Page 112 of Fire Fight

The words had become a bit of a running joke between us over the course of the last month. The first time, two days after I’d first taken her, she’d been the one to utter them. Saying that, despite how badly she wanted to keep me here with her, she knew she couldn’t prevent me from doing my job.

I hated leaving her as much as she hated to see me go.

“It’s twenty-four hours,” I promised, like I did every time. “Twenty-four hours, and we’ll be right back here.”

“I’m counting on it, hotshot.”

With a final kiss, I rolled her off me and got out of bed, knowing she’d fall back to sleep while I showered and got ready.

After getting dressed and packing my bag for work, I made a travel mug of coffee for myself and set another one up so all she’d have to do when she got up was press a button. I even went so far as to leave a little note for her.

I miss you already. Text me when you’re up.

Xo,

Crew

Was it cheesy? Hell yeah.

Did I give a fuck? Absolutely not.

By the time I rolled to a stop outside the fire station, I was damn near walking on air. Even four weeks into this thing between us, the shine had yet to wear off. We were in the honeymoon phase, and it wouldn’t always be sunshine and roses, but I was thoroughly enjoying our time together.

I didn’t only mean in bed, either.

We’d been to the ranch for family dinners three more times, and my mom, sister, and the twins fell more in love with her every time they saw her. Lane, of course, was keeping her at arm’s length while the investigation was still ongoing.

As for Trey, well…he was fucking lucky I didn’t bash his face in the first time I saw him after Aspen told me what he’d done. He kept his distance, being sure to sit as far away from us as possible at dinner and never speaking directly to Aspen or I was liable to growl at him.

The whole charade annoyed the shit out of Mama, but I wasn’t ready to forgive him for making a pass at my girlunder my own roof.

The discord between us wasn’t all bad, though. I’d used it to con him into upgrading my security system for free so Aspen felt safe enough to stay there alone at night when I was on shift.

Things on the Prom Night Arsonist had been quiet since the dumpster fire. The lack of any movement on the case would lull normal people into a sense of security, like maybe the killer had decided to go dormant, but people like Aspen, Lane, and I knew better.

Something was coming, and we’d be ready to greet it when it arrived.

“Hey, lover boy,” Tuck cooed as I walked into the firehouse and made my way toward the locker room.

I rolled my eyes, shoving him playfully as he got all up in mypersonal space, making kissy noises at me. “You’re so annoying. It’s no wonder you’re still single.”

Tuck scoffed. “I’m single because Iwantto be, not because I don’t have options.”

I snorted. “Keep telling yourself that, kiddo,” I said, ruffling his hair like I would a little boy’s.

Tuck ducked away from me then put up his fists in a fighting stance. “You wanna go, old man?”

“I’m three months older than you.”

“You started it by calling me ‘kiddo,’ and you’re stillolder,” he pointed out. Then he dropped down on the bench while I got changed and put my bag inside. “But in all seriousness, man…it’s good to see you happy.”

“Thanks, brother. Appreciate it.”

Truthfully, I was still getting used to the idea myself. Before Aspen came along, I had been happy enough—with my family, my job, life in general. But having her by my side made everything better.

Suddenly, I understood what love songs were all about, and why women were obsessed with romance novels.

I wanted to be that kind of boyfriend for Aspen.