Chapter 1

1

WYATT

H ow did I get myself into this stuff?

When I first joined the Rosewood Ridge Volunteer Fire Department, I’d mentioned to the chief that I was a trainer for the Navy. But I hadn’t quite been prepared to teach Rosewood Ridge residents about the inner workings of their local fire station.

Citizens Fire Academy , the sign outside the meeting room read. It was the first one of these, so I had no idea what to expect. I wasn’t even sure what I was teaching. I’d written up a quick curriculum, but hell if I knew what the residents of Rosewood Ridge wanted to learn.

I inhaled deeply, then took another sip of my coffee, held my head high, and walked right into the room. I nearly dropped my cup at what I saw.

The room was empty aside from one person. A brunette with long, wavy hair sat front row and center. She wore a tight sweater that hugged abundant breasts.

But as much as I wanted to gape at her chest, it had nothing on her face. Long, dark eyelashes framed piercing, light-colored eyes. And her mouth was pursed in concentration as she stared at the screen of a laptop.

She was paused, but suddenly she jolted into motion, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Click, clack, click, clack, click, clack. She obviously didn’t know I was here.

Was she my only student? I didn’t recognize her as one of the locals, but that didn’t mean anything. I’d only lived in Rosewood Ridge for a few years, and so many people had moved to town in that time, it was impossible for me to put a name with every face.

I cleared my throat, and her head snapped up. Her eyes widened, then narrowed as her gaze scanned my full length. Maybe she thought I didn’t notice.

I definitely noticed.

“Are you here for the Citizens Fire Academy?” I asked.

She nodded but still didn’t speak. The ball was in my court. I forced my stare away from her and continued toward the large whiteboard on the wall in front of her.

I scanned the room, not sure what to make of all the empty chairs. The chief had done a good job of getting the word out, and several people had stopped us to tell us they wanted to attend. I’d assumed these seats would be filled, but I was right on time. So maybe most of my students were just running late.

“I’m Wyatt Owens,” I said. “I’ve been with the volunteer fire department for four years. Former military. Single dad of two.”

Why the heck had I told her that? It was hardly relevant, but for some reason I wanted this beauty to know everything about me. And I wanted to know everything about her.

It was completely out of character for me. I didn’t have time for women. I’d been married once, but it had never been quite right. We’d been high school sweethearts, but my military duties had taken up most of my time.

Even two kids hadn’t fixed things. We’d had our second kid in a last-ditch effort to keep our marriage together, but it only made things worse. I was so busy with work, I didn’t realize she’d become addicted to painkillers until it was too late.

The good news was, I’d easily won custody of our two kids, and I was determined to protect them. I constantly worried that someday she might come back and try to take them from me.

And that was part of the reason I moved here. It helped me stay off the grid.

“I’m Mina,” she said. “I write steamy firefighter romances. I’m renting a cabin for the month to get this book finished and sent off to my agent. She suggested I drop by the fire station and put a little realism in my book, so here I am.”

She added a shrug to the end of that. I was still processing the words “steamy firefighter romances.” Unless I was mistaken, steamy meant sex. This gorgeous woman made up stories about women having sex with firefighters?

“Well, I’ll see what I can do,” I said. “We’ll go over the basics, and then you can get some hands-on experience.”

Wait, had that come out sounding like a proposition? I mean, if she needed help with her sex scenes, I was all too happy to do that, even though I’d sworn off women and sex.

The divorce had been fairly smooth, thanks in part to Michelle not even wanting visitation with the kids. But the kids were older now and starting to ask questions, and my top goal was to protect them. For that reason, bringing a woman into their lives was not in my plans.

But damn, a woman like this could tempt me, especially when it came to sex. If I could just bang her and forget her, that would be great. But looking at her now, I knew once would never be enough. A lifetime would never be enough with this woman.

“Why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself first?” I asked. “Do you live nearby?”

This had nothing to do with the class. But it could be argued that since she was the only student, I needed to fill the space. In truth, I just wanted to know how soon she’d be leaving town and how far away she’d be going.

“Knoxville,” she said.

I’d been holding my breath, but now I let it out. Knoxville was less than a couple of hours away. Easily doable. But I’d drive eight hours to take this woman to dinner if I had to.

“My first couple of books were cowboy romances, but that wasn’t really my thing,” she said. “Surprisingly, they sold well. I pitched the idea of firefighters, and my agent loved it. So here we are.”

She gestured to indicate the room, then, smiling, looked down at her laptop screen. For a second, it seemed like she was lost in what she saw there, but when she lifted her gaze and looked at me, it was clear her attention was focused on me.

“I assume you didn’t come all the way here just for our volunteer fire department,” I said with a chuckle.

Not to downplay Rosewood Ridge’s volunteer firefighters. We were a strong and growing team, made up mostly of former Navy SEALs who worked construction during the day and took turns being on call for the little things that went wrong in this town.

“It’s a good place to hide out,” she said.

Those words caught my attention. It was almost as if she knew I was hiding here, but when I looked at her, she was staring straight ahead with a dazed expression.

She was the one hiding out, and I had a feeling it wasn’t just for the peace and quiet of it. Was she running from someone? Maybe her life was even more exciting than what she put on the page.

Yes, this woman had a story, and I couldn’t wait to learn exactly what it was.