Page 22 of Fire and Icing (The Firemen of Waterford TN #1)

Emberleigh

You are free to ogle me,

but I cannot share a bed with you.

~ Unknown

“We’ll let you get settled in, but first we’ve got a quick meet the contestants intro to film with you. Are you two okay doing that right now?”

Dustin looks at me for permission. I shrug.

“We’re good to go,” he says, placing his palm on my back and leading me to follow Cathy inside the main house on the estate.

The front room to the side of the entryway is set up with lighting and two director’s chairs facing another chair.

“Branson,” Cathy says to the man in the corner of the room. He’s talking to another man who’s holding a professional video camera. “Emberleigh and Dustin are ready to film.”

“Great. Great.” Branson walks toward us. “Let’s get you mic’d up.”

We clip the transmitter packs to our waistbands and pin lapel mics to our collars.

Dustin takes a seat in one of the director’s chairs and I turn and boost myself into the one next to him.

“I’m just going to introduce you two,” Branson says. “If you could each introduce yourself and then tell how you met, I’ll follow your intro with a few fun questions and then we’ll let you settle into your room. Sound good?”

We give the okay and the cameraman says, “Ready? Filming in three, two, one.”

Branson leads with an intro. “I’m here with Emberleigh Holt and Dustin Reed, two of our contestants at the annual Plated Bake-Off.”

The cameraman shifts position and points at me. “Hi, I’m Emberleigh,” I say to the camera. “I’m from Waterford, Tennessee and I co-own my bakery with my best friend, Sydney. It’s called Baker From Another Mother.”

The cameraman points at Dustin. He looks into the camera and smiles, “Hi, I’m Dustin. I’m a fireman in Waterford, and I don’t own a bakery. Trust me, you’re all glad I don’t.”

Branson laughs, and I smile. It’s such a Dustin answer. He’s at total ease, where I’m a ball of nerves. To be fair, I’m the one with skin in this game.

“So, I’m going to ask you a few questions so our audience can get to know each of you a bit better. Let’s start with how you met.”

Dustin must get whatever green light he’s looking for from me because he engages the camera again. “Well, it’s one of those stories you don’t want to repeat. But here we are. I basically went on a call to a house fire. It was Emberleigh’s kitchen. I hauled her out in a fireman's carry.”

“Like a manhandling oaf,” I mumble under my breath.

Dustin bursts into laughter.

“What did you say, Emberleigh?” Branson asks.

“It’s a private joke.”

We have a private joke.

I don’t think I ever realized it before this moment.

Dustin has somehow managed to weave himself into my life. He snuck up on me with all his smiles and thoughtful gestures. And now we have a private joke.

Dustin glances over at me and winks. Then he grabs my hand and interlaces our fingers. He gives me a reassuring squeeze and rests our conjoined hands on my thigh. His movements are so quick and natural I don’t even have time to pull back or flinch.

“How did you go from a fire rescue to dating?” Branson asks me.

Thankfully, Dustin and I prepared some answers in advance. I didn’t want to be caught off guard. We decided to base everything we say in reality. It makes our little fabrications easier to remember and harder to mess up.

I tell Branson about Dustin being tasked with picking up the donut order and how he came by the bakery with dinner for me one night. “And then … I don’t know. He just worked his way into my heart.”

“Awww,” Branson says.

When I glance over at Dustin, he’s staring at me, a look of slight bewilderment on his face.

Maybe he didn’t realize how well I’d be able to pull off a charade. It’s not difficult to talk about him, considering how much time we’ve spent together since he moved to Waterford.

Dustin turns toward the camera. “I tend to have that effect on people. It’s hard to hold a grudge against me. I’ve got plenty of other failings and shortcomings. I’m just somehow easy to forgive, I guess.” He looks at me. “But she gave me a run for my money at first.”

“You can’t let a man think you’re easy,” I tease. “Make him work for it, right?”

Branson laughs again.

“Okay, so how about each of you describe your partner in one word.”

My partner.

For the contest, obviously.

Dustin doesn’t miss a beat. “Irresistible.”

“Irresistible?” I ask him seriously, as if his answer were for something other than show.

He smiles this smile that makes me nearly woozy, looking straight into my eyes and repeating the word in a much quieter voice. “Irresistible.”

I can’t help smiling back at him. I feel a blush rise into my cheeks.

“How about you, Emberleigh?” Branson asks.

“Predictable,” I say, not breaking eye contact with Dustin. I smirk at him lightly.

“Predictable?” He leans backward slightly.

“I’m joking.” I smile at Dustin and he smiles back.

“Honestly?” I size him up. How do you encapsulate this man in one word?

He’s playful, easy to be with, compassionate, and secretly deeper than he appears at first blush.

He’s funny, but knows how to be serious.

He’s warm, and he’s safe. And yet he’s so very dangerous.

My heart is definitely in peril where he’s concerned.

Finally, I say, “Adorable.”

Dustin beams as if we just won the contest. He gives my hand a private squeeze and winks at me. He knows. That word cost me a few bricks in my carefully constructed wall.

Branson laughs into the camera and says, “They’re cute. Am I right?” Focusing back on us, he says, “I’m guessing the two of you are going to quickly become fan favorites on the show. We’re so glad you joined us.”

He wraps up the filming with a few more words to the camera and then Cathy escorts us to our rooms … or, I should say, room.

“Here we are,” she says as she stops short of one door. “Your room.”

“Our … uh … room?” I sputter out.

“Did you want one of the bungalows on the property?We figured you’d want to be in the main house. The cabins are booked. Actually all the rooms are full between the contestants and the film crew and network staff staying on site.”

“No. No. We’ll be fine,” I assure Cathy.

I step into the room, figuring it will be a little awkward sharing a room with Dustin, but we can take turns changing in the bathroom. We’ll have our separate beds …

Or … bed.

“How many rooms are in the bungalows?” I ask Cathy.

“Well, there are one and two bedroom options, but the two bedrooms are being renovated this month, so …”

Right. One bedroom everywhere and only this room for us. Okay.

Well, I’ve slept on floors before. It won’t be my first rodeo. Granted, that was during sleepovers in high school, but it can’t be that much different now.

“Okay, I’ll leave you two to it. Dinner is at six. You won’t want to miss it. We’ve brought in top chefs here to cook for us all weekend.”

“Sounds good!” Dustin says with more enthusiasm than fits the situation.

“He’s always hungry,” I explain to Cathy.

“I can see why,” she smiles, looking him over.

It’s not an inappropriate perusal, necessarily—not like Vanessa’s blatant ogling. But, still.

I step in closer to Dustin and place a possessive hand on his bicep. One perilous word flashes through my mind.

Mine .

Dustin looks down at me, a pleased, possibly even smug, expression on his face.

“See you two at dinner. Let us know if you need anything else.”

We thank Cathy. She leaves and the door closes behind her with a definitive click.

My hand, which is still resting on Dustin’s bicep, flies backward reflexively.

He chuckles.

Standing side-by-side in silence, we survey the room.

To our left, down a short hallway, are two doors.

Probably a closet and a bathroom. Our luggage is lined up neatly under the window.

A desk and chair fill one corner of the room.

A dresser lines that wall. Next to the bed, there’s a sitting area with a love seat, a chair and a little table.

In the middle of everything is the bed.

The one bed.

“Okay,” I say. “We have some talking to do. And some figuring. And some … lines. We need lines.”

The corner of Dustin’s mouth lifts.

“Do you find this amusing?” I cross my arms over my chest.

“I find you … Never mind,” he says. “What needs figuring and talking and lines?”

I extend my arm and point at the bed. “That.”

“The bed?”

“The only bed!” I exclaim and then realize I yelled. I lower my voice to just above a whisper and repeat, “The only bed.”

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Dustin offers as if it’s a forgone no-brainer.

“No. No. You’re massive. You can’t sleep on the floor. You’d be uncomfortable. I’ll sleep on the floor. I’ll make a bed out of some of the spare bedding. They have to have spare bedding, right? I’ll be fine. I sleep on floors. I mean, I’ve slept on them. I’ve got practice.”

“You’ve got practice sleeping on floors? Sounds like there’s a story there.”

“No story. I just … I’ll take the floor.”

“Exactly when was the last time you practiced sleeping on floors?” Dustin asks, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s not important.”

“What if we put a bunch of pillows between us?” he suggests. “With all those fancy decorative pillows and the two extra sleeping pillows, we could make a decent wall.”

“Down the middle of the bed?”

“Yes,” he says. “Right down the middle. We can both sleep on the bed, just with a barrier.”

“I guess that could work.” I sigh and plop down into the chair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think they’d put us in the same room. At the least, I thought we’d have two beds.”

“It’s no big deal,” Dustin says. “We’ll manage.”

He walks down the short hallway to the bathroom and I stand still, having a stare-down with our bed.

If Syd were here, we’d share a bed. She’s a friend.

We can travel and sleep in a queen together.

This is for sure a king. I can share a bed with a friend.

With a pillow barrier. It will be fine. Dustin’s my friend.

And there will be pillows—plenty of pillows.