Seven Days

Chapter Fifteen

Frerin reluctantly pulled his hand free to keep on the wheel as the roads grew slicker by the minute. Snow swirled in all directions and he breathed a silent sigh of relief when he angled into the lot behind the firehouse and parked next to Tony DiBenedetto's Dodge Ram 1500. "It's probably a good thing you're agreeable to staying close to home," he said, glancing over at her before he killed the engine.

"I'm pretty leery of the Parkway on a good day, never mind a snowy night."

"Yeah? Why? I mean, we all hate the Parkway, but leery of it?"

She looked over at him. "My mom and dad were killed in a wreck on the Parkway. The summer after I graduated high school."

"Oh, shit, Syd, I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"Thanks but why would you? It was a long time ago, and the guy who hit them hadn't slept in something like two or three days. Still, on a night like tonight? I'd rather not be on it."

"Yeah, I get that." He tugged the keys from the ignition. "Are you sure you want to be subjected to these guys?"

"How bad can they be?"

He just stared at her a moment. "Do you really want an answer to that?"

Even in the barely-there light afforded by the streetlights, he saw her cheeks redden. She blushed more easily than any woman he'd ever known and she'd kill him if she knew how it turned him on. There was just something so hot about how it took so little to make her cheeks go pink.

"I'm kidding," he said, offering up a silent prayer to the Big Guy to not make a liar of him. Normally, they were all fairly well-behaved around wives and girlfriends, but no one was perfect and every now and again, manners were forgotten. Hopefully tonight would not be one of those times.

He climbed out and came around to her side as she did the same. Her hand found its way into his, a soft jolt rippling along his arm at the contact. He glanced down, wondering if she'd felt it as well, but she looked up at the rear of the station. It was a typical red-brick firehouse, the metal staircase at the back leading up to the second floor barrack. A door just beneath it led to the four-bay garage and as they stepped inside, Frerin squinted at the brightness of the lights after the darkness of the parking lot.

"Hey, Durin, what're you doing here? Don't you have a life—oh, sorry, man, didn't see you had someone with you."

Frerin smiled as Syd's fingers tightened about his. "I'm here because I have a life, but apparently not a functioning brain. I left my wallet in my locker." He looked from Tony to Syd. "Tony DiBenedetto, Syd Prescott. Syd, Tony. Don't worry, his bark is weak and his bite weaker still."

"You wish," Tony shot back with a grin, which he then turned on Syd. "It's nice to meet you, Syd. Your family owns the spook—er—mystical shop, don't they?"

Frerin bit back a wince, but Syd just smiled and nodded. "We do and it's okay to call it a spook shop. I promise you, we don't get offended by that."

"Oh, thank God," Tony breathed. "My wife gets stuff from there all the time, so I really didn't mean it as an insult."

"Okay, I'm just going to show Syd around, grab my wallet, and then get out of here before I find myself yanked on duty. Who else is on tonight?"

"Full house tonight. You've been warned."

"Got it." Frerin let go of Syd's hand and let his come to rest at the small of her back. Heat from her body sank into his palm and the urge to just pull her into his arms and kiss her nearly overwhelmed him. But instead, he said, "I'll give you the tour."