OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE (9 page)

She
placed the bowl of popcorn on the table between the filled wine glasses and then dropped down onto the sofa in front of Nanci’s most recent purchase – a huge flat screen TV.

When her friend wasn’t working, dating, or dragging
her out to try and hook her up with some guy, Nanci was at home watching movies.  She owned more DVD’s than the local video store.  

Her
gaze shifted to the oak curio in the corner of the room where one of her best friend’s more unusual hobbies was kept.  Inside, beneath the golden glow of the cabinet light, was Nanci’s prized collection of vibrators. 

“
I see you’ve added a few more to your collection,” she said, nodding toward the curio.

Nanci followed her gaze.  “Ebay.”

“Eeew!  You bought used vibrators?”

“What do you think I am?  Some kind of sicko perv?”

“Do I have to answer that?” Kelsie replied with a grin.

Her friend p
icked up a throw pillow and tossed it at her head.  “They’re new.  I just took them out of their packages to display them.”

“Good.  Now I feel better.”

“Speaking of feeling better, you have to check this one out.”  She walked over to the curio and pulled out what looked like some sort of hi-tech torture device.  “It’s called ‘The Rabbit’ and can stimulate multiple areas at once.” 

“It looks painful.”  Like something her ex deserved to have shoved up his ass.  Then again, he’d probably have liked it.  Kelsie leaned forward to grab a handful of popcorn.  “So, how about that movie?”

Shaking her head, Nanci returned her new toy to its special place in the curio.  “There you go again.”

“There I go again what?”

“Avoiding anything that has to do with sex.”

“What do you want me to say?
”  She pointed to the ‘Rabbit’.  “That I’d like one of those for Christmas?”

“That works.”

“Forget it.  That thing has way too many doodads on it for me.”

Nanci
closed the curio door.  “One ‘doodad’ is too many for you.”

Kelsie sat back with a sigh.  “Do we have to
delve into my sexual hang-ups again?”

“I’m only doing it for your own good.  How long has it been since you’ve gotten down and dirty with a man?”

Too long.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does,” her friend argued.  “You don’t want to have to worry about cleaning out the cobwebs before the guy you finally decide to have sex with gets to enter the love cave.”

“Just because my ‘cave’ doesn’t have a revolving door like yours does doesn’t mean...”
Kelsie sputtered in irritation.  “I’m not sure what it means.  Just worry about your own cave and I’ll worry about mine.”

“Okay, as long as you remember what they say about a person’s body when it comes to sex
.”

“And that would be?”

“Use it or lose it,” she said as she grabbed the DVD player remote from the TV stand. 

“If I wanted to be nagged this much about the lack of sex in my life I could have gone to visit my mother.  Are you sure you’re really not her daughter instead?”

“I wish,” Nanci replied as she settled onto the sofa.

“At least she wouldn’t have to push you to go out and meet Mr. Right.  You’re a dating machine.”

“I’m not that bad.”

She
gave her friend the ‘yeah, right’ look.

“Okay, so I like to date.  Speaking of which, I’m so glad you agreed to give Cole a chance.”

“I only agreed to go out with him to get my heels back.”  Kelsie lifted her leg, wiggling a heel-clad foot.  “As you told Cole, these are my favorite.”

“Who are you trying to kid?  You know you want to go out with
the guy.  It just took a little convincing.”

“
Don’t you mean blackmail?”

Nanci nodded with a grin. 
“My kind of guy.”

“Then maybe
you
should go out with him.”

“Can’t.  I’m going out with his friend, Joe.  You remember him.  He’s the one with the really big-”

“I’m not listening,” Kelsie said, slapping her hands over her ears.  “I’ve had enough sex talk for one night.”

Nanci
leaned over and tugged her hands away from her ears.  “Big
truck
.  You know, the one Cole rescued you with tonight.  You really need to get your mind out of the gutter.”

Kelsie snorted. 
“My mind?  I’m not the one who wishes she could date a statue because he’d be hard all the time.”

“
Hmm...maybe I should start a male statue collection.”

“I think you’d need to get a bigger place.”

“So much for that idea,” Nanci said, reaching for her wine glass.  Raising her other hand, she hit play on the remote.

“What are we watching?”

“My favorite - Romancing the Stone.”

Kelsie
couldn’t contain her groan.  They had only watched that movie a few dozen times over the years.  She could probably recite every line by heart.  “Only if you promise not to keep replaying the scene where Michael Douglas slides down the hill into the water and lands headfirst between Kathleen Turner’s legs.”

“You’re killing me here,”
her friend said with a pout.  “You know that’s my favorite part.”

“Your fantasy you mean.”

Nanci hid her smile behind her wine glass as she brought it to her lips.  “Okay, I admit you wouldn’t hear me complaining if some sexy movie star ended up with his face wedged between my legs.” 

“The poor guy would have drowned if
it had been you instead of Kathleen Turner.  You’d have put him in a leg lock to keep him there.”

She sat back as the movie started. 
“What better place for a man to be than between our legs, seeing to our needs.”

Kelsie choked on the
handful of popcorn she’d just stuffed into her mouth. 

“You okay?”

She nodded, waving away her friend’s concern.  “I’m fine.”

But nearly choking had
Kelsie thinking about the first time Cole had come to her rescue at Casey’s Bar and Grill.  The way his hands felt smoothing over her back.  Okay, so maybe she wasn’t fine.  She was thinking way too much about Cole Maxwell, his kisses, and just how hot the sex promised to be between them if she could get past her fears and give him a chance.     

CHAPTER SEVEN

The big screen TV wasn’t the only form of entertainment that morning at the firehouse.  Most of the excitement centered around the tree rescue Cole had performed the night before and one feisty little redhead the other men were still determined to refer to as ‘Cupcake’. 

To make matters worse, he and Kelsie had made the front page of the local paper.  The picture was one of him bringing her down from the tree in the bucket.  Unfortunately for her, the reporter managed to get a clear shot of her face so everyone who got the paper in Worthington would know she was the woman he’d rescued from the tree behind the soon-to-be-defunct strip club.

It was amazing the firehouse’s copy of that morning’s paper had any ink left on it, considering how many times the men had passed it around.

“I had no idea that Cupcake was a stripper,” Stubby said as he tossed the newspaper aside and reached for the remote control of his miniature fire truck.  It was one of twelve that lined the far wall next to the big screen.  They were toys for overgrown boys, providing the men there with both entertainment and a bit of sport, a playful distraction from the harsh realities of their job.

“Kelsie’s not a stripper.”  

“A peeping Tom?” Joe teased as he eased back in his recliner.

Cole frowned in irritation.  “No, she’s not a peeping Tom either.”

“So she just has a thing for shimmying up and down tree branches?” the Lieutenant threw in with a hearty chuckle.

Ha. Ha.
  They were in rare form that morning.

“It just so happens she was trying to get out of a bad date,” he attempted to explain. 

“Another one?” Stubby inquired.  No doubt referring to the one Cole had rescued her from the day he was seen kissing her at the hospital.

Cole ignored the question.  Kelsie’s personal life wasn’t any of their business. 

Joe cleared his throat, disguising a chuckle.  “Must have been one hell of a bad date to have her climbing out of a second story window.”

“It was.” 

Nate plucked another donut from the near-empty box on the dining room table and carried it with him across the Great room to his recliner.  “Well,” he said, pointing his glazed donut at Cole as he settled into the Lazy Boy, “I sure hope you aren’t planning to take ‘Cupcake’ to one of those fancy high-rise restaurants in downtown Columbus on your date.”

“Date?” several of the men muttered, their gazes shifting Cole’s direction.

Big mouth. 

“I’m taking her out to dinner,” he muttered.

“Downtown dining shouldn’t be a problem,” Joe decided.  “There aren’t any trees along the street that are high enough for her to perform a high-rise Jungle Jane escape.”

The Lieutenant shrugged.  “I don’t know, Joe.  I’d bet there’d be a flagpole available if she got desperate.”

The men burst into a round of raucous laughter that echoed off the beige walls of the Great room.  The only one not laughing was Cole.

He rolled his eyes.  “Kelsie’s not going to be in need of a flagpole on our date.”

“You sure about that?” Nate mumbled around the last nub of glazed donut he’d just shoved into his mouth.  “I mean you did blackmail her into going out with you.”

Heads snapped around to look at Nate, a roomful of ‘huh’s?’ following.

“Not exactly,” he argued, drawing their attention back his direction.

“Well damn.  I must’ve misunderstood the situation.  I could’ve sworn I saw you holding ‘Cupcake’s’ heels out of her reach and saying, ‘Your shoes for a date.  I’m off duty this weekend.  Let me take you out to dinner.’”  He repeated Cole’s words pretty much verbatim.

Joe looked to Cole, humor lighting his blue eyes.  “You held her shoes hostage?”

More laughter erupted around him.

Cole gave a resigned sigh.  “Okay, so maybe I did use a little friendly persuasion.  She didn’t have to accept.”

Nate opened his mouth to argue the fact, but Cole cut him off.  “One more word from you and you’ll be sliding down the fire pole headfirst.” 

Though Nate knew he wouldn’t actually follow through with his threat, his friend let it go, much to Cole’s relief.  He didn’t need the rest of the guys to find out Kelsie hadn’t even accepted his invitation, Nanci had agreed for her.

Stubby pushed out of his recliner and walked over to the collection of remote control fire trucks beside the TV.  Reaching for his, he flipped it over and turned it on, then placed it back on the floor.  “Race anyone?  First truck to cross the finish line gets to rescue ‘Cupcake’ from her date with Cole.”

Footrests swung down in unison as the others shot out of their Lazy Boys and hurried to line up their trucks.  As it was every time a challenge was issued between the men at the station, testosterone levels shot through the roof. 

Cole opted to forego the early morning competition and head downstairs to begin vehicle and equipment checks.  The others were so intent on their race to be Kelsie’s next hero that none of them even noticed his leaving.

Or so he thought.

“Cole,” Joe called after him in the hallway.  “Hey, buddy, wait up.”

Cole slowed his step.  “Aren’t you missing the big race?”  He nodded toward the rec room.

His friend laughed.  “As if any of us guys have a chance with Kelsie.  Besides, I can find my own woman.  I don’t need your cast offs.  As a matter of fact, I happen to have a date with ‘Cupcake’s’ friend.  Or will have as soon as I call and ask her out officially.”

“Nanci?”

“Don’t sound so surprised.  It just so happens that I’m, and I quote, “One hot firefighter.” 

“She said that?”

“Hell, yes, she said that.  It’s not like you’re the only babe-magnet around here.  My studliness aside, what’s really up between you and Kelsie?”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw the way she looked at you when you went up to get her.”

He had? 

The only thing Cole had thought about at that moment was getting Kelsie down.  Okay, and maybe kissing her again, but her safety had been his first concern.

“I don’t know what to think,” he said as they made their way down the stairs to the bay.  “I don’t consider myself God’s gift to women or anything, but I’ve never had a problem getting them to go out with me.”  His problem had always been in keeping the relationship going afterward because of his chosen profession.

Joe chuckled.  “Yeah, can’t say I ever remember you ever having to bribe a woman to go to bed with you.”

“Kelsie and I are going to dinner, not to bed.” 

“Yet.”

He rolled his eyes.  He was by no means the stud his best friend tried to make him out to be.  Sure he’d had his share of relationships in the past, but not all of them had ended up in bed. 

“With Kelsie, I’ll be lucky if I get her to the dinner table.”

“The department ‘Stud Muffin’ afraid of a little challenge?” Joe asked as he ran his sleeve over the chrome backing on the Ladder truck’s side mirror. 

“Hell, no.”  Cole yanked open the equipment doors at the side of the truck. 

“Then what’s the problem?”

“The problem is this thing with Kelsie is driving me crazy.”

“Thing?”

“She’s not like any woman I’ve ever dated.”

Joe shrugged.  “Might be a plus.”

He wasn’t so sure.  “She’s trouble waiting to happen,” he said as he moved to check the hoses.  “You’ve seen it firsthand.”

“What I’ve seen is a woman that makes your face light up like the skies over Thomas Worthington High School stadium on the fourth of July.”

She did?

Joe continued with his assessment of the situation.  “You’ve always played it safe, dating all those boring, cookie cutter kind of women.  It’s no wonder things never worked out with any of them.”

“Boring?”

“Yeah, you know.  The kind of women who spend hours deciding on what shade of nail polish they’re going to wear out.  The kind of woman who wouldn’t be caught dead in a tree.”

“I can assure you Kelsie wasn’t too thrilled to be caught up in that tree either.”

“All I’m saying is that maybe it’s time you stop playing it safe and give ‘trouble’ a chance.”

Joe was right.  Kelsie wasn’t like any of the women he’d dated before.  While he had a tendency to go for tall, mostly blonde and slightly more endowed women, he found himself surprisingly turned on by the petite little stick of dynamite with hair as fiery as her personality.  One who wasn’t afraid to try things like rollerblading, or as in last night’s case, tree climbing.

He chuckled inwardly at the memory of it.  And it was good to know that slightly mussed hair wasn’t a major crisis for her, because that hair of hers beckoned a man’s hands to run through it.  His hands.

He closed the doors and leaned against the truck.  “You know, Joe, I think you’re right.  No more playing it safe in my personal life.  We both know Kelsie is looking for the not-so-perfect man.”

“And?”

“I’m going to give her what she wants and have fun doing it.”  All he had to do was keep her from pulling a date escape on him, too.

*              *              *

             
Kelsie stepped into the kitchen and groaned in protest of the sunlight penetrating the partially opened slats of the mini-blinds.  She felt like hell.  Not because she’d drank too much at Nanci’s the night before, though she had downed several glasses of cheap wine during their movie marathon.  Her exhaustion was due more to the restless night she’d spent after she’d gotten home.  One spent fantasizing about Cole Maxwell.   

She made her way over to the kitchen pantry and pulled out a loaf of twelve-grain bread and a near empty jar of Jif
.  Peanut butter was one of her three main vices – coffee, chocolate and peanut butter.  Not always in that order.  It depended on what time of month it was.

After dropping two slices of bread into the toaster, she hurried to get the coffee maker started, desperate for a caffeine fix.  There was no way she’d be able to spend the day
shopping feeling the way she did.  Like the human equivalent of a slug. 

Adding more urgency to her need to pull herself together was the fact that if she didn’t go it
would mean her mother and Nanci would be spending the day alone together – probably scheming.  A dangerous thing.

She pulled her purse towards her across the counter and
dug inside for her cell phone.  Turning, she dialed Nanci on her way back to the toaster.  The smell of freshly brewing coffee seeped into the air around her, teasing her sleepy senses. 

“Hello?”

“Morning,” Kelsie muttered.

Nanci laughed on the other end of the line.  “I can’t help but notice there was no ‘good’ in your morning.”

“Sorry.  I haven’t had my daily caffeine fix yet.”  She wasn’t about to tell her friend that her irritability was really due to having lost several nights’ sleep now thanks to a certain firefighter.

“Well, don’t even think about picking me up until you’ve gotten
your fix.”

“Don’t worry,
” she told her.  “It’s brewing as we speak.”

“Good.  You need to be in top form today.  You should see all the sales going on
at the mall.”

Kelsie pulled a knife from the kitchen drawer and
began spreading peanut butter in a thick layer across her toast.  “You’ve already been out to get a paper?”

“Are you kidding?  Even I don’t venture out that early.  It’s my neighbor’s paper.  I borrowed it.”

Yawning sleepily, Kelsie grabbed a coffee cup from the mug tree on the counter.  “You stole your neighbor’s paper?” 

“I didn’t
steal
anything.  It’s like a ride share only involving the newspaper instead.”

“I’m not sure that theory would hold up in a court of law if the guy presses charges,”
she told her with a grin as she filled her cup to the top with steaming hot coffee.

“Oh, hell, Johnny’s not going to even notice the
rest of the paper’s gone.”

Kelsie bit into her toast.  “The rest?”

“I left him the sport’s section.  That’s all he cares about.”

Nanci was right.  Her neighbor was an ex-college football player who lived and breathed everything sports.  And seeing as how he lived in sweats, she couldn’t imagine him having
any need of department store ads.

“I need to
finish eating before I jump in the shower.”

“All right
,” Nanci replied, a little too chirpily for Kelsie’s liking.  “I’ll let you go.”

“See you in a
n hour.”

*
              *              *

T
hree cups of coffee later, Kelsie eased her blue Ford Mustang up to the curb in front of Nanci’s house.  Nanci was outside and heading toward the car before she ever had a chance to blow the horn to let her friend know she was there.