Chapter 13

Patrick had hoped to catch Keith before the start of his shift, but he'd barely made it in time. Instead, he'd managed to get a minute with him at the end of the day. He could have left the man a note to wait for him, but he wanted this to appear as casual as possible. So he hung around the locker room waiting for Keith to get off shift and come in to change. He had about given up when the door to the locker room opened.

"Hey, how's it going?" Keith gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "How's your partner?"

"Good. He's good."

"I had hoped we could ride together," Keith told him, "but the assignments had already been made."

"No problem." He fiddled around with his stuff for a moment before closing his locker and standing up. "Say, what's the deal with Kristi Gregory?"

"The deal?" Keith stopped in the middle of stripping off his uniform. "In what way?" Then a slow grin spread over his face. "Why, you sly dog. You interested in her?"

"What if I am?" He tried not to sound too defensive.

Keith's grin disappeared. "Listen. Kristi is like one of the family, not just for the guys at 58 but for us, too. We all hang at McNally's together, but you know that. So what's the deal?"

"Has she, uh, been seeing anyone? Or anything?"

Keith studied him for what seemed forever. He hung up his uniform and pulled on jeans and a T-shirt before answering.

"Kristi is very special to all of us," he told Patrick. "She's an incredible individual who we all like and respect. She's one of the best paramedics in the entire Dallas area."

"Okay, that's a great reference. Only I hear a 'but' in there."

Keith sat down, straddling the bench in front of the lockers. "She doesn't ever talk about it, and it's mostly just what people have picked up here and there. I think she had some kind of relationship that ended four years ago in a devastating manner."

Patrick felt every muscle in his body tighten, but he tried his best to remain calm. "Was it abusive?" He wanted to kill every man who abused a woman.

"Maybe not in the physical sense, but emotionally and mentally. None of us really know, and she keeps whatever it is locked inside her." He gave Patrick a long, searching look. "I don't like to butt into anyone's business, but I can tell you this. If you ever did anything to hurt that woman, you'd have every firefighter in the house after you."

Patrick held up his hands. "No worries. I promise. And whatever happens, I'll tread carefully."

"Glad to hear it. You going by McNally's on the way home? I think it's my turn to buy."

Patrick shook his head. "No, I think I'll just head out. And thanks for the info."

"Okay. Be careful, Patrick. I don't want to see you get hurt, either."

"I'm good. I promise."

He sat for a few minutes in his car, deep in thought. If Kristi had suffered a devastating end to a relationship, that would account for her reticence to date again, and for her avoiding all the hints he'd sent out before she finally said yes. She wasn't just a date to him. He'd been subtle in trying to let her know that, not wanting to scare her off but also wanting to let her know she meant more to him than just a date. He'd had a sense he had to tread carefully. Now he had an idea why.

Last night had been, without a doubt, the single most incredible night of his life. She'd made love with him without restraint, a gift he treasured. And he wanted more with her than just the one night, but making her believe they had something might be more difficult than he'd thought. But he could do it. He wanted to do it. They'd take it one day at a time, but this was one woman he had no intention of walking away from.

Tomorrow she was back on shift again, so this would be an early night for her. However much time she had, he wanted her to spend it with him. He'd never fallen for a woman like he had for her. It might be fast, but that didn't matter. When it was real, it was real, and that's what he felt here.

Picking up his cell, he punched in her number.

"Hello?" Her voice was soft and a little tentative.

"It's me." He paused. "Patrick."

"Oh! Hi!" Her voice had a touch of surprise in it.

Had she not expected him to call? Did she think he'd forgotten the things he'd said already? Or that he was calling to cancel tonight? What asshole had made her so tentative?

"Listen. Have you started fixing anything yet?"

"Um, no. Not really. Just getting stuff together." He heard her clear her throat. "Did you want to cancel?"

Yup. He'd guessed right. Someday he'd find out who that asshole was and figure out a way to beat the shit lout of him.

"Of course I don't want to cancel. I can't wait to see you again."

"Oh." She breathed the word. "Okay. So what did you want?"

"Instead of you having to cook I thought, I'd pick up a pizza." His voice dropped. "I know it's an early night for you, and I didn't want to waste time having you cook when we could be doing...other things."

He had so very many other things he wanted to be doing with her.

"Yes. Okay. That would be nice. I like pizza."

They decided what kind, and Patrick called the order in. Then he cranked the ignition and put the car in gear. He smiled all the way to the pizza place and then all the way to Kristi's.