Into the Fire (First Responders 3)

He took her hand and led her out of the fire hall to where his truck was waiting, parked along the shoulder of the road. He opened the door and she hopped in, then he closed it behind her.

He slid behind the wheel and the jittery feeling she got every time she was around him returned. He looked over at her and smiled.

Why did she get the feeling that everything was about to change?

Chapter Five

Ally could hear Moose barking from the moment they stepped out of the truck. When Chris opened the back door, the Labrador came hurtling out, bouncing and jumping in welcome. “He’s settling in,” Ally joked, watching as Chris treated the dog to rubs and pats.

“He’s still skittish. Noises send him hiding. But he generally just goes to his bed in the porch room. Yesterday, I opened the dishwasher and I thought he was going to come out of his skin. But we’re getting there. And he does love it outdoors. I ordered what I need for the fence, but it hasn’t come yet. I want to get it done soon. If I’m going to put the posts in concrete, I have to do it before the ground freezes.”

He grabbed a ball and tossed it out on the grass for Moose, who ran after it but then tore around the yard with it in his mouth instead of bringing it back. “We’re still working on the fetch thing.”

“He seems happier. I’m glad you took him in.”

“Me too. He’s good company. Especially up here where there’s room for him to run around.”

Moose eventually brought the ball back and for the next several minutes they threw it for him. Ally looked up at Chris, tall and handsome. He was so capable, so right all the time. It had been intimidating once. Now she found it unbelievably attractive. He was confident but didn’t rub it in anyone’s face. He was a good man. And he’d stood up for her today in a way no one ever had before. It was definitely more than she’d deserved. Her mother was right. She’d been a coward three years ago when she’d given him back his ring.

“Did you mean what you said to my parents?” she asked, focusing on Moose as she threw the ball.

Moose raced after it. “Which part?”

“All of it,” she answered. “About the shelter. About not hating me.”

Chris put his hand on her arm and turned her to face him. He cupped her chin in his hands. “Do I look like I hate you?”

“N…no.” Lord, but he had a way of unnerving her. “It’s just…I know everyone looks at me and thinks I’m…I don’t know, not that bright. I dropped out of university. I work at the drugstore.”

“I don’t think it’s what other people believe that’s bothering you. I think it’s how you’ve seen yourself. Why do you think you’re not worthy? Why do you downplay all the work that went into running the shelter? Someone without ambition couldn’t have made something like that happen. It worked because while you didn’t believe in yourself, you believed in it.”

He smiled softly. “When you find where you belong, it comes together. You just have to believe you can make it happen. Don’t let anyone take away what you accomplished there just because you didn’t make bags of money at it.”

“Like you with the fire-fighting?”

He dropped her chin and nodded. “Yes, like that. Not that I don’t like what I do. I enjoy fixing things. But I love being part of the department here.”

“If it’s your first love, why didn’t you move somewhere where there was a regular department and not volunteer?”

He hesitated and his eyes slid away for a moment, focusing on Moose. “This is home,” he answered simply. “And if I’m here, I can do both.”

Moose came back and flopped down at their feet, exhausted from playing fetch. “Come on, boy, let’s get you some water,” Chris said, turning towards the house. “You coming, Ally?”

She went with him, unsure of where they went from here. Back at the fire hall, she’d just wanted to get away. The air in the truck had felt alive, like static electricity running between them. It had gone away while they played with Moose, but now it seemed to be back again. Running between them, constrained energy, like when she went walking near the power lines and heard the low hum of live wires.

Inside, Chris filled Moose’s water bowl. The dog drank heartily and then collapsed on his plush bed, tired out, as Ally took off her shoes. Chris untied his boots and left them on the mat. There was something strangely intimate about seeing their shoes lined up side by side.

The house was oddly quiet, expectant. Chris took her hand and led her through into the living room. Every nerve ending in her body was on alert now. They’d made no plans, had no agenda. Except perhaps one thing, the thing they had never spoken of but lately had seemed to be in every word they said. It had been in every kiss and every touch. And right now her body was silently screaming the question—was this the moment that they’d make love again? She wanted to, so much. Wanted to know if it was as good as she remembered. Wanted to know if there was a chance for them again.

It was quiet, so quiet that she could hear his breathing as he stopped and took her into his arms.

They’d been leading towards this moment since that night on the sofa when he’d used his hands and lips to make her come apart. Now they stood in the middle of the room, kissing, arms twined around each other so closely not a hair would fit between them. His chest was hard beneath her fingers and she felt the rise and fall of his accelerated breathing as his tongue swept against hers.

“You still have your coat on,” he whispered, licking her ear. “Let me help you with that.” Without looking, he ran the zipper to the bottom, shoved the jacket off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. Then he neatly shrugged out of his navy jacket and let it fall on the hardwood.

The cotton shirt was thin enough that Ally could feel the warmth of his skin through it. While Chris nibbled at her earlobe, she fumbled with his tie, loosening the knot and finally slipping it free. For a moment, she ran the fabric through her fingers, considering, but right now they had too many clothes on and that was the first thing that needed fixing.

One by one, she loosened the buttons on his shirt, pulled the tails out of his narrow waistband and pushed it wide across his chest.