Chapter 8

8

ALLIE

I ’m not quite sure how worried I should be. In our fantastic endless meandering conversations, Damon has told me a fair bit about the volunteer firefighters he works with. They sound like a great group of guys, and they crew sounds well-equipped. Water trucks, gear, with more gear in Damon’s own truck.

Still… It’s fire . It’s dangerous. I don’t like it.

I laugh to myself as I flip a burger on the grill. I’m being ridiculous. I work in a kitchen, for crying out loud. The oven and grill are dangerously hot. And I use razor sharp knives all the time.

A few hours later, I glance at the clock, wondering who is ordering burgers at ten in the morning, but happy to cook whatever Gina sends through.

I place the four burger orders in the window and ring the bell, and Gina rushes over. “Thanks, Allie. I’ll explain in a minute.”

A minute later, she returns with a huge grin. “A couple of the firefighters just came back from a job. They’re allowed to order anything they want on the house after a call.”

“Oh, of course!” Peeking through the window, I see a couple of burly guys in the corner, digging into their meal as if they haven’t been fed in a week. They’re clearly in a good mood, laughing and joking, which is a great sign.

Gina returns a few minutes later. “You should take your break now,” she says with a strange smile. “And I think you should take it in the back parking lot.”

“Oh. Okay.” I quickly scrub my hands and face, then splash cold water on the back of my neck so hopefully I’ll be less flushed when I walk out to the parking lot.

From the twinkle in Gina’s eye I expected to see Damon waiting to see me. I did not , however, expect to see his truck parked with the gate down, covered in a couple of picnic blankets. He’s in the shade of a massive nearby tree, in the one spot that gets a bit of breeze.

“Hey there, stranger.” He pulls me into his arms, kissing me with such fire that it almost takes my breath away. Then he steps back with a grin, holding my hands. “I never want to keep anything from you, Allie, so I’m going to admit that I did something sneaky.”

“Okay…”

He grabs my waist and lifts me up into the truck. There’s a cooler with sparkling water and sandwiches. “Roast beef and cheddar, or turkey with Havarti?” I choose the turkey and wait while Damon wolfs down several massive bites before speaking again.

“I called Gina to ask whether you looked worried, and to find out what time your break is. I’m sorry, but the call today means I’m going to have to work late tonight to catch up on a couple of jobs.”

I grin, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “I’m a huge fan of surprise lunch dates. This is fantastic – thank you.” I take a sip of my lemon raspberry water. “What did you think I’d be worried about?”

His head tips back and forth. “I mean, you never know, right? I’ve heard some of the other guys say they started dating someone and then she suddenly lost interest once he went on a couple of calls.”

I can feel my nose crinkle up. “That’s pretty shitty. This is an important job that needs to be done. I’m sure parts of it are unpleasant, but you know… It’s work.”

His huge hand reaches out to squeeze my knee. “I’m glad you understand. And that you weren’t super worried.”

“I might have been looking forward to a text that said you’re okay,” I say carefully. “That’s not too…I don’t know, clingy…is it?”

He squeezes my knee again, this time with his hand wandering a little higher. His fingertips massage my inner thigh in small circles that send tingles zipping straight through me. “Not clingy, no. Next time I’ll send a text as soon as I can. I just knew that you’d be working, and since I was coming over anyway, I figured that would be good enough.”

My chin lifts. “Wait. You said something about firefighters dating, and the women having a problem with it… Does that mean we’re officially dating?”

Damon beams, his rich brown eyes glowing. “I mean… Is that okay?”

For a brief moment, my mind is jammed with questions. Damon is a contractor, and his reputation is important. Will his customers think it’s weird that he’s dating a much younger woman who’s not from around here? Will there be any kind of teasing or gossip with the other firefighters?

Not to mention, when we met, I was completely overheated and helpless. There’s no chance that he’s just really into the damsel in distress thing, is he?

Looking into his gorgeous earnest eyes, I already know the truth. Damon likes me. A lot. Bordering on… I know it’s far too soon, but I swear it’s already on the edge of another word that begins with L. Which makes this incredibly serious.

I’ve been trying to set up a nice stable life to get myself as healthy as possible. Damon would already be the perfect partner in every way, if that were my only goal. But it’s more than that.

Damon makes my heart sing. I light up from the inside every time he touches me. Smiles at me. Is even within ten feet of me.

I want him to be the one. It’s crazy to think like that already, but it’s the truth. “Yes. It’s better than okay.”

He leans in slowly, and I smell a bit of smoke in his hair as he kisses me long and soft and deep. Then he straightens up, pointing sternly to the sandwich in my hands. “Eat. You need your fuel.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” I laugh before taking a bite. Then Damon tells me a bit about the fire call, which apparently wasn’t very dangerous at all since they got there so quickly. A crispy dead tree too close to the open shed door when somebody was welding and throwing sparks, that’s all.

More important than the actual details is the obvious fact that Damon loves his work. He finds it fascinating. As a general contractor, he needs to know how things work, and what to do if anything goes wrong. He’s the same way with firefighting, obviously.

It explains why he needs to know what to do whenever I glitch.

Every reservation I’ve had about living up on the mountain disappears in a blink.

Damon really is perfect for me in every way.