Hope Falls: Hearts Afire (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free Page B

being today’s cover story.
    While she waited for her food to arrive, Katie studied the people at the cafe. She thought about all of those posts that filled her Facebook feed. You know, the ones that listed the top ten or top one hundred things or people or whatever. She was surprised there wasn’t a list titled “Top 10 Cities to Find Hot Guys.” Hope Falls would have sat comfortably at the number one. How was it that so many fine specimens could all reside within these small city limits? She wondered if they listed it on the city’s homepage as one of the tourist attractions. Come to Hope Falls where you can see the sexiest men alive, and you might just be lucky enough to touch one .
    If they weren’t using that as a marketing ploy, they should rethink their strategy. All she had to do was send a few pictures back home to the ladies and she was sure they would be in the car and on the road in five minutes flat.
    Not much later, Sue Ann came back with a plate of steaming hot fries and a deliciously juicy sandwich. Katie enjoyed her meal in peace, savoring every bite. She dipped her sandwich in the au jus, chuckling to herself as the juice dribbled down her chin. That didn’t stop her though. She kept at it until her plate was clean, even smothering her last French fry with what was left of the ketchup on her plate.
    She sat back and rubbed her belly, something that she and her brother often did when they were growing up. Katie’s mom said that she inherited her hearty appetite from being around Ryan and his friends. Being four years younger, she was like his shadow, always wanting to do everything he did. Even when that meant belching at the table and rubbing her full belly after an exceptionally large meal.
    Thankfully, Katie remembered not to belch in public.
    When Sue Ann came back with Katie’s receipt and her credit card, she asked, “You going to JT’s tonight?”
    Katie pointed to her plate. “After that I couldn’t drink a beer if my life depended on it. There’s no room in here.” She stuck her thumb in the waistband of her jeans. She wasn’t exaggerating either. For every thousand words she got down on paper, she added a pound to her ever-growing ass. And she had written a lot of words since she arrived in town. “Not tonight.”
    Sue Ann waved her off and said, “He’s on shift anyway, honey. He won’t be there.”
    Katie’s jaw dropped. That seemed to be happening quite often lately. Sue Ann turned tail, not giving her any chance to respond.
    Maybe the Hope Falls’ public relation’s department should add “Town Meddlers” to the website. She had no idea she was going to be stepping into a season of the Bachelorette when she decided to visit. She was a huge fan of matchmaking, just not when she was the one being set up.
    She wanted to be able to eat her fries without hearing about Casey Palmer’s work schedule, dammit.
    Things were sure to die down in a few days, right? Sue Ann and Shelby would find someone else to play games with. She was going to have to lie low. She didn’t want to chance any future meetings with the annoying firefighter, and she didn’t want to give her new friends any more ammunition. All she had to do was stay away from JT’s for a while and stay away from Casey.
    Easy peasy, as her mother would say.

CHAPTER THREE
     
     

CASEY
     
    Two days on, four days off. One of the hardest parts of the job was getting used to the rotating schedule. If Casey didn’t set up calendar alerts on his phone and have an old-school paper calendar posted in his kitchen, he wouldn’t know whether he was coming or going.
    At least he didn’t have a wife and kids to disrupt with his work hours. He’d seen firsthand what it had done to the other guys and their families. Some made it work, while others had a hard time adjusting. He’d even known a few guys who had gotten divorced because of the job. Casey’s dad had tried to tell him it could happen with any occupation, not just