The Fireman's Ready-Made Family. Jules Bennett

Who are you pissed at?”

      Drake glanced over his shoulder to see Eli standing in the doorway to the addition Drake was adding onto the back of his house.

      “Nobody,” he mumbled.

      That wasn’t true. He was beyond mad with himself for allowing his hormones to control his actions. He knew Marly was skittish, yet he’d still flirted, hoping to see a reaction. Her deer-in-the-headlights look when he’d placed his hand over hers was all he’d needed to know that she remained very cautious and scared.

      “You’re mad,” Eli retorted, stepping into the room. He ran his hand along the already placed beams and glanced over the work. “Is it the mayor again?”

      Drake grunted, driving in another nail. “It’s never not the mayor.”

      “Something more than usual?” Eli asked.

      Carefully dropping his hammer to the subfloor, Drake shook his head. “Nothing I can’t handle. What are you doing here? Don’t you have a clinic to run, wife to love on or baby to feed?”

      Eli’s smile widened. As the oldest brother, Dr. Eli St. John had been busy lately with taking over their father’s clinic, marrying his high school sweetheart and becoming a father.

      Nora and Eli had drifted apart when Eli had gone into the military. Nora had married Eli’s best friend, but when Nora’s husband was killed in action, she had discovered she was pregnant. Now that she and Eli had found their way back to each other, Drake had never seen his brother so happy.

      “Actually Nora took the baby and went to visit Mom and Dad. I saw your truck when we passed by and since I hadn’t seen you in a week, I told her I’d check up on you and be right back.” Eli crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a stud. “Care to tell me what’s wrong?”

      “Everything, actually.” Walking over to the sawhorses with plywood on top for a makeshift worktable, Drake twisted off the cap of his water and downed half the bottle. “Jeremy is still recovering from that damn fire, the mayor is the bane of my existence and now Marly is consuming my thoughts.”

      “Marly?” Eli’s brows raised. “Who’s Marly?”

      The St. John boys were known for being jokesters and hellions, but Drake was thankful for once that his brother didn’t razz him about saying another woman’s name.

      “She’s the nurse caring for Jeremy.”

      Eli continued to stare, as if weighing his words before they came out. “This is the first time you’ve mentioned any woman since Andrea.”

      Raking a hand over his head, Drake sighed and downed the last half of his water before tossing the bottle into the trash in the corner.

      “I’ve been on a few dates,” Drake commented. “Nothing has progressed beyond date one with anybody, so I never mentioned them.”

      “Is this nurse a serious thing?” Eli asked.

      With a laugh, Drake shook his head. “She’s skittish, she’s a single mom to an adorable little girl and she’s running from something. But as far as she and I go, we’re nothing. She consumes my thoughts and I don’t know if that’s the protector in me wanting to know more and help her or if I’m actually attracted on a level I didn’t think existed anymore.”

      “Wow, man.” Eli sighed and walked around the spacious room that was now ready for the drywall. “I don’t even know what to say. I mean, this is great that you may be finally moving on. You haven’t even gone on a date with the woman and you’re already torn up. It may not be serious to her, but it’s turning into something for you.”