Page 58 of Tasting Fire
He reached for her hand and edged around her, leading her to the other side of the catwalk. The landing beneath her feet was made of the same material as the stairs, and she could see all the way to the ground. Being so high above the earth gave her a thrill that ran up from her feet into her calves and thighs and landed in a sexual swell directly between her legs. “So this is why teenagers climb these things,” she said as she stripped off her gloves and slid them in her pocket.
“Because it’s forbidden?”
“No, because it turns them on.”
His hand tightened on hers. “Acrophilia, huh? You are a curiously complex woman.”
“It doesn’t affect you that way?”
He pulled her hand around his body and pressed it against a healthy hard-on. “The water tower doesn’t do this for me. It’s all you.”
“Maybe we should go and—”
“Nope,” he said. “Fun isn’t something you rush and check off. It’s something you soak up.”
He kissed her palm, then released her hand to grip the rail around the catwalk. With an effortless motion, he swung himself down and threaded his legs through the railing to sit on the landing. His chest was pressed against a piece of metal that looked as if it could give way any second. “It’s okay. I promise,” he told her. “Come sit beside me.”
Her scramble to plant her butt on the catwalk wasn’t quite as graceful as his, but when her legs were hanging over the edge into nothingness, she understood why Cash didn’t want to leave yet. From this vantage point, they were overlooking the town of Steele Ridge. The trees surrounding it were greening out with leaves, the flowers of the dogwood and tulip trees already blooming.
Cash pointed. “Mount Shiloh’s steeple.”
“I think I see the fire station, too.” It all looked so peaceful, so perfect. Like people dreamed small-town life could be.
Truth was, small town or big city, people had their problems. They all faced deepwater waves. But to surf them in a place this beautiful was a gift. How many people would give anything to live in the mountains? Breathe air rich with the scent of pine and peace.
“It’s easy to forget,” she said. “You grow up in a place like this and as a kid, you take it for granted. Even resent it sometimes.”
“Then you leave.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “You leave because you need something you can’t get here.” Crap, she hadn’t meant him. “That didn’t come out right—”
“You did need something you couldn’t get here, Em,” he said softly. “I didn’t understand that back then. I was arrogant to think we—that I—should be enough for you. The innocent stupidity of youth.” His easy smile made it clear he’d taken her comment as it was meant.
“But it’s only because I left that I can deeply appreciate all those things I took for granted.” Her heart full of love for her hometown, full of tender feeling for Cash, she took his hand. “Contrast and experience are critical if a person wants to grow. Even more important if she wants to appreciate what has always been in front of her.”
“This town, these mountains, are my heart. Because I felt that so strongly, I couldn’t see any reason to leave. I thought I saw something that you couldn’t. Or just wouldn’t.”
“But?”
“But then I went out to LA for a while. Did the UCLA paramedic program.”
“Wow.”
“Wow is right. It was an education.”
“Did you hate the city?”
“No, I loved every minute of it. The people, the pace, even the problems.” He looked over at her and Emmy could see the truth of his words. This was a man who had the ability to not only bloom but thrive anywhere he was planted. “But I missed home, and I made a commitment to this town.”
And Cash was the kind of man who kept his word. How many like him were left in this me-first world?
“So how do you feel about kids?” he asked suddenly, giving Emmy whiplash with the subject change.
“Um… Generally or specifically?”
Cash rested his forehead against the railing, rolling it right and left. “I’m an idiot. I don’t know what I’m doing. Talking about fucking one minute and kids the next.”
Emmy rolled her lips in, but didn’t succeed in suppressing her laughter. “There is some causality between the two.”
