Read Online GirlNextDoor by Lyra Marlowe - Free Book Online

and the food and we’re
not giving them back.
    John and Nolan went up to the firehouse and found Lucy
holding court in the conference room. She’d brought a picnic basket full of
handmade sandwiches, fruit salad, gourmet chips and real lemonade. John thought
she’d only meant to have lunch with Nolan, but she’d brought more than enough
food for the whole station.
    Captain Waldron was sitting beside her. He seemed to have
forgotten his fight with his wife. “Say that again,” he urged. “ You’re a
drug pusher?”
    Lucy laughed. “Not the way you think. I work for a drug
company. I go charm doctors into prescribing more of our products for their
patients. It’s all legal and pretty, but yeah, I push drugs.”
    “Prettiest drug pusher I ever saw,” Lawson said.
    “You better have saved us some food,” John grumbled.
    Lucy stood and went to kiss Nolan on the cheek. “Hi,
sweetie. Hi, John. There’s lots of food,” she promised. “Come, eat.”
    John’s anxiety suddenly vanished. It was okay. Lucy was
there, holding Nolan’s hand, and all the firemen were looking at him and her
and shaking their heads, but it was okay. His behavior had not come between
Lucy and Nolan, and not between Nolan and him. They were all in the same room
and nothing had exploded. It was going to be okay.
    Waldron looked at him and rolled his eyes, but no one else
even knew he was in the room.
    He was starving. He got a paper plate and loaded it up, then
sat back in the corner and watched the woman work the room.
    Nolan looked so happy beside her. He must know that every
man in the room was envious. Even Waldron, long-married and committed, if not
especially happy, looked as if he wanted to be the guy holding her hand. They
all knew Nolan was gay. They knew he had the girl and didn’t want her. And they
all wanted her and couldn’t have her.
    If they only knew , John thought wryly.
    He ate slowly and he watched Nolan bask. It was all
delicious.
    * * * * *
    The firemen took Lucy on a tour of the station. Nolan went
along to protect her while John gathered up the leftovers and carried them back
to the shed. The firemen would still come looking for them, if they got hungry
enough, but at least they’d have to walk across the yard to do it.
    John thought, all things considered, he’d handled the lunch
well. He felt better than he had all morning. He flopped down on the couch and
put his feet up on the battered coffee table. Maybe he could grab a little nap
before their next run. His belly full of sandwiches made him drowsy.
    The outside door opened and Lucy came in.
    He looked past her. “You lose Nolan?”
    “He’s doing something with their stupid computer again.”
    “Yeah,” John said, nodding. “He keeps trying to put controls
on it, and they keep getting around them and then crying when they catch
viruses.”
    She sat down at the other end of the couch. “I had a nice
time last night. Thank you.”
    John wasn’t sure which part of last night she was referring
to. She seemed so damn innocent in the light of day. Sweet. Wholesome. “Me
too.” Maybe it had just been a freak thing, an impulse. Maybe the polite thing
to do was pretend it never happened. But his cock had other ideas. It stirred
just from being near her.
    “This place is really…crappy.”
    “I know. But we get the best coffee.” He shrugged. “And it’s
not like we can’t go hang at the station if we want to. We don’t usually get
that much down time anyhow.”
    “Uh-huh.” She glanced at the pillow and blanket folded
neatly at the end of the couch. “You sleep here?”
    “The night shift does, sometimes.”
    “This must be worse than Nolan’s futon bed.”
    “It ain’t comfortable.”
    “You ever had sex here?”
    John blinked. “Here? No.” His cheeks felt warm. “Never gave
it much thought. Although I did have a sex dream about it once.”
    “Oooh,” Lucy purred. “Tell, tell.”
    “You’re really a brat, aren’t you?”
    “You