Page 29 of Sizzling In the Mountains

“How about you come to my place and I’ll reenact it for you?”

I grin as I quickly grab the three calendars and slam my trunk closed. “Let me drop these off and I’m there.”

He watches me with those dark protective eyes as I race back into the bar to give the waitress her copies.

I still can’t believe I’m with James. It’s been three months and we’ve spent almost every night together. I’ve practically abandoned my small apartment in town and moved into his big lakefront house.

We get along so well. He treats me like a princess during the day and like his naughty little whore at night.

My book boyfriends are all jealous. I haven’t thought of them once.

There’s no need to with James and his giant hose in my life.

My sexy firefighting cover man is all I need.

EPILOGUE

Victoria

One year later…

“This is adorable,” Lauren says as we watch story hour with hearts in our eyes. Lauren’s daughter Cynthia is sitting with all of the other children in front of James. He’s reading a book about firemen while wearing his firefighting coat and helmet. The kids are staring up at him in awe.

The moms are too. They’re watching from the sidelines and I don’t think one of them has looked away from my man since he opened the book. Bud The Fireman is a good book, but it’s not that good.

I’m just so happy. To have my man, to have the children’s library restored, to have all of these wonderful people in my life. I feel so blessed.

“You did amazing,” Gabby whispers as she comes over to stand beside me.

“I don’t know about amazing,” I say with a chuckle. “I did cause this mess in the first place.”

“It was an accident,” she says like she’s said to me a thousand times over the past year. “And you came through. Look at this place. It’s gorgeous.”

It does look amazing. I found the best restoration guys in the business and they were able to reclaim much of the original materials. All of the soot was power washed off of the bricks and they were restacked for the exterior and a lot of the old wood we were able to save was sanded down, stained, and reused for the interior. It was mostly old oak and mahogany which are pretty fire-resistant I was very relieved to learn.

They rebuilt it to look the same down to the iconic entrance and the cute little reading nooks. Gabby and I picked out all of the books to repurchase. The stacks took a long time to set up, but it’s a better system now. Gabby has more of a creative artsy brain, and I have more of a systemized analytical brain. We make a good pair.

The calendar was a huge hit and we made a ton of money. It was enough to pay for the rest of the repairs. We’re going to do another one this year and donate the proceeds to charity. I already know who’s going to be on the cover.

“And everybody lived happily ever after,” James says, closing the book with a smile. “The end.”

A bunch of tiny hands shoot up.

“Yes?” James says, pointing to Liam, an adorable four-year-old in the front. “Do you have a question?”

“What do you do when you get a call in the middle of pooping?” Liam asks.

All the adults laugh, but Liam is very serious. He would like to know.

“Liam,” Liam’s mom Joanne says as her cheeks get red.

“It’s okay,” James says with a smile. “You wrap it up, wipe it up, and run to the truck.”

Liam nods, looking pleased with the answer.

I just love watching James with the kids. He’s done story hour three times now and it’s always a hit. It’s amazing that such a big intimidating powerful man can be so sweet and gentle with me and with the kids. I love that about him.

It makes me so excited to tell him my little secret.

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