Free Playing with Fire by Amy Knupp Page A

way, Dare, but the beer will flow without you.”
    He stared at her for several seconds and finally cracked another grin. They were going for a record today with the smiles. “When you put it like that, I sound like an idiot.”
    Macey laughed. “You’re not an idiot. You’re dedicated to the bar just like you used to be dedicated to firefighting.”
    He looked away, out over the side of the boat toward the mainland.
    “Do you miss it?” Macey asked tentatively.
    Derek shook his head. “I don’t think about it.”
    “Maybe you should.”
    His gaze penetrated hers. “Are you trying to ruin this?”
    “You’re right. Forget I said anything. This has been fun. Next time I think we should try surfing or sand sculpture lessons.”
    “You sound like a tourist brochure.”
    “I am on vacation, technically.”
    He chuckled. “Hate to tell you this, but most people don’t work a full-time job on vacation.”
    “The bar is a fun job.”
    He raised an eyebrow.
    “You don’t enjoy it?”
    “It passes the time.”
    “That’s all? You spend sixteen hours a day there and it passes the time?”
    “Like you said, it’s pouring beer and mixing liquor. Not something I always dreamed of doing.”
    “But you do it for Gus.”
    “Do I need a better reason?”
    She shook her head. What he was saying just confirmed for Macey that he needed to get back to firefighting. He might not be ready yet, and that was fine, but she would do what she could to get him ready. Somehow.
    They rode in silence the rest of the way back to the marina, engrossed in the sights and the captain’s entertaining narration. When they disembarked, Macey dragged him into the gift shop.
    “This is all tourist crap, Mace.”
    “Tourist crap happens to be exactly what I’m looking for.” She wanted a souvenir of the day. It was the first fun time she and Derek had actually spent together in years. She wanted to remember forever the magical feeling she’d had, with his arm around her, watching the dolphins.
    “Here we go,” she said, picking out two plastic dolphin key chains.
    “Charming,” Derek said when she held them up. “Last of the big spenders.”
    “My boss doesn’t pay me enough.” She took the souvenirs to the counter to pay for them. Rejecting the paper bag the cashier offered her, she immediately started transferring her keys to one of the dolphins. Then she held out her hand to Derek. “Keys, please.”
    “What? No. You’re not putting that thing on my keys.”
    “I am. That way you won’t lose them. Hand ’em over.”
    “I never lose them and I don’t want a goofy dolphin hanging from them.”
    They arrived at her car and she unlocked the doors. “You really don’t remember how to have fun, do you?” she said as they climbed in. She would grab his keys later, when he wasn’t paying attention.
    Derek scoffed. “I may be rusty but I feel confident saying a cheap plastic dolphin is not fun.”
    “Old man.”
    “Little girl. Next you’ll be collecting Hello Kitty.”
    “I used to love Hello Kitty, thank you. Do you need to go home before heading to work?”
    “I’m good. Let’s make sure they haven’t burned the place down.”
    Macey parked along the street outside the bar. “Derek,” she said when he reached for the door handle.
    He stopped and looked at her.
    “Thanks for coming with me today. I loved it.”
    The corners of his mouth tilted upward. “You are so full of it. That wasn’t for you at all.”
    “What do you mean?” she asked innocently.
    “I mean you did that to drag me out of my pathetic existence.”
    “Me? I’d never do something like that.” She couldn’t keep from smiling herself. “Okay. Maybe a little. But I really was dying to see the dolphins. And I hate doing things like that alone.”
    He hesitated for several seconds. “It was fun.” He said the words with such seriousness, as if it was a shameful confession.
    “Next time we’re totally doing the sand-castle