Page 4 of Protect My Heart

the following six months…

chapter three

Daphne

The next time I see Mr. Tall, Blonde and Sexy is at Ruthie’s diner. He’s sitting at the counter on one of those red, vinyl stools and he nods at me when I walk in. It’s barely a movement and I’m kinda thinking maybe I just imagined it, but my cousin, Jade, elbows me in the side.

“Who is that?” she hisses.

“Shh,” I hiss back. We sit in a booth that basically faces him, which isn’t awkward at all. I never told Jade about the first time Fletcher and I met. And I don’t intend to do so now. “Just one of Garrett’s co-workers. He’s new, I guess.”

I glance down at the menu as if I don’t have it memorized. As if I don’t order the same things every time I come in.

“He’s hot,” Jade says.

I don’t bother looking. I know what he looks like. That face of his haunts my dreams. Those blue eyes heated from gazing at my naked body. That part was clearly just in my imagination since the only thing Captain Safety commented on was my cut shin and the broken back door.

“I suppose,” I finally agree with my cousin.

We order our meals. I opt for a grilled cheese with tater tots smothered in white gravy, which is not at all what I’d planned to order. I have one healthy selection here—the big chef’s salad—and I’d meant to get that. But having Fireman Hottie here is distracting me.

“Have y’all met?” Jade asks.

I lift a shoulder as I set down my menu. “In passing. Why?”

“Because he can’t keep his eyes off of you.”

My head swivels of its own volition and I meet his gaze. He is, in fact, staring right at me. Probably worried I’ll tell everyone how we met and tarnish his squeaky-clean reputation. That’s the only thing I’ve heard about the man in the few weeks since our encounter. Or #nakedgate as I’ve been referring to it in my head.

There was a write-up in the Saddle Peek about the new Incident Chief with Saddle Creek’s firehouse. Fletcher Bates, with a smile as big as his shoulders, comes to us from a much bigger firehouse in Houston.

The article had gone on extolling his virtues as if he were actually the new Baptist minister in town. Whatever.

“The way he’s eating that piece of pie and staring at you is indecent,” Jade says. “Pretty sure he wishes he was having a different kind of pie.”

“Jade!” I hiss. “What is the matter with you?”

She chuckles. “So many things.”

chapter four

Fletcher

It’s evidently time for something called the Bluebonnet Festival. I might be from a big town, but I’m still a Texan and I can appreciate a festival celebrating our state flower.

I’ve now lived in Saddle Creek for a few months and so far we’ve had what I would consider to be perfect weather. Today though is wet. There’s really no other way to describe it.

It’s not so much raining, but the drizzle is heavy enough that it just feels like wet air. Still the firehouse is out in force fundraising. Now, we’re generally known for the fill the boot fundraiser, but this time we’re helping to raise money for the local animal shelter, which means today we’re filling our hats.

We’re walking down Main Street where one side is lined with booths and the other is where most of the local businesses sit.

I spot her through the misty air, standing in front of the ice cream shop, Sprinkles. She’s got her head tilted back in laughter.

I stumble on nothing and have to correct my steps before I domino our entire line.

“You alright there, Bates?” one of the guys asks me.

“Yeah. Slick spot in the road,” I lie.