Page 19 of Falling for the Firefighter
I spin to glare at him—and immediately regret it.
He sits on the edge of the bench in nothing but dry pants. He’s shirtless. Smug. Sprawled like he owns the goddamn room.
His hair’s damp, curling slightly at the ends, his forearms braced on his thighs. Relaxed. Infuriatingly male.
Unfazed by the storm—or my scowl.
“You watched?”
“Could’ve faced the wall,” he says, not even pretending to apologize, “but then I’d have missed how hard you checked me out earlier. Fair’s fair, Mackenzie.”
My breath hitches. Heat flares across my cheeks.
“I wasn’t?—”
He lifts a brow. Waits. Lets the silence do the work.
I cross my arms over my chest, every nerve in my body sparking. “Iwas notchecking you out.”
“Sure,” he drawls. “You just happened to stare at my chest like it held the coordinates to buried treasure.”
I make a strangled sound and spin away from him again, practically vibrating with the effort not to launch something at his smug, insufferably beautiful face.
He chuckles behind me—low, deep, maddeningly amused.
“For the record,” he adds, his voice dropping to a near whisper, “you looked for a hell of a long time.”
I press my palm against the rough timber wall, willing myself not to turn back around. Not to give him the satisfaction of seeing how flustered I am. The image is already burned behind my eyes—the drop of water sliding down his abs, the smirk that knew exactly what it was doing to me.
And worse? The part of me that liked it.
I wanted to follow that drop with my tongue. I wanted to see just how far that lazy confidence would go.
What he’d do if I let him take control.
That dangerous fantasy returns, coiling hot in my belly—raw power, no hesitation, his hand in my hair while he used my mouth like it was his.
The thought alone has my thighs clenching. My pulse kicks into overdrive.
Nope.
Nope.
Absolutely, the hell not.
He’s exactly the kind of man who would take what he wants and leave scorched earth behind.
And I am not the kind of woman who lets herself burn.Well, for him…
I grit my teeth, straighten, and pull the zipper on my fleece up to my chin like armor.
He’s not saying another word. He doesn’t have to.
His silence is louder than any tease.
"Looks like we're stuck here until it passes." Mac peers out the window at the driving rain. "Unless you have a magical shortcut that defies the weather."
"Even I don't mess with lightning." I settle on the bench, leaving space for him. "Should blow over within an hour or two."
