she satisfied them. The black mark against her and her reputation. As it was, she wasn’t certain she’d be able to pull it all together.

“Toni, are you okay?”

She moistened her dust-dry lips. “Actually, no. All I can say is thank goodness you found that order and called me.”

“So it’s legit?”

“I’m afraid so.” She quickly explained her error.

“Oh, boy,” Jayne said. “That’s not good. We don’t have enough on hand to fill this order.”

“I know,” Toni said, her mind racing. “I’m on my way to the shop. The flower market opens at 4:00 a.m. I’ll put together as much as I can using what we have, then I’ll be at the market when it opens.”

“I’ll start preparing what roses we have right now,” Jayne said.

“No. You’ve been on your feet all day and even stayed late tonight to finish the centerpiece so I could leave.” She pressed her lips together. Another example of how she’d allowed her personal life to interfere with her business. “Go home to your husband. This is my mess and I’ll fix it. I’m eternally grateful you found that order.” As she spoke she shrugged her arms into her coat and scanned the floor for her missing shoes and panties.

“Even pulling an all-nighter there’s no way you’ll get all those arrangements done by yourself. Even with the two of us, it’s going to be tight. I’m staying to help.”

Gratitude filled Toni. “That’s more than I deserve for having made such a terrible mistake. Have I told you lately that I love you?”

“You just did. I love you, too. Hey, anybody’s memory would get wiped clean after six or seven orgasms and an out-of-body experience.”

Which is precisely what had happened. And precisely what she wasn’t going to let happen again. For now, all she could do was pray she’d be able to get the flowers she needed when the market opened at 4:00 a.m., and finish the arrangements on time. Otherwise her name-and Blooming Pails’s-would be mud.

After assuring Jayne she was on her way, she shut her phone, slipped it back in her coat pocket and was struggling into her stilettos when Brad came into the foyer. “I have to go,” she said, the words running together as she impatiently rotated her foot to coax it into the high-heeled shoe. “Huge problem at the shop. A missed order. Client needs it in the morning. I’ll be pulling an all-nighter.”

Concern filled his eyes. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Yes. Stop being so distracting. Stop making me want you. Go away so I can focus on what I need to concentrate on-which isn’t you. Come back in a year or two. Then maybe I’ll be ready for you.

Those were the words she actually needed to say to him, but didn’t have the time or the courage to do so now. “Thanks, but no.” She pulled her car keys from her pocket. “Sorry. I need to leave. Now.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek then sprinted to her car and drove away without looking back, determined to put her focus back where it belonged.

Which meant that this had been her last night with Brad.

All she needed to do now was tell him.

9

AT QUARTER PAST SIX the next morning, holding a cardboard caddy bearing two extra-large coffees, Brad crossed the street leading to Blooming Pails. Only a few streaks of dark mauve colored the pre-dawn sky, but the inside of the flower shop was brightly illuminated. He could see Toni behind the counter, her brow bunched as she moved methodically down a lengthy row of floral arrangements set up on her long counter, adding flowers to each one. His heart sped up at the mere sight of her and he shook his head. Damn, he had it bad.

He glanced down at the coffees. He figured Toni would need one to get through the day after her all-nighter, and he needed one, as well, since sleep had mostly eluded him the night before. And not because of his disappointment at her needing to leave-although there was no denying his regret at that turn of events. No, it wasn’t the fact she’d left that concerned him-it was the way she’d left.

The cool, impersonal kiss. The cool, impersonal way she’d looked at him. There had been something in her quick exit that gave him the sinking feeling she wasn’t simply running to fix her work problem. It was more like she was running away from him. And his invitation to spend some time together on Christmas Day. That invite had definitely been a mistake as it had clearly freaked her out. He’d practically seen the wall she’d immediately erected between them. Not that she hadn’t had one there all along, but at least that barrier had contained a few weak spots, ones he’d held out hope of soon scaling.

She was upset about more than a work emergency. Something she hadn’t told him. Something he strongly sensed he wasn’t going to like. He’d wanted to ask her last night, but had forced himself to let her go, telling himself they’d have time to discuss it in the morning, after she fixed her work problem.

He’d spent the restless night trying to convince himself he was reading too much into her reaction to his invitation. To her lack of warmth when she left. That she’d been upset and distracted. But no matter how hard he tried to persuade himself, he couldn’t untie the knot of apprehension squeezing his insides.

Well, in just a minute he’d find out one way or another whether his gut instincts were right. He just hoped to hell they were wrong.

Brad jogged the last few steps across the street, and holding the cardboard coffee caddy in one hand, tapped on Blooming Pails’s glass door. Toni looked up and hesitated. And in that brief hesitation, a feeling of dread suffused him.

She came around the counter slowly, as if reluctant to do so, and approached the entrance. He tried to ignore the fact that she didn’t look at him. Not until she’d unlocked the door. “Hi,” she said.

He told himself the reason she didn’t smile was because she was clearly exhausted. “Good morning,” he said. “Merry Christmas Eve. I come bearing gifts.” He handed her one of the coffees.

That brought a slight uplifting of one corner of her mouth. “Thanks.”

Unable to keep from touching her, he brushed a fingertip over the violet shadows beneath her eyes. “How’s it going?”

“If nothing disastrous happens, I’ll finish about thirty seconds before the van arrives to pick up the order.”

“And you thought you’d be crunched for time.”

She gave a weak laugh. “Yeah. Silly me.”

“Is Jayne here?”

“She stayed until I left for the flower mart a few hours ago. The poor girl was exhausted.”

“You must be, too.”

“I am. But I’m not five months pregnant.”

A silence that felt distinctly uncomfortable to him swelled between them. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, he said, “Something’s wrong.”

The fact that she didn’t immediately deny it confirmed his worst suspicions. She looked at the floor, then raised her gaze back to his. What he saw in her eyes-or rather what he didn’t see there-tightened the knot in his gut. He knew damn well what was coming.

“Brad…I…” She blew out a long breath. “I think you’re a great guy and I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent together, but I can’t do it anymore.”

His knotted stomach seemed to drop to the floor. “If this is because I asked you to spend Christmas with me-”

“No, it’s not that. Not really, although that forcibly reminded me that we want different things. I told you from the start I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, yet that seems to be the direction we were heading.”

“And would that really be so terrible?”

“I foolishly allowed myself to think maybe it wouldn’t. But yes, it would. At least for now. This fiasco with the order…it was totally my fault because I was focused on you rather than on what was important.”

Hurt-and dammit, anger-slapped him. “Gee, thanks.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, that sounded bad.”

“I don’t think there’d be a way to make it sound good.”

She pressed her lips together, then shook her head. “No, I suppose not. The bottom line is that I don’t have the time or energy to devote to a relationship now. By doing so, I nearly caused irreparable harm to my business and at this point I can’t afford that.”

“Everyone makes mistakes, Toni.”

“Yes. And my first one was allowing a one-night stand to continue for more than one night.”

She couldn’t have cut him more effectively if she’d plunged a knife into his chest. But that wound also pushed his anger closer to the surface. Anger at himself for not being able just to walk away. And at her, for not giving them, him, a fair chance.

“You’re blaming me for this order screwup?”

“No. I’m blaming myself. For allowing myself to-”

“To what? Feel? Care? Get involved?”

She pressed her lips together then gave a tight nod. “Yes. I don’t want…this. Whatever it is that’s happened between us.”

“Then what, exactly, do you want?”

“For my business to succeed. For the bank review to go well. Not to lose everything I’ve worked so hard for.”

“What about other than your business? What do you want for you? Your life outside Blooming Pails?”

His question clearly brought her up short. She blinked, hesitated, then frowned, and he wished like hell he knew what she was thinking. Finally, she said, “For right now I don’t have a life outside Blooming Pails. I failed at my last career and I’ll be damned if I’ll fail at this one.”

“You didn’t fail at being a firefighter, Toni. Firefighting failed you.”

“Maybe. But I still feel as if I have something to prove. To myself. That I can be successful on my own. And to my family, who, as I told you, in spite of their love for me, on some level wants me to fail here so I’ll come home to them and the family business. Which I refuse to do. Which means I can’t afford any more mistakes. Or distractions. Which means there can’t be any more me and you. It’s too much. Too fast. Too soon.”

He pulled in a slow breath, then said quietly, “You know, I wasn’t looking for this, either. But I’m willing to play the hand I was dealt here. I’m willing to make the time to find a way to make this work.”

“Which is where we differ, because for right now, I’m not willing. I just can’t.”

A muscle ticked in his clenched jaw. “You mean you won’t.”

“All right, I won’t. I have too much at stake, too much riding on the success of my business. The bank review is only three months away. I need to keep my priorities straight. This mess…” she waved her hand to encompass the multitude of arrangements she was working on “…happened because I didn’t.”

“So you turn off your feelings, just like that,” he said, his voice tight. “Or are you prepared to look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t have any for me?”

Her already pale face went a shade whiter, and finally something flickered in her eyes. But instead of the warmth and caring he’d hoped to see, it was regret. “I…Of course I like you. You’re…a great guy.”

He stood frozen in place. “But…?”

“But the timing isn’t right for me. I’m sorry, but I can’t be with you, with anyone, right now.”

“Not right now?” His anger and frustration came through in his clipped words. “Then when, Toni? When will it be convenient for you?”

“I-I don’t know. I need time-”

“How much time? Two weeks? A month? Three months? After the bank review? Or will you tack on a few more months after that?

Resentment flashed in her eyes. “You’re pressuring me.”

“Maybe you need to be pressured.”

“No, I don’t. As for a time frame, I simply don’t know. All I do know is that I’m not prepared to continue our…whatever you want to call it now. And naturally I don’t expect you to wait around until I figure out when I might be ready.”

Anger and hurt warred inside him. The determined look in her eyes made it clear there was no point in arguing further. “So that’s it. You don’t want us to see each other anymore.”

“It’s for the best.”

A humorless sound escaped him. Best for her, obviously. At least he hadn’t admitted the depth of his feelings to her. Hadn’t made that big an ass out of himself.

“I…I’m sorry, Brad. I hope you understand.”

“Don’t worry. You’ve made yourself perfectly clear.” Throat tight, he nodded toward the counter. “Guess you’d better get back to work, and I need to get to the station. Merry Christmas, Toni.” Yeah. Merry damn Christmas.

Without waiting for a reply, he pulled open the door and quickly strode toward his pickup, feeling…gutted. How was it possible to feel so angry and so numb at the same time? And how long would it take to repair a broken heart?

He already knew the answer. It was going to take a damn long time.

ON CHRISTMAS MORNING, Toni woke up in her old room at her parents’ house and stared at the skeins of sunlight peeking through the curtains. The muted sounds of breakfast filtered up the stairs, the coffee grinder humming, her mother’s and grandmother’s voices. Probably they were arguing over whether to brew decaf or regular. Or whether the eggs should be scrambled or fried. She pictured her dad, sitting in his favorite chair, working a crossword puzzle, oblivious to the disagreement taking place no more than ten feet away from him.

With a sigh, she sat up on the edge of the mattress then pushed back the tangle of flattened curls clinging to her face. She didn’t need a mirror to know she looked like roadkill. Which was really only fitting as she felt like roadkill. Actually, she felt like the potholed, weather-scarred, oil-stained street underneath the squashed, rotting roadkill.

Setting her elbows on her knees, she rested her dully aching head in her hands and closed her eyes. And found herself fighting to hold back the tears that had threatened to spill over ever since Brad had walked out of Blooming Pails and her life yesterday morning. For there was no doubt he was gone from her life for good. The look on his face when she’d told him she didn’t expect him to wait around for her was branded on her brain. That combination of anger and hurt made it clear he had no intention of waiting around. Or of bothering with her again.

Toni tried to summon annoyance at herself for feeling so weepy-it was ridiculous. She was glad he was gone. She’d wanted him to go. She’d made the right decision. The last thing she needed right now was a distracting man. He’d pressured her with invitations to meet his family and to put an end date on how much time she needed. Her concerns about her business and the potentially damaging mistake she’d made were reasonable and dammit, he’d been unreasonable. And to top it all off, he was a firefighter. Although she honestly hadn’t given much thought to his occupation over the last few days.

So, if she’d made the right decision, why did she feel so…wrong? So…numb?

So devastated.

Exhaustion, obviously. Yesterday, after fulfilling Saint Mary’s order-with an entire four minutes to spare before the church van arrived-she’d endured a hectic day at the shop. Yet in spite of the busy whirlwind, Brad had never left her thoughts. So that’s it. You don’t want us to see each other anymore. She’d never forget the shattering sense of loss that had hit her when he’d walked away. There could be no doubt he’d cared for her. And had wanted to continue their…whatever it was. Friendship. Relationship. Sexual escapades.

She squeezed her eyes tighter shut. She’d gone to their first “little dinner” anticipating one night of no-strings sex. But somehow, some way, in spite of her not wanting it to, their time together had turned into more than just sex. Are you prepared to look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t have any feelings for me…

She hadn’t been able to. Had admitted she liked him-

A bitter sound that was half laugh, half sob escaped her. Liked him? God, she should be handed an Academy Award for delivering that line with a straight face. Like was an incredibly tepid word to describe the maelstrom of feelings Brad inspired in her. Feelings that she wanted, needed to forget. Feelings she despaired of being able to forget. If only she’d met him six months, a year from now. Once Blooming Pails was established and her stomach wasn’t tied in knots over bank evaluations. Of course, she didn’t doubt for an instant that in six months he’d have someone else. Some other extremely lucky woman. A woman Toni already hated. The thought of him touching someone else filled her with a despair she could only describe as agonizing. And the thought of another man touching her simply didn’t compute.

The sound of dishes clanging and raised female voices intermixed with Italian words reached her ears and she groaned. How she was going to face another big family dinner today she didn’t know. Last night’s had just about done her in. In spite of her best efforts to act cheerfully, her mother, sister and Nana Rose all had zeroed in on her misery like wolves around a fresh kill. Her refusal to open her personal life for their examination had only increased their curiosity, which had led to the usual pattern of a bombardment of questions followed by the piling on of guilt-not only for not answering their nosy questions, but also for not getting married and having babies. All that fun was finished off by one of her mother’s hysterical outbursts that all this upset-which Toni had naturally caused by not offering up her personal life for the family’s consumption along with the Italian seafood feast-had cast a pall on the entire evening.

Yup, just another jolly holiday with the fam.

Normally she could handle it, but right now she just didn’t feel capable of doing anything save pulling the covers over her head and praying for this aching sense of loss clawing at her to go away. For the question that kept reverberating through her mind to cease its echoing. The question she was sickly afraid to ask herself.

Had she made a mistake?

Yes, her inner voice instantly answered. A big, fat whopper of a huge mistake. He’s a great guy and you’re an idiot for letting him go. So the timing’s bad-so what? Deal with it. A guy like Brad comes around once. And you’re an idiot.

“Argh!” Hoping to dislodge that stupid voice, she fisted her hands in her rat’s-nest hair and yanked. All she got was more dull throbbing in her head.

Not ready to go downstairs and face whatever drama was occurring there, she decided a shower was her best bet. She rose and was digging through her overnight bag for her shower gel when her cell phone rang, the ring tone indicating the caller was Jayne.

She briefly considered not answering it-Jayne had already given her hell yesterday for cutting Brad loose and she simply wasn’t up to another episode of Are You Crazy?

But ignoring the call on Christmas was too bah, humbug, so she picked up the phone from the night table.

“Merry Christmas,” she said, plopping back onto the edge of the bed. “Was Santa good to you?”

“Toni…have you seen the news?”

Something in Jayne’s voice made her tighten her grip on the phone. “No. I just woke up. What’s wrong?”

“I just saw it on TV. A fire. Late last night at a warehouse in Ocean Harbor Beach. Two firefighters were injured and taken by ambulance to the hospital.”

Toni’s heart lurched into her throat. “Brad?” she whispered, her entire body icy with sudden fear. Dear God, no. But she knew perfectly well how dangerous firefighting was. And how that danger could be increased if the mind and body weren’t totally focused on the task at hand. Brad had looked tired and had been upset about what had happened between them…had he lost his focus because of that? Had his mind wandered, leaving him vulnerable to mistakes? One that could have led to injury?

“I don’t know-their names haven’t been released. I thought you’d want to know. Maybe call him.”

“Y-yes, of course. I’ll do that.”

“Call me and let me know if you find out anything.”

“I will. You, too.”

She snapped the phone shut and pressed her hands against her churning stomach. Dear God. He had to be all right. Had to be. Every time a firefighter was called to duty they risked injury and even death. But the rewards…helping people, saving lives, tipped the scales. Made the risks worthwhile. She understood all too well what drove Brad to be a firefighter. But the thought of him injured-or worse-rendered her unable to catch her breath.

She glanced at the clock-10:00 a.m. Brad’s shift had ended three hours ago. Murmuring fervent prayers that he was all right, she dialed his home phone which clicked immediately to voice mail. She listened to his recorded message and the sound of his voice brought tears to her eyes. Dear God, what if he was one of the injured firefighters? She couldn’t bring herself to carry that question any further. After leaving a brief message to please call her right away, she dialed his cell phone. Once again his voice mail came on and again she left a message.

The instant she clicked her phone shut, Toni began tossing her things into her overnight bag. She needed answers. Now. And they weren’t here in Santa Barbara.

10

INSISTENT POUNDING and buzzing sounds roused Brad from a deep sleep. With a groan he lifted one heavy eyelid. Bright sunshine filtered through the blinds, slipping over his bed where he sprawled facedown-in the exact position he’d fallen after he’d dragged his exhausted ass home after a long, tension-fraught shift.

He tried to ignore the noise, but it quickly became apparent whoever was banging on his door and leaning on the doorbell wasn’t going to give up.

With a muttered curse and a herculean effort he pushed himself up, wincing at the stiffness in his neck. Since he’d only managed to toe off his sneakers before collapsing onto the bed, he was already fully dressed. Good thing, because he wasn’t operating on enough cylinders to do anything as complicated as pulling on a pair of jeans.

“All right, all right,” he grumbled, making his way to the foyer. “I’m coming.” More than a little annoyed, he yanked open the door. “What do you…” His voice trailed off at the sight of Toni. Toni, who sported a wicked case of bedhead, no makeup and tear-streaked cheeks.

Damn, but she was gorgeous.

She stepped into the foyer, teasing his senses with the scent of flowers that always came with her. He closed the door and turned to face her. One look at her and all the anger he’d felt the day before faded away. He wasn’t sure why she was here, but whatever the reason, he was damn glad for it. Her gaze zoomed over him, then her bottom lip trembled and two fat tears dripped from her huge eyes. “You’re okay,” she said in a shaky voice.

“I’m glad you think so. I think you’re okay, too. Better than okay actually, but-”

“I mean, you’re not hurt. You weren’t injured in the fire last night.”

Understanding dawned. “No. It was two other guys. But they’re both fine-treated and released.”

She briefly closed her eyes. “Thank God. I called the hospital but they wouldn’t tell me anything, so I came here. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see your pickup in the driveway.” She pulled in an unsteady breath. “When I heard about the injured firefighters I thought…” She swallowed and another pair of tears dribbled downward. “I had a terrible feeling it was you. I was so afraid.”

“I’m fine. But I appreciate the concern.” The fact that she was here, had been worried about him, ignited hope that only hours ago had been dead. Reaching out, he brushed his fingers over her wet cheeks, a gesture that only served to bring on a fresh onslaught of tears. “Hey,” he said, feeling masculine panic edging in. “No crying. Seriously. House rules.”

A sob escaped her, followed by another. “Ah, hell, Toni, don’t do that.” But clearly it was too late because in a heartbeat she was crying in earnest. An anguished sound escaped her and she erased the distance between them. Her arms went around his waist and she buried her head against his chest and cried as if her heart were breaking.

Feeling utterly helpless, but glad for any excuse to hold her, he drew her tighter into his embrace and gently rubbed her back.

“Shh,” he murmured against her wildly messed hair. “I’m fine. Completely fine. All in one piece.” Several minutes passed, then, unable to take it anymore, he cupped her face in his hands and leaned back. “Toni, sweetheart, please stop crying. You’re killing me.”

She looked up him with those big wet brown eyes, and whatever tiny piece of his heart she hadn’t already owned was instantly deeded to her.

She gave a big sniffle then said, “I’m an idiot.”

He couldn’t stop the quick laugh that escaped him. “You are not.”

“I am. I pushed you away and that makes me an idiot. A miserable idiot. I didn’t know it was possible to hurt so much until you walked away yesterday morning. And then again this morning-when I thought you were hurt. That’s when I realized it.”

“Realized what?”

“That I’m an idiot.” She framed his face between her palms. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I do care about you. So much it scares me. In the interest of full disclosure, I need to tell you I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Ever.”

Brad closed his eyes for several seconds, letting the relief rushing through him wash away the pain and hurt that had been crushing his chest. “In the interest of full disclosure, I can only say I’m really glad and relieved that it’s not just me.”

She rested one hand on his chest, right over the spot where his heart thudded hard and fast. “When I made the mistake with the order…I felt everything I’d been fighting for and working so hard for slipping away and I panicked. I believed the only solution was to push you away. So I did. And nothing, ever, made me more unhappy.”

He brushed his thumbs over her wet cheeks then leaned down and kissed her very gently. “I’m glad.”

“That I was unhappy?”

“Yes. Because if you’d been happy, then you wouldn’t be here right now.”

She considered, then nodded. “True. In that case I’ll forgive you for being glad I was sad.”

His lips twitched. “Thank you.” Then Brad sobered. “I owe you an apology, too. I know I was rushing things, pushing you, and I’m sorry. I tried not to, but Toni…everything with you just felt so…right. But I can back off. We’ll take things as slowly as you want. And you can have as much time as you need. You’re worth the wait.”

She laid her hand against his cheek. “Thank you. But I’ve realized I don’t want or need time. Yesterday, when you asked me what I wanted for my life outside Blooming Pails-the question startled me. Made me realize I hadn’t allowed myself to think about anything other than my business. So I took some time and thought about it. And I realized I want companionship. With someone honest and kind. I want someone to share my life and hopes and dreams with. Someone to laugh with. Someone who makes me feel needed. Wanted. Who I need and want.” She stroked her fingers over his stubbled jaw. “Turns out that except for the firefighter thing, you are exactly what I want. And it turns out, I can live with the firefighter thing.”

Heat, and something else, something deeper, glowed in his eyes. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear that.”

“And I want you to know that I would have come to my senses eventually-like by the end of the day. I was halfway there already. But when I heard about the injured firefighters, it made me realize right then and there that I’d been-”

“An idiot?”

“Yes.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you going to rub my nose in that?”

He smiled at her disgruntled expression. “Nah. I’m just glad you figured it out sooner rather than later.” He leaned in for another kiss, one he meant to be light, but that quickly turned into a passionate, tongue-dancing exchange. When he lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.

“Brad…what would you say if I asked if it’s possible to fall in love in a week?”

Happiness filled all the spaces inside him that only yesterday had been rendered numb. “I’d say that since you’re asking a guy who fell in love three months ago in the span of about one minute, yeah, a week is definitely possible.”

Her gaze searched his. “If the invitation is still open, I’d like to join you and your family for Christmas dinner.”

His heart performed a somersault-like maneuver. “The invitation is still open,” he assured her. “But they’re going to think you’re my girlfriend.”

“Which is better than what you’d get from my family. You’d be interrogated by my mother, sister and Nana like a murder suspect, and be on the receiving end of multiple death stares from my brothers.”

“No problem. I don’t scare easily.”

“So I’ve noticed. Just one of the things I love about you.” She smiled. “One of the many things. And about your family thinking I’m your girlfriend…I’d like to be. If you’ll have me, in spite of the crazy hours I’ll need to put in at Blooming Pails until who-knows-when.”

“If I’ll have you? If I’ll have you?” He picked her up and twirled her around until she squealed. After setting her back on her feet, he grabbed her hand and led her into the kitchen. “If I’ll have you?” he repeated, shaking his head. “Crazy woman.” He opened the drawer where he kept his receipts and sifted through several pieces of paper before finding what he wanted.

“Take a look at this, Miss If-You’ll-Have-Me.”

“What is it?”

“Something I wrote after our first ‘one little dinner.’ I’d mentioned my Christmas list, so the next day, I actually wrote one.” He handed her the paper.

“‘My Grown-up Christmas List,’” she read. Then her eyes widened. “The only thing on this list is my name.”

“Twenty times,” he agreed. “’Cause all I wanted for Christmas was you.”

A smile bloomed across her face. “Be careful what you wish for, Mr. December. Looks like you’re getting it.”

“That’s because I’m on Santa’s nice list.” He swung her up into his arms and headed toward his bedroom. “But what would you say if I told you I’m also on his naughty list?”

She smiled into his eyes. “I’d say I’m a very, very lucky girl.”