Noah was the first to trudge to the common area of the fire station after he'd finished showering and changing once they returned from the fire they'd been called to put out while they supposed to be shopping for lunch.
Noah opened the fridge and peered around, trying to figure out what he and his comrades could have for a late lunch. It seemed like leftovers the guys from the last shift left would have to suffice.
"Hello?"
The melodic sounding voice had Noah spinning around.
His eyes collide with a gorgeous face that seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He took her in quickly from head to toe. Her hair was piled up on the top of her head in a messy bun. Her eyes were wide and astute; her lips, shiny with some kind of gloss, were full and looked as though they had no problem of telling it like it was. Her crop top showed off her toned abs and her shorts revealed sexy hips and thick thighs.
She looked like just his kind of trouble.
The kind of trouble he'd, as of late, been avoiding.
"Can I help you?" he said finally, praying he hadn't stared too long to make her uncomfortable.
"I hope so," she said with a grin. "I'm looking for Ollie."
"Ollie?" Noah repeated, confused.
"Yeah. He came by my table at the farmer's market this morning, but got called away. You were with him, right?"
"You mean, Sim?" Noah said, finally remembering why she looked familiar. She was the woman he'd seen Oliver talking to at the farmer's market that he'd insisted they go to that morning.
"Right, I heard you call him that."
"Yeah, it's uhh...his nickname around here."
"Why do you call him that?"
Noah cleared his throat of a chuckle before answering. "It's short for Similac."
The woman's laugh echoed in the empty common room.
"Are you serious?" she cackled.
Noah nodded as his lips tugged upward.
Once the moment of amusement passed, silence surrounded them.
The woman held up a bag. "He left this, and I figured you all might need it. So I decided to wait awhile and swing by to drop it off. Looks like I got here just in time."
Noah took a step forward to take the bag from her arms.
"Wow, that was nice of you." He sat the bag down on the island and peered through it. "There's a lot of stuff in here."
"We had left overs once the farmer's market shut down for the day. Figured it wouldn't go to waste here."
"That's for sure," Noah said. He reached out his hand. "I'm Noah Walker, by the way."
"Phoenix Aldridge," she said, placing her soft hand in his. After he released her hand, Noah reached for his back pocket.
"Damn, I left my wallet in my room," he said. "If you can wait for just another minute I'll go grab it so I can pay–"
Phoenix shook her head. "Don't worry about it."
"Phoenix. We couldn't possibly take all of this without paying."
"I insist," Phoenix said with a smile. "Consider it a donation to D.C.'s...finest."
The hint of flirtation wasn't lost on him. He had to give it to the woman, she was smooth with it.
Before he could respond, Phoenix was backing away.
"I've gotta run," she said, as she pulled a card out of the bag that was slung across her front. "Tell Ollie I said hi. And you guys should swing by my bar."
"I'm not much of a drinker. And Ollie's not exactly old enough–"
"It's a juice bar," she amended with a grin, as she handed him the card.
"Oh."
"Hope to see you again soon, Noah," Phoenix said, before pivoting on her heels and strutting away.
"Who was that?"
Noah blinked coming out of the trance brought on by the sway of Phoenix's departing ass. He turned to see Max, Ollie and a few others making their way into the common area.
"She actually came for Sim," Noah informed them.
"Sim!" Max laughed. "Boy what is a woman like that coming around here for your ass for?"
"She was the chick from the farmer's market," Noah added. He tipped his chin toward the bag on the island. "She brought that by."
"Oh! That must have been Phoenix," Oliver said.
"Again, I ask, what was she doing coming here for you?" Max asked.
"Man, it's not like that. She used to babysit me growing up and her parents run an urban garden. Though I did have the biggest crush on her growing up."

"I see why," Noah murmured quietly as he absently tucked the card into his back pocket.