Victoria Dahl - Turn Up The Heat

“Where did you hear it?” Jesse asked.

“Couple of bozos came in a few weeks ago to buy paint. One guy said he’d asked her out and was turned down flat. The other said he used to live in the same town with her back in college, only a couple of hours from here.”

“Same with the waitress.” Jesse shrugged. “I think maybe they were in college at the same time.”

“One of the guys claimed she used to be engaged, but when she wouldn’t give it up, the guy left her.”

“And told everyone about it?” Jesse snorted. “What an ass.”

“Yeah.” Brick took a big drink of his cola. “The talk went downhill from there.” He wouldn’t repeat it all because it hadn’t been kind, but there’d been insults claiming her to be cold, asexual, even deliberately manipulative, as if she used her innocence as a tool.

“And you didn’t throw them both out? Huh. Good for you, Brick.” Jesse reached across the booth to slap his shoulder. “I mean, I can see you’re pissed about it, so the fact that you actually kept your temper in check—”

As Merrily returned to them, Brick gave a quick shake of his head. But not in time.

While setting their food on the table, she teased, “You have a temper? No way. You’re always so nice.”

“He would never show that temper to you,” Jesse assured her. “But yeah, when warranted, it makes an appearance.”

Brick gave him a dirty look. Was he trying to scare her off?

Intrigued, Merrily asked, “Is that why they call you Brick?”

She knew his nickname? Nice. Though they’d chatted casually many times, they hadn’t been formally introduced. He’d seen her name on her name tag and used it as most would. Apparently she’d been paying attention when others spoke to him.

“Actually,” Jesse said, now on a roll, “he got that name ages ago when he fell off a roof onto his head and was still able to laugh about it.”

“Ohmigosh.” She stared at Brick in disbelief. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah, but it’s not as bad as it sounds.” He’d strangle Jesse later for bringing that up. “The house was half-built into a hill, so the roof at one end was pretty close to the ground.”

“Still...”

“I only dropped around ten feet.”

“Ten feet?” Her eyes widened again. “And you weren’t hurt?”

“Just bruised my pride.” He gave a slight grin. “That is, as much pride as a nine-year-old boy can have.”

“If you guys were that young, what in the world were you doing on the roof?”

Brick felt his neck getting hot.

Jesse, of course, launched into details. “He was pretending to be Batman. His brother, Evan, who’s a year younger, was Robin.”

She smiled, and this time, the smile was unlike any other—softer, gentler. “Aww. That’s so sweet.”

He snorted. “No it’s not. After I fell, Evan ran home to tell our mom and she grounded us for a week.” A week that had felt like a month.

“I can’t say I blame her.” Looking a little wistful, Merrily tipped her head to study him. “Did you and your brother wear costumes?”

“Masks and capes.” He grinned despite his efforts not to. “Looking back on my misspent youth, I think it’s a wonder I survived.”

“Your poor mother,” she agreed. Another customer called to her, so after a quick touch to his shoulder, she slipped away.

That touch—on the freaking shoulder, for crying out loud—brought his temperature up a few degrees more.

“Pathetic,” Jesse said. “Get a grip, will you?”

“She likes me.”

“Yeah? And you drew that conclusion...why?”

He shrugged. “She touched my shoulder.”

Jesse grabbed his heart again. “Your shoulder? Damn. That brazen hussy. I guess it must be love.”

Ignoring that, Brick said, “I’m going to ask her out.”

That seemed to surprise Jesse but not because of his intent. “You haven’t already?”

“No.”

“Why not? I figured you’d hit on her from day one and just got shot down.”

“No.” Why he hadn’t yet asked her out, he couldn’t say. He’d known her plenty long enough. And he’d only recently heard that virgin business. But there was something about her that made him not want to rush things—

“Never knew you to be insecure, Brick. There go my illusions.”

He snorted. “I’m not insecure.” And Jesse knew it. Hell, he didn’t have an insecure bone in his entire body. But speaking of bones... He shifted again. “I’ll ask her out today.”

“Yeah? So?”

“So I want you to stuff that food down your throat and then get out of here.”

“This is my lunch break! And it’s not like she’s going anywhere. If you’ve already waited a month, why can’t you wait until I finish eating?”

Yeah...he supposed he could. He didn’t want to, but it made more sense than throwing Jesse out of the restaurant and rushing things. “Fine.” He liberally poured hot sauce on his food. “But don’t linger.”

For an answer, Jesse took an enormous bite of his sandwich.

For the next twenty minutes, Merrily stayed pretty busy. Brick noticed that she chatted with everyone. He wasn’t special in that regard.

Except that she didn’t touch anyone else, so regardless of what Jesse thought, her fleeting touch to his shoulder did mean something.

What, exactly, he didn’t yet know.

By all accounts, she’d turned down dates. Not that it mattered. He wasn’t an insecure schoolboy who quailed in the face of possible rejection.

If she turned him down, he’d just have to figure out a way to change her mind.

Without seeming pushy. Or stalkerish.

Coming out of the kitchen with a loaded tray, she moved around her seating area, dropping off food, refreshing cups of coffee, taking new orders and seeing that everyone had everything they wanted.

Finally, while digging a bill out of her pocket, she approached again.

“You guys need anything else? More to drink? Dessert?”

Jesse said, “I’m good, thanks.”

“Same here.”

She placed respective bills on the booth top before them, clasped her hands together and faced Brick again. “If you’re all done, mind if I ask you something?”

After a stifled grin, Jesse did him a solid by saying, “It’s your turn to pay, Brick, and I’m running late. So if you don’t mind....” He pushed his bill toward Brick and slid out of his seat.

Merrily sent him a smile. “Thank you for stopping by. Come see us again.”

“Will do.” Whistling under his breath, Jesse sauntered out.

In the middle of a busy restaurant, at the tail end of the lunch crowd, Brick relished the moment of relative privacy. “Got a second to sit down?”

“Oh, yes. Thank you.” She untied her apron and took Jesse’s seat opposite him. “I’m actually off early today.”

So now might be a good time to get to know her better.

She wrinkled her pert little upturned nose. “I can’t stay long, though. I have a ton of stuff to get done.”

“Classes?”

“Those are in the morning. But the animals have been closed up since this morning, I have laundry piling up, and I’m hoping to put in a doggy door.”

“You have your own house?” He’d love to find out where she lived.

She shook her head. “I’m renting a duplex, but my landlord is okay with it—for a small fee, of course—and I know my pets would appreciate it. I hate leaving them cooped up while I’m away, so...” She shrugged. “That’s what I wanted to ask you. I know you own the hardware store. Do you sell whatever I’ll need?”

He had what she needed, all right. “Actually, it’s a family business. Mom and Dad retired early, and Evan wasn’t interested in it, so I run it. In a couple more years, I’ll buy them out.”