Tesla let out a short bark and then went and climbed up on the sofa. She sighed as she dropped her chin between her paws and stared at me. I laughed at her attempt at emotional blackmail as I tossed a few cookies her way. It always amazed me how quickly accusations could turn to love when food was involved.
I drove over to Alex's apartment and parked. She buzzed me up, and when she opened the door, I was struck by how beautiful she looked no matter what she was wearing. She had chosen a soft blue dress that hugged her curves and high-heeled, leather boots that made her hips sway gently as she walked around the apartment gathering her things. Watching her move, I wasn't entirely sure that we would make it out the front door.
"So, where are we going?" Alex asked as she pulled her coat out of the closet. It took me a moment to snap out of a fantasy involving me removing the blue dress and seeing Alex in her lingerie.
"Huh? Oh, dinner, yeah," I said as I grabbed the coat out of her hands and held it for her. She laughed as she slid her arms into it and then buttoned it up. "Dinner, I thought we should try someplace a little nicer than O'Neil's, so I got us a reservation at Villains over on Printer's Row."
"I've heard of it, but never been there." Alex smiled as she locked the door and we headed to dinner.
Over beers, we talked about work and school, but the conversation soon turned toward getting to know one another better, and I felt myself pulling back even though I wanted nothing more than to have Alex know me.
"So, have you always been single?" she asked before sipping her beer.
"Not always," I said, shaking my head. "Just for a really long time. Too long."
"Why is that?" she asked, tipping her head sideways so that her long hair fell across one side of her chest. She looked like a Nordic painting. I swallowed hard and tried to answer her question.
"I've just been really involved in my career," I replied, side-stepping the reality.
"So, have you ever had a girlfriend?" she continued. I could feel the heat rising under my shirt collar as my desire collided with the guilt I felt being so attracted to her.
"Sure, I've had girlfriends," I said. "Nothing worked out."
"Is that because you leave your wet towels on the bathroom floor or because you leave the toilet seat up?" she asked as a hint of smile played at the edges of her lips. It made me want to kiss her even more.
"You want the truth?" I sighed as I gave up the ghost and decided that maybe, just maybe, Alex Pierce was the woman I could tell this story to and not have her look at me with pity.
"No, just lie to me. It's so much healthier," she deadpanned. For a moment, I was confused, and then I saw the smile on her face and a chuckled.
"Fine, but just remember that you asked for it," I said, shaking a finger at her.
"I'll do that," she said, wagging her finger back at me with a smile.
"Ten years ago, my fiancée died in a fire," I said, quickly ripping the Band-Aid off the conversation. "I was new to the fire squad, and I wasn't there."
"I'm so sorry, Cam," Alex said quietly as she reached out and laid her hand on top of mine. There was kindness in the gesture, so I didn't pull away. "It must have been awful for you."
"It was pretty terrible," I nodded as I debated whether or not to tell her the whole story.
"How did it happen? The fire, I mean?" she asked, sparing me the decision. "I mean, if you want to talk about it. I don't mean to pry."
"No, no, it's just..." I began as I looked across the table into her soft blue eyes.
"Just what?"
"It's just that you're the first woman who's asked that question and not made me feel like an object of pity," I admitted. "It's just weird."
"I don't see how anyone could pity you," she replied as the server set down our food and asked if we needed anything else. Alex smiled at him and said, "No, I think we're fine for now, thank you," before turning back to me.
"You'd be surprised at how much pity a dead fiancée can garner," I said grimly as I cut into my steak.
"Well, I'm not going to pity you," she said as she picked up her fork and dug into the smoked trout on her plate. "So, you can either tell me what happened or we can change the subject and talk about something else. Either way, I'm fine with it."
In that moment, I made the decision to open up, and once I started spilling the story, I couldn't stop. I told Alex how Quinn and I had bought the house three months before the fire. It was a foreclosure that had been on the market for three years and was in desperate need of an overhaul, and that was the only reason we'd been able to afford it. We lived in the bottom half of the house while I spent my days off from my training with the CFD renovating the upper half. Over the weekend, I'd finished the master bedroom and what would eventually be the nursery while Quinn studied for her nursing exam downstairs in the kitchen.
Every so often, she'd bring me a sandwich or a cold drink and comment favorably on the progress. Her parents had been furious about us moving in together before we were married and it had been hard for her to reject her South Side Catholic roots to follow her heart. We had decided that we'd finish the house before she graduated from nursing school and that we'd plan our wedding for the August after she got her license. I picked up extra shifts to make sure that she could focus on school and not have to work full time, but she somehow managed to take a full load of classes and work nearly full time in the blood lab over in the basement of the hospital. When I objected, she said that it was the perfect job because when things were quiet she could study.
"She was a nursing student, too," Alex observed as she continued eating. "Is that weird for you?"