Fighting the Flames (Firefighter Romance #1)(21)

“Your neighbor, huh?” Lisa propped her feet up on a box and leaned back on the couch.

There it was. Lisa wasn’t wasting any time. “Yes, he’s my neighbor and he helped move my things. That’s it.” Jessie pushed Lisa’s feet off the box, and they landed on the floor with a thud. “I offered him lunch.” Jess sat beside her sister.

“Right. So that bulge in his pants was because of your culinary skills?” Lisa raised a brow and smirked.

Jessie hoped Lisa hadn’t noticed that, but no such luck. Her sister had always been overly observant. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jessie hid a smile.

Lisa laughed. “Yeah right. I’m your older sister, Jessie, you know I’m not going to let this go until I have details.”

“Did you come here to help me unpack? Or to pry into my personal life?”

“Oh, so now it’s your personal life? I knew it. Spill it, Sis. Who’s that guy and why are you all flustered?”

Jessie stood. “I am not flustered,” she lied. She was totally flustered. No, more like sexually frustrated… and excited and scared. She opened a box and rummaged through it. “Are you going to help me or not?”

“Yes, of course I’ll help you.” Lisa stood and opened another box that was full of kitchen utensils and hand towels. She carried it into the kitchen. “And while I do, you can start talking.”

Jessie rolled her eyes and smiled. She knew there was no way out of it. Lisa was like a damn dog with a bone. “His name is Ryan, and I, um, find him very attractive.”

“From the looks of him when he left, he feels the same way.”

“Lisa!” Jessie said with a disbelieving laugh.

Lisa went back into the living room. “What?” She shrugged. “You can’t deny it.” She opened another box and then stopped. “You know, I haven’t seen that look in your eyes in a long time. Not since before shithead.”

Shithead was Lisa’s name for Jessie’s ex-fiancée, Derrick. “What look?”

“A happy look, a look that says you’re ready to move on and join the living again. Is it because of Ryan?”

That was another Lisa characteristic; she was a tad dramatic at times, not to mention highly intuitive. Jessie tossed a throw pillow at her sister and laughed. “You read too many romance novels.”

“I’m serious, Jessie. Shithead did a real number on you, and you’ve never been the same. Even the guys you dated after shithead never seemed to make you happy.”

Lisa’s probing gaze was uncomfortable. Jessie avoided it by unpacking more boxes. “Can we please drop this?” Jessie carried a pile of towels into the bathroom and stacked them in the closet. She returned and said, “How are things going with you and Mark?”

Lisa’s face grew sad. “We barely speak to each other unless it’s about the kids.” Lisa sighed. “I don’t get it. We were happy. At least I thought we were. Mom thinks he was having a mid-life crisis and will one day wake up and come crawling back.”

Jessie gave a sympathetic nod. She really didn’t know what to say or how to comfort her sister. Lisa and Mark were high school sweethearts who’d gone to college together and then gotten married right after. Less than a year later, they’d bought a house and had a baby. Jessie viewed their happiness as a sign that relationships could stand the test of time. When it fizzled, it reminded her once again of her need to embrace her independence and never become dependent on another man.

Jessie put down the stack of plates she’d been holding and hugged her sister. “Men suck.”

Lisa laughed. “Yeah, but I’ll admit part of me would love for Mom to be right. But he’s dating someone… actually, several someones from what I’ve heard. The thought of him sleeping with them…” she faked a big shiver… “I’m not sure I could get past that.”


“It’s not easy, trust me.” Jessie knew firsthand how hard it is to forgive and forget an affair.

“Yeah, I know.” Lisa wiped her eyes. “Hey, I’m starved. What do you say we take a break and go get some food?”

Jessie scrunched up her face. “I don’t feel like going out. Can we order takeout? Mom gave me a couple bottles of wine as a housewarming gift. We can pop ‘em open and bitch about how rotten men are.”

Lisa nodded her head and laughed. “Now that sounds like a fun evening.”

There was a phone book and a stack of menus from local restaurants on the kitchen table, thanks to Jim. Jessie flipped through them in search of a restaurant with delivery. She called and placed an order for way more fried food than the two of them could possibly eat, and then cranked up the radio. She and Lisa continued to unpack as they waited for their food. Jessie was glad her sister had shown up. It was nice having her around. It had been a long time since the two of them had just hung out and talked. Forty minutes and one full bottle of wine later, their food arrived.

Lisa plucked a mozzarella stick from the Styrofoam container and took a bite, a trail of cheese oozing from her mouth to the stick. “Omigod, this is so good,” she said around a mouthful of food.

Jessie laughed and opened the container with the chili cheese fries. They looked sinful but smelled heavenly. She chewed and swallowed a few fries before asking, “Want me to open another bottle of wine?”