Everything in me stilled. His voice alone, I’d memorized it. Those cerulean eyes met mine and a slow smile broke out onto his face.
“Michelle.”
My hand lunged out to hold onto the counter. Just the sound of my name falling from his lips, and the way he stared at me, watching me, moving closer. He came to stand in front of me. He was tall. Taller than the four other men in the room. A dirty blond lock fell over his forehead, and I wanted so badly to push it out of his face but I held back. I stared at him the same way he was looking down at me. We were memorizing each other. I drank in his chiseled jawline with the short hairs of a cropped beard, the light freckles that lined his upper cheeks and bridge of his nose, and again, those eyes.
“Carter.” I cleared my throat, attempting to rid it of the tremble I was sure everyone in earshot heard. “I wanted to come by and thank you for saving me. All of you,” I added, breaking free of the grip his gaze had on me and looking back to the other men in the room, who’d gone eerily quiet. I would’ve guessed they’d all scattered as silent as they’d gotten. This group didn’t strike me as the quiet bunch. But when I peeled my eyes from Carter’s, I definitely saw that we weren’t alone.
“Michelle brought donuts,” Corey yelled out.
“I hope you all enjoy them,” I stated, unable to turn back to Carter. I still felt his eyes on me. “I didn’t know what else to bring to say thanks.”
“You’ve done enough,” his deep voice sounded.
“Food is always welcome around here.”
“The way these clowns eat, we’re not turning anything down!” Sean called out.
I finally turned back to Carter, who sure enough, continued to stare at me.
“What’re you doing now?” he questioned.
I blinked, contemplating his question. “Uh, nothing. My mother has Diego for the afternoon.”
“Care to take a short break with me?”
I raised my eyebrows, but he was already taking my hand in his. The same warm feeling I remembered from the day of the accident, appeared at the same spot he touched.
“You hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Come with me.” He pulled me by the arm and we began exiting the kitchen, through a swinging door.
“Thanks, Michelle.”
“Leaving so soon?” Don called out in a teasing manner.
Carter shot him a look, but didn’t say anything. He just held the door open for me, and moved behind me, wrapping his arm around my lower back, possessively. He didn’t even bother introducing me to any of the other firefighters as we moved past the main area of the station, passed the television and out the front door.
“It was a little stuffy in there,” he said in my ear, once we were outside. “Take a trip with me.”
“What?” I blurted out, turning to him.
A funny grin spread across his face. “To the park. You said you were hungry.” His head gestured and I turned, seeing the entrance to the biggest open air park in Williamsport.
“Oh, yeah. Sure,” I fumbled, feeling foolish. Of course he wasn’t asking me to go on an actual trip with him.
“How’ve you been since the accident? Any injuries?” he questioned, as we made our way over the cobblestones of the park’s entrance.
I shook my head. “Other than some stitches and a mild concussion I was alright.”
We stopped walking and Carter turned to me. His free hand raising to my forehead, he ran his thumb along the cut that had been on the mend. I leaned into his touch, gathering his strength, and tried to store it for an occasion when I would need it.
“Is that why you signed yourself out of the hospital?”
My eyes sprang open. I hadn’t even been aware that I’d closed them. “How’d you know I signed myself out?”
“I went to the hospital to check on you.” He looked me straight in the eye.
