I don’t even know what to say. I just kind of stare at him as my brain short circuits.
“I thought I’d get a headstart on the day,” he says like it’s nothing. “I couldn’t let you do it all by yourself.”
My eyes move on their own, roaming over his broad shoulders and big arms. My gaze slides down his chest and over his flat stomach. When it starts moving toward his belt, I catch myself and yank my head up.
“You didn’t have to…” I say, feeling emotional when I see my happy place all burnt up. It was so nice of him to come. I don’t have anyone else here, so it means a lot. I feel a lump in my throat and my eyes fill with heated tears.
“It’s okay,” he says, stepping forward. He opens those big comforting arms, and I practically lunge into them as a few tears leak out. He wraps those sexy arms around me andholds me tight as I melt into his embrace, feeling like everything will be okay as long as this man is by my side.
I see my scorched home over his round bicep and grin.Thisis my new happy place. Being swallowed by this man’s protective arms is where I always want to be.
“I’ll help you fix it up,” he says in a soft, encouraging tone. “It will be back to new before you know it.”
I smile as I rest my cheek on his hard chest. I’ve always been so independent and self-reliant. I left my family and moved out on my own to Japan. I bought this place by myself and renovated the whole thing on my own. I’ve only ever relied on me.
And I’ve been proud of it.
But having this man hold me like this. Knowing hewantsto help me. Knowing I can let someone in and rely on them too. I don’t know, but it feels good. It feels… right.
“Alright,” I say, nodding as I step back. I spot a wet mark on his chest from my tears and smile as I wipe my eyes. “Thank you.”
He nods as he looks at me closely. Like he’s seeing the girl under all that grime and soot and sweat for the first time. I’m wearing my jeans that make my ass look good, thank goodness, and an old KISS T-shirt for the dirty work, but it looks cute on me with my bare shoulder popping out of the neck hole. He seems to like it. My hair is pulled back into a ponytail and I actually did my makeup this morning in case I ran into him, or in case I couldn’t stop myself from stalking him at the fire station was more like it.
We stand there for a long moment and all that sexual tension from last night comes roaring back, smoldering hot.
My eyes drop to his tool belt and I wonder what he’s packing underneath that leather. My hands tingle remembering how that hard clay felt as I squeezed it. I wonder what kind of noises he’d make if I did the same thing to him.
“Do you want to see it?” he asks in a deep voice.
My pussy tingles hot as my eyes dart up to his. “What?”
“Are you ready to see the damage?” he clarifies.
“Oh,” I say, feeling my neck getting hot. “Yeah. Sure.”
We walk over and I glance up at my home. The damage doesn’t look too bad. It’s bad, but it could have been way worse. Thank goodness I had that massive fire extinguisher. I guess I knew deep down that my kiln would be trouble, so I bought the largest one they had. It paid off.
“This interior and exterior wall is going to have to be changed,” he says as we walk around the building. The wood is still up, but it’s black and charred. It’s all going to have to be scrapped. “The supporting beams look okay though,” he says as he shows me. “So, you got lucky in your bad luck. It’s going to be mostly cosmetic. A few days work. Maybe a week, but we can get the interior done today. That’s a good thing, June.”
I look over the damage and am relieved that it’s not too bad. The barn was in worse shape when I bought it and started the renovations. I can do this myself, but I’ll probably hire a construction crew to get it done quickly, especially since the insurance company is going to be paying the tab.
I’ll have to remake all of the broken pottery pieces that I had stocked up, but at least it’s just broken clay and lost time. I can recover from that.
When I’ve looked it over, I cock an eyebrow and turn to Ethan. “I didn’t realize firemen come back to the scene to rebuild,” I say with a grin. “Quite the service in the Greene Mountains.”
This time, it’s his turn to blush. I stare up at him, marveling that I’m able to get this hot, muscular, firefighting, mountain man blushing.
“I felt… compelled to help you.”
“Compelled?”
He grins as I smile at him. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you all night. I had to see you again.”
Our eyes lock for a long, heated moment.
It’s too much and I have to turn away. If I keep gazing into those sexy blue eyes, I’ll melt.
“So…” I say, changing the subject before my body takes over and shamelessly leaps on this man without my consent. “What should we start on first?”
