Page 5 of My Three Hometown Firefighters (Aspen Springs #2)

CHAPTER FOUR

Sienna

I shift from one sore foot to the other as I wash my hands. Just a little bit longer, then I can get home and take these death traps off my feet.

I can already hear my pajamas calling my name as I dry my hands with a towel and toss it in the trash.

I’m half-lost in the fantasy of getting out of my shoes as I step out of the bathroom. I smack into a hard chest and go tumbling across the narrow hallway.

Strong arms band around me as we both backstep until we run into the wall. A puff of air expels from my lungs at the contact.

“Crap. Are you okay?”

Glancing up, I see my savior is yet another firefighter. This one being Tucker Danporth, with his curly light brown hair that flops over his forehead and a quintessential firefighter mustache that should be a turn off, but it isn’t at all.

When I don’t answer him, he asks again, “Are you alright?” His finger trails down the side of my face.

I blink, trying to get past how it feels having the length of his body pressed against mine. I realize my hands are fisted in his shirt.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I manage to get out. “I should have been paying attention.”

His hand, which was on my face, is now idly playing with the hair that’s draped over my shoulder. “I’m the one who bulldozed in and plowed you into the wall.”

He freezes, realizing what he just said. We both laugh.

“On second thought, if I was going to plow you into a wall, I would want there to be fewer layers between us.”

I let my head rest back against the wall as I gaze up at him. “Is that so?”

He nods. “I mean, that dress is fire on you, so maybe I could manage with that. Maybe your heels should stay on, too. That would be hot as fuck.”

He shakes his head, like he’s trying to snap out of his impromptu fantasy.

“No, not my shoes,” I whine.

His smile falls. “Are they hurting you?”

My shoulders move up and down in defeat. “Yeah, but the party’s almost over.”

“Take them off.”

“I can’t do that.”

He moves back an inch, so he can look at me a little better. “Why not? Fuck what anyone else thinks.”

He crouches before me and makes sure I’m leaning against the wall before lifting one foot in his strong hands. He unbuckles and removes one heel, then the other.

He presses a kiss to the inside of my ankle, sending tingles up my leg.

When he looks up at me with his sky-blue eyes, I wish he would kiss me somewhere else from the very position he’s in right now.

He smirks, like he knows precisely the gutter my mind just traveled to.

His hands land on my hips as he moves to stand. I know he didn’t need the support to do so. I think he just wanted an excuse to touch me.

I can feel my shoes pressing against my hip where he has them hooked over his fingers.

“Better?” he asks.

“Mmhmm,” I say, scrunching my toes against the short carpet below my feet. Without my heels on, I’m even shorter than before.

“I think I like you without heels better,” he says, angling his head down to look into my eyes. “Makes me feel like I could easily have you wrapped around me like a koala.”

Words. Words. I should say some words right now. But I’ve got nothing.

His hands flex against my hips before he steps back. My shoes dangle in front of me, and I grab them from him. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, Sunshine.” He winks, then retreats down the hallway and back into the party, leaving me struggling to piece together what the hell just happened.