“Yeah.” His hand slides lower, following the curve of my spine, not applying sunscreen anymore, just touching me, learning the shape of my back like he’s memorizing it.
I turn around slowly. His blue eyes have gone dark, intense in a way that steals my breath.
“Cole—”
He kisses me.
Not gentle, not asking permission, just his mouth on mine and his hand sliding into my hair and his body pressing me back against the shed wall. I kiss him back without thinking, without hesitating, like I’ve been waiting for this since I was fourteen and didn’t have words for what I wanted. His other hand finds my waist and pulls me closer, and I can feel every muscle in hischest, every inch of bare skin against mine, and it’s not enough, I want more, I want—
“Rachel! Cole! You guys coming or what?” Jake’s voice cuts through the moment from somewhere outside.
Chapter five
Chapter 5
Theo
“You’re thirty-one years old, Theo.” Grandma sets a plate of cookies in front of me like she’s serving an indictment. “When am I getting great-grandchildren?”
I grab a cookie before she can launch into the whole speech. The one I’ve heard at least twice a month since I turned thirty. “I’m working on it, Grandma.”
“Working on what? You don’t even have a girlfriend.” She settles into her armchair with a grunt, eyeing me like I’ve personally failed her life’s mission. “All your friends are settling down. When is it your turn?”
“My friends aren’t settling down. Cole is married to his job, Marco barely speaks to humans, and Jake’s—”
“Jake Morgan has that beautiful sister back in town. Single mother, very nice girl.” She waves a hand. “You should meet someone like that. Responsible. Family-oriented.”
My throat goes dry. “Grandma—”
“I’m just saying. You’re not getting any younger. I’m not getting any younger.” She leans forward with that look that means she’s about to get emotional. “I want to see you happy before I die.”
“You’re not dying.”
“I’m eighty-three. Every day is borrowed time.” She pushes the plate closer. “Take another cookie. You’re too skinny. Firefighting burns too many calories.”
I take two cookies because arguing with Korean grandmothers is a losing battle. “I should check your smoke detectors before I go.”
“They’re fine. You checked them last week.”
“Then I’ll recheck them. It’s what I do.”
She lets me escape to inspect smoke detectors that definitely don’t need inspecting, but I can feel her watching me the whole time. Probably already planning my entire future in her head.
The problem is, there is someone. Someone I’ve been noticing more than I should. Someone who makes my grandmother’s words hit differently than they usually do.
But she’s Jake’s sister.
And that makes her completely off-limits.
Station 47 smells like coffee and cleaning solution when I walk in for my shift. The trucks gleam in their bays, freshly washed by the morning crew. Everything in its place, ready for the next call.
Lieutenant Cole is in his office doing paperwork. I can see him through the glass, scowling at his computer screen like it personally offended him.
“Rough morning?” I lean against the doorframe.
“Insurance companies are Satan’s gift to humanity.” He doesn’t look up from the screen. “They’re demanding seventeen different forms before they’ll pay out for the café fire.”
“That’s their specialty.”
