Page 19 of Her Silver Fox Firefighters

“Are you okay?” Leo asks softly, then plants a kiss on my lips, followed by Dax and Beck.

“I’m amazing,” I reply, purring as I lie on the kitchen table, naked and still shivering from a truly masterful climax.

“Good, because there’s plenty more where that came from,” Beck whispers and kisses me again before Leo wraps me back in my towel and sits me down for breakfast.

“Coffee?” Dax asks me, holding up the pot and an empty cup.

“Yes, please.”

6

OLIVIA

I’m not used to this feeling.

A feeling of hope boldly blooms in my chest. The idea that maybe, just maybe, I might get some sort of happy ending after all. And so, I take everything with a grain of salt, with a sliver of doubt that it might disappear if I don’t pay attention, if I get too comfortable.

“There she is!” Beck exclaims as he gets out of his ambulance.

Beck’s uniform is dark blue with short sleeves, different and lighter than Dax’s and Leo’s. I love the way they look in their gear.

“Here I am,” I laugh lightly as I set a box of cupcakes from Melinda’s on the squad’s common table. It’s their usual hangout in between calls on busier days.

“How’s working at the diner coming along?” Dax asks as he comes over to greet me and pop a kiss on my cheek.

“Good, actually,” I reply with a smile. “Jim definitely doesn’tregret deciding to make me a permanent hire. And Melinda is giving me more responsibility. So yeah, it’s going good.”

“I’m glad,” Dax says.

“Frankly, the job is easier than what I used to do for a living,” I quip, remembering the hours I spent poring over bank accounts and financial statements, doctoring them, and transferring funds across a slew of wires, just to keep the IRS and IAB off Marcus’s back.

“You never told us what you did for a living,” Dax responds.

“I did. Finance, fintech?—”

“Details, Olivia. I thrive on details.”

He wants to know more, and I can’t blame him, considering the level of intimacy that we’ve reached. I’ve only been here for two weeks and the four of us are getting closer. Physically, we’re almost inseparable. Emotionally, I’m afraid it will take longer for me to let my guard down.

For their safety and mine. But I know Dax can feel it.

“Is this Olivia?” a little boy’s voice cuts through the echoing noise of equipment being loaded onto the fire trucks behind us.

I glance over to see a kid who looks to be about twelve, with dark skin and deep brown eyes, looking at me. His black hair is a tousled mess, but I like the way it falls over his forehead, partially covering a half-moon scar. Leo pops out from behind the truck and brings the boy over.

“Yes, it is,” he says, giving me a broad smile.

“And who is this handsome fella?” I ask.

“My son, Luke.”

The way Leo says the words has me laughing lightly before I realize that he’s serious. I pause and stare at him, then at Luke, then back at Leo. “Really?” I manage, kicking myself on the inside for not coming up with a more appropriate reply.

“I met Luke in Syria,” Leo explains.

“Oh, I see.”

Connecting the dots, I now understand that Luke survived a horrific war. “I’m adopted,” the boy says.