Page 53 of Fire Fight

“Hell no,” I chuckled. “Especially not when I’m the best cook there.”

“How?”

I moved around the table and sat across from her. “Lots of time in the kitchen with my mama growing up.”

“Thank you,” she breathed as I placed a sirloin on her plate. “But…what were you going to do if I didn’t come home?”

Home. She’d only been here a few days, but I loved how easily that rolled from her lips. Clearly, she felt safe here, and internally, I puffed my chest out like I was the reason and not the simple fact that she had somewhere to stay at all—somewhere with, admittedly, an impressive civilian security system.

“I would’ve left all this shit here and gone looking for you,” I answered bluntly.

Aspen hummed thoughtfully, though the skin of her cheeks turned bright pink beneath the dining room lights, and continued loading up her plate.

At least this time, the flush was from appreciation—I hoped.

Her movements were precise and confident as she cut off a piece of the steak and brought it to her mouth. I watched raptly as her lips closed around the fork, and a moan escaped her.

I felt that sound all the way to my cock, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, hand going to my crotch to adjust myself. Aspen, with her eyes closed, remained oblivious to the desire that was surely written all over my face.

Her eyes popped open, and she whispered a single word.

“Damn.”

Yeah, I understood the sentiment. That was likely how I’d feel if I ever got to taste her sweet pu?—

Cut it out, Crew.

“You can’t help yourself, can you?” she said conversationally, and my brows pinched together in confusion.

Had I said something out loud?

“With cooking?” I asked dumbly. “I mean, no? I have to eat…”

Aspen giggled, a high, girlish sound I never would’ve expected from her, and shook her head. “No. Although, this is amazing. I mean the whole savior and protector thing.”

I shrugged. “Itismy job.”

She leveled her fork at me. “I think there’s more to it than that.”

I hated how easily she pegged me, and while I’d never shared much of my story with anyone outside of my family, I felt like Aspen deserved to know at least some of it. After all, I’d seen her in her darkest moment. It seemed fair I reciprocated, if only to explain why I was the way I was.

“For lack of better phrasing, I was a bad kid. I finally started to turn myself around when someone sat me down and basically put the fear of God in me. That man gave me a second chance, and I owe him my life. Since then, I’ve made it my personal mission to pay it forward.”

That person had been Lieutenant—now Chief—Madden, and I owed him everything. Chief had always hung out on the fringes of our family. Secretly, I thought he had a crush on my mom, but that woman would never move on from Dad as long as she lived. Eventually, Chief found a wonderful woman, married her, and had two kids of his own. But with Dad gone, and me going off the rails entirely once I started high school, he’d been there to pull me back from the ledge on more than one occasion. We had a running joke that I had been the trial run for when he had his own son to raise.

Everything I was—the man and firefighter I’d become—was thanks to him.

“You’re a good man, Crew Lawless,” Aspen said, and I relished the way my name fell from her lips. What a beautiful sound. “You saved my life, and I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

“It was nothing,” I said, the words coming out hoarse.

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied, reaching for the bottle of wine I’d opened for her, “you were just doing your job.”

I grinned, and she briefly returned it before focusing on pouring herself a glass then offering the bottle to me.

“Want some?” she asked, scanning the table for my glass.

She wouldn’t find it.