Up by Five (5 page)

“Yeah, but those huge sweatpants are ugly. It will help.” He dropped his voice to a mutter. “Like the uniform has for the past two years apparently.”

She glanced over. “You know I heard that, right?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. I promise to be good.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means I haven’t really noticed that…” He trailed off, looking a bit sheepish. “I haven’t appreciated…” He sighed. “You don’t have to worry about me hitting on you, Gabby. You can stay with me and we’re friends like always and that’s it. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around me now that I’ve realized…”

She didn’t wonder at why he’d trailed off—he’d noticed she was a girl.

Fuck.

This was exactly what she’d been avoiding all this time.

“Are you kidding? My apartment just burned down, I look like hell and the thought of hitting on me has occurred to you
now
?”

He grimaced. “I know. I sound like a complete asshole who’s led around by his dick.”

“Well…yeah, a little.”

“In my defense, the thoughts started with your cock-sucking comment the other day.”

Thank god he was driving. If he’d been looking at her he would have noticed that she had a hard time swallowing.

She should have never said that. She’d said it to get a rise out of him, but she hadn’t thought through just how affected
she
would be by the exchange. Especially when he brought it up again. But she wasn’t used to carefully choosing her words around men. The men she hung out with were relatives or had known her since she was a kid. There was no chemistry there.

With Conner…that was definitely not the case.

She’d felt the spark the first time she’d met him. And she’d promptly done everything she could to squelch it. Or at least keep it from fanning into something more.

“I was wearing my uniform the other day when I said the cock-sucking thing.”

He took a deep breath. “It would be great if you could not say the word
cock
.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That’s all it takes? You really are a slave to your libido.”

“No, it’s usually harder than that.”

There was a beat of silence, then he groaned as she laughed.

“I didn’t mean
that
.”

She snickered. “What did you mean?”

“I meant, that it’s usually
more difficult
for a woman to get me wound up than just saying one word.”

“So, what’s going on here?”

“I’m going to chalk this up to the damsel-in-distress thing.” He was staring resolutely at the road in front of them.

“The damsel-in-distress thing?” she repeated. Then her eyes widened. “Are you referring to
me
as the damsel?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Yeah. A woman I know and care about is in trouble and I get all protective.”

There was a crazy warm feeling that filled her stomach at that. She frowned.
That
was a bad idea.

“Protective and turned on aren’t the same thing,” she pointed out. “And I wasn’t in distress the other day when I said—”

“We both know what you said,” he broke in. He gave a disgusted sigh. “If it’s not that, then it’s simply that I finally realized you have boobs. And
that
does kind of make me an asshole.”

She couldn’t help her grin. “You’re an asshole because you just now realized I have boobs—”

“It would also be great if you didn’t say
boobs
.”

Her grin grew. “Or you’re an asshole because you’re all worked up simply because I have…those.”

He shifted on his seat again. “Yes.”

She laughed at that. “In all fairness, I’ve been hiding…them…from you. So it’s not totally your fault that you didn’t notice.”

He glanced over. “What do you mean?”

Did she want to get into this? It seemed like they were putting it all out there and maybe that was a good idea. They were going to be living together and she did
not
need Conner to hit on her now. She did
not
need any further complications in her life. She was trying to simplify. Nothing about being involved with Conner Dixon would be simple.

“I’ve been downplaying the whole girl thing. I dress down, avoid makeup, wear my hair up.”

His gaze went to her hair. “I do like your hair down.”

“Exactly. I’ve kept you from noticing that.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want you hitting on me.”

“And all it takes to
keep
me from hitting on a woman is her hair up and no lipstick?”

She smirked at him. “Apparently.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, then looked back to the road. “And you were so turned
off
by me that the idea of me flirting was disgusting.”

Gabby wondered if any female, anywhere, would find Conner disgusting. “No,” she said honestly. “I knew if you flirted, I’d flirt back and it would be distracting. We work in situations that require our full concentration and dedication. And I definitely didn’t want to deal with working with you after we broke up.”

He looked over again, his eyebrows up. He looked mildly amused. “How do you know it would have gone beyond flirting?”

“It would have.” She couldn’t say exactly how she knew, but she did. She’d been around men all her life. All of her brothers and cousins had friends. She’d been flirted with plenty. And it was very rare to feel a spark like she felt with Conner.

His smile grew. “Then how do you know it would have gone beyond just a one-night thing?”

She gave
him
a look. “You would have never been able to keep it to one night.”

He chuckled. “You might be right about that. I like you. I don’t always really like the women I take home.”

She didn’t say anything, but she did roll her eyes.

“I know how that sounds,” he said, even with her lack of response. “What I mean is, I don’t really know them. I know you. We probably would have dated for a while. If you were my type.”

“I thought we just established that I do have boobs.”

“Touché,”
he said with a tip of his head. “But I’m not into tall brunettes. I like curvy blondes.”

Uh-huh. It did seem that way.

Gabby didn’t analyze her actions. She simply let the blanket fall away from her shoulders as she reached for the Carl-Mart bag.

Conner glanced over and she felt the truck swerve slightly. “What are you doing?”

“I realized you were right,” she said, pulling the candy bar from the bag.

“Right?”

“I’m not your type. So there’s no reason to worry about being modest.”

“Put the sweatpants on.”

She looked at him as she bit into the chocolate. “No. I’m warm now.”

He hit the button to turn the AC on.

Chapter Three

Gabby grinned around her gourmet candy bar.

“Gabby.” Conner’s voice sounded tight and a little frustrated.

“Conner.”

“I was wrong. You’re my type. I definitely realize you have boobs. And I’m going to flirt like crazy. You should cover up since you don’t want to get involved.”

“Well, see, here’s the thing. I’ve only got two months left to worry about being uncomfortable with you at work. I figure it’ll take you at least that long to convince me you’re worth the trouble and then we won’t have anything to worry about,” she quipped.

Then realized her slip.

“Two months left? What do you mean?”

Gabby grimaced. She hadn’t told Ryan—or Conner—about giving the hospital her sixty-day notice.

She was starting medical school in August and would be leaving the crew except for rare on-call instances if they needed her. It was only April, but she needed a couple of months to get her life transitioned from working full time to full-time student status.

For one, she needed to move. Even before the fire, she wouldn’t have been able to keep her apartment without her full-time salary anyway and she was really trying to avoid moving in with her parents. And she needed books and to complete everything that was required for orientation and, most of all, to make sure her family was ready for the big life change. Yes, it was
her
life change, but in the Evans family, the ripple effect was phenomenal.

She was always around, always available to her family. And she loved it. Brothers and cousins dropped by to watch a game or play poker. Her mom would get in the mood to bake and call everyone over for dessert. Uncle Andy, who owned the bar, would put together game-day or holiday promotions where everyone in the family helped out. If things got busy and backed up at the shop, Gabby and her brothers would spend a Saturday helping their dad and uncles do oil changes and tire rotations.

For Gabby, if you were in someone’s life, you were
in
someone’s life, whatever they needed—and whether they wanted you to be or not.

So her decision to back off and have more space and time outside of the family was going to be hard on all of them.

“I…um…” she took a deep breath, “…I start med school in August.”

Conner was clearly surprised. He seemed to think about it for a moment. “Here in Omaha?”

“Yes, at the medical center.” A part of the University of Nebraska, it was one of two medical schools in the city.

“But you’re leaving the crew.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. She loved being a paramedic and she loved their crew. Conner would understand that it would take something big to make her want to leave them.

“Well, congrats.” He didn’t sound particularly enthusiastic.

“Thanks.” She was the least enthusiastic she’d been when telling anyone about her medical school acceptance.

He cleared his throat and shifted on the seat. She took another bite of chocolate.

Finally he said, “It would
not
take me two months to convince you to sleep with me.”

She laughed, almost spitting chocolate onto his dashboard. She covered her mouth with her hand and looked at him. He gave her a cocky grin.

He was right. It would take him about two seconds if he really tried. Which was the point of all her Conner-flirtation-avoidance maneuvers in the past.

“You’re not
my
type,” she told him.

“Romantic and good in bed is every woman’s type.”

Gabby knew that was exactly why he concentrated on those things. She understood that he was used to being
the
man. Raising four sisters and helping his mom after his dad’s death had put him in the position of hero at an early age. A position he loved. He loved having women think he was the best thing since someone invented the concept of double chocolate. So he carefully focused on things that would make women put him on the Conner-is-so-amazing pedestal.

“I like long-term relationships,” she told him. “And you’re allergic to them.”

Conner gave a funny grunt in response.

She rolled her eyes. But she knew this was who Conner was. And she knew who she was.

Committed relationships were something Gabby believed in. It sounded cheesy, but she had a big, boisterous, loving family that was built on a series of long-term, committed relationships—from her grandparents to her aunts and uncles to her own parents. It was a foundation, a solid place to come from—and to come home to.

They pulled up in front of his apartment complex and Gabby gathered up what was left of her chocolate bar and her no-way-am-I-wearing-these clothes in the Carl-Mart sack and got out of the truck, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders again.

He led the way to the steps, then gestured for her to precede him.

She was halfway up when she thought of something. “Hey, Conner, I know that you have this thing about keeping things light and easy with women and I know that two months is a lot longer than you typically spend with anyone. But I want to promise you that I won’t
need
you. I won’t be difficult. I won’t need to cry on your shoulder. None of that. Roommates only, okay?”

He didn’t say anything.

She turned back.

He was checking out her ass.

She grinned. “I guess blonde or brunette doesn’t matter from behind, huh?”

He lifted his gaze to her face, but he took his time about it.

Gabby felt warm everywhere by the time he looked her in the eye.

“You could have green hair with big purple polka dots all over and
this
view would still be phenomenal,” he said sincerely.

She felt her smile die.

Holy crap. She could not let on how much he’d just turned her on with that one sentence.

“It’s only two months. And I’ll get some baggy pants. Or wear my uniform all the time.”

She bit her lip. Because she was babbling. And she would
not
turn into one of those babbling, I-have-no-pride-when-you-smile-at-me girls that fed Conner’s ego.

“What’s only two months?” he asked.

“Me staying here.”

“You need to stay
here
for two months?” he repeated. Then he almost immediately seemed to regret it. “Sorry. It doesn’t matter. Sure, two months is fine.”

“My lease was ending there in two months and I have a deposit down on a new place, but it won’t be available until June fifteenth.”

God, she had to stop. She did not babble. What the hell?

“June fifteenth. Fine.”

It sounded more like he’d said,
Root canal. Fine.

He passed her, ascending the rest of the stairs ahead of her, and unlocked the third door on the left. Then he grabbed the duffle bag sitting right outside the door.

Gabby grinned as she recognized it as one of Sierra’s. That woman was a really good friend.

Gabby followed him into the apartment.

He tossed the duffle bag on the couch and kicked his shoes off as she looked around.

His apartment was surprisingly cozy. Her brothers each had apartments and they varied in layout and décor as much as her brothers themselves differed. But they were guys. They all had the basics. Entertainment centers, a couch, a recliner, a table with anywhere from one to four chairs for meals. But they didn’t have things hanging on the walls, they didn’t have plants, they didn’t have throw rugs.