Saxon's Savior (Protect and Serve #3) - Pandora Pine Page 0,34

leaving your own firehouse to work here because of what happened to Hal. There have been a lot of changes in a short period of time. No one minds if you’re a little grumpy because we know the real Dallas. Saxon never had that same advantage.”

I’d just been thinking the same thing. “How do I show him the real Dallas?”

“Take him on a proper date, for starters. We both know you picked a movie because if he’d yammered on during it, you could tell yourself he wasn’t the man for you.”

“Shit, you knew that was my game plan?”

“You set him up to fail, Dallas. Kind of a dick move if you ask me. Take him to dinner. Do not take him to Bait. Pick somewhere nice, along the harbor. Saxon said himself yesterday he hadn’t had any time to drive around and see the city.” Ozzy paused. He seemed to be studying me. “Do this next date right. I promise you won’t regret it. When things went wrong with Deacon, my biggest fear was spending the rest of my life alone because I’d missed my shot at true love. Learn from my example. Show Saxon the real you. Just not in public.” Ozzy snorted.

I nodded. I could do that. Pulling my phone from my back pocket, I started to think about the right words to use in my text. Wait. Texting was a dick move, just like Ozzy said. I’d call Saxon, even though he was upstairs.

“Where the hell are you going?” Ozzy sounded incredulous.

“You said I should take Saxon on a proper date. I’m going to call him to ask him out for tomorrow night.”

“We’re in the middle of a meeting here.” Ozzy bit his lower lip. His dark eyes twinkled with amusement.

“I hear you, man. No one is more dedicated to this firehouse than I am, but what if someone else gets to Saxon first? What if I miss my chance at, what did you call Deacon?” I grinned at my brother. “Your true love.”

“Asshole.” Ozzy called after me as I walked out of his office.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it to myself, Ozzy’s line about losing out on true love hit me where it hurt. I couldn’t possibly be happier for Kennedy and Ozzy finding their happily ever afters, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I wanted the same thing in my life.

Toby Whitmer had fucked my head over in the worst way possible. I’d finally come to a point in my life where I’d decided I was ready to settle down, and he yanked the rug right out from under me. Would Saxon do the same thing if I let him get close?

Saxon’s laughter sounded somewhere upstairs. I could hear a bunch of the others laughing with him. It hadn’t taken long for everyone to accept him as a brother. My cold, dead heart warmed in my chest.

Nothing ventured. Nothing gained. With a bit of added confidence, I pressed Saxon’s number on my phone and held my breath.

16

Saxon

My head was spinning. Not only had Dallas asked me to have dinner with him, he’d also asked me to pick him up. He’d mentioned something about wanting us to go on a real date, heavy emphasis on real. He was taking me to a place down by the harbor called the Portside.

A quick look at their website showed me this was definitely a serious restaurant for a serious date. Each table was draped in white linen with heavy silverware. Hurricane lamps gave the dining room an intimate feel and the prices took my breath away.

I couldn’t care less about the prices, what my mind was stuck on was Dallas. Since our first date, I hadn’t been able to get him off my mind. I’d learned more about him in the three hours we spent at the park watching Die Hard than I had in all the time we’d worked together. I liked him. More than I wanted to.

Dallas’s house was a Cape with weathered cedar shingles. It looked very much at home against the backdrop of Gloucester Harbor. I could smell the ocean when I got out of the truck.

Pausing for a minute, I looked at myself in the reflection of the driver’s side mirror. I was wearing my black suit with a bold, orange tie. Ordinarily this suit only saw the light of day for funerals or weddings. After seeing how fancy Portside was, I knew I couldn’t show up in jeans