Page 2 of Burning Love (Looking For Love #7)

SOMETHING STUPID LIKE THAT

T wenty Years Later

The bells were ringing and alarms going off.

He jumped into the captain’s truck and was ahead of them speeding through the streets.

A gated community had private security and they were patched right through for an alarm of smoke and no one responding at the residence.

It was the middle of the day, which probably meant no one was home.

When they got to the gates, they were opened and he and his men went through the streets to the house on their call.

They ran to the front door and were banging on it, found it locked and alerted the security company to override the locks or he was breaking the door down.

The door was unlocked in seconds and he was rushing through the door first, as he always did, with his men behind him.

Hoses in hand, ready to battle the blaze, once they could find the source of the smoke in this massive house.

It was coming from the back and in the kitchen, where clouds of black were billowing out of the oven.

Jace moved over and opened the stove on the wall, black smoke puffing out everywhere. When he pulled the grate out, there was a scorched container of something. No fire, thankfully.

He shut the oven off and instructed his men to open the windows and pulled his phone out so he could have the security company shut the alarms.

His oxygen mask was off and the minute the alarms stopped he heard music playing. Loudly but muffled. It sounded as if it was coming from below them.

Rescue mode kicked in that there was someone in the house unconscious and he turned to find the entrance when he heard, “What the hell is going on here?”

A woman appeared in the doorway—he assumed it led to the basement—but it was hard to focus on anything beyond her. She stood in front of him and his men wrapped in a white towel that clung to her damp skin, barely covering her breasts and the tops of her thighs.

Her long, dirty blonde hair hung in wet strands, dripping onto the floor around her bare feet. His gaze dropped to the flash of bright red polish on her toes catching his attention and refusing to let go.

“Your smoke alarms have been going off,” he said. “How could you not hear them?”

Her head went back to look at the ceiling. “I did hear them. That’s why I came rushing up here.”

“It took you almost ten minutes to hear them?” He couldn’t believe this.

“I was in the shower,” she said. “I have the music going. Between the water and music I didn’t know. Then I thought the sirens were part of the song.”

He couldn’t tell what she was listening to other than it was louder than hell if he could hear it up here.

“You should never put plastic in an oven.”

“There wasn’t anything in the oven,” she argued. She marched over to him and looked at the charred package of whatever he’d tossed in the sink and had run water on. “What’s that?”

“Looks like chicken,” he said. “You didn’t put it in the oven and turn it on?”

“No,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Why would I do something stupid like that? I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies. I turned the oven on to preheat it and went to take a shower.”

Which was just as dumb in his mind. “Guess you didn’t look inside it first.”

“Obviously,” she said sarcastically.

“Why don’t you put some clothes on? We’ll try to air the house out for you.”

Her jaw dropped as if she suddenly realized how she made her entrance. She clutched her towel tighter in front of her, turned, and dashed in the direction she’d appeared.

“You guys can head back,” he said. No reason to have everyone standing around gawking at the young woman. “I’ll catch up.”

The fire trucks didn’t need to stay parked out front gathering a bunch of spectators.

“Where did everyone go?” she asked when she returned a few minutes later. She didn’t look nervous to have it only be him, but her attire was haphazard.

She was in black athletic shorts and a red T-shirt. Looked like she grabbed the first things that she could. Her feet were still bare and her hair hadn’t been touched other than shifted around from a shirt being yanked over her head.

“I sent them back to the firehouse. I wanted to walk you through the windows that are open. I know your air conditioning is on, but you’ll want to keep these open and the fans running. The upstairs needs the windows opened as well. The same with any fans.”

“Great,” she said, letting out a sound resembling a bear coming out of hibernation and seeking their first morsel of food.

“That’s a lot of windows. I’m going to kill my mother.

She’s the one who stuck it in the oven before she left.

I’ve been out of town and just returned after a long flight.

All I wanted was a shower and some hot chocolate chip cookies. ”

The frustration on her face was almost comical.

Jace wondered if she fully grasped the situation of what could have happened other than her not getting her sweet treat.

“I’m assuming there is no one else in the house?”

“No,” she said, sighing. “I’m Talia. It’s my mother and me. I live in the basement apartment. I could have baked down there, but the ovens are better up here. Bigger and there are two. I could do more at once. God only knows why I’m explaining this all.”

He shook the hand she’d extended out.

Small in his. Soft against his calloused skin.

“Jace.”

“And you’re the captain.” She pointed to his helmet. “Sorry you had to rush here like this. I’m going to kill my mother. Talk about embarrassing. My heart isn’t pounding with fear, but I almost wish it was now that I realized you came on a false alarm.”

“Not a false alarm if it had caught fire while you were downstairs or the smoke caused you to pass out.”

Her face flushed. “You’re right. I appreciate your hard work. I’m still ticked at my mother though. Give me that much.”

“You’ll have to take that up with her.” He could see she was trying to force out a laugh. “Do you want me to help you open the windows in the house before I leave?”

She hesitated. “Sure, if you will. I don’t care if my mother gets mad we’re going through the whole house. It serves her right for sticking the chicken in the oven to thaw like that.”

He didn’t argue that one might think you’d look in an oven before you turned it on.

He followed her up the stairs and into one wing of the house. There was smoke up here. They’d have to clean this all out and it’d be a bear to do, but not his problem. Looked like there was enough money here to hire someone.

“This is a lot of house.”

“There were a lot of us kids,” she said. “The rooms are all empty now. I’m the only one left and I get the basement apartment. These wings are for when people visit.”

He went to all the spare rooms and living rooms up here, turned on every fan they had, and opened windows.

“You should be set.”

“How did you get in? There is no way my mother left the door open. You didn’t break it in, did you?”

Her eyes were huge, the sapphire blue of them looking more concerned than annoyed.

“The security company unlocked it.”

She frowned. “I hadn’t known that was possible. I don’t think I like knowing it can be done.”

He shrugged. “You’ll have to talk to your mother about that. If it wasn’t possible then it would have been broken down and you’d have to get someone out here to fix it.”

He would have tried his hardest not to destroy the door, but it wasn’t always possible.

“I guess that’s one good thought on this day. I’ve been dreaming about chocolate chip cookies for hours,” she said. “Which I’m sure you’re thinking is crazy. This last thirty minutes was probably a wild goose chase in your eyes.”

“Who am I to say what goes through someone’s mind? I’ve been called to much worse or funnier situations though.”

Jace had to get out of here fast because what was going through his mind was that he’d like to ask her out for a drink.

He’d always had a thing for the girl next door, and Talia wasn’t making it any easier standing there fresh-faced in nothing but a T-shirt and shorts, like she’d just rolled out of bed and into his thoughts.

She obviously wasn’t married if she lived at home with her mother, but someone like her probably had men pounding on her door.

She laughed and shook her head. “My brothers would say they can never figure me out. They’d be right. I’m sorry for the trouble today. Truly, I am.”

“Just doing my job.”

Jace walked to the front door and pulled it open.

“You did a great job. I appreciate it. Sorry if I was rude when I shouted. I wasn’t thinking of much other than strange men in my house coming out of nowhere and me having to explain the damages to my mother.”

“It was understandable,” he said. “Have a great day.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll just have to spend it spraying Lysol or whatever else I can find to get rid of this stench.”

“There has to be a bakery around here. DoorDash could get you your cookies while you’re doing that.”

She smiled, her eyes lighting up. “Good thought, Jace.”

The way his name rolled off her tongue had him racing for his truck as if the fire had been lit at his feet.

There might not have been flames in the house, but an idiot could see the heat of attraction between them.

He was betting Talia wasn’t an idiot so he hightailed it out of there and reminded himself he wasn’t good enough for someone that lived in this area.