Page 64 of Calling a Cease-Fire

The way her mind was racing was written clearly on her face, and it settled heavy in my gut. “I’m going to get rid of the condom and grab us some water. You can let me know what we’re doing after that. Okay?”

She nodded, and I rolled away from her, getting up and heading across the hall to the bathroom. After making a quick detour to the kitchen, I came back with glasses of water for both of us to find her sitting on her bed wearing a thin tank top and panties.

“I need my space when I sleep,” she blurted out.

My heart sank, but I kept the smile on my face and gave her a single nod. “No problem. Do you have a blanket for the couch?”

She shook her head furiously. “No. I don’t mean—” She huffed. “God, I suck at this.”

I went to her and sat down, handing her the water. “You do not. Tell me what you want.”

She took in a deep breath and held my gaze. “I want you to sleep in here with me. Not on the couch. I don’t mind the cuddling. It wasn’t all that bad.” She shrugged and smiled teasingly. “But I cannot sleep like that. I would crawl out of my skin eventually.”

I chuckled. “That sounds perfect to me. As long as I’m next to you, I’m happy.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t go getting too sappy on me. Remember you are not allowed to fall in love with me.”

I forced a playful smile, hating that I had to lie to her. But there was no way I could admit I might’ve already. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” I whispered instead.

Chapter Twenty-Three

MIA

Was it a full moon or something? It felt like every time I completed one call, another one was coming in right on its heels.

I finished updating the status of the units I’d assigned to a multi-vehicle crash site, dispatching a second ambo to their location at the request of the incident commander on scene. And, shocker, my screen lit up with another call. I took a deep breath before answering.

A construction worker was injured at a local building site. I had to request aid from a nearby town because ours were still tied up with the three-car accident.

Yep, definitely a full moon. This past week had felt like a whirlwind of craziness, too. Both at work and personally.

In those first few days after the fire, we visited Adam and Lyla at the hospital several times. I felt guilty hiding my relationship with Zack from my best friend. I wanted to confide in her, but I knew she wouldn’t understand. She was built for a solid relationship, and had never truly understood my need for casual.

I smiled. Sneaking around with Zack was a much-appreciated type of chaos, though. Now that we’d crossed so far over the line, it was like a dam had burst. Neither of us hid our need for each other, taking advantage of every opportunity we had to be together. And damn, it was so much better than I’d imagined. Only thing that sucked was that he’d been on night shift for the last three nights and I was working day shift, so I was desperate to see him again. I shifted in my seat, imagining his lips and tongue gliding across my skin, sucking on my neck and then trailing lower…

“Not sure I’ve ever seen that smile.” Charlie’s voice broke through my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be dramatic. I smile.”

“Yeah, like the Cheshire cat.” He pointed at me. “Now that smile is one that says you finally hooked up with that hot firefighter of yours.”

“Or I was just remembering something funny,” I scoffed.

He raised a brow and studied me. I quickly pulled my gaze away and back to my screen, not giving him the opportunity to read the truth in my eyes.

“Really? Holding out on me?”

I shrugged. “Nothing to tell. Even if there was, it wouldn’t be something we would want anyone to know.”

“That sounds like a recipe for disaster.”

I gritted my teeth at the reminder that this could all blow up in my face. Could cost me multiple friendships, not to mention the best sex I’d had…ever.

Luckily, my screen lit up again, giving me an out from this conversation. And, thankfully, after a few more less-intensive calls, it was time to clock out.

Excited to see Zack, I hurried to my car. Halfway across the parking lot, an eerie feeling overcame me, like someone was watching. I froze and glanced around the area, scanning the cars and then the tree line. Police still hadn’t located the Taylor kid, and everyone was still on high alert. Including me, apparently. To say that was nerve-racking would be an understatement. He was out there, ready to strike again, and there was nothing much we could do about it.

I forced my feet to move, climbing into my car and locking my doors. Relieved to be in the relatively safe confines of my vehicle, I took a deep breath and looked around the lot again. Nothing unusual. But I still wasn’t ready to let my guard down completely.