I turned into him and pulled our hands free so I could put both mine to his chest. In return, Mickey curved an arm around me.

“You need a new microwave,” I announced and he let out a deep chuckle.

But he didn’t say anything.

“And a TV,” I went on. “And it’s shocking you have a kitchen that’s surely a fire hazard situated in a firehouse.”

His eyes were still amused when he replied, “We make do, Amy.”

“I would be of the opinion that men volunteering to put their lives on the line should expect more than making do.”

He didn’t lose any amusement but I could still see a hint of serious seep into his eyes when he said, “Okay, you don’t got a dick so you’re just gonna have to go with me on this when I say it’s okay for my girlfriend to make the guys brownies. It is not,” his arm gave me a squeeze, “okay for you to buy us a TV.”

That was precisely what I intended to do (plus a microwave) but I read the seriousness in his eyes and decided not to push that partly because I didn’t have a dick, he was right. He did, it was a very good one and he knew how to use it.

But mostly because he’d called me his girlfriend and I liked that a lot.

I didn’t want to appear eager and scary by sharing that fact with him so I asked, “Does the town give you any money?”

“Bobby’d lose his mind and the boys would not show up if our rig and gear was not all it needed to be. They keep us equipped that way, Amy. We’re guys. We don’t need a lot more.”

“Not even a better TV?” I queried incredulously.

“Gotta admit,” he mumbled, lips twitching. “That TV sucks.”

“Even when Archie Bunker was watching it, it sucked,” I mumbled back and he chuckled again. “Do you do any fundraising?”

He nodded. “Every year ’round Christmas, the wives and some wealthy broads in town throw a Fire and Policemen’s Ball, and ’round Valentine’s Day all the guys in the county step up for a Firefighter and Police Officer Bachelor Auction. But what we make on that goes into a pot to divvy out in case something happens in the line of duty.”

I ignored the “line of duty” business and asked, “Bachelor auction?”

He grinned and replied, “Things keep goin’ the way they are, this year, I won’t participate.”

This year?

I ignored that too and stated, “Oh yes you will. I’m loaded. I could go the distance to beat any woman who thought she could get her hooks in you for a dinner.”

His grin got bigger as his body started shaking. “Then next year, I’m first to sign up.”