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“Do you mind?” I snatch my panties out of his hand. My camisole is a little twisted from the running and I take a few seconds to straighten it and my skirt, using the time to calm my embarrassment enough to thank the man for catching the runaway dog.
Dark eyes watch my every move. “Now you have me curious, Bela. Howdidyou fantasize about me seeing your panties for the first time?”
Liquid chocolate meets mine and I can feel the heat of his words pour over me.
A grating shrill comes from my wrist and I forget about panties, puppies and hot chocolate eyes.
“Oh, crap! My penis cake!”
Smoke catches on the wind and I can already feel the dread in my veins. “No. No NO!”
I dash through the door, dread pumping through my body every second. Smoke rolls across the ceiling and I can feel Miles hot on my heels. Strong hands clamp over my shoulders and he moves me, heading in the direction most people run from in a blur of action.
“Fire extinguisher?”
“Two large ones. Back door,” I yell, pointing.
“Take the phone outside and call the station. Hurry!”
I don’t think twice and punch in the number. Five minutes later—small town living!—a red engine roars to a stop outside my place. Five minutes may not seem like a lot of time, but flames can eat a lot of wood in that time. I know because my parents lost my childhood home a few years back.
I worry my hands together and pace the sidewalk in front of my bakery. Maybe I need to go in. Check to see if he needs help.
Before I can, firefighters storm past me. “He’s still in there.” And the amount of smoke hasn’t dropped. His team rushes in, but I can see through the window Miles signal the hose isn’t necessary.
“Thank God.”
***
Miles
Two years of trying to get my life in order again and when I finally do this sassy, flirty little brunette with purple tips barrels through all my good senses.
The killer… she has no idea just how damn beautiful she is.
Before the peace of Cherry Falls I lived for the adrenaline rush of being a beat cop and then undercover cop working to take down narcotic rings. Lies, death, and dope are all that surrounded me. Having friends got you killed so I moved through the dark underbellies of big cities alone. Forget seeking out lovers or girlfriends; those landed you a six sided-box under a mound of dirt even faster.
When a takedown went south, my identity fell into the wrong hands, forcing me to drawer my badge. So I returned to Cherry Falls—the town I finally landed in with a stroke of good luck as a kid when I had no family or home.
After years of constant stress, getting back to my teenage roots was a welcomed change since I always liked the idea of breathing.
I floundered for a while until my foster parents’ bakery caught fire and I discovered a new way to help people. A couple of years later I’m standing in the same spot, same bakery but this time as the fire chief.
I signal for an anxious Bela pacing the sideway to come inside. “It’s all right, boys—I’ve got it from here.”
Duke Miller, a fellow fireman and good friend, angles his head my way from the front door.
“And upstairs?”
“It’s damaged for sure. It got hot and fast. We’ll need to check out the floor upstairs, but the flames are out. Send a couple of men to the second level and report back what they find.”
“Yes, sir. You got it.”
When on the job, it’s all business and regulation and Duke follows them to the letter. We save the friendship for after hours.
Alone now, Bela walks in, the door automatically snicking closed behind her. It’s just the two of us.
She slowly treads closer until she’s finally standing beside me, nose scrunched. “It smells like burned cookies and plastic.” Those thick black lashes raise to meet mine and I can feel her barely holding on. Her bottom lip trembles and she works the dangly fringes of her tank top through her fingers.
