of sleeping alone at night?”
She had to admit the answer to that was a resounding yes. But the thought of dating again made her shudder. Tod had made such a mess of their marriage, leaving a sour taste in her mouth for all things love.
“I don’t know, Tess. I don’t associate dating with anything pleasant.”
“Which is your ex’s fault. You can’t blame the entire male population for his mistakes. Give men another chance.”
Since she was tired of this conversation, and mainly because she knew Tess was right, she nodded. “Fine. I’ll have dinner with Rafe. But just dinner. Nothing else.”
Tess’s lips curved. “Of course. Just dinner. But I’m coming over after work tomorrow to help you choose an outfit.”
“You don’t trust me to dress appropriately?”
“I think you’d toss on a pair of capris and a random shirt and call it good. I’m going to make sure you’re dressed to kill.”
Ridiculous. “I’m not Cinderella, Rafe isn’t the prince and we’re not going to a ball. It’s just dinner, Tess.”
“Maybe it’s just dinner, and maybe there’ll be dessert. I aim to make sure you’re dressed for dessert.”
Carmen rolled her eyes at Tess’s insinuation that there would be any fooling around. She could barely bring herself to have dinner with a guy, let alone have sex with him. “I’m not having dessert.”
“Depending on how dinner goes, you might be interested in whatever decadent dessert Rafe is offering.”
“Whatever. You can come help me pick out clothes, okay?” Tess grinned. “Outstanding. Now I need to go check on Mrs. Fillipo.”
“You do that.”
Carmen was going to go do her job and not think about dinner with Rafe tomorrow night.
Where there would absolutely be no dessert.
CHAPTER 7
AFTER NEARLY A WEEK OF NO ACTIVITY, WALKING INTO the fire station felt exhilarating. And the welcome from Rafe’s firefighter brothers and sisters made his heart swell. It felt like coming home again. These people were part of his family. He’d missed them.
Rafe never took his job for granted. He knew what it took to be a firefighter. He also knew the risks. His dad had taught him that from an early age, when he came to live with the Donovans. After he came off shift, Dad would tell him stories about what had gone down. His father had never shied away from honesty, and when they asked questions about the fires, he’d always been honest with them.
After all, Rafe and his brothers had lived through one. He figured that’s probably why they had all joined the squad. Not only surviving a fire but being rescued by an amazing man.
Being lucky enough to be adopted into that world was something Rafe was incredibly grateful for, especially considering where he’d come from.
He walked down the hall and stopped as he saw Captain Kendall Mathias. The captain shook his hand.
“Welcome back,” Captain Mathias said.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Got your release?”
“Yes, sir.” He handed the paperwork to the captain.
“You took a hell of a hit from that backdraft. Glad your injury wasn’t more serious.”
“Me, too.”
“Don’t let it happen again. Good firefighters like you are hard to come by.”
It was a warm compliment, shrouded in an admonishment. But Rafe took it for what it was—his gruff captain’s welcome back.
“I’ll be more careful in the future, sir.”
Captain Mathias nodded and disappeared down the hall. His captain was a man of few words, but Rafe respected him. He got the job done and wasn’t afraid to put himself on the front lines with his team.
He found the rest of the squad in the kitchen. With the welcome he got, he felt like he’d been gone for months, instead of just a couple of shifts. They had even held breakfast so they could all eat together.
“Glad you didn’t die,” Tommy Rodriguez said, winking at him.
“He’s just glad you took the blast instead of him since you were in front of him,” Zep Richards said.
Rafe laughed and scooped the egg-and-ham casserole onto his plate. “Hey, that’s what a firefighter brother does for another.”
“And maybe next time you can get out of the way before the door blows up in your face.” Ginger Davidson grinned.
“That would mean he’d have to use his brain,” Kal said. “We already know he doesn’t have one.”
“And what little brains he did have leaked out when he got conked on the head,” Mitchell Hendricks said.
“Very funny. Shouldn’t you be shoveling food in your mouths so you can all shut up?”
Fortunately, the food was more important than talking shit about him, though it was natural to give an