hose for stowage. Still talking, Nate jogged back to help him. “My romantic Spidey sense never lets me down.”
“She’s my new landlady,” Darius said with a smirk. “That’s all. I want to know what I’m in for.”
Nate crowed with laughter. “So Kate Robinson is your new landlady. Wait—Kate’s the one who’s been threatening to evict you?”
“Yup. That was before she met me, though.”
“And now?”
“There’s a good chance she’ll bring a shotgun with her when she kicks me out,” he admitted. “She’s a fiery one.”
For some reason, Nate couldn’t stop laughing. “Man, this should be fun. I’m gonna be needing weekly reports, Chief.”
“And you’re gonna need your ass kicked.” They reached the fire engine and together hefted the hose back onto its reel. Darius closed the hatch and latched it with a sharp click.
“Speaking of which, we’re down to our last few games before summer hiatus. You playing this weekend?”
“Probably.” They both played on the local hockey team, the Lost Harbor Puffins—or Lost Harbor Losers, according to their competitors. “Unless I’m looking for new lodgings.”
“Eh, you’ll be fine. Who would evict a fire chief? Not even Naughty Kate is that crazy.”
Chapter Nine
“Apparently I can’t evict a fire chief,” Kate told him, sounding none too happy about it. They met in the driveway a few nights later—“night” being an odd word to use, since it was still light out. A chill had fallen even though darkness still hadn’t. Kate had rattled up the driveway with a full load of furniture. He noticed dark shadows under her eyes and a hint of purple at her temple. She must be exhausted, but that didn’t affect her spunk level.
“Did you check the city code or something?”
“No. I asked my grandmother. Let me just say that I got an earful.”
Darius refrained from pointing out that she could have done that from the beginning. “Technically, that’s not true. You have every right to evict me.”
She pointed at him in triumph, her work glove aimed at his chest. “Exactly. Didn’t I say that a few times in my emails?”
“You did. More than a few. It was annoying. Want a hand with your furniture? The outside stairs are a bear.”
Reluctantly, she nodded. “I lost my helper. So sure, that’d be great. I can handle most of it, but the couch—”
“I’m happy to help,” he cut her off. “Don’t worry about it.”
They moved toward the bed of the truck. The sight of the load made him cringe. Did she know nothing about loading trucks? “Where are you from?”
“You mean, where am I moving from? Petal to the Metal, my grandmother’s farm. Let’s start with this rug.”
“No, I mean where’d you come to Lost Harbor from?” He moved aside a chair that had made the trip balanced between a coatrack and the rolled-up rug.
“Why are you asking?”
“Why not? For instance, I moved here from Texas.”
She narrowed her eyes at him as she grabbed onto the end of the carpet roll. “Okay.”
“In Texas, we learn that it’s important to use ratchet straps and bungee cords to secure your load, otherwise something could fly off and hit someone. That’s one of the reasons why I’m curious about where you’re from.”
“I’m from the Kingdom of Cities,” she said grandly. “Home to an amazing invention known as a moving company.”
He chuckled as he helped her slide the rug off the tailgate. “I’ve heard those legends, but I paid them no mind. Surely such tales can’t be true.”
“Many wonders can be found in the Kingdom of Cities. Imagine food brought right to your door. It’s called ‘delivery.’” Together, they carried the rug toward the blue staircase.
“Impossible. Next you’ll be telling me the WiFi always works.”
She giggled, looking behind her to make sure she wasn’t missing the bottom step. Her ponytail swung over her shoulder, drawing his attention to the tanned skin of her neck. Farmer’s tan, the kind you could get even in the chilly temperatures of April because the sun stayed so long in the sky.
He found it sexy as hell—that, and the way her twisted position emphasized the deep curves of her chest and waist…
He fixed his gaze on the carpet and as a result, stumbled a bit as his foot hit the bottom step.
She swung her head back to check on him. “You okay?”
“Yup. Keep going.” He adjusted his grip on the roll. “Do you have a body wrapped up in here or something?”
A laugh floated across the carpet. “Knowing Emma, anything’s possible.”
“I believe it. She heard about my Harley and tracked me