Page 1 of Her Silver Fox Firefighters

1

OLIVIA

Ididn’t move to Ember Ridge to rebuild my life.

I came here to bury it.

Wrap it in caution tape, and pretend it never existed.

“How was your first week, babe?” Chloe asks.

“Better than expected,” I tell her, peeling the plastic wrap off a cutting board. “Except every creak outside has me jumping like someone’s out there watching. Which is insane, I know. I came here to disappear, not lose my mind. Still… it feels so….”

My hand freezes mid-movement.

Through the window, a dark sedan crawls past.

My pulse spikes hard enough to make my vision blur. For a breathless second I’m sure it’s Marcus’s car.

Wrong color.Wrong model.

I press my palm flat to the counter, force myself to inhale, exhale, and keep unwrapping.

"Strange," I finish weakly.

I've got my phone on speaker while I unpack. Baking trays, piping tools, mixing bowls, and various other accessories that allow me to have some fun while I bake. Every girl has a form of therapy.

Mine happens to revolve around cupcakes. And denial.

"Well, you've got Dax next door. And his friends." Chloe's voice softens. "They're good guys, Liv. They'll look out for you."

"What do you know about them?"

“Personally, I only met them a handful of times as a kid, when they helped my parents with Granny’s house. They seemed solid. But my mom’s run into them since, and according to her, time’s been very kind. She goes on about how built they are—total rugged ex-military vibes. You know, the kind of guys you pretend not to drool over at the grocery store but totally do. You’ll see what I mean.”

I focus on stacking cupcake tins, anything to keep my hands moving and my brain from fixating on Chloe’s description of the men next door—men I have no business thinking about.

“They sound interesting.”

“Girl, you don’t know the half of it. Rumor has it, they’re… unconventional. Let’s just say no one’s ever seen them fight over girlfriends.”

I groan. “Great. Sexy superheroes with a possible group-project fetish, right next door.”

“The point is, they’re ex-military,” Chloe says, her voice dropping. “Real combat, not weekend drills. One of them even has a Silver Star, according to my mom. Bottom line? If Marcus ever showed up, which he won’t, you’d want those guys in your corner. They’d have your back.”

“You know I’m not here to make friends, Chloe. I’m here to stay off the radar, nothing more.”

“I’m sorry, Liv. I can’t imagine how it must feel.”

“It’s okay.” My voice comes out low, a little raw. “I walked myself straight into that mess, then chained myself there because I couldn’t face the consequences. And now…”

"Now you're out and far away. You might as well start to live a little while you're at it," she says, her tone brightening deliberately. "Ember Ridge may be small, but it's part of a huge district with an amazing scene that’s right up your alley. Bakeries, restaurants, farmers markets—all the stuff you love."

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“So have you at least met anyone yet? ”

I chuckle softly as I set the kitchen stuff aside and open another box. Clothes and shoes—all ordered online with prepaid gift cards. No paper trail. No way for Marcus to track my purchases. “Nope. I do my grocery shopping after eight at night, and I stay indoors during the day like the world’s most boring vampire.”