I nodded and looked around, hoping not to be caught looking at my art. “Okay, I’ll stop torturing you.” She looped her arm through mine and dragged me away to the next delight.
A thrill shot through me.
“Stop. This cannot be real.” We rounded the corner to where the fire station sat next to the town hall. The old building had a vintage fire truck parked in front, decorated with pumpkins and children clambering up its sides. “This istheCozy Creek Fire Brigade.” She whipped out her phone to take another hundredpictures. “My dad will absolutely love this.”
As we got closer, several of the local firefighters, including Pace and some of the guys from poker night, like Cole Sutter, were out front in their tees and fire pants with suspenders, handing out candy to the kids. Blatant pandering. Pace was not, in fact, helping Ruth as he said. Ripley was in the passenger seat of the fire truck, curled in a bright yellow coat and hiding under a hard helmet. She pretended not to hear me when I whistled for her. The little traitor.
Claire stopped in her tracks, arms out to the side as she took in the sight. “This looks like a calendar photo shoot for October.” She shook her head, her cheeks bright and her smile bigger.
“Not you too,” I mumbled.
“Me too, what?” she asked.
“Falling victim to the firefighter syndrome.”
Pace was holding a baby now that clapped happily on his cheeks as he laughed.
“Where did that baby come from?” I grumbled, rolling my eyes.
Claire followed my line of sight before laughing. Back to me, she made an “oops” face. “I’m but a mere mortal. It’s not really something I can control. I think it’s hardwired into DNA. Man in uniform. Children playing happily. Parents watching on with smiles.” She bent her arms at ninety-degree angles and moved robotically. “Beep boop. Alert, alert.” She made a powering-up sound. “Now ovulating.”
A surprised laugh burst out of me. Looking down at her, shestudied the goofy, jerky movement, unable to hide the joy she dragged out of me. Her erratic gestures slowed to a stop as she blinked up at me. With her body still, her face lit with joy as her gaze moved to my mouth and around my face, and her smile grew bigger.
“I like seeing this.” She poked my cheek where my smile was still beaming.
I was on display, raw and vulnerable, but she made me feel so many things. Yet I couldn’t turn it off. I couldn’t make it melt away. I didn’t want to.
“Who are you?” I asked her, or maybe the universe, for bringing this weird, curiously funny woman into my life.
Her arms fell to her sides as she shrugged at me. “I’m just Claire.”
And she was disarming me piece by broken piece. I swallowed and held her gaze. My body leaned toward her gravitational pull.
“You’re notjustanything,” I said softly.
Her smile melted, and she swallowed. Why couldn’t I stop staring at those lips of hers?
“Hey, there you are!” Pace strolled up with his, as ever, impeccable timing.
Claire waved, shifting to face him. I narrowed my eyes at him. He pretended not to notice.
“This is great,” Claire said, gesturing to the scene around us. She had dropped my arm at some point, and I noticed the absence of her more than ever. “I feel like a background character in a Hallmark movie.”
“It’s pretty neat, huh? Cozy Creek doesn’t mess around when it comes to fall,” he said.
“Apparently.”
“You should see it at Christmas.”
She laughed nervously. “I wish I could, but I’ll be long gone by then.” She elbowed me lightly. “But probably not soon enough for this guy.”
I grunted as I crossed my arms and widened my stance. That had been what I wanted, to scare my renter away to have my place back. I wasn’t sure when the opposite became true. The thought of her being gone was … unsettling.
“I somehow doubt that.” Pace looked at me closely with a shit-eating grin plastered on his features.
He seemed to look pointedly where I stood slightly ahead of Claire, blocking her from the full blast of his charm. This desire to protect her from him was simply instinctual. The flirtatious playboy was all an act to pretend he wasn’t still hurting. Pace had given his heart to someone once, and it was never returned.
“Well, so far, he’s had to save me at a grocery store as I unloaded my recent drama onto him, put up with me accidentally dog-napping Ripley, saved me from a winter storm, and set up internet in the cabin despite the arguments that he never would. I’m sure he’s just about at the end of his tether,” she finished with a huff of laughter.
