Page 76 of Smokin' Situation

After a shaky sigh and a nod of her head, she pulled away, swiping the backs of her hands across her cheeks, her typical mask falling back into place.

Reese turned toward the remnants of our home, her hand finding mine as we walked forward. Baker flanked her other side, his hand reaching for hers. Tripp followed behind me with his hand in the center of my back.

July had come roaring in with a vengeance, burning everything we’d known to the ground, but we were coming out the other side with the supportof two men who neither of us had expected to be the ones to pull us out of the ashes.

Annie

Theinsideofthetruck smelled like sweat and smoke, my cheeks and neck hot despite the air conditioning blowing out of the vents. I was sure I probably had a bit of sunburn from being outside for the last several hours, but that was the last thing on my mind as we followed the fire department truck back down the ridge.

Baker turned right toward town, Reese waving from the passenger side window as we waited to cross traffic and head in the other direction back to the ranch.

“You sure you don’t want to go into town for dinner?” Tripp asked, his fingers squeezing my knee. Covering his hand with mine, I stroked my thumb across his knuckles, letting out a tired sigh.

“No. I’m ready to go home.” The quirk at the corner of his mouth was the only sign that he liked me referring to the ranch as home, but that’s what it was coming to feel like.

I may have protested when he mentioned living together, but it felt right to go to bed with him every night and wake up with him every morning—even if I kept saying it was temporary. It seemed foolish to let some arbitrary timeline dictate what was right and what wasn’t. If how my life had unfolded had taught me anything, it was not to take time with the people you loved for granted.

Neither of us had mentioned our confessions a few weeks ago, but every day I spent with him, I could feel the weight of what we’d told each other. Wecouldlove each other, because we already did.Every lingering touch, every long look, every small thing we did for each other showed more love than saying the actual words.

“What are you in the mood for tonight?” I asked, trying to recall the contents of his small fridge.

“Are we talking about food, or…” he trailed off with a naughty lilt to his voice, and I smiled, suddenly a little ravenous for something myself. If you’d have told me this morning that I’d be desperate for him to touch me after spending hours sifting through the burned remnants of my life, I’d have thought it was crazy talk. But the realization of how differently the entire situation could have turned out had me suddenly craving connection.

“The sun should be down by the time we shower,” I said, suggestively stroking the length of his thumb.

“And it is supposed to be nice out tonight…”

“Perfect for stargazing.” He met my grin, turning the truck down the gravel access road that would take us to the barn without passing the main lodge. Most of the guests for this week had already checked out this morning, so I wasn’t worried about Tripp getting caught up, but I wanted him all to myself right now.

He slowed the truck next to the path leading to his cabin, shifting it into park before he pointed toward my door. “Go shower—alone—and put on one of those sundresses you bought last week. I’ll go park the truck and check on Phi, because I know if I follow you in there right now, we’ll never make it outside.”

Laughing, I climbed out of the pickup, watching the taillights disappear down the gravel road before I followed the walking path and let myself into the cabin.

Deciding not to turn on the lights, I headed to the small washing machine tucked in the hall closet, stripping down and throwing my filthy clothes into it before I escaped into the bathroom. Closing my eyes, I let the quiet calm me while I waited for the spray to warm.

I could hear Tripp banging around in the kitchen while I showered, letting the water wash away the grief that had plagued me this morning.

While we hadn’t been able to find much, Reese and I had both left with a few mementos of our childhood that had survived the fire. Baker had uncovered a fire safe in the rubble of the closet of our grandmother’s old bedroom, but since we didn’t know where the keys were, he was taking it back to the fire station to crack. When we’d settled her estate upon her death, all the important paperwork had been at the bank in town and her lawyer’s office, so I wasn’t even sure what was in there.

Tripp wasn’t in the bedroom when I finished drying off, but I found a dark green floral sundress laying on the haphazardly made bed. Pulling it over my head, I quickly ran a brush through my wet hair and dried it as well as I could with my towel.

Padding into the living room barefoot, I smiled at the lit candles on the kitchen island next to a glass of wine and a piece of paper. At first glance, my previously ultra-serious firefighter might not have seemed like he’d be into romance, but he had game.

His deep voice projected from across the living room, and I turned, spying him sitting in the battered leather armchair with his shirt unbuttoned. “If you stand there much longer, I’m not going to be able to resist ripping another dress off you.”

He looked deliciously rugged, and I licked my lips as I took a step onto the living room rug.

“Nope.” He held his palm in my direction as he stood up. “Don’t you dare come over here. I’ve got plans.”

“Plans can change,” I murmured, watching him walk toward me with hungry eyes. There was something about a sweaty, dirt covered man that made my pulse race.

“Not tonight, sweetheart,” he whispered, stopping a few feet in front of me. The muscles of his chest rippled as he took a deep breath, and I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to run my nails down his abs. While he’d been in good shape when we met, now that he was working full time, his physique made my mouth water. “Take that wine and wait for me on the porch. There’s a covered plate out there with some things for you to nibble on while I get changed.”

Reaching forward, I hooked a finger in his belt, drawing him forward until his warm breath fanned across my forehead. “And if I want to nibble on something else?”

“Rhey,” his voice rumbled, and I shivered at the warning, loving it when he showed how much I affected him. “You get that wine, go sit on that porch, and think about all the things you want me to do to you while I take a shower, and if you’re a reallygood girl, then maybe I’ll do some of them when I’m done.”

“Promise?” I asked in a breathy whisper.

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