Four forty seven.
Which meant it had been exactly seven minutes since the last time I'd glanced at my father's watch around my wrist. I was losing it.
I'd planned Gigi and mine's first date for this evening, completely forgetting the fact that I'd volunteered to cover half of one of the other captain's shift. The Big Wigs only allowed an individual to take on an additional half shift at a time so by the time this wrapped up, I would've been at the station for thirty-six consecutive hours. Thankfully, it had been a fairly quiet day and a half, but it wasn't like I could lay down for a full eight hours like I could at home. I was currently wondering how I was going to make it through our date without nodding off at the table. Sure the fancy place I'd made reservations at would love that.
"You got big plans?"
I snapped from my exhaustion fueled haze, mug of coffee In hand as Carrington, one of second squad's firefighters walked into the break room. He'd graduated the academy the same class as Finn, but was less golden retriever than my usual shift buddy was. I smirked and shook my head. "Made dinner plans tonight forgetting I'd told Leo I'd cover him."
"Hot date???" Carrington (Cole was his first name, I think) grinned.
My smile deepened a bit as Gigi's name lit up my phone screen. "Yeah, except she's currently attempting to get me to reschedule."
"Why?"
"Apparently thinks I'm too old to hang after an extended shift," I answered. I'd sort of been joking in my response, but sure enough, the text from Gigi was assuring me that she wouldn't be upset if we postponed. "Gimme a minute." I gave Carrington a nod, without even glancing up from my phone screen, as I headed back toward my office. The second the door shut behind me, I hit the tiny phone icon in the corner of the screen. "We are NOT cancelling, Gi," I insisted the second I heard her pick up.
Galena groaned, obviously annoyed at my stubbornness. "Sully, it's fine, I swear."
"No, it isn't," I argued. "I spent two months denying that I even wanted this. I'm not wasting another second. I'm done playing games."
Gigi sighed, though it carried a certain dreamy tone. "And you can be done playing games tomorrow after you get some rest."
"Our reservations are for tonight. There's no way I'll be able to move it to tomorrow."
"Dammit, Sullivan. I don't care about reservations, okay? I care about you taking care of yourself!" Gigi exclaimed. "Have you forgotten I've watched my dad do this job his whole life? You fuck around long enough and next it'll be you we're rushing to the ER with heart issues."
I breathed out a huff, grateful for her concern, but she wasn't going to change my mind. I'd been itching to see her since I walked away from her parents house and there was nothing that was going to stop me. "Baby, I don't think a few extra hours awake is going to kill me."
"As much as I love you referring to me as 'baby,' stop trying to schmooze me Captain Slick."
I let out a rumbling laugh. "I'm not, Snow. I promise. I just... I want to see you. Your face at the end of this run is the only thing that's gotten me through."
"See? So goddamn slick."
"Not trying to be slick. I mean it."
"How about a compromise?"
I rolled my eyes, but grinned as I sank my backside against the ledge of my desk. "I'm listening."
"We have a date night in," Gigi answered. "I'll order dinner or groceries or something and you come over here and we'll have a nice, chill, relaxing night. We can play a game or watch a movie or something."
"Not sure how I feel about our first date being you cooking for me."
"Don't feel too badly. I'm a terrible cook."
Another laughed pulled it's way out of me. "With your mother, I kind of find that hard to believe."
"Sully, please," Gigi said softly. I could practically see those big blue eyes blinking at me. "We can do your fancy, impress me date later, okay? Say yes. For me."
I groaned and scrubbed a hand over my tired eyes.. "You make it impossible to say no, ya know?"
"So don't say no. Doesn't a snuggle date sound way better than some hoity-toity restaurant where neither of us probably fit in anyway?"
I sighed, knowing full well there was no way I'd deny this girl anything. "Fine. But I'm picking up dinner."
"Nope! Already asked my best friend for her lasagna recipe and am putting together the delivery list."
"Dammit, woman."
"You just bring a bottle of wine and your sexy, sleepy self."
"Fine," I agreed begrudgingly. "But next time I am taking you out like a man is supposed to, alright? No arguments."
"Okay, Old-Timer. Welcome to the Twenty-First century. We do things a bit different these days."
I could hear the smirk in Gigi's voice and immediately wanted to kiss it off her. "Alright, Sass Master. Sorry that I'm trying to be a gentleman and wanted to give you a bit more than today's Netflix and chill, booty call bullshit."
"Now, now, now,' Gigi taunted. "I don't recall saying anything about any sort of booty being involved, least of all mine."
"Good," I retorted, falling into our teasing mode as easily as pie. "I don't put out on the first date anyway."
Gigi snorted on the other end of the phone, her laughter coming out in a loud shriek. "Oh you're a prude now, huh?"
"I prefer gentleman, thank you very much." I opened my mouth to say more, not wanting this blissful moment of ours to end, but the world had other plans as alarms started sounding all around me. "Shit."
"Go," Gigi commanded, her tone now nothing but understanding. "Go save the day and text me when you're on your way."
"See you soon, sweetheart."
"Bye, handsome."
I hung up and took no more than a beat to smile to myself. Not even a single date under our belts, and this girl was already trying to take care of me.
I tucked my phone into my back pocket and prayed this was going to be an easy call. Because come six pm, the only thing I wanted to be was on my way to see those beautiful blue eyes in person.
Seven-oh-five.
The call had been a quick kitchen fire, not even working up a sweat in my gear and the instant my replacement arrived at the station, I bolted with barely a hello. I made it home in record time, showered changed and instantly ran out the door again, only stopping for a bottle of red and a giant bundle of yellow tulips. I wasn't sure that Gigi even liked tulips, but roses seemed too cliché and the tulips made me think of her smile for some reason and... yeah. I was rambling to myself when I picked them out too. Now here I stood, right in front of her door, palms sweating like a teenager who had never seen a woman in person before.
Before I could overthink things too much, Gigi threw open her front door, a giant smile on her face and a red oven mitt covering one hand. Her hair was up in a messy bundle atop her head and she had the most adorable ruffled, black and white polka dotted apron around her neck. She looked like some sort of edgy housewife wet dream and I was absolutely into it.
"Hi!" she beamed excitedly. .
Her joy was contagious. "Hi there," I grinned right back. "Looks like I came at a bad time."
"Nonsense! Come in!" Gigi exclaimed. "I just pulled the lasagna out so it needs to set for a bit and I have to finish the salad, but..." She stopped rambling as a few strands of hair slipped into her face. "Sorry. Come on in."
I chuckled as she stepped aside, opening the door a bit further to allow me in. It was nice to see I wasn't the only one battling some nerves this evening. The second I stepped inside, the smells of tomato and basil and garlic it my nostrils and my stomach immediately rumbled in response. "It smells fantastic in here," I stated as Gigi shut the door. "Thought you weren't much of a cook?"
Gigi shrugged, brushing her hands off on the skirt of her apron. "Apparently I can follow a recipe when I really try."
"If it tastes anything like it smells, I think you did a hell of a job," I smiled reassuringly.
Gigi's cheeks tinted the slightest bit pink and for a moment, we both just froze, gawking at each other like two lovestruck teenagers, I didn't move to set either of my offerings down and she had barely taken a step away from the front door. Neither of us moved a single inch and yet the tension was already cracking in the air like some sort of invisible electric charge.
And then I heard a bark.
Gigi immediately relaxed, her glacier blue eyes rolling. "Dammit, Goblin."
I chuckled, wondering if I'd just heard some secret string of coverup curse words. "Should I be worried? Ya got goblins?"
Gigi laughed as her head waved from side to side. "No, Goblin is..." She took a deep breath and then gave me a serious look. "Do you like dogs?"
"Sure, I mean, who doesn't?" I responded with a shrug. "I have cats, but dogs are..."
"How about big dogs?"
I arched an eyebrow high. "How big we talkin'?"
"She's gonna be really excited if I let her in, so if you've got some kind of... giant dog phobia, now' the time to come out with it."
"No giant dog phobia. Promise."
"Okay. Might wanna set the bottle down. She'll see the glass as a challenge to break. Gob can be a bit... over zealous."
"Gob?" I repeated with a chuckle. I stepped into the next room, which appeared to be the kitchen with a small dinette and a patio door.
"Meet my Goblin."
She slid open the sliding door barely more than two inches and immediately a black snoot pushed its way in, tongue lolling out the left side. I couldn't tell if Gigi opened the door or the giant Rottweiler did it, but soon enough, Goblin was inside, jumping up on me to introduce herself.
"Goblin!" Gigi shouted. "Get down, you maniac!'
"She's okay," I insisted, giving the dog some head scratches as she attempted to lick my face. "You must be the Goblin I've heard so much about, huh, pretty girl?"
"I'm so sorry. She's a social butterfly," Gigi sighed, sounding like an exasperated mother as she took Goblin's collar and led her back to the floor. "I'm trying to teach her not to assault people the second they walk in the door but you can see how well that's going."
"It's alright, Gi, I swear," I assured, sitting down on one of the dining chairs and once again petting a now seated Goblin. "She's just excited, aren't you baby? You're just excited to make new friends."
"Great," Gigi groaned as she went back to assembling a nearly complete salad on the counter. "Five minutes in and he's already calling the dog 'baby' instead of me."
I glanced at her, the grin she was currently trying to hide giving her amusement away. "Hey, there's more than enough room in my life for multiple babies."
"That so?" Gigi retorted as she cut into a carrot with a bit of extra force.
I paused, considering how my words had sounded. "I... no. No, I did not mean it like that," I laughed putting my palms into the air. "Definitely a one baby at a time sort of guy."
"Yeah, that's what they all say."
I just laughed and shook my head, staring at the beauty before me as she put the finishing touches on dinner. All of the awkwardness had evaporated into thin air and we were back to smiles and jokes and banter and everything that drove me wild about this woman.
Probably had a Goblin to thank for that.
Dinner was incredible. Whomever had given this girl the idea she wasn't much of a cook had lied. Every bite was delicious and I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a better, home cooked meal. She'd even had tiramisu delivered to finish our little Italian date night off right. We laughed, I told her about my day, we got to know each other. By the end, we were both stuffed and I was dangerously close to nodding off on her sofa with her tucked beside me and Goblin snoozing in a nearby armchair.
"Mm," I hummed, not wanting to move but knowing I should. "I should probably get out of here before I pass out on your sofa."
"Doesn't sound like such a bad thing," Gigi murmured next to me. She was silent for a second and then I heard her take a deep breath. "You still smell like smoke."
I chuckled softly. "Probably just my natural scent at this point."
"I like it."
"I'm glad." I turned my head to the side, now taking a deep breath of her. "I like the way you smell better I think."
"Gardenias and lilies," Gigi stated. "My mom got me this perfume in high school and I don't think I've worn anything else since."
"Don't. It's you. I like it.""
"Good." I caught a quick glimpse of Gigi's smiled before she burrowed herself more into me.
"Ya know, you're not exactly making it easy for me to go."
"Maybe you shouldn't."
"I have to, baby," I insisted, giving her a squeeze. "I don't know how much longer I'll be conscious."
"You can sleep here," Gigi insisted, pulling back to look up at me with glassy doe eyes.
I shook my head. "Nope. We're not rushing this. I need to go home."
Gigi smiled sweetly, her palm brushing along the shadow of my jaw. "I literally meant sleeping. I wasn't trying to seduce you or anything."
"First, I don't think you'd have to try that hard, and second, I know," I stated. "But I want to do this thing between right. I don't want to rush into playing house or falling into bed or any part of it. I wanna take our time, Gi. In the off chance this could blow up in our faces, I wanna make sure to give us the best fighting chance, alright?"
Gigi grinned but rolled her eyes. "Fiiiine."
"And maybe I am just... a little old fashioned."
"You think?"
"I said maybe." I pressed my lips to the top of her head before forcing my legs to take me to standing, with a groan and a couple of creaks. Gigi followed me up and Goblin thought about it, but clearly decided snoozing in her chair was more important.
Once I opened the door, I turned around, those intense eyes gazing at me with more care than I think anyone had in twenty years. "You sure you should drive?" she asked softly. "You could get an uber or something. I just..."
"Sweetheart, I'll be fine," I insisted, reaching out to brush a few errant strands of hair from her eyes. "It's ten minutes, okay? I'll text you when I get home."
Gigi nodded. "Okay..."
I saw her hesitance, her unwillingness to let the night end and I'd have been lying if I denied feeling the same. "Hey," I began, taking her hand and pulling her toward me. "Let me get some sleep, and tomorrow maybe we can try my first date idea again, huh? I got the next forty-eight hours to make it up to you."
"There's nothing to make up," Gigi insisted looking up at me with the sweetest of smiles. "Despite not being what you planned, tonight was pretty perfect in my eyes."
I nodded, eyes narrowed playfully as I pulled her closer still. "I got one thing I think could make it better."
Gigi laughed, her hands finding a resting spot on my hips as she gazed up at me. "And what's that?"
"Just one... teensy, itty, bitty thing," I stated softly as I slowly inched my mouth toward hers.
The brush of her lips against mine was hesitant at first, a far cry from the passion that had burned in the cold on her parents' porch a few nights earlier. But this... this held so much more emotion, promise than that heat had. One hand cupping the back of her neck, I pressed firmer, eliciting a sigh from Gigi as her body melted against mine. I didn't try to deepen it, I didn't coax her mouth open, I just kissed her. Kissed her as sweet as she'd been to me the entire evening.
When I finally convinced my lips to leave hers, I nuzzled our noses together for a second, not quite ready to let her go even now. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
Gigi nodded, our faces no more than a fraction of an inch apart. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."
I grinned and gave her another, much quicker kiss. "Thank you for tonight. It was... exactly what this old man needed."
"I'm glad. It was pretty perfect for me too."
"I'll see you later." Another quick peck because I was already an addict, and then I finally headed to my truck, stopping after I got the door open to give her a quick wave.
I wasn't sure if I actually drove or floated home, but I made it with a smile on my face that not even the cold air could take away. I was coasting on the sort of high I hadn't felt in a long time and already counting the seconds until I got another hit. Another kiss, a melodic laugh, hell, even a smile, it didn't even matter. As long as I got more of Galena Castellanos, I was going to die a happy man.