Free Fan The Flames (Man Of The Month Book 3) by Michele Dunaway

an innocent gesture, but Scarlett felt her face flame as he drew her to him. Her knees weakened and she wrapped her arm around him. He was a few inches taller than Todd, but with her heels she fit against him fine. As if she belonged there.
    “Smile,” her mom directed. “One … two … three…” She leaned back and checked the phone screen. “Perfect.” She made a shooing motion. “Now both of you get out of here and go have a good time. You’re cutting into my grandma time.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Brad extended his arm to indicate Scarlett should go first. Flustered from the effect of one brief touch, she stepped forward and grabbed her long, black wool coat. “Here, let me,” he offered.
    He held it open and she stepped in, his fingers lightly grazing the nape of her neck as he settled the coat on her back. A delightful shiver ran down her spine. “Thank you,” she said, taking another step forward. Fingers fumbled with the buttons. One tiny tickle of him touching her skin and her whole body had gone haywire.
    She stepped out in the brisk night air, the weather on this Friday the thirteenth having turned colder. “So much for it being decent for the Mardi Gras parade tomorrow. We got lucky with the pet parade last weekend. That was in the mid-fifties.”
    “Yeah,” Brad said. “Felt like a heat wave once the snow melted. But later tonight the wind’s going to shift. It’s going to get ever colder. Maybe even have some more snow later in the week.”
    “Lovely,” Scarlett said. “I hate snow. Why did I move here again?”
    “So you could go to this fancy schmancy ball with me and save me from all the hordes.”
    “Oh yes,” Scarlett teased back. “I’d almost forgotten.”
    “Her indifference wounds me,” Brad joked. He placed a guiding hand on her back and they walked to his Honda Pilot, which he’d backed out of the garage. Scarlett’s mom was parked next to the Prius on the extra parking pad. He opened the passenger door, reached in, and removed a square, white box from the front seat. “I thought you might like one of these.”
    “Thank you.” Touched, Scarlett opened the box, and thanks to the streetlights, could see that he’d bought her a Mardi Gras–themed wrist corsage made of purple-and-gold ribbon and orange roses. “It’s beautiful. I’ll put it on when we get there.” Brad assisted her into the car and shut the door behind her. “So no uniform?” she asked, meaning his firefighter dress attire. Todd had always been in his dress uniform for military balls.
    “Not for this.” Brad put on his seat belt and she did the same.
    “Well, the tux suits you. I may have some difficulty fending them all off.”
    “Ha.”
    “I’m serious. You’re attractive.”
    He started the car. “You find me attractive?”
    “Well, yes. I’m a woman. Any woman would. You’re not ugly.”
    He backed into the alley. “Gee, that’s an endorsement.”
    “You know what I mean. You’re handsome. You look great in that tux. Getting married didn’t make me blind. If I hadn’t been with Todd, I would have made a beeline toward you.”
    “And now?” He eased the SUV out of the narrow alley and onto northbound Grand.
    “Well, now I’m the luckiest woman there. I get to be with Mr. July, and it’s made even better because he’s a good friend. And, no, I still haven’t seen the calendar because I unpacked all week and you asked me not to.”
    “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.” She’d done it because she wanted them to be friends, and being friends meant respect. Scarlett averted her gaze and stared out the passenger window to take in the city she hadn’t seen in years while Brad concentrated on traffic out the front. Luckily the Blues hockey team was out of town, so they wouldn’t have to compete with hockey fans for spots in the City Hall parking lot. However, Scarlett saw that didn’t matter as the event provided a valet service. “Part of the ticket,” Brad told her