I get a little bloom of happiness hearing this man praise me and then I immediately feel stupid about it.
So, I can breathe without wheezing. Wow. He’s definitely going to ask me out now! Silly girl.
He pulls his hands away, and I hate how quickly I miss them.
“You have some… white powder…”
He slowly reaches up and brushes a streak of fire extinguisher powder off my cheek with the edge of his thumb.
It’s so gentle I barely feel it.
But I feel it.
Everywhere.
My throat tightens—not from smoke. From the intimacy of it. From the fact that he’s touching my face like this is more than just a professional courtesy. Like he has a right to. Like I’m his to touch whenever he wants.
Little does he know, I am.
He lowers his hand like nothing happened. Like he didn’t just light a match inside me.
Like a permanent shift didn’t just crack through my core like an earthquake.
“You seem to be fine, June,” he says, steadying his voice. “If you start coughing more later, or you feel lightheaded, I want you to get checked. Don’t brush it off.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“I’m serious,” he says, those blue eyes locked on mine, making me feel lightheaded right now. “You can call me if you like. I’ll take care of you.”
I gulp. Audibly. “Okay,” I quickly say, feeling my cheeks heat up.
“Can I get you a room in a hotel?” he asks with concern on his face. “I don’t want you sleeping outside in a tent. Or, if you like, I have room in my?—”
The door gets yanked open and it’s so jarring and unexpected, cutting through all this tension that we both jump apart and gasp.
“How is she looking?” the fire chief, the older silver fox one, asks.
“She seems fine,” Ethan says, the softness in his voice gone. That tender gentle voice he saved for me is over.
I feel regret and loss as he turns from me and starts putting the equipment away as the fire chief climbs into the truck, ruining the moment.
“Do you have a place to stay tonight?” he asks.
“I was going to sleep in my tent outside,” I tell him, wishing I could hear the end of what Ethan was about to offer.
Or, if you like, I have room in my?—
Was he really about to invite me to stay at his place?
“Why don’t you stay in town for the night?” the chief says. “You have insurance, right?”
I nod.
“I can call them for you,” he says in a hard tone. “They’ll pay for a hotel. You need a hot shower and a good night’s sleep. Your place will still be here tomorrow.”
I glance over at Ethan and he nods.
“Okay,” I say. “Thank you.”
