Saved By The Firefighter
Chapter 19

Ben's Point of View

It has been nearly an hour-and-a-half since Lucy walked into her interview. I drum my fingers on the steering wheel of the car, my heart pounding nervously in my chest. I hope it is good news for her, and I hope she agrees to come for the meal. It is another hot day, and I really do not relish the thought of sweat patches under my arms, so I open the windows on both sides of the car, as it is now resembling an oven in here.

I pick up my phone to see that Josie has text to ask if there is any news. I answer with a quick 'not yet. I also have a text from Davey telling me that he found an article in the Sunderland Echo, with a picture of Twinkle and his Mrs, crowning them the city's best ballroom dancers. I laugh, because I know that come Tuesday that picture will be blown up and placed on every spare wall around the station, just to wind him up. Then I have a nicer thought, knowing Josie, she will bake lots of cakes as a celebration for him, which means we are all in for a nice treat for our first nightshift. Josie's cakes will take the sting out of the first shift back at work, which is always the worst, especially if it is quiet.

I am busy laughing at the picture of Twinkle dressed in a tuxedo with bright yellow bow tie, covered in sparkly s**t, and a yellow sparkly waist coat, with the biggest smile on his face, and his 'Mrs' who, despite winning, still looks like she has sucked on a lemon, in a bright yellow sparkly dress to match Twinkles bow tie, and waist coat. Poor guy is not going to live this down for a good while.

I look up and see Lucy walking out of the building, the brightest smile on her face. She looks like the weight of the world has lifted off her shoulders as she practically dances to the car. I get out and quickly open her door, as she gets inside, she let's out a little squeal, but her voice croaks at the end, and it is quickly replaced with an "Ouch".

"So....?" I ask my smile wide, as I anticipate good news for her.

"I didn't get the business development manager job." She grins at me. "You are looking at the new sales director of Maxwell publishing, getting paid a s**t ton more than I was before, with larger commissions, and I start as soon as the doctors sign me fit for work." She croaks out excitedly.

"Wow, well done; I am so proud of you!" I say to her.

"I know; I am proud of me too," she laughs.

"So you should be; you deserve this, Lucy," I grin, happiness radiating through me for her.

"Well, how about we head down to the Quayside Exchange and see if we can get a table and have a celebratory meal." I suggest, hoping I sound causal and that I have not been planning this since last night.

Lucy grins and nods her head at me.

"On one condition," she says with a smile, her voice now barely a whisper it is so croaky.

"And what condition is that?" I grin at her.

"I pay, you have done so much for me, and I want to thank you." She grins.

"No deal, it is my treat," I tell her pulling the car out of the carpark.

"Ben!" she protests.

"Sorry, I cannot hear you above the engine." I laugh then turn and wink at her before returning my concentration on the road ahead.

I can see her giving me a small pout out the corner of my eye, and it is the most adorable thing ever, making me chuckle in response.

I pull up around the back of the restaurant, after trying to find a parking space for about ten minutes, then jump out the car and run round to make sure I open Lucy's door for her.

"You are such a gentleman." She smiles at me, her voice now only able to speak part of the words.

"Come on, I hope after spending so long trying to park we don't need a reservation," I grin at her.

Placing my hand on the small of her back, trying to remember Will Smiths advice in Hitch, that to low is pervy, to high is friend zone, the perfect place is somewhere in the middle, as we walk down the cobbled path to the front of the building.

I open the large glass door, and stand back to let her in, and she smiles up at me with a perfect blush on her cheeks, damn she is totally gorgeous.

"Table for two please." I say to the waiter, who nods his head. Grabbing a couple of menus, he leads us to our seats.

"What can I get you both to drink?" The waiter asks.

"I will have a large diet coke please, no ice. What would you like Lucy?" I ask her, then worry I should have let her go first.

"Same please, but with ice." She croaks out.

"Oh, can we have a small gla*s of ice cream now, before we order please." I ask, knowing that Lucy is really struggling with her voice.

The waiter nods his head, then walks away.

"Okay, I am not being rude, but Josie has text me a couple of times to see if you got the job," I tell her.

Lucy shifts in her seat slightly her smile slightly dipping, and I realise she is wondering if Josie and I are together, just like Anders Maxwell had.

"Josie is the firefighter who gave you the clothes, I think she has the hots for your new boss, but don't tell her I told you." I grin.

I see Lucy relax slightly, and just that small conversation fills my heart with hope that when I ask her out on a real date, she will say yes, and I make a promise to myself that before I am through with this day, I will have her locked in for Saturday night, my first night off shift.

"So do you mind if I shoot her a quick text with the news?" I ask.

Lucy smiles and nods. I know her throat must be on fire now, so quickly text Josie, before turning my full attention back to this amazing, beautiful woman in front of me.

The waiter arrives with the drinks and a glass bowl of ice cream and places it in front of Lucy, who smiles than croaks out a thank you, before instantly devouring it.

"Give your throat a break if you like, no need to talk if it hurts." I smile at her.

After all, I am mostly quiet myself, so I do not feel uncomfortable with silence. In fact, I think I have spoken more to Lucy than almost anyone other than my mother and the guys at work.

"When we are finished here, do you want to go to the Bridges Shopping Centre and sort out your sim card?" I ask.

Lucy nods at me with a smile, then takes a large gulp of her drink, yeah, she is definitely in pain.

We look at the menu, and I see they have steak. Well it would be rude not to, after all it is my favourite meat on the planet.

"I am going for the ribeye, what about you?" I ask with a smile.

"Satay Chicken please." She whispers to me.

The waiter returns, and I order our food, then sit forward looking at Lucy, my heart racing in my chest. Do I ask her for the date now, or later? I really cannot decide, if she tells me no now, that will ruin the afternoon, so maybe I should wait. The food arrives, and we tuck in, a comfortable silence between us. When we are finished, I ask the waiter for another two ice creams, to finish off the meal, and help Lucy's throat again before she has to speak when we get to the mobile phone shop. I watch, as once more she devours it in front of me, licking her spoon, my bulge in my pants painful as I once more find myself fantasising about that delicious tongue of hers licking something else. s**t, I really need to stop being a dirty pervert, but I cannot help it! I pay the bill, then we head up towards the City Centre together, as we pass one of the large buildings next to the Museum two seagulls start making the loudest noise, both of us look up, to see the male mounted on top of the female his wings outstretched as he squawks. I roll my lips, not wanting to laugh, but as I look down at Lucy, she is giggling her head off, biting her bottom lip in a bid to stop herself. Oh, good grief, that look on her perfect face does something sinful to my body, and I wish I was that seagull right now. I start to laugh, and Lucy looks up at me, her eyes bright and happy, as she joins in full-on laughing with me at the horny birds. We round the corner and walk towards the Bridges Shopping Centre, heading up to the top of the concourse to the mobile phone shop. After sorting out a sim card that is connected to her account, I take the phone and place the new sim in the back of the device for her checking that it is working, then quickly add my number into the contacts, before handing it back to her with a grin. "Thank you," she grins at me.

"I just need to pop over to Greggs to get the kids a gingerbread man each," she smiled, heading across the way to the famous bakery.

As we stand in the queue, a young lad of around 17 looks at me, then comes beside me.

"Oi, are you that guy that was on that Special Forces show earlier this year, the one that won it?" he asks.

Suddenly the whole queue finds me more interesting than the steak bakes and doughnuts on sale.

"Yeah," I answer, keeping my voice low.

"E'er mate, can'a have a selfie like?" he asks.

Lucy looks at me a little confused.

"Erm, yeah, sure," I say, not sure how to deal with the situation.

"E'er, is it as difficult as it looks like mate?" he asks

"Worse," I tell him, and he nods his head in respect then walks back to his group of friends.

After purchasing the gingerbread men for her niece and nephew, we head back to the car. I am loathed to finish the afternoon off so early, but I need to nap, as I will be staying up late tonight, so that I sleep quite a bit tomorrow before work. It is all part of the routine of preparing for night shift.

We walk back to the car as Lucy asks what that was about in Greggs. I laugh and tell her about being on the reality TV show, talking about the training and the amazing instructors I met, and how the whole process helped me get back to work.

"I think I need to find it on Netflix or YouTube," she grins up at me, and I laugh. The conversation was easy, well for me, poor Lucy is still croaking, but her voice is better than earlier. We get to the car, and head off back to her brother's house. As I pull up outside the door, I turn to look at her. Here I go, it is now or never.

I take a deep breath.

"I am on nights from tomorrow, four twelve-hour shifts, my first night off is Saturday, and I was wondering if you would come out on a date with me?" I ask, hoping beyond hope she says yes.

Lucy looks at me, her face turning a gorgeous shade of pink, as she becomes shy, making my bulge twitch again in response.

"I would like that." She tells me, suddenly finding her feet interesting.

I adore that she is quite shy, I know a lot of men love confident women, but I find her shyness makes her even more attractive to me.

"Cool, I am looking forward to it. I will text you." I grin at her.

"Yeah, and Ben, thank you,... for everything," she smiles shyly at me.

I cannot help myself; I reach out and place a strand of her hair behind her ear, then lean over and kiss her softly on her cheek. I swear my lips tingle, as they connect with her skin, and now I really need to go before I c*m in my pants like a teenager looking at p**n for the first time.

"I will text you and see you Saturday. Try and get some rest," I whisper, as she gasps slightly then nods her head.

"Stay safe," she whispers back, then gets out of the car and stands in front of the door, waving me goodbye.