Free WINDOW OF TIME by DJ Erfert Page B

without making noise. The pre-morning light filtering in through his one window didn’t help much as he tried to find his gym clothes. He had forty minutes to get over to the fire station and meet Dusty, or he’d never hear the end of it.
    “Good morning.”
    Johnny was forced to catch his breath when he turned and found Lucy standing in the doorway. Seeing her with her long hair tousled from sleep, and wearing his pajamas, forced an emotional regression back to his adolescence. Suppressing a strong urge to reach out and kiss her again, he ran his hand through his bed-head hair. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
    She touched the wall, and the light turned on before she stepped into his room. “I don’t remember being asleep.”
    Johnny grinned. “That’s good. At least you slept.”
    “I still have a headache, just in case that was going to be your next question.”
    “It was, actually. Why don’t you fix yourself an egg, and then you can have some more pain medication.” Johnny dug out his sweat shorts from the drawer. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Until then, you need to rest.”
    Lucy stepped up next to him. “Where’re you going?”
    He pulled a clean t-shirt from the top drawer. “I had a fairly bad reaction to that window on the staircase yesterday. I almost passed out after I caught you—”
    “Did you faint?” Lucy asked quickly.
    He turned toward her. “No, it wasn’t like your side effect. I couldn’t explain what really happened, so I promised my best friend that I would go and work out with him every morning to get into better shape.” He watched her eyes drop down to his chest and flicker over his shoulders as her smile appeared.
    “I didn’t think you had a problem hefting me up. And I was struggling pretty hard.”
    He stood a little taller. “Well, I let myself get soft.”
    “Couldn’t be by much,” Lucy whispered. She pointed behind him. “I noticed you have a computer. Would you mind if I used it this morning?”
    Johnny tossed his clothes on the bed before going to the desk. “No, of course not.” He touched the button above the keyboard and turned it on. “Give it a couple of minutes to boot up.” He found a pair of socks in a drawer. “Do you need to send an e-mail?”
    Lucy sat down in the black vinyl office chair and watched the laptop go through its start-up. “Yes. I need to write up my report, and I need to e-mail it in.”
    He picked up his running shoes from beside the bed. “What are your plans for today?”
    Lucy swiveled the chair around to face him. “I was supposed to deliver my package today, but since that isn’t going to happen, I’ll have to write up my report and check for another assignment. I still have my house closing, and then I get to move my stuff over from my hotel room into my new home. At least, I hope I do.”
    “That sounds like fun. Do you need a ride? I’ll take you out to lunch to celebrate your new house.”
    “Don’t you work today?”
    “We have twenty-four hour shifts on and twenty-four off, and I’m at the end of my rotation. I don’t have to be back to work for three days.”
    Nodding, Lucy said quietly, “Then I’d really like that.”
    The lost look in her blue eyes tugged at his heart. He couldn’t leave her feeling that way. Johnny lifted his phone off the dresser. “Do you have a cell phone?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Just give me a call if you need anything—”
    “I can’t.”
    “Why not?”
    “I had my phone in my jeans pocket last night.”
    It took a moment to remember the significance of what she said. “Is it ruined?”
    “I took out the battery. I’m hoping when it’s dry it will work again.”
    Johnny sighed. “After lunch we’ll go to the store and I’ll get you a new phone.”
    “I’ll get myself a new phone.”
    “But I gave it the shower.”
    “And I fell asleep when you told me not to.”
    Johnny sighed again. “I’m going to lose this argument, aren’t I?”
    Lucy smiled