Authors: Cat Johnson
Neither looking right nor left, Lexi and her shopping cart rushed full-speed toward the egg carton display…and smashed, demolition derby style, directly into another wagon. The momentum nearly flung her head first into her own cart. As it was, the handle jabbed her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.
Gasping, she looked up at the driver of the other cart and found herself breathless for a different reason. This guy was hot enough to take any woman’s breath away.
“Are you all right?” Mr. Muscles in the firefighter T-shirt and jacket stepped around and looked at Lexi with concern.
Lexi managed to nod, but not much more than that.
“Where were you going in such a hurry anyway?” He raised a brow and looked back at her over his shoulder as he reached into the case and took the last four cartons of eggs.
Her heart stopped. “I need those eggs!”
He glanced at the four cartons, which he’d just planted securely in his cart and then back at her. “Sorry, so do I.”
He was handsome as the devil and with the muscles of Paul Bunyan, but she was tired, frustrated—in more ways than one—and she needed those eggs. Not above flirting them away from him, Lexi unzipped the jacket of her sweat suit a bit more and thrust her chest out. “Surely you could spare a dozen or two. You can’t possibly need all four cartons.”
The breast-thrust move worked as his gaze dropped, but then he brought his attention back to her face and smiled, shaking his head. “Sorry, but I need them all.” He folded his massive arms across his chest, as if waiting for her next move.
Unfortunately, she was out of moves and out of patience. She stamped one foot with frustration. “Why do you need them all? For what?”
“That was cute.” He flashed her an even broader smile.
“What?” She fisted her hands on her hips.
“When you stamp your foot and pout with your hands on your hips like that, it’s cute.”
First he steals her eggs, and now he was mocking her…all while looking sexier than any man had a right to. She wasn’t going to put up with it. “Don’t you pick on me, you…you…egg hog.”
At that, he laughed aloud. Finally, he wiped a hand over his mouth and sobered enough to explain. “Look. I’m sorry. It’s obvious that you have some sort of attachment to these eggs but I really do need all four dozen. I promised I’d feed twelve hungry guys four-egg omelets in just a few hours.”
Lexi reached into the refrigerated display case and grabbed a carton of egg substitute. “Here, use this. It’s better for their cholesterol.”
“I’ve got four pounds of bacon in this shopping cart. Do you really think they’re worried about their cholesterol? Why don’t
you
use the fake eggs?”
“Because I’m making soufflés.” Her voice cracked on the last word and Lexi realized she was losing it. Why had she ever agreed to take cooking lessons? She told Robert she couldn’t do it. She turned her head away before the convenience store Adonis saw her start to cry. “Never mind. They’re all yours. I quit.”
Abandoning the cart in the middle of the aisle, Lexi started walking away, until a strong hand on her arm stopped her.
“No. Wait.”
She stopped, but didn’t turn around, and neither did he move his hand off her arm. “Why?”
“You can have the eggs.” His voice reverberated behind her.
“No. I don’t need them any more. I quit. I’ll never learn how to cook anyhow and I’m tired of killing myself trying.” She wiped the tears quickly away so she could turn back to the magnanimous mystery man who was suddenly so willing to share his eggs with her. “Thanks anyway.”
He watched her closely. His dreamy blue eyes, which contrasted so nicely with the dark wavy hair, narrowed.
“You wanna go for a drink or coffee? Or maybe some fried eggs or something?” He smiled at his own joke.
“Now?” It was late and she wasn’t exactly looking her best. It figured she’d meet a hottie while in her sweat suit with her hair probably looking like a big mess.
He didn’t seem to mind her appearance as he nodded. “There’s an all-night diner right down the street.”
It was frightening how quickly she made up her mind, especially since she didn’t even know his name. “I’d like that.”
Chapter Three
“So let me get this straight. Your name is Alexis, but you won’t tell me your last name. Originally, you desperately had to make a soufflé tonight, but now you don’t. What are you, in some sort of culinary witness protection program?”
Scott didn’t mention that she’d also hesitated before giving him even just her first name. She was nervous, but at least she wasn’t crying like she had been in the store.
“Sorry. If I told you any more, I’d have to kill you.” Alexis laughed as she made a joke of her own.
He smiled back. What was it about this girl that made him want to help her? Must be the innate hero in him, the same instinct that made him join the army and then after his tour was up, become a fireman.
“Seriously, though. You were reduced to tears in the middle of the dairy aisle over a few dozen eggs. I know we just met, but if you need to talk, I’m a good listener.”
She looked up at him and then dropped her focus to the table, but not before he noticed her eyes start to glisten.
Scott hissed in a breath. “Ah, jeez. I didn’t mean to make you cry again. I’m sorry.”
Alexis shook her head and finally raised tear-filled eyes to look at him. “Don’t be sorry. It’s just that you’re being so nice. I’m sorry. I can’t handle that right now.”
“You can’t handle someone being nice to you?” He raised a brow.
She buried her face in her hands and let out a half laugh. “I’m really tired and under a lot of pressure. I’m a big mess and if you want to run away from me, I won’t blame you one bit. In fact, I suggest it.”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I don’t scare so easily.”
Realizing what he’d said gave him pause. He had run in fright when Linda had demanded a ring. But this girl wanted nothing more from him than a dozen eggs. He was sure that must be the difference.
Scott looked at the mystery girl in front of him. In the few months since Linda had dumped him because of his inability to commit on the spot to a lifetime with her, he’d steered clear of all females. But the tearful egg confrontation with this woman had piqued his curiosity, not to mention his interest, on a personal level.
This Alexis No-Last-Name was quite a piece of work. If Linda had stamped her foot at him and pouted, he would have laughed her out of the store. But when Alexis did it, he’d had the urge to grab her and see if she tasted as sweet as she looked.
Wearing a plain sweat suit with not one bit of makeup on her face, she was still the sexiest thing he’d seen in a long time. He studied her more closely. Short brown curls, warm brown eyes. But something nagged at the back of his brain. Why did she seem familiar?
A sudden and extremely unappealing thought struck. What if she was one of Troy’s one hundred and nineteen and that’s why Scott recognized her? Damn. She was exactly Troy’s type too. Petite but curvy in all the right places. Even engaged, the firehouse Casanova was still getting in the way of his dating life. Scott wasn’t thrilled about accepting Troy’s leftovers, but with over a hundred of them running around the neighborhood, the chances of encountering one was high.
He supposed he had no choice in the matter, because even if Alexis was one of the many fish in Troy’s former sea, Scott didn’t think that would be enough to make him want to throw her back.
“This may seem like an odd question, but do you know a firefighter named Troy O’Donnell?” He steeled his nerves. Better to find out now rather than later.
She frowned. “No, I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”
Ding, ding, ding. That was the correct answer. Scott smiled. “No reason. You’d remember if you knew him. So, during the recent battle of the eggs, you mentioned learning to cook…” He paused as Alexis started to look really uncomfortable.
“Did I?”
“Yeah, you did. You know, if you were interested, I could tutor you. I was a cook in the army for a few years. And now, I do a lot of cooking for the guys at the firehouse. It’s one of the unsung duties of being a full-time firefighter. That and cleaning the fire truck. I’m a pretty good cook, if I say so myself. At least, the guys don’t complain too much.”
This was good. He was just offering her some help. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to strip her down and eat pancakes off her belly or anything. Yeah, sure it didn’t.
She perked up a little. “You cooked in the army? How many people did you generally serve at a sitting?”
“Depended on where we were. Sometimes hundreds.” He shrugged.
Her eyes grew wide. “Really? How did you do it? Cook for such a large group, I mean.”
Who would have thought the subject of army grub, of all things, would be the key to prying her out of her shell. Most people thought pulling kitchen duty in the military was a punishment, but Alexis was really impressed.
Scott tried to live up to her sudden hero worship of his cooking abilities. “I guess you try to keep the menu limited and simple. Do all of the prep work ahead of time. Have as much cooked in advance as you can get away with. You know, the stuff that won’t get ruined if it’s reheated. And the biggest thing, make sure you have enough or the crowd tends to get hostile.”
Alexis had actually whipped out a pen and was jotting down notes on the paper napkin beneath her mug of decaf coffee. Scott put a hand over hers. “I’m serious. If you need help, I’m available.”
Very, very available…
She looked up, hesitated and then treated him to a gorgeous crooked little smile. “When can you start?”
Chapter Four
Lexi pulled her baseball cap lower over her forehead. This was crazy. Insane. Certifiable. That still didn’t stop her as she forged boldly onward, toward the firehouse for her seven a.m. cooking class with Scott the hot fireman. Today’s lesson—omelets for twelve. Crazy.
Someone was bound to recognize her. She was surprised Scott hadn’t last night. Maybe it was that she’d been crying and not wearing makeup. Or maybe she wasn’t as famous as she thought. Whatever. If it meant quitting classes with Chef Frederick, spawn of the devil, and being able to learn how to cook from a man who made her heart flutter every time she looked at him, she was willing to take the chance.
She read the brass plaque on the exterior brick wall of the firehouse.
Ladder Company No. 3
. That name seemed really familiar to her for some reason. Hmm. Oh, well. It would come to her eventually. Maybe she’d seen it on the news or something.
Should she knock? Was there a doorbell? Lexi opened the door a crack and hesitated. Then she was greeted by the smell of bacon frying. Steeled by that comforting aroma, and now sure she was not only in the right place but that Scott the cooking fireman and his four pounds of bacon were on the premises, she slipped in.
As the door swing shut, Lexi followed her nose up the stairs. At the top she found the kitchen where a large and obviously well used six-burner professional stove dominated the room. Well, actually, the large fireman doing the cooking dominated the space more. She could only see the back of his wavy dark hair as he deftly flipped the bacon, four strips at a time, using a large stainless steel pair of tongs.
The rear view of the snug-fitting blue pants and T-shirt was nice. She would have liked to pause and appreciate it for longer, but she decided to announce her presence before she started to drool. “Um, hi.”
Scott turned and smiled, ice-blue eyes twinkling. “Morning. I’m surprised to see you.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you were serious when you offered… I can go.” She edged toward the door.
He took a step forward and grabbed her arm before she got any farther. “I
was
serious. I’m just surprised. I’m very happy to see you here. You got what, five hours of sleep, maybe six?”
“I don’t sleep so well these days. It’s just easier to get up and make coffee than lay there awake.” She shrugged.
Watching her closely, he didn’t ask any questions but instead motioned her over to where he worked. “Come closer. You’re just in time to help prep the omelets.”
After he slid the oversized sheet pan of bacon back into the oven, he moved to a large cutting board on the counter.
“I already cracked all the eggs into that big steel bowl over there. I threw in some salt and pepper and just a dash of water, then beat them with a whisk.” He paused and made eye contact.
Lexi nodded to let him know she was listening.
Scott continued, “As for the other ingredients, I bought the cheese pre-shredded and the mushrooms pre-sliced. Sometimes that can be a little more expensive but it saves a lot of prep time. Now we have to cut the rest of the fresh ingredients.”
He placed a green pepper and a really large and extremely sharp looking knife on the wooden board in front of her. She stared at it, and then up at him.
His brow rose. “Do you know how to cut a pepper?”
“Um, with the knife I assume.” God, she really was a fraud. On the cooking show everything she needed just magically appeared already prepared in tiny little labeled bowls. Cooking for dummies, only the dummy was the supposed expert.