He looks back, brows up.
I swallow. “Thank you.”
He studies me for a long, quiet beat. Smoke still billows behind him. His profile is carved hard and dark against the flames.
“Could’ve fooled me,” he mutters finally, but there’s no bite in it.
Then he walks away.
I watch him go.
Even through the gear, he moves like he knows exactly what his body can do. Like any emergency is just another problem his muscles can solve. Broad back. Powerful legs. The kind of man the town whispers about.
I stand in front of the smoking corpse of my dream wearing a firefighter’s coat, smelling like ash, heart pounding from adrenaline and anger and… something else.
Something warm.
Something dangerous.
Something that started the second he said,not a chance, and refused to let me go.
Chapter Two
Clay
Sirens are loud.
Gossip is louder.
By the time I finish the incident report the next day, file the preliminary cause notes, and lecture my guys about ground-fault breakers, Copper Mountain already has us married.Her.Ember. She’s been on my mind since the moment I carried her out of the smoke.
I know it the second Ramirez comes back from coffee with that look.
He leans against the office door, sipping like he’s settling in for a show. “So, Cap. Anything you wanna tell us?”
I don’t look up from the tablet. “About what.”
“The artist.”
I stop typing.
Look up slow.
“Try that again,” I say.
He grins like a punk. “The engagement. You and the clay girl. Fire-forged lovers. ‘He carried her from the flames and straight into forever.’” He actually clasps his hands like he’s swooning. “Town is eating it up, man.”
I stare.
“I didn’t say that,” I grind out.
“You didn’t have to,” he says. “Ivy and Ruby were at the station earlier to drop off cookies. Said Tina at the Gazette called to confirm, mentioned you got down on one knee in the snow. Said she heard it from Lottie at the insurance desk, who heard it from Indie?—”
I hold up a hand. “Ramirez.”
He snaps his mouth shut.
I push back from the desk, muscles tight from no sleep and too much smoke. I rinse the taste of ash from my mouth with lukewarm coffee and grab my jacket.
