“I think so. Why don’t you take a look?”
“Let’s take them to the table and we can see if anyone else wants one. Do you want to meet the other firefighters?”
He nods, and my heart melts as he reaches for Lucas’s hand. Lucas smiles widely as he takes Roman’s small hand in his. I follow them, hanging back a little, knowing how much Roman will be loving this.
“Hey, guys. This is Roman and his mom, Melody. They brought us some treats from Pete’s.”
There are two guys and a woman sitting at the table. One of the guys I recognize as Aiden, and I raise my hand in a wave.
“Hi, Melody. Nice to see you again.”
“You too, Aiden.”
Lucas looks over his shoulder, holding his hand out for me to take. I hesitate for a second before stepping forward and slipping my hand into his.
“Aide you already know. This is Ember,” Lucas says, gesturing to the beautiful brunette sitting next to Aiden. “And this is Dylan Cooper, the chief.”
“Hi,” I say quietly, feeling a little shy myself. “Nice to meet you all.”
“You too, Melody. Thanks for the goodies,” Ember says, plucking a blueberry muffin from the box.
“We’ve heard a lot about you,” Dylan says with a chuckle. “It seems you’ve made quite the impression on Lucas.”
“Chief!” Lucas exclaims. I steal a glance at him, his cheeks flushing pink. “I’m going to grab some lunch with Roman and Melody. I’ll be out the back if you need me. Make sure you leave us some cookies.”
I smile at everyone and let Lucas guide us back into the hallway. He releases my hand to scoop Roman up before carrying him down the stairs. I follow him until we end up out the back of the firehouse and on a small, grassed area off to the right.
“I thought we could eat lunch out here. It’s so warm today.”
“Sure. That sounds great.”
“I’m sorry about that back there. The chief, I mean.”
I wave off his apology. “Don’t worry about it. Liam already told me you’d been talking about me,” I tell him, my voice deadpan.
His eyes widen, and I laugh as I bump my shoulder with his before sitting down on a small bench. I reach inside the bag and pull out the sandwiches. Roman is sitting on the grass, and I unwrap his sandwich and hand it to him.
“I swear these guys live to embarrass me,” he says sheepishly.
I pass him his sandwich and begin to open mine. “I’m sure you’ll get your own back.”
“I definitely will!”
“This is so good,” I tell him as I swallow down a mouthful of my turkey sub.
“The best in town.”
“How’s yours, Rome?” I ask.
“Mmmmm,” he mumbles, his mouth full.
Lucas laughs. “I think he likes it.” He turns to me. “Thanks for bringing me lunch, and the treats for everyone.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you texted.”
“I’m glad I texted too. I waited as long as I could.”
“What do you mean?”