Page 16 of Christmas with the Firefighter
Chapter 6 – Corey
"Miranda, wait."
She doesn't turn around, just fumbles with her key fob like it holds the secret to escape. Her shoulders are tense beneath her blue sweater, and I can see her hands shaking from here.
"I need to go," she says to her car door, voice controlled. "I have a cabin reserved, and I've already changed my plans once."
"Look at me."
"Corey—"
"Please."
The single word stops her, key halfway to the lock. She doesn't turn, but her shoulders drop slightly, some of the rigid control leaving her posture.
"This morning was my fault," I say, walking closer but not close enough to crowd her. "I was so worried about coming on too strong that I went the other direction. Made you think I wanted you gone."
"Didn't you?" She turns then, and the mask she's been wearing slips enough for me to see the hurt underneath. "You kept checking your watch, making polite conversation like we were strangers. I got the message."
"The message was wrong."
"Was it? Because it felt pretty clear to me. Guy gets what he wants, morning comes, time to move along. I've seen this movie before, Corey. I know how it ends."
The pain in her voice hits me like a punch to the chest. "Who hurt you like that?"
"Does it matter? The point is, I should have known better. Should have stuck to my original plan instead of letting myself believe—" She stops, shaking her head. "Never mind."
"Believe what?"
"That maybe this time was different. That maybe I was worth more than one night."
The quiet way she says it, like it's a simple fact rather than something that should make me want to find every person who made her feel disposable and explain a few things about treating someone like Miranda with anything less than reverence.
"You are worth more," I say, stepping closer. "You're worth everything."
She laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Right. That's why you were so eager to get rid of me this morning."
"I wasn't trying to get rid of you. I was trying not to beg you to stay."
That stops her. She blinks at me, confusion flickering across her face.
"What?"
"I wanted to ask you to cancel your cabin reservation. Wanted to suggest you extend your stay at the inn. Wanted to say fuck your original plans, spend Christmas with me instead." I run a hand through my hair, frustrated with my own cowardice. "But I thought that was too much, too fast. Thought I'd scare you off if I admitted how much I wanted you to stay."
"You wanted me to stay?"
"Miranda." I step closer again, close enough to see the snow starting to catch in her hair, close enough to smell her shampoo. "I woke up this morning with you curled against me, and for about thirty minutes I let myself imagine what it would be like if that became normal. If I got to wake up next to you every day, if I got to watch you make cocoa without setting off fire alarms, if I got to learn all the little things about you that take time to discover."
Her eyes widen, and I see hope warring with disbelief in her expression.
"But then reality kicked in," I continue. "You're leaving. You have a life somewhere else, an established career, a whole world that doesn't include small-town Montana. And I'm just a firefighter who's never lived anywhere but Hope Peak."
"Just a firefighter?"
"You know what I mean. You could have anyone, go anywhere. Why would you want to stay here with me?"
She stares at me for a long moment, snow settling on her shoulders like a shawl. "Is that really what you think? That I'm some sophisticated woman who's too good for this place?"
