Heartbreaker - Julie Kriss Page 0,15

for years would show up. Another five minutes? Another five? I wouldn’t be that girl getting pitying looks from her mother, trying not to cry because it would make her mascara run—

“Mina.”

I turned. There was Holden, coming through the door. His hair was mussed and he looked frazzled, as if he’d been rushing. I dropped my gaze and realized he was wearing his navy blue EMT uniform.

For a second I was speechless, because he looked hot in that uniform. Then I remembered Taken Hard by the EMT and I felt my throat choke up in embarrassment. Then I remembered that he’d said today was his day off.

“You’re working,” I said.

“I got called in when someone was sick,” Holden said. “I’ve been at work since five.”

“In the morning?” Had I ever seen five in the morning? I didn’t think I had, and I never wanted to. Theater people are late-night people.

My shock brought the trace of a smile to Holden’s lips, which drew my gaze to his mouth. “Yes, in the morning. I’m almost done. I got Grim to cover my dinner break.”

“You work in Brooklyn,” I said. “You came all the way here?”

He shrugged. “It’s what we agreed on.” He smiled again. “I would have been on time, but you’re holding my watch hostage.”

“You came all the way from Brooklyn on a dinner break? That’s insane. What if someone in Brooklyn needs an EMT?”

He shook his head. “The next shift is on duty now. They take the calls. When I’m done here, I go back and finish my charts, and then I can go home.”

“What are charts?”

“Paperwork about the calls I was on during my shift.”

That was interesting. All of it was interesting. Holden was interesting, and he was here, and he’d come all this way instead of breaking a dinner date with me. I had to admit it went a few miles toward making me like him again.

Right. As if I’d ever not liked him.

I felt my shoulders relax for the first time today, and I felt the trace of a smile on my own lips.

“Okay,” I said. “We both made it. I guess we should have dinner.”

Eight

Holden

Of course someone had to call in sick today. EMT’s take getting sick seriously, because we can’t go around sneezing viruses onto our patients. To say no to the call would have left headquarters short-staffed, so I went in. Besides, I needed all the extra pay I could get.

But there was no way I was going to cancel my dinner with Mina. I didn’t even want to change the location to make it easier for me to take a dinner break. This was my shot to show her I wasn’t a complete jerk, and I was determined to take it. Maybe I really was a complete jerk, but Mina didn’t have to know that.

We took a seat at a table in the restaurant area. This place was mostly a pub, with a large oak bar along one wall and dim, pub-like lighting. I’d suggested it because Daniela said it had good food, and Mina worked in midtown. I didn’t want to take Mina anywhere too fancy, because that would look too much like a date, and we definitely weren’t on a date.

“So,” I said, keeping the tone light because it unsettled me to think about going on a real date with Mina Maple. “Do I get my watch back, or what?”

She looked up at me from the menu. Jesus, she was gorgeous, all thick dark hair and long eyelashes. She was wearing office attire—a skirt, a white button-up blouse, a blue cardigan—but she also wore red lipstick. With those curves, she looked like a pinup girl. She always had. “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned the watch,” she said. “It’s really important to you.”

“Something like that,” I said, because yes, it was, and I didn’t want to go into why.

“I’ve decided I like the watch,” Mina said, looking at her menu again. “I think I’ll keep it a little longer.”

I felt my heart squeeze as it skipped a beat. “You didn’t lose it, did you? Or damage it?”

She looked up again, annoyed now. “No, Holden, I did not lose or damage your precious old watch that looks like it’s been in a garbage dumpster. However, I am enjoying the idea of making you panic, so I’m not giving it back.”

My eyebrows went up. “So you’re just being mean.”

“Mean is a strong word. I prefer petty. And yes.”

“So how do I earn the