Page 14 of Hot Touch (Love To The Rescue #3)

TEN

ALEJANDRA

“Wait, wait, wait.” Liz said, staring at me like I’d suddenly grown an extra eye on my forehead. “You haven’t been staying at my place this last month?”

“No,” I answered.

To be fair, I’d never really agreed to it; Liz had just assumed I’d do as she’d ordered because she was the oldest and bossy. I glanced at Jackie, who simply pressed her lips together like she was trying to stop herself from either saying something highly inappropriate or laughing her head off.

“You’ve been staying at… this fireman’s place? The one who saved you? Who was on your hospital bed that night?”

“Nathan,” I corrected. “His name is Nathan Benson. Or you could call him Nate.”

“Nate.” The distaste was clear in her face, but I didn’t bother to roll my eyes. “And you think you’re in love?” she asked incredulously, and I honestly didn’t blame her.

My sister was a little… jaded.

But even if she weren’t, she was our older, overprotective bossy sister who would shield us from the world with her bare hands if she needed to. To be honest, I’d expected this sort of reaction.

I might have thought I was a realist before meeting Nathan and him bringing out the dreamer in me, but Liz was a skeptic through and through. Jackie, our hopeless romantic, just sighed dreamily as she leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand.

“It’s like a real-life romance novel.”

“Those don’t exist.” Liz shook her head, her perfectly plucked brows bunched together with frustration. “You need?—“

“For you to be supportive?” I cut her off and was left with a wide-eyed, half-shocked Liz staring right at me. “Yes. That’s what I need. You don’t have to understand how I feel. I know how crazy this all sounds. I get it. But I’m a grown woman, and I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you? I mean, what if he’s after some kind of?—“

“What? Money? Inheritance? Because unless you know something I don’t, those things don’t exist.” She opened and shut her mouth in a way that reminded me of a goldfish. And it was funny. Jackie giggled and sighed, leaning forward and covering both our hands with hers.

“I love you, Liz, but honestly, real talk here without disrespect; I need you to be cool about this,” I said. “I won’t tolerate you being rude to him,” I added quietly but seriously. My older sister was at a loss for words as she stared at me.

“I’m happy for you,” Jackie chimed in. “I’ve seen how he is with you and…

”—she slowly turned her attention to Liz—“He’s a good guy.

He’s older than her“—Liz made a sound, but Jackie kept talking—“Nate knows who he is and what he wants, and the way he looks at her…” My younger sister’s voice drifted off.

“What?” Liz asked before I could manage to get the words out.

“It’s like he can’t believe she’s real,” Jackie added, making me smile.

Our older sister stared at Jackie for a long moment before moving her attention to me. Something flickered in her gaze. Something like overprotective concern, but also something else. Something I couldn’t read.

“Fine.“ Liz shrugged. “But if I see something I don’t like, I’m not going to keep my mouth shut.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” I responded.

“Well… congrats, I guess?” I didn’t even feel a little disappointed at her lack of enthusiasm.

“Thanks,” I chuckled, rolling my eyes playfully.

“So, you’re in love with a hot older fireman, and what? Living together?” Liz asked. I could see the worry that still lingered in her gaze.

“Liz,” Jackie warned, but I shook my head at my younger sister.

“No, it’s okay. Like you said, when she sees how Nate is with me, how we are together, she’ll understand. That’s why he’s coming over to family dinner tonight,” I shared. I didn’t know I was capable of shocking not just my older sister but my younger one as well.

“Family…” Jackie started to say before she cracked up laughing. “Oh my god! You are not doing that to him? You know how Mom and Dad… OMG, Dad is going to flip!” She laughed, and Liz’s lips twitched.

“Mom and Dad actually met him a week ago,” I informed them and wished I were recording their reactions.

“They did!?” both my sisters exclaimed way too loudly. I ignored the possible stares of the people around us in the coffee shop. Maybe I should have done this somewhere else? But when Liz returned last night asking where I was, I’d figured getting coffee and some brunch would be a good idea.

“They did.” I nodded. Then I shared, “Dad was skeptical like you…” I locked eyes with Liz.

“Maybe that’s where you get it,” I couldn’t stop myself from adding, but she rolled her eyes, and I kept talking.

“But honestly? By the end of the night, Dad was inviting Nate to join that fantasy football league he and Uncle Joe are in.”

“He did not,” Jackie said, wide-eyed. “I kinda feel bad for him. Does he have any idea how seriously they take that?” She snorted. I could see a smile Liz was trying to hide. Her attention moved, and a brow rose on her pretty face.

“Speaking of…” Liz murmured. I turned to see what she was talking about, and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.

In uniform, because his shift didn’t end for a couple more hours, my hot fireman daddy and two of his coworkers walked in with him.

One older than him with a different uniform who I assumed was the captain and a guy a couple of years younger dressed in the same thing as Nathan.

Our eyes connected, and he said something to the guys behind him before he started his way towards us.

Every step he took closer made things around me turn fuzzy. Like the only thing I could concentrate on was him. Us.

“Hey, baby,” he murmured the moment he was close enough.

Before I could say anything, he bent down and pressed his mouth to mine.

Right then and there, in the middle of a very busy Pine and Grind coffee shop.

It was sweet and soft but so full of promise for later tonight, I was blushing when we pulled apart.

“Hey, Jackie. Liz. Glad you’re back home. I know your family’s missed you.”

“Thanks,” she replied tightly, still weary of him, but that was okay. I wasn’t worried. She’d see what he meant to me in no time. I knew it because I’d seen it from the very start.

“Jackie, how’d that conference go?” he asked, making conversation as he unfolded his body, standing at my back.

Jackie went on to tell him about some influencer thing she’d been to, but I couldn’t really pay attention to the details.

Not when his hands were on my shoulders.

One rubbed the back of my neck while the other played with the ends of my hair like he couldn’t stop touching me.

Or like he wanted anyone around us to know I was taken.

That I was his and he was mine. And damn, why was that so hot?

“That’s cool.”

“Nate!” the older guy in the different uniform called. But instead of leaving, Nathan waved at him, calling the guys over. When they got closer, he introduced them to me and my sisters.

“Captain. Chris. This is my girl, Alejandra. Her sisters Liz and Jackie.” He pointed at them “Liz, Jackie, this is the captain of Moonlit Pines Fire Department, Chris Padilla.” He clapped the shoulder of the younger guy and then pointed to the older man, “And this is Aiden Grant.”

“Nice to meet you.” Jackie smiled, batting her lashes and giving them a peek at her dimple. Liz simply waved, not really making eye contact with them, before she grabbed her phone and frowned.

“Well, I better get going,” he said, and I looked up at him.

“See you later?” I asked, and he nodded. My eyes shut when he leaned forward and kissed my lips then dropped one more on the top of my head.

A lot happened in a month. Luckily, the fire that night hadn’t reached my area of the building, and I’d been able to recuse most of my things.

Things that now had a home and place at Nathan’s house.

Well, our house, as he liked to say. Our home.

And I didn’t mind it. I even had my mail forwarded there.

The building’s habitants were returning next week, but I wasn’t.

I was happy with Nathan.

It might have been fast, but one hot touch from my man had sealed my fate to his.