OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE (2 page)

The bartender returned with their drinks
, placing them on the bar counter in front of them.

Nanci dug in her purse for her
wallet and then handed him a crisp ten dollar bill.  “Keep the change.  Oh, and my email addy’s on the back of it just in case.”

“Thanks.” 
After a memorizing perusal of the email address she’d written across the bill’s border, he walked away grinning.

“I
n case of what?” she asked Nanci.  “In case he’s looking for a horny woman?”  

Her friend
turned to her, but only after she’d treated herself to a visual tour of the bartender’s jean-clad butt as he stood with his back to them at the cash register.  “You are so bad,” she muttered distractedly.  

Kelsie gave a snort. 
“You must be confusing me with all the dates I’ve gone out on.”

Nanci dragged her attention away from the bartender. 
“When are you ever going to accept the fact that no man is perfect?  Though I will be the first to admit you’ve dated more than a few losers lately.”

“Courtesy of
you and my mother.”

“Your mother’s picks were worse than mine.”

“Not by much,” she told her.  “My dates have ranked from bad to completely nauseating.  And that’s putting it nicely.  If I didn’t know better, I’d think you and my mother hated me.”

“
Now you’re being overly dramatic.  Your dates haven’t all been bad ones,” Nanci argued.  “The guys I set you up with were pretty damn cute.”

“Cute doesn’t mean they
didn’t have flaws.”

“Come on, Kelsie. 
Be real.  What man doesn’t have some sort of flaw?  No one’s perfect.  Not even us, though we come damn close,” she added with a grin.

Kelsie sighed.  “I
realize that.  And I’m not looking for perfect.”

“No.  You aren’t
looking
for anything at all,” her friend pointed out.  “And before you give me the old ‘I’ve tried’ story, remember this is me you’d be feeding that line of bull to.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Nanci sipped at her beer.  “Need I point out that since your divorce you’ve been determined to find something wrong with every single guy you go out with?” 

Maybe so.  But she wasn’t about to lose herself in a relationship again
.  Finding men’s faults before that happened kept her heart safe. 

Kelsie finished off the last of her wine cooler and then reached for the cold one Nanci had ordered for her.  “I may not be looking for long term commitment, but that doesn’t mean I’m not entitled to be choosy.”

Her friend offered an apologetic smile.  “You know I only nag you so much because I want you to be happy.”

“You sound like my mother.  She was so distraught over the break up of my marriage you would have thought she was the one getting the divorce.”

“She wants more for you than she had.  That’s why she pushes so hard.”

“Pushes hard is an understatement.
  And you’re not much better,” she said, pointing the open top of her wine cooler Nanci’s direction. 

“Hey, I’ve only fixed you up a few times
.  Your mother does it all the time.”

“I think
she’s going through some sort of mid-life crisis or something.  Only her fear isn’t of getting old.  It’s of never having grandchildren to dote on.  So any single man that crosses her path becomes fair game.”

Nanci laughed.  “Don’t you think that you’re over-exaggerating just a little bit?”

“You think so?  I’m telling you, Nanci, I think my mother is losing it.  She propositioned some guy in the meat market at Kroger the other day.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?  If she’s preoccupied
with her own love life—”

“
Not for her.  For me!  She asked him if he’d be interested in going out with her single, very attractive, successful daughter.”

“
Ah, another prospective blind date to set you up on.”

Kelsie nodded.  “
Apparently the guy purchased a couple of really big sausages which my mother took to mean he was both single
and
sexually confident.”

“
How did she come to that conclusion?”

“
She assumes all men are big eaters, so two sausages would mean it was going to be dinner for one.  And a man secure in his masculinity wouldn’t have any problem with buying sausages that might give his you-know-what a run for its money size-wise.”  

Beer spurted from her friend’s mouth.  “Oh God,” she choked.

“I know,” Kelsie said, handing her a napkin.  “Can you believe the lengths she goes to find Mr. Right for me?”

“I take it you and the ‘big sausage’ guy
have a date set up.”

“Thankfully, no.”

“No?  Let me guess.  The guy was married?”

She
nodded, grinning.  “Yeah, and he told my mother his ‘husband’ probably wouldn’t appreciate it.”

Nanci
burst into a fit of laughter.  “Another excuse for your date escape list.”

Kelsie dug in her purse
, pulling out the notepad she carried with her everywhere she went.  “I never thought about that.  Pretend to be gay,” she muttered as she scribbled the idea down for future reference.

“And married,” Nanci tossed out. 
“Just don’t ask me to play your wife.”

“But you’d
make such a hot wife,” Kelsie teased as she reached for her wine cooler.

Suddenly
, Nanci grabbed for her arm, nearly knocking the wine cooler from her hand.  “Ooh, ooh!  Let the Olympic bedroom games begin.” 

Somehow Kelsie managed to keep her drink from spilling.  “What are you talking about?”

Her friend leaned closer, saying in an urgent whisper, “I’ve just discovered the next Hunk of the Year centerfold.”

“What?”

Nanci pointed past her to the door.

Twisting around on the bar stool,
she discovered the cause of her best friend’s sudden need for a drool bib.  There, in the open doorway of Casey’s Bar and Grill, was the closest thing she’d ever seen to a Greek god in Columbus, Ohio. 

Only instead of wearing a toga and a crown of gold leaves, he was dressed in tight-fitting jeans that hugged his muscular thighs and no doubt his butt.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t see that side of him from where she sat.  The Greek god stopped just inside the door to talk to a man and woman who were seated at a table near the entrance.

She actually found herself craning her neck to stare at the sexy hunk of a man across the room.  He wore a short sleeve, navy blue t-shirt with the words - Worthington Fire Department – written across the front of it in stark white letters.  His dark hair was short with just a hint of sideburns that blended into the five o’clock shadow lining his jaw.

“Mmm...mmm...mmm...,” Nanci mumbled appreciatively behind her.  “I’m actually tempted to go outside and climb a tree
, meow, and pretend I’m stuck so he’ll come to my rescue.”

Nanci wasn’t the only one
tempted to do something foolish to get his attention. 
Kelsie shifted in her seat, tearing her gaze away from her friend’s fantasy-man-of-the-moment.  “I think it’s supposed to be cats they rescue from trees.”

“Hey, I can purr with the best of them.  Just let him take me home to bed and see.”

“Honestly, Nanci, is sex all you ever think about?”

“That and
shoes,” she admitted.  “Sometimes both together.”

Kelsie wasn’t the least bit surprised by that. 
Her best friend might be a sweet, soft-spoken dental hygienist by day, but her nighttime behavior was a whole different story.  Nanci was a self-proclaimed bad girl whose hobby was collecting, along with shoes and men, vibrators.  Not that she ever needed to use her B.O.B.s (battery operated boyfriends).  She had more men at her beck and call than she knew what to do with.  She just thought vibrators were fun conversation pieces and displayed them in her curio as one would dolls or collectible glassware. 

“Better you than me,” Kelsie
told her, meaning every word of it.  Sex with Kyle had been about as exciting as a root canal.  And the rebound sex she’d had a week after her divorce hadn’t been much better.       

“I’m warning you, Kelsie.  The next time we go out, I’m bringing the laughing gas along with me from the office.  Maybe it
’ll help you to relax and enjoy life.”  Her friend’s gaze shifted back across the room, no doubt seeking out her version of Mr. Wonderful again.

Kelsie grabbed her pen and
quickly jotted LAUGHING GAS down in her notebook.

“What are you doing?”
her friend muttered as she tossed a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

“Writing that down.”

“Writing what down?” she asked, clearly distracted.

“Nitrous Oxide.  That’s a great way to ditch a date and still leave the guy happy.”

Nanci arched a perfectly plucked brow.  “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

She was, but it was fun to get Nanci going.  “Hey, it’s an option.”

Her friend looked at her as if she’d just gone off the deep end.  “Think about it, Kelsie.  If slipping people Mickey’s in a bar is illegal, imagine what the penalty would be for dragging a nitrous oxide unit into a bar and hooking some unsuspecting guy up to it.”

Feigning disappointment, Kelsie crossed that one off of her list.  “I suppose you’re right.  I prefer to stay on the good side of the law.”

“Smart girl,” a deep, very male voice said behind them.

Both women whipped around.

“Ladies,” the firefighter hunk greeted with a lone dimple grin that had Kelsie wishing bar stools came equipped with seat belts.  Because she was just about to slide bonelessly off the one she was sitting on.

Nanci straightened, effectively thrusting her breasts outward and upward in her usual man
-hunting, take-me-to-bed pose.  “Well, hello.”

Not wanting to be rude, Kelsie looked up and returned his greeting with a lot less ‘enthusiasm’ than Nanci just had.  Close up he was taller and
even better looking, a lethal combination in her book.  Without waiting for him to reply, she swiveled back around to face the bar before the sight of him sent her into drool mode right alongside her friend.

Her attempt to avoid the hunky firefighter might have worked had it not been for the mirror that ran the length of the wall behind the bar.  His dark eyes met hers and that make-your-legs-weak smile
of his widened.  Her mouth went instantly dry and her pulse rate kicked up more than a few notches, making her stiffen uneasily in her seat.

Firefighter or not, he was a man.  And it was a smile just like the one he was flashing around the bar that caused her several years of wedded misery.  Warning bells were
clanging loudly inside her head. 
Avoid this man at all costs!

CHAPTER TWO

Despite the enthusiastic greeting the ‘perky’ blonde had given him, Cole Maxwell found his gaze drawn to the auburn-haired beauty seated beside her.  The one whose emerald eyes watched him in the mirror from beneath thick, black lashes with both interest and caution.

He
found himself studying the delicate features that made up her face.  Thickly lashed almond-shaped eyes.  Pert little nose.  Temptingly curved mouth.  Something about the way she seemed to disregard him the moment their gazes met drew him in.  Maybe it was the old ‘want what you can’t have’ adage.  He wasn’t, nor had he ever been, a vain man, but he found himself wanting this woman to notice him.

Much to
his disappointment, she looked away, breaking their momentary connection.  He had to remind himself of his reason for being there.  To pick up sandwiches for the station.  Not to pick up a petite package of sexiness.  As if he had any chance of doing so if he’d wanted to.  Unlike her friend whose interest was clear, the young woman who had caught his eye wasn’t showing any at all. 

Probably a
good thing, seeing as how he wasn’t looking to start anything.  He had just gotten out of a relationship.  One that had ended for the same reason all his previous ones had.  Women liked his being a firefighter in the beginning, but the fantasy quickly wore off when they had to deal with his work schedule and the risks that came along with his chosen profession.  They all tried to change him, to convince him to become something he wasn’t.  None had ever succeeded.  Being a firefighter was a part of who he was and nothing was going to change that.

“Do you come here often?” the
busty blonde asked, her tone deliberately sexy.

Not often enough
, he thought as his gaze dropped down to her friend’s ring finger.  Or in this case, ring-less finger.  “On occasion.”

“Well, I guess we might have to stop in here more often.  Don’t you agree, Kelsie?”
she said, giving her friend a nudge.

Kelsie?
  Cole smiled.  So that was her name.  Different.  Pretty.

The petite redhead swiveled around slowly on her bar stool, her green eyes sweeping over him in a quick glance before focusing on her friend.

Before ‘Kelsie’ had a chance to reply, the bartender came over.  “Hey, Cole.”

“Billy,” Cole replied with a nod, his gaze still
fixed on the fiery haired pixie.  “Our order ready?”

“
Give me a sec.  I’ll go check.”  Turning, he disappeared into the kitchen.

“Our order?” the blonde repeated with a sigh.  “Why are all the good looking ones always taken?”

“Nanci,” her friend gasped, her beautiful green eyes widening.

Cole chuckled.  “It’s all right.
”  He didn’t mind the compliment.  He just wished it had come from her instead.  Hell, he’d settled for even just a hint of interest on her part.  Not that he was looking to bring another female into his life.  It was more of a male pride thing.  “The order’s for the firehouse,” he explained. 

Unable to resist,
he did a slow inspection, taking in the cherry red toenails peeking out from the strappy black sandals she wore.  Faded blue jeans encased a narrow waist, one he could easily span his hands around.  Smooth, creamy skin beckoned his touch from beneath the slender straps of the gauzy black summer top.  And that auburn hair...  Like the fires he fought it made him hot.  The silken strands were clipped up behind her head, but several pieces had worked themselves free to hang in wisps along her face and neck.

“So you’re a fire fighter?”
her friend asked, dragging his attention away from the object of his interest.

Cole
nodded.  “Worthington Fire Department.”

“Do you guys really slide down the fire pole when calls come in?”

“Sometimes,” he replied with a chuckle.  “In fact, mine is one of the few firehouses in Columbus that still has brass poles.  So we have the option of taking the stairs to the bay or the pole.” 

Billy returned, placing an oversized carryout bag atop the bar.  “All set,” he said
, handing Cole the bill. 

He
reached down into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out his wallet.  Then he pushed two twenties across the bar.  “Keep the change.”

“Big
order...big tipper,” Nanci remarked with a playful smile as she reached for her glass.  “I’ll bet you-” 

“Don’t
even go there,” Kelsie warned, cutting her friend off.  He watched as a deep blush stained her cheeks.

“What?” Nanci asked in feigned innocence.  “I was simply going to say that a big boy like him would
probably have a really big appetite.”

He had a pretty good idea where
she was heading with that one.  And judging by the color in Kelsie’s cheeks he’d lay money on it that it had something to do with sex. 

Grabbing
the carryout bag from the counter, he said, “I’d better get this food back to the firehouse before they send a search party out to find me.”

He wasn’t certain, but
he could have sworn he detected a hint of a smile playing at the corners of the China doll’s glossy lips.  Ah, progress.

“Maybe we’ll see you around sometime,” the blonde said in a voice that was almost as bouncy as other parts of her.

He wasn’t sure if the ‘we’ she was referring to was her and her friend, or her and her breasts.  “Maybe so.”

“Just in case,” she said with a smile, “I’m Nanci with an ‘
I’ and this is my friend Kelsie with a slight case of post-divorce man avoidance tendencies.”

He barely managed to get out of the way as the drink her
guy-shy
friend had just taken exploded from her lips in a shower of red.  She tried to talk, no doubt to apologize, but ended up in a coughing fit that had him tossing his carryout bag back onto the counter and moving in to help her.

Taking the drink from her hand, he set it on the bar beside the bag and then patted her lightly on the back until the coughing fit passed.  “You okay?”

“Y...yes,” she managed to get out.  She looked up at him, her green eyes watering.  “Wrong pipe.” 

Her friend
passed her a napkin, then in melodramatic fashion said, “I was just trying to point out that you are usually a very warm, welcoming person.  Wouldn’t want you two to start off on the wrong foot.”  Her gaze slid down the length of him and her smile widened.  “You’re lucky he was here to come to your rescue.  If you had passed out, he’s certified to give mouth to mouth.”

“
Then he’d better stick around, because you’re going to need reviving after I finish strangling you,” the petite red-head muttered as she attempted to wipe the specks of wine cooler spray from her shirt and jeans.

He
gave a husky laugh at her unexpected response.  It appeared the little China doll wasn’t nearly as fragile as her petite-stature led one to believe.  That’s would teach him not to judge a book by its cover.

“I hate to break it to you
,” he said with a grin, “but murdering your friend isn’t the best way to keep you on the good side of the law.”

She sighed softly.  “I suppose you’re right.  I guess I’ll let her live
for now.  I’ll just cut out her tongue instead.”

He arched a questioning brow.

“She’s kidding,” Nanci said, not the least bit intimidated by her friend’s threats.

“Umm
, I think I’m fine now,” Kelsie said stiffly.

He looked down at her.  “What?”

“Rescue complete,” she said, glancing at the arm still wrapped around her back.

He smiled. 
“Well, if you’re sure you won’t be needing mouth to mouth...”

“I’m sure.”

Grinning, he let his arm fall away.  “Then I’ll be getting these sandwiches back to the station.”  Retrieving his order once more from the counter, he nodded.  “Ladies.”

Kelsie tried not to watch him go, but his backside proved to be a serious eye magnet.  Damn it anyhow.  In fact, she hadn’t found one thing wrong with him.  Definitely the kind of man she wanted to avoid. 

Nanci jumped off the bar stool and grabbed for Kelsie’s hand, putting it to her throat.

“What are you doing?”

“Strangle me,” her friend ordered.  “Quick!”

“What?”

“I want mouth to mouth.”  She pointed to the door as it closed behind the departing fireman.  “From him.”

“You want mouth to everything,” Kelsie declared as she shrugged free of her friend’s desperate grasp.  People were staring.

“I certainly wouldn’t complain.”  Sighing, Nanci returned to her seat at the bar.  “But he wasn’t interested in what I had to offer anyway.  He wanted you.”

Kelsie’s head snapped around.  “Me?” 

Her friend laughed.  “The man couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

She didn’t want to hear this.  “You’re crazy.”

“I don’t think so,” Nanci replied, all sunshine and smiles.  “I saw how he was looking at you.”

She tried hard not to think about the dark eyes that had stared so intently into hers a few moments before.  “I doubt he could see much of anything past the breasts you were shoving in his face.”

“
My breasts might as well have been invisible for all the good they did me tonight.”  She paused to flash a flirtatious smile at the bartender who stood watching her from the far end of the bar.

Grinning, Kelsie nudged her friend.  “Looks to me like someone noticed them.”

“He is kind of cute, isn’t he?  And he’s single.”

“He is?”

“I didn’t see a ring on his finger when he...”  Nanci stopped her dreamy muttering and turned back to Kelsie, tsk tsk-ing as she did so.  “Nice try.”

“What are you talking about?”
she asked innocently.

“You know damn well what I’m talking about.  I’m referring to your trying to divert our conversation away from your non-existent love life.”

“Boy, it’s hard to get anything past you,” Kelsie replied in a playfully sarcastic tone.

“And don’t you forget it.”

She reached for her wine cooler.  “Well, I’m not here to find a man, so let it go.” 

“Fine.  But I have half a mind to tell your mother about the hunk you let get away.”  Nanci pressed a hot pink nail to her chin.  “Let’s see...
  Which station was it ‘Cole’ worked at again?  Hmm...Worthington Fire Department, wasn’t it?”

If her mother had even the tiniest inkling a man like that was interested in her daughter, she would be introducing herself at the firehouse tomorrow with a tray full of cookies and a Xerox copy of her daughter’s finer qualities.  The same list her mother gave every man she wanted to persuade into going on a blind date with her ‘beautiful, young, sure-to-be-fertile daughter’. 

Kelsie shot a warning glance her way.  “If you even think about bringing him up to my mother, I really will strangle you.  And I promise you the guy I get to revive you wouldn’t even qualify for a dog calendar.”

“Fireman?
” Nanci asked with feigned ignorance and a smile.  “What fireman?  See, he’s forgotten already.”

Kelsie glanced toward the door, her heart still racing. 
If only it were that easy.

*
              *              *

Kelsie yawned for about the hundredth time that morning as she ran
her brush through her hair.  The reflection looking back at her in the bathroom mirror showed tale tell signs of the sleep she hadn’t gotten the night before thanks to Cole the fire hunk.  She couldn’t recall the last time she’d lost that much sleep over a man.

The way he’d looked at her
had made her feel...almost sexy, something she hadn’t felt for a very long time.  Why he would even notice her when Nanci was sending out very clear ‘I’m yours for the taking’ signals was beyond her. But the thought of it made her smile.

The kitchen phone rang, echoing through the tiny apartment.  A quick glance at her watch reminded her she was already running late for work. 
She debated letting the answering machine pick up the call instead.  What if it was important?

Muttering a curse,
she tossed her brush onto the bathroom counter and hurried out to answer it.  So much for having time to stop and pick up her morning cappuccino on the way into work.

She
glanced down at the caller I.D. before hitting talk.
Her mother.
  Her groan echoed off the kitchen walls.  A call before eight a.m. from her mother had the same connotation a red sky in the morning did for sailors.  It meant trouble.

She
answered it as she made her way to the fridge.  “Hello?”

“You’re still there,” her mother said excitedly.  “
I’m so glad I caught you before you left for work.”

Oh, God, she
should have run out the door.  She of all people knew what it meant when her mother used that sugary-sweet tone with her.  “Look, Mom—” she began as she grabbed a bottle of apple juice from the fridge.