Joe himself sat rooted, morbidly fascinated by the differences between the two women, one so fully made-up and blatantly sexual, the other’s appeal more natural, somehow more genuine. Both women were looking at him curiously, probably wondering why he’d gone speechless, and he thought that tonight, for once, he’d have a new nightmare.

Summer moved first, around Cindy and toward the door.

Ah, hell. “Red.”

Her hand on the doorknob, she glanced back at him.

What could he say? And he couldn’t help but wonder, is this how she’d felt that long ago day, standing between him and Danny? Did she appreciate the irony? “I’ll contact you as soon as I have any answers on the fire,” he promised.

“Yeah. Thanks.” She offered a small smile and glanced at Cindy.

“I’m Cindy Swenson by the way,” Cindy said, thrusting out her hand to Summer. “And I interrupted your business meeting. I’m sorry.”

“No problem.”

“Cindy, this is Summer Abrams,” Joe said. “We’re…”

Summer locked her eyes on his.

“Old friends.” Which felt like both an understatement and an overstatement at the same time. “From school.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet,” Cindy said to Summer. “I’m so sorry for my abrupt appearance, but Joe and I don’t get much time together, as he lives and breathes his work.” She flashed him the look that for two months had been giving him an instant hard-on, but now acted like a shriveling agent.

Summer reached for the door again. “Okay, well, I’ll just let you two get to your, um…” She gestured to his desk. “Lunch.”

He grimaced. “Red—”

But she was gone.

When the door shut, Cindy perched a hip on the corner of his desk and waggled her brows. “Ready to eat?”

“Can’t. I have a meeting—Whoa!” He lurched back up and put his hands over hers when she started to undo the buttons of her blouse. “The door—My chief—” She kept stripping. “Cindy, I mean it.”

She trailed her hand down his abdomen, and then even farther, cupping him between his thighs. “Mmm, look what I found.”

He grabbed her busy hands. “Cindy, I’ve got to go. You’ve got to go.”

He spent the last two minutes before his meeting walking her out to her car and seeing her off before racing into the conference room with thirty seconds to spare. Chief Michaels eyed him curiously but apparently had the willpower not to point out the oddity of two beautiful women visiting his usually woman-challenged fire marshal within five minutes of each other.

“Hey, gigolo,” Kenny said with a grin, possessing no such willpower at all.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4