That Hot Night

“No. You’re being judged based on your past behavior,” Nate chimed in. “What reason does Janey have to think you’ve changed? That you only want one woman. Have you told her?”

No, I hadn’t. “So, what do I do?”

All three men smiled at each other and then turned to me with mischief in their eyes. “Grand gesture,” the said in unison.JaneyThe only good thing about being heartbroken was that it gave me so much energy to channel into my work, specifically into my new series. Based, of course, on the hometown heroes idea only not the sexed up version of them, the real version that got dirty and grimy while doing the filthy business of saving lives and property.

Unable to sleep without thinking about Rafe and unwilling to waste another moment on a man who didn’t want what I did out of our relationship, I got up and got dressed before making my way to the studio where I knew I could work uninterrupted for most of the day. After last night’s argument with Rafe, all I wanted was to hide away until the hurt passed. There were no shoots scheduled for today which meant I could keep the whole place locked up and no one would be any wiser and that was my plan of attack.

Or plan of avoidance, as the case may be. Or may not be.

I stayed in my office located in the back of the studio and went through gigabytes of photos of firefighters, police officers and paramedics in their element. Taking charge. Helping. Bandaging wounds. Rescuing people. Saving lives.

The photos were so amazing that even I was surprised that I was the photographer. One of my favorites was of Nate and Preston, rescuing a middle-aged couple who’d gotten turned around on an anniversary hike, carrying the husband who’d suffered a broken leg while his wife had said something to make all three men smile. It was a great moment. Beautiful and poignant in its significance.

There were hundreds of photos to go through and if I took my time, I could make this particular task last all day. And if I ignored the growling sounds coming from my stomach, I could make it until the end of the day and sneak home without being noticed. The louder the growling became though, I wondered if I could sneak over to Big Mama’s for pickup without being seen.

Or stopped.

Or talked to.

Or talked about.

At three o’clock I decided it was too risky and decided to get delivery because none of the teenage boys in town gave a damn about the state of my love life, or lack thereof. A few of them might comment on the quantity of my order, but a reminder of who controlled the tip was a quick cure for those opinions.

When the buzzer sounded on the back door my shoulders dropped in relief and okay, a little bit of excitement because I was beyond starving. I pushed open the door without checking the security system Uncle Leland had insisted on even though nothing bad ever happened in Tulip. Nothing except heartbreak, that is. “Hey, come on in…oh. You’re not the delivery guy.” The words came out harsher than I meant them to but I hadn’t expected to see Stevie or Bo, and definitely not Reese on my doorstep. “I mean hey girls, what’s up?”

Bo stepped forward and tilted her head to the side, sizing me up in that she did that intimidated just about everyone. “Aww, how cute. She’s pretending she’s happy to see us.”

Stevie and Reese snickered behind her, stepping forward when Bo pushed past me to step inside. “I didn’t say I was unhappy to see you, I was expecting someone else.”

“Rafe?” The hope in Reese’s voice was unmistakable and even though I didn’t want to upset her, I refused to lie.

“No.” He hadn’t showed up last night and I didn’t expect him now. Or ever. “Did you guys need something?”

“Do we need a reason to stop by and see a friend?” Stevie was new to town but she blended in with the group seamlessly, especially with her bossy nature.

“Of course not,” I insisted sincerely. “But I wasn’t expecting you and I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“You want us gone,” Bo deduced easily.

“I’d like to get back to work,” I answered back diplomatically. “I’m working on something important and I was kind of in the zone.” Since it didn’t seem like they would leave anytime soon, I closed the back door and nodded for the women to follow me into the studio. “Is everything all right?”

Bo sighed and her expression went from serious to sympathetic and I felt my gut tighten. “We just stopped by to make sure you were all right.”

I took a step back, feeling wary. And ambushed. “Why wouldn’t I be all right?”