The Firefighter's Appeal (Harlequin Superromance) by Elizabeth Otto

lowered her fork and took a hasty sip of soda instead. “Do you still have family in Hawaii?” The words were strained. Garrett pushed his plate to the side and crossed his forearms on the table.
    “My mother, some cousins and another aunt and uncle. My eldest brother, Cash, is...was...a fire medic in Honolulu. He runs the family hotel there now and works in fire investigation. My middle brother, Sawyer, is in fire search and rescue in Colorado.”
    “All firefighters?”
    “Family tradition, I guess. My father and Brad both worked on the Honolulu department. And so did my grandfather before them. For us boys, it was never a question of if we would follow in their footsteps—it was a matter of how fast we could get started.”
    Her face flickered with emotions, the most prominent being sadness. Everything else came and went before he could begin to read them. She moved food around on her plate before putting her fork down. “I see.”
    Lily’s flat tone wasn’t the reaction he was used to when discussing his role as a firefighter, especially from women. While he didn’t thrive on being fawned over, he was used to it, and Lily’s indifference was like a neon elephant walking through the room. Her distaste of firefighters in general wasn’t something he had experience with. It heightened his curiosity more than bruised his ego. She met his eyes as her fingers splayed over her napkin.
    “So you’re a golden boy from paradise. You care for your ailing uncle, you cook—wonderfully, I might add—and you come running when someone yells, ‘Fire.’”
    Garrett leaned slightly over his crossed arms. “I donate blood and mow the lawn for my elderly neighbor, too.”
    She raised her eyes to the ceiling, but not before he caught the amused twinkle in them. “Of course you do.”
    He picked up his glass, saluted her with it. “You’re wondering why I’m still single, aren’t you, Ms. Ashden?”
    Lily gave him a narrow glance. “Maybe.”
    Garrett studied her over the rim of his glass as he took a drink. Her eyebrows arched prettily over those big almond-shaped eyes. The paleness of her skin cast an almost pearlescent glow next to her black hair. Green and orange popped from the ink on her arm, leading him to wonder if she had more tattoos elsewhere.
    “And maybe I wanted to tell you how impressed I am with you,” he said.
    It was true—he was impressed. And also curious why she was still single. Lily was a whole recipe of things that made her delightful and interesting and sexy—all attributes men beat each other bloody to get at.
    She tapped a finger against her glass. “Really.” Her voice was unconvinced.
    They were getting way out of the professional zone, but it was an easy line to cross. Besides, teasing her helped him forget all the noise in his head. “Look at this face, Lily. Does it look like the face of a man who’d lie to you?”
    She leaned forward, making the space between them smaller. The back of his neck prickled at this sudden bold turn on her part. “It looks like the face of a man used to sweet-talking his way with women.”
    He gave a self-incriminating groan and dipped his head in mock shame.
    “Would you believe I’m reformed?” It was the truth. Six very long, very frustrating months. And, strangely, he didn’t miss it all that much.
    “Reformed?” Lily choked a little, tried to hide it and a small smile behind her hand. “I seriously doubt it.”
    Garrett liked surprising her, even if it was at his own expense. Despite the fun of it, he knew it was time to refocus. He was impressed by Lily Ashden’s business mind and was eager to see the plans she’d come up with. Jeopardizing a working relationship with flirting wasn’t going to help his cause any.
    Garrett leaned away from the table. “Anyway, I’m very glad you like my ideas for the bar, and I appreciate your insight. If you need any other info to get the draft together, you can reach me here.” He dug out his wallet