“When did you leave?” Dahlia’s eyebrow quirks.Same as her dad.
“About twenty-four years ago.”
Dahlia looks at Aaron. “So, right around the time you transferred to the Flamingo Cove Fire Department.”
This is news to me. I thought he stayed with the Flame Jumpers until he got the job as Fire Chief, but then again, I didn’t want to hear any news about him from my family. I’ve been in an Aaron-Free Zone up until a few days ago.
“You quit after I did?”
“Couldn’t stay,” he whispers to me.
I know the feeling.
We share an uncomfortable amount of eye contact. Well, not uncomfortable for me. I’ve always been a sucker for his eyes. They’re piercing blue and surrounded with lashes so long; they curl back on themselves. I once teased him that it looked like he was wearing false eyelashes. Or used an eyelash curler on them. Women pay good money for their lashes to look that good.
Aaron stares back at me with a smirk on his face. We used to play this game where we would stare at each other to see who would break first. I am a Stage Five Expert at this because I’ve been staring down my siblings for years. Especially my twin. Aaron’s upped his game, though. His smirk turns into a full-blown grin as he waits me out.
I raise an eyebrow.Doing well, my friend.
He shrugs a shoulder.Been practicing.
Dahlia coughs and points between Aaron and me. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but first of all - EWWW! Second - I am sure I don’t want to be around for any more of it. So, peace out.”
Dahlia glides out of the room, slamming the front door on her way out of the house.
Aaron and I are still staring at each other like a couple of idiots.
My temperature spikes. I’m pretty sure it’s not the hot flashes that have come on with more regularity in the last two years. This heat is sparking from my ex-flame.
“Stay here,” I point at the couch, then get up and lock the front door. I walk through the first floor, locking any doors I can find on the way. I’ll be damned if we’re about to be interrupted again.
Then, I return to the couch and stand in front of Aaron.
We’re nearly eye-to-eye.
“What are you doing,” he whispers.
I pull off my shirt and throw it on the chair Dahlia left. “Getting reacquainted with an old friend.”
His eyes go to my breasts. I’m not wearing a fancy bra today, not that I own one. But if I did, I wouldn’t wear it to a wake. I frown, thinking about Nadine and her suspicions of foul play, trying to push it out of my head.
“What’s wrong?” Aaron strokes my thighs. “As much as I’d like to… reacquaint… with you, we don’t have to do this.”
I shake my head and remove my non-fancy bra. This silences my old flame. He reaches up and strokes my sides, up over my breasts, then grabs my face in his hands. I put my hands on his shoulders, lean down, and brush my lips across his.
There was always one thing Aaron and I had plenty of - chemistry. When the years passed, and our hookup was a hazy memory, it was easy to chalk that up to the hormones of two idiots in their twenties.
But this kiss.
This kiss reminds me that I was dead wrong all those years.
His lips scorch mine as he adds pressure to the kiss. Aaron begins slowly banking the fire between us that never died out. Then, as his tongue pushes into my mouth, those flames leap up and dance along my skin. I’m surprised our clothes aren’t incinerated.
I lose the ability to speak and think. I moan into his mouth and don’t even realize I’m straddling him until his hands slide around my waist and cup my ass. My hands clutch the back of his head in a ridiculous attempt to pull his face closer to mine.
His woodsy scent fills my nostrils. He tastes like possibilities and a simpler time. And if the ridge in his pants is any indication, age has not diminished his sexual prowess.
“Want. You. Now.” I grind against him in a desperate bid for relief. My hands grab everywhere at once, attempting to unbutton his shirt, but it’s not fast enough. I rip it the rest of the way off.
