Chapter 3

3

ELLA

T here was something naughty about the warmth that had spread through my body as I followed Zane through the empty fire hall.

What caught my eye most on our tour was the pole leading up to the second floor through a hole, something he said was more of a plaything for the volunteers than something that was actually functional. Well, actually, the pole wasn’t what caught my eye most. It was Zane in his pants, suspenders, and T-shirt with the Rosewood Ridge Fire Department logo. As he spoke, he occasionally turned to face me, walking backward and pointing to various things.

I tried to focus, but every time I looked at him, my brain seemed to go into a fog. All kinds of inappropriate thoughts flashed through my mind. It wasn’t unusual to go all weak in the knees for a guy in a firefighter uniform. In fact, it seemed almost cliché. But it was unusual for me since I’d never had thoughts like this about a guy.

Oh sure, I regularly had thoughts about kissing, holding hands, and falling in love with a man. I’d experienced the first two of those things, but I’d definitely never done anything like what was going through my mind right now. I was actually wondering what he might look like naked.

As we came to a stop in the middle of the kitchen, I wondered if he had even a passing thought of what I might look like naked. I knew men thought about things like that, but in this small town, where everybody knew each other’s names, it was pretty much understood that I was a nice girl. Someone who didn’t do that stuff.

“—hungry?”

The word was at the end of a string of words I hadn’t heard. I’d been too busy imagining those big, strong hands as they moved over my naked body.

“Yes!”

The word came out much louder than I’d intended. I winced. It definitely made me sound overeager for food.

“I mean, I had a granola bar around eight o’clock this morning, before rushing out of the house to get to the school, but that’s all,” I rushed to add. “Is it even lunchtime?”

I was blabbering. I reached for my phone to check the time and noticed my hand was trembling. I had to stop thinking naughty thoughts about this guy. It was getting me all tied up in knots.

“Let’s see what we have,” Zane said.

If he’d noticed my babbling, he didn’t show it. Maybe he found it endearing. I could hope.

“Do you play basketball?” he asked as he began pulling containers out and looking at them before putting them back.

“Basketball? No. I mean, as a kid, I played horse a few times.”

He stopped looking through the fridge and turned to stare at me. “Horse? The game where you spell out each letter when you make a shot?”

“Yes, and then you all stop and giggle once you get to H-O-R.”

Zane nodded. “I’m familiar. We have a hoop out back.”

They had a basketball hoop at the fire station? The more I thought about it, though, the more it made sense. Didn’t firefighters have to hang out at the station for hours every day?

My reporter brain was already kicking in. I was curious how this volunteer thing worked.

“You guys are volunteers,” I said. “That means you don’t have to wait around here all day in case you get a call.”

“No, we go on with our lives, and if we’re on call, we stop whatever we’re doing,” he said. “But we can hang out at home or work or whatever. But the guys sometimes like to hang out here at the fire hall.”

I nodded slowly. I got it. It was kind of like an exclusive club. A place they could visit when they wanted guy time.

“Do you like lasagna?” he asked.

The question threw me. I kept getting lost in my thoughts.

Lasagna. What time was it, anyway? I finally glanced at my phone screen and was surprised to see it was after eleven. This morning was flying by.

“I can trust this one because it came from my buddy, Grayson,” he said. “He cooks for fun.”

A fireman who cooked for fun. That guy sounded interesting. I tapped on my phone screen to open it and started looking for my notes app, where I listed all my story ideas. A profile on each of these guys might be something my editor would approve.

“I can microwave some for you if it sounds good.”

He came toward me holding a square glass dish. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I looked up from my screen, but that dish held something yummy, that much was clear. The sight of the lasagna made my mouth water.

“I’ll take a big slice of that,” I said, looking up.

Our eyes met then, leading me to re-evaluate the words I’d just said. I’ll take a big slice of that. Did that sound flirtatious? I’d never flirted with a guy in my life. It wasn’t my personality. I was bold, assertive, and knew what I wanted as far as a career, but when it came to anything having to do with romance, I was lost.

But something in his eyes flashed in the seconds before he turned back to scoop out a piece of lasagna for me. And that something told me that he’d registered the comment and even enjoyed it.

Oh yeah, I could get myself in deep trouble with this guy.