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“No time to drop you off and the guys need me.” I open my driver’s side door and put her in that way to keep me from having to go all the way around. “Strap in, little unicorn. We’re breaking the speed limit.”
“Oh shit,” she whispers when I hit the siren, but I see the edge of excitement in her eyes.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” I put my hand on her thigh and she leans in to me.
“I know you won’t.”
There’s something between us that is so familiar and intimate. It’s like we’ve done this dance before and we each know the steps and which way our partner will turn. It’s so strange to just have met someone but to feel totally and completely enveloped in them. It’s like she walked up to me and gave me the keys to her heart. I can’t explain it and I’m not sure I want to try and figure it out. I just want to feel it and keep it forever.
“We’re here,” I say as I pull up on the curb and open my door. “Stay in the truck, and I’ll be back soon. You’ll be safe right here. Understand?”
“Got it,” she says with confidence and I drop down out of the seat. “Blaze!” she calls out right before I shut the door. She opens her mouth and then closes it but nothing comes.
“Yeah, beautiful?”
“Be careful.” There’s something in her eyes but I don’t have the time to read it or ask her about it.
“Anything for you.” I wink at her and the look goes away. Was she worried about me?
Her feeling anything for me puts a little pep in my step as I rush over to the truck to talk with the guys. They’ve got extra turnout gear in the truck and I suit up. They’ve already got things going and I look up to see smoke billowing from the upper stories of the building, and people are coming down the emergency escape. Once my oxygen is hooked up I start climbing the ladder to where a group of people are stuck.
It’s a long night but thankfully we get everyone out and nobody gets hurt. That’s what we want above all—to save lives.
But the best part about tonight is when it’s over, Rosabelle jumps out of the truck and leaps into my arms. She wraps herself around me and I hold her for a long time, just because I can.
Chapter Eleven
Rosabelle
“He’s like a real-life hero,” I tell Rie as we stand in the kitchen together. She’s already got her backpack on but she’s hanging on every word I tell her about Blaze. She was passed out on the sofa with her textbooks all around her when I got home last night. As much as I wanted to wake her and tell her about everything that happened, I knew she needed the sleep and it could wait. She, on the other hand, wanted to smack me when she realized I didn’t wake her up to tell her everything.
“I mean, it sucks our night was cut short, but to see him in action…” I pretend to fan myself. “So worth it.” I’d been so scared when he took off toward that building but proud at the same time. I’d fallen just a little in love with him in that moment.
“I love the look he’s putting on your face.” Rie smiles at me, truly happy. This is the first time I’ve been excited about something in a long time. That feeling of being adrift is fading and it’s like something inside of me has settled.
“He had to go back to the firehouse and do paperwork, so he dropped me off and gave me another one of those kisses.” I reach up and touch my lips. I tried to explain to Rie what it was like but there really aren’t words for them. “I didn’t know kisses could be like that.”
“I think it has to be the right person.”
“Yeah,” I agree. There’s this connection between Blaze and me and it’s real. I don’t care if it’s crazy fast because I feel it bone deep and I’m trusting myself on this one.
We both turn to look at the front door when a knock sounds. “He’s taking me to work,” I tell Rie and try unsuccessfully to contain my excitement.
“Of course he is.” She walks past me and opens the door to reveal Blaze standing there in jeans and a black shirt that has his firehouse number across it.
It’s stretched tight against his broad chest and I think about how he must spend a lot of time in the gym. His body is perfection, which is crazy because I’ve seen how much he can eat. I think he could out-eat Rie and I’ve never said that about a person before in my life. Rie is tiny but she can put away a meal.
