He went upstairs, put on his sneakers and started back down, pausing to gape at the glorious sight of Carmen leaning over. She was holding on to the barstool and bending from the waist, no doubt stretching her hamstrings.
Damn, she had a very fine ass and some spectacular thighs. She wasn’t overly thin, which suited him just fine, because he liked a woman who looked like she had some flesh on her. But every part of her looked firm. Of course she was on her feet at work all the time, so she got plenty of exercise.
He made his way downstairs. “Ready.”
She straightened and smiled at him. “Me, too. You should stretch.”
“I’m not running. I’ll stretch as I walk.”
She shrugged and said, “You know best.”
He liked that she didn’t lecture him. He’d dated plenty of women who thought they knew best and didn’t hesitate to nag him about what he should and shouldn’t do. Those women didn’t last long in his orbit. He already had a mother. He didn’t want to date one.
The humidity blasted him full in the face as they stepped outside. “You sure you want to do this?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Walk. Outside. In July.”
She laughed. “It’s fine. I’ve lived here my entire life. I’m used to this heat.”
Another bonus point. She didn’t complain. He’d once tried to get a woman he’d met at the gym to run a 5K with him. It was even during the winter, but she complained about how messed up her hair would get in the humidity.
Sometimes finding a woman who was down with his interests was as impossible as trying to win a game of Alien: Isolation on his Xbox.
“How did last night go?” Carmen asked.
“Miserable.”
She looked concerned. “Really? Any vomiting?”
“Nah. I was tired. I wanted to sleep. My asshole brothers woke me constantly.”
She slanted a smile at him. “I’m sure that was very annoying. But necessary.”
“Yeah, I know. At least I’ll sleep good tonight.”
“Yes, that’s the payoff.”
They turned right at the end of the road. They lived in an established neighborhood, all the homes having been built in the late seventies, which meant a lot of mature trees on both sides of the road. School hadn’t started back yet, so kids played in the yards and rode their bikes up and down the street. Rafe often thought about what it might have been like to grow up in an environment like this, with great parents and friends who lived next door.
But that hadn’t been the hand he’d been dealt.
“You’re quiet,” Carmen said. “Are you all right?”
He turned his head to look at her. “Yeah. Whenever I walk the neighborhood, I always think about what it might have been like to grow up here. You know, to be born into something like this. Good parents. Friends. Riding my bike up and down the street without a care in the world. Never being hungry or thinking about where my next meal would come from.”
Carmen reached out and laid her hand on his upper arm. “You ended up with great parents, Rafe, growing up with amazing brothers.”
“Yeah, I got lucky with Jackson and Kal and our parents. I just didn’t start out there.”
“I don’t know the whole story other than what you all have told me.”
“Nothing much to tell. Jackson, Kal and I were all homeless and we bonded. We stuck together. One night we got caught in a fire in an abandoned house, and Josh Donovan saved our lives. He was one of the firemen who rescued us. Then he and his wife, Laurel, adopted us and became our parents, and we became Donovans.”
She nodded. “I’ve heard that part. What about before that?”
He sidestepped a pothole in the street. “You mean when we were homeless?”
“No. Before you became homeless. Your family life before you hit the streets.”
He hadn’t thought about that part of his life for a long time. “Not really much of what I would call a family life. It wasn’t a great time, so I try not to think about it.”
“Then I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“Don’t be. I just don’t focus on it. I’m a Donovan now, and have been for most of my life. It’s all that matters.”
She smiled at him. “Sure.”
He hated his childhood memories, before he met Jackson and Kal. His birth parents never parented him, not in the traditional sense. To them he had just been some kid who got in the way of their drug business.
He had never been happier than when he’d run away from them. If he’d stayed, he’d probably be dead.
He took a deep breath, inhaling the humid air, clearing his head.
“Tell me about your tattoo.”
He frowned. “My—” His lips lifted. “You ogled me while I was half-naked in the ER yesterday, didn’t you?”
She rolled her eyes. “I was not ogling. I was doing my job. But your tattoo is amazing.”
She’d totally ogled. Which was fine with him. Better than fine, actually. “Thanks. Jackson and Kal got the same one. Becks did them. It represents all of us and our bond as brothers and as firefighters.”
“Really? That’s very cool. Something else the three of you have in common now.”
“True.”
Then it went quiet again. The funny thing was, it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Carmen seemed content to just walk alongside him, and he was pretty happy to have her company.
“Great day for a walk, isn’t it?”
She shot him a look. “It’s hot, Rafe.”
“Yeah, but we’re alive and healthy and life is good, isn’t it?”
She arched a brow. “You always carry this annoyingly positive outlook?”
“Always. Why? Does it bother you?”
“Depends on my mood.”
“Yeah? And how’s your mood today?”
“I’m fine.”
That wasn’t a happy I’m fine, so clearly, something was on her mind. “Want to talk about it?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m off work today. I made an extra batch of enchiladas, so dinner’s handled. And I’ve already done two loads of laundry.”
All domestic bullshit. “And what about you, Carmen? What are you doing for fun on your day off?”
She held her hands out. “I’m taking a walk, with you.”
“And I appreciate it. But that’s the nurse in you, making sure I’m okay. I’m talking about fun. What do you do to get out there and have a good time?”
She didn’t answer.
“Got a boyfriend?”
She looked flustered, as if the question made her unsettled. “Oh . . . no. Not me.”
“Girlfriend?”
She laughed. “Not one of those, either.”
“So you don’t date?”
“No. Not lately, anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Too busy. And I don’t want to.”
“Again . . . why not?”
They turned the corner, and she focused her attention on the park, watching kids play on the swings. “I . . . just don’t.”
Now he was really curious. Carmen was beautiful and had a lot to offer. She worked and cared for her grandfather, but surely, she took time out for herself. “Maybe you should consider it.”