“Whatever you need, Em.”
I grab her suitcase from the backseat, and she follows me inside. I show her to the guest room—the one with the water view, the one I’ve never let anyone use because it feels too personal, too much like sharing my sanctuary.
“Bathroom’s through there,” I say, setting her suitcase by the bed. “Towels in the closet. Kitchen’s yours anytime. Make yourself at home.”
She’s looking at me with those hazel eyes, and something passes between us—understanding, I won’t take advantage of her in my home, she’s safe here.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “For this. For everything.”
“Always, Firecracker.”
She responds with a bright smile and in turn I can’t help but smile back at her.
I should leave. Give her space. Let her settle in.
Instead, I stand there in the doorway, watching her run her hand along the whitewashed dresser, taking in the room that’s now hers.
“Ryan?” Her voice is soft.
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad it was you.” She turns to face me. “The rescue. All of it. It was kismet, like we were meant to meet each other.”
My chest tightens. “Me too, Em. Me too. Sleep well, Firecracker.”
I force myself to step back, to close the door, to walk down the hall to my room.
But as I lie in bed, knowing she’s only down the hall, knowing her clothes are in my guest room closet and her toothbrush is in the bathroom and she’s here, in my space, in my life—I like it, but I know the truth. I don’t want this to be temporary—I need to savor every moment with Ember, no matter what happens when she leaves.
Chapter 5
Five-Alarm Flirtation
Ryan
My brother Blake corners me at the station the next morning before I can escape to my office.
“So,” he drawls, “heard you had an interesting date last night.”
I look up from the incident report I’m reviewing. “You were off last night. How did you?—”
“Small town, smaller fire station, big brother. Plus, Mario posted about his ‘heroic rescuers’ on the pizzeria’s Facebook page. Nice action shots. Also, the Azalea Inn had a main water line break? Where is Ember staying there stud?”
“Guest room at my place. Inn flooded—she needed somewhere until the pipes are fixed.”
Blake’s eyebrows shoot up. “Your place? Moving fast, aren’t we?”
“It’s temporary housing, Blake. I left her a note about the coffee and was here by six.”
“A note,” Blake grins. “How romantic.”
Before I can respond, Uncle Jimmy—Chief McCallister to everyone else—steps out of his office. “Speaking of last night, that woman of yours did a hell of a job with crowd control. Nictells me she’s quite the event coordinator and is helping with our fire station fundraiser while in town.”
“She’s not my—wait, you talked to Nic already?” The ‘while she’s in town’ bottoms out my stomach.
“Small town,” Blake and Uncle Jimmy say in unison. Uncle Jimmy goes back into his office and shuts the door, with his coffee refill. The perks of my office being next to the coffee machine.
Romeo saunters in with two cups of coffee, passing one to Blake. “I heard our captain’s getting soft. Taking dates to emergency calls now?”
