Page 60 of Smokin' Situation

I collapsed against his chest, trying to catch my breath while he held me to him, combing his fingers through my chaotic hair. My fingertips traced the marks I’d left on his skin, smiling at the drowsy hum coming from his chest as I did.

“Now that you’ve gotten me sufficiently dirty, you ready to get cleaned up?” he teased, and I laughed, leaning back to look him in the eye.

“Pretty sure you’re the one who made the mess.” Lifting off him, we both watched the evidence of that mess leak onto his lap with matching smiles.

And when I glanced up and met his eyes, I smiled even wider at the naughty tilt of his eyebrow when he dipped a finger through it and extended it in my direction. “And I intend to make a few more messes before we go to sleep tonight if you keep looking at me like that, Ms. Thomas.”

“Challenge accepted,” I goaded, pulling his finger to my mouth and sucking suggestively before I climbed off him, rolling to the side of the bed. My giggles carried behind me at his deep, masculine groan that followed on my way toward the bathroom. “You coming to get clean with me, dirty boy?”

“There’sstilltimeforme to turn around,” Tripp murmured, his fingers flexing on my bare knee. While I’d always have a fondness for the blue dress he’d destroyed the nightwe went dancing, I was taking full advantage of the seasonably warm weather and had worn another new sundress. And yet again, the man had stolen my panties. But I wasn’t about to kink shame, because truth be told…I loved it.

I’d gotten so accustomed to my ritual of wearing band tees and ripped jeans at the bar, I wasn’t used to embracing my femininity like when I was with him. But when we’d gone to the general store the other day, Tripp’s enthusiasm every time I added a new dress to the shopping pile had me buying several dresses I never would have looked twice at before.

“I told you earlier we could stay home if you weren’t feeling up to it.” And I meant it, if he didn’t want to go socializing, I wouldn’t make him.

“No,” he sighed, blowing out a breath. “I know we need to go. My mom has been harassing me to come visit since the fire, but I didn’t want to leave you alone. Just try not to mention exactly how close to the fire line we were, I’ve put her through enough close calls this year.”

“You realize I’m an adult, right?” I teased, laying my hand over his and interlacing our fingers. “While my self-appointed babysitter is kind of a hunk, I don’t actually need one.”

He flashed me the side eye, and I laughed, loving how he could call me out with a single raised eyebrow.

“I survived fine all by myself until you came along.”

“Not sure how,” he laughed, blowing me a kiss. “You’re a mess, sweetheart.”

“For your information, I can hold my own with a bar full of drunks, I think I can handle some overeager family members.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Tripp had turned northeast after leaving the ranch, but I was still trying to figure out if I recognized where he was taking me. After a few miles, he turned off on a gravel road, following a long and winding path through the trees that opened to a large two-story house styled like a log cabin.

There was a cluster of cars parked in an open field off to the side of the house, but it was the familiar black motorcycle sitting near the house that had me side eyeing Tripp.

“This is your aunt and uncle’s house?”

“Yeah. They moved out here about five or six years ago. Our family has owned this land for a long time, but they never wanted to sell it to developers. I’ve only been here a few times, but they kind of took over as the host of family gatherings during the summer since they have a pool and a huge fire pit.”

He slipped out of the driver’s seat, meeting me at my open door and offering me a hand down from the truck. I’d worn a pair of slip-on sneakers, so at least I didn’t have to deal with heels outside, but it was nice that he was still trying to be a gentleman. Although I had a feeling that it was just who he was without trying.

Hand in hand, he led me around the side of the house; the music getting louder as we turned the corner, and the backyard came into view. There was a good-sized clearing behind the house that slowly blended into the surrounding forest.

“Annie?” Hazel’s surprised voice carried from the edge of the pool, and my eyes widened when I saw Reid standing right behind her, his head tilted to the side as he stared at us. Hazel glanced over her shoulder at her much taller boyfriend and some kind of unspoken communication passed between them. He nodded and stepped away to head toward a makeshift bar set up on the back patio.

Hazel wrapped a towel around her waist, slid her feet into a pair of sandals on the pool deck and headed in my direction.

“I’m gonna need to steal your guest,” she told Tripp as she hooked her arm in mine and steered me back toward where we’d just come from. “Reid is over by the bar if you want to get a drink,Tripp.”

“Where are you taking me?” I asked as she walked around the side of the house and led me to the covered front porch.

“Annie, what are you doing here?” She didn’t look mad, just curious. But there was a certain edge to her question that suddenly had me on alert.

“Tripp invited me. This is his aunt and uncle’s place.” Suddenly, puzzle pieces that hadn’t seemed to fit before now started clicking into place.

“And this is Reid’sparents’house,” she said pointedly, knowing that it’d confirm my suspicions.

Oh, fuck. How did I not see it until now?

Maybe because I was blinded by a distractingly charming, brooding firefighter and hadn’t stopped to think about how small Sage Springs really could be sometimes.

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