want. And Mikey certainly did not look anything like that.
She snorted. Mikey didn’t look like much. Not the truck driver, and certainly not like Rann. Gayle bit her lip in memory of the way Rann had filled out his shirt, and the singed, smokey smell was suddenly back in her nostrils as if he was there next to her once more.
A shiver traced its way down her spine, bouncing from vertebrae to vertebrae.
The truck driver turned around, and Gayle’s jaw dropped.
“Rann?” she said in shock.
He locked eyes with her, those jade orbs holding her gaze firm with casual ease as the rest of his face curved upward in a broad, infectious grin. Gayle’s cheeks stretched wide as she mirrored him and walked over.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, astonished to see him again, let alone so soon.
The temerity and nervousness of the night before was gone. Gayle forgot all about how she’d walked away at the end, forgot all her reservations and the reasons she’d kept distance between them. That vanished in the blinding light of his grin.
“Well, hello there,” he said, clearly just as surprised to see her.
“You drive a truck for a living?” she asked.
“What? Oh, this?” he said, jerking his thumb at the truck. “No, I was just helping out a friend today, that’s all. He’s feeling a bit under the weather, so I volunteered to bring the truck down for him.”
Gayle could see in his eyes that there was more to it, that Rann was leaving out some specifics, but she didn’t get any sense that he was lying.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, turning the question back around on her.
“I volunteer here,” she said. “Two days a week. But I think that’s going to be increasing soon. I really like it.”
“That’s very kind and giving of you,” Rann said, his eyes twinkling in the daylight.
Gayle soured.
“What is it?” he rumbled, reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh nothing. It’s just that I don’t really have much else to do right now either.”
Rann winced, clearly having forgotten that much of her time was now free without a best friend or boyfriend. Not that he knew about her plans to quit her job.
“No Saturday plans at all then?” he asked cautiously.
Gayle wondered what he was trying to achieve with that question. If she said no, was he going to ask her to do something?
“Actually,” she said. “For once I do have plans. I’m having a get together tonight. With friends. Real friends.”
Rann smiled broadly, understanding the reference. “That’s good. That should be fun.”
“I think so. It’s an early birthday party sort of thing, since my birthday is on a Sunday, and that’s boring.”
Rann laughed. “It’s your birthday tomorrow?”
Gayle tensed as he leaned in and wrapped her up in a hug. “Well, happy early birthday!”
To her surprise, her resistance melted easily, and she wrapped her arms around him as far as they could go, his thick torso preventing her from getting all the way.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely, feeling grateful for the genuine happiness on his part.
They lingered in the hug for a moment, and memories of the night before bubbled up. The one where she’d had her head pressed against his chest was especially strong.
“Hey,” she said suddenly, another memory coming to her. “You smell good today. No more of that smoke.”
Rann threw back his head and laughed, the jolly sound bouncing his chest and also her. “I try not to smell like that on the regular. You just happened to catch me on a bad day.”
Gayle stepped back and looked at him again. She frowned. “You look a bit scuffed up. What happened?”
She pointed at his face where there were several scrapes and even a small bruise.
“Oh that? That’s nothing. A story for another time,” he said, a sly grin making its way across his face. “A story for just the two of us. Maybe Monday, if you’re not busy?”
Gayle blushed at the forward, abrupt invitation to go on a date. That was what he’d done, wasn’t it? She was suddenly unsure.
“Umm,” she managed to say, a brilliant reply.
It’s your birthday. You have no reason to say no. What’s the harm in one date? It can’t end any worse than your last relationship did, can it?
“Monday works,” she said, surprised to hear herself say that.
“Great!” Rann said, face brightening immensely. “Same place we met, maybe?”
“Anywhere as long as it’s not Climbers or Peaks Pub,” she said.
Rann laughed. “I can do that!”
Gayle smiled