“What about a vacation? Get out of town.”
“Alex, I don’t have money to go flitting all over the country.”
“I do,” he said, shrugging. “We could go anywhere you want.”
“Firefighting that lucrative?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I may have made a little money from Sam’s company.” He smiled. “What started as a favor to a brother turned into a pretty sound investment.”
“Yeah. I bet.” She huffed a laugh. “Look, I appreciate all you’re doing to help us, but what we talked about hasn’t changed. I’ve got to think of Calvin’s feelings. And my own. Spending so much time with you isn’t good for us.”
“Because I’m not long term?”
She nodded. “I realize I sound like a hypocrite. I don’t want you getting too close to Cal, but then I allow you to spend all day playing with him. I just don’t know what to do. About the threats and all that.”
“How ’bout we set it all aside for now and focus on enjoying the evening? All our problems will still be around tomorrow. We can deal with them then.”
“I like that idea a lot.” Living for the moment was not her forte. In fact, she was terrible at it. This was a good chance to practice. She finished her wine and set the glass on the coffee table.
He casually threw an arm onto the back of the sofa. It wasn’t touching her, and she didn’t consider it him “making a move.” But he was so big and so warm, her thoughts raced toward sex anyway. Sleeping with him again would be a mistake, but then again, would one more time really hurt? Before she settled into a potentially loveless marriage.
After this trip, they could go back to just being friends. The wine had given her a little buzz, and though she was sober enough to know it was a terrible idea, she leaned up and kissed his neck, sliding a hand over his broad chest.
He looked at her, his eyes serious and intense, as if on the edge of control. She slid onto him so she was straddling his lap and could feel that he was already hard. God help her, she pulled up his shirt and ran her hands across his stomach and up his chest.
“Julia,” he said gruffly. “You’re killing me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, not meaning it one bit. “I was thinking maybe just one last time couldn’t hurt. Then we go back to being friends.” She should have said, “neighbors who avoid each other,” but friends sounded less severe.
He smiled. “Oh, really?”
She nodded. “What do you think?”
In response, he covered her mouth with his, grabbing her ass and pulling her toward him while kissing her breathless. He put a warm hand up her shirt and unhooked her bra with ease. “You’re probably right,” he said, nibbling her neck. “Once more should be okay.”
She laughed as he whipped off her shirt and then his. Skin to skin, he kissed her tenderly until she couldn’t take it anymore. “Pants. Off. Now,” she said.
“My bedroom. Two minutes. I’m gonna double-check the locks.”
“I’ll check on Cal and meet you there.”
They jumped up quickly, and she used his shirt to cover her naked torso while taking a quick peek into Cal’s room. He was curled up under the covers and snoring softly. She tiptoed out and into Alex’s room.
He stood beside the bed, aglow in the shadow of the night light. She walked into his open arms and let him make her feel like a woman one last time.
And because she’d promised herself it was the last time, she let herself go. Set aside all her pent-up frustrations and enjoyed the moment. She fell asleep next to him, knowing she’d awake early enough to get dressed and slip into bed with Calvin. He’d never know she hadn’t spent the whole night with him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Alex woke suddenly, used to blaring alarms signaling it was time to go to work. It took him a second to realize he wasn’t at the firehouse. And it wasn’t dispatch sounding the alarm. They were at Mitch’s cabin, and the smoke detector was responsible for the ear-splitting noise.
He jumped out of bed and pulled on his pants while yelling at Julia to get up. She was groggy until she processed what the alarm meant. Smoke was already seeping in and accumulating near the ceiling.
“Grab some clothes and get out of here,” he yelled. “My keys and phone are by the front door. Go to the car and call 911. The address is still in my GPS. I’ll get Calvin.”
She slipped into her jeans and his hoodie and went to the bedroom door. When she opened it, smoke gushed in.
“Get down,” Alex said, ducking to avoid the smoke. “And get out.”
