Stephanie Vaughan

Blind Date excerpt:

"Oh, right. Yeah." Chris smiled and gazed into Andy's eyes. A clear,
grassy green. Even if they weren't already Chris's favorite, they
would be now. "So. You're a fireman?"

"Yeah, I-" Their waitress appeared, interrupting to take their drink
orders, all the while silently conveying her interest in taking more
than that-from Andy, anyway. Politely, but just as silently, Andy
communicated his total lack of interest and Chris's interest kicked up
a notch. "Wildlands specialist, actually. I ought to mention, because
of the winds I might get called in early."

"Right. Yeah, I can see that." Chris nodded again. Fall in this section
of California meant the arrival of the Santa Ana winds. Occasional
but inevitable, Chris hated them, but he'd learned to live with them.
"What's a wildland specialist do?"

"It means I got extra training in dealing with these kinds of areas. I
know more about the techniques used for suppressing fire in
wilderness areas. We even have a specially equipped truck. We're on
already on alert, but I signed up for overtime and it's real believable
that I'll get called in early."

"Oh, wow. That's really interesting. How'd you get into something like
that?"

Andy's smile was totally infectious and Chris found himself grinning
like an idiot, but completely unable to stop himself as Andy talked.

"You know… Typical dopey kid who wanted to be a fireman since
birth, practically. You probably knew one or two when you were a
kid. Am I right?"

"Yeah, my cousin Alec, for one." Chris nodded and smiled into Andy's
eyes, not even looking away when the waitress brought their drinks,
only then noticing that Andy had ordered iced tea to Chris's draft
beer. "Iced tea. Is that because you're working?"

"Mmm-hmm, otherwise I'd probably join you." Andy took a sip of his
tea and continued, while Chris fought off visions of the variety of
activities he'd like Andy to join him in. "Plus, I was always a nature
geek and my family did a lot of outdoors stuff - camping and hiking
and whatnot -- so it was kind of natural to combine the two. I get
to travel more for the training and I get called in on emergencies out
of state. I was in Wyoming for a lot of that mess last year. You
might have read about it?"

So caught up in admiring the stroke of Andy's long, tapered fingers
over the rim of his glass, Chris had to pause and collect his thoughts
enough to respond. "No kidding? That sounds cool. You get to fly in
and be the hero?"

"Not quite so glamorous, but almost." The fingers curled around the
tall glass and Chris's gaze followed as Andy took a drink. The muscles
of Andy's throat worked as he swallowed and Chris bit his lip in
response. The man was seriously delicious.

"You might have to go in early? I'm guessing it's wind-related?"

"Not too surprising, I guess. Yup, unfortunately. I guess y'all didn't
get much rain last year, so it's even more of a risk than usual. Which
is saying something."

"Y'all?" Chris's eyebrows went up.

"Yeah. You all. Y'all."

"Nothing. It was nothing; forget I said anything." Kicking himself for
his stupid mistake, Chris backpedaled for all he was worth. Please,
please God, don't let him have annoyed this teeth-achingly beautiful
man. Not before looks at, and maybe even tastes of, dicks had
happened. Touching. He'd like to touch. Handle. Whoa.

***

© 2007, Stephanie Vaughan
All Rights Reserved

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