Page 29 of Silver Fox Firefighters Next Door

That was when I saw that the popcorn was still on the stovetop and it was starting to catch fire. I screamed, because I didn’t know what else to do, and pointed at it while bouncing in place. “Vera!”

She turned to see what I was pointing at and stumbled off the table, landing on the floor on her ass. Instead of jumping back and rushing into action to save the day, she flopped back on the ground and groaned. “My ass!”

“Your fire!” What I heard next had me panicking even more. A fire truck was coming. I ran over to the stovetop, grabbed the metal end of the little popcorn skillet, and threw it at the sink. I turned the water on and spun around to Vera. “Fire truck! It’s coming. I have to hide!”

She sat up and frowned. “What?”

I could hear the truck’s brakes screeching to a halt just outside of the house. “In case it’s my volunteer firefighters, I’m not here!”

“Yours?”

I swore and slipped into her bedroom just as heavy footsteps came up her sidewalk. Was I making much sense? No. Did I feel a sense of wild panic at the thought of seeing the guys after sleeping with them? Yes. Big time.

I heard a male voice I didn’t recognize and then a moment later, a male voice I really, really recognized. Aiden. The same man who I’d let do totally unholy things to me the night before. Unholy butt things.

They were asking her if there was anyone else in the house. And, Vera, the snake, opened her mouth and told them the truth. “Yep. My friend, Eve, is hiding in the bedroom.”

CHAPTER 23

Eve

I was going to kill Vera.

Aiden stuck his head inside the bedroom, right beside where I was planted against the wall, and raised his eyebrows at me. He was in a firefighter’s outfit, helmet and all, and he looked unfairly sexy in it.

“I was just…”

He grabbed my arm and tugged me out of the bedroom, through the kitchen, and out onto the front lawn. He took off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair before frowning at me. “What the hell was that? You see smoke and fire and decide to hide when help comes?”

“No…” I crossed my arms over my chest and then hissed out a breath of pain as I brushed my hand over my arm. Scorching pain radiated up my arm and I jerked my hand out to see a blistered pattern in the shape of the popcorn handle.

Aiden shrugged off his jacket and gently took my wrist. He looked at my palm and shook his head. “Goddammit, Eve.”

I grunted as tears filled my eyes from the pain. “This isn’t my fault.”

Vera saw my hand and gasped. “Oh no! Eve! I’m so sorry!”

“What happened?” Aiden kept his gaze on me but it was clear he was talking to Vera.

“I was trying to make popcorn because I needed something salty with my ice cream. If I’d been having guy issues like Eve I wouldn’t have needed popcorn, but I’m not so I did. The popcorn just started smoking and then I fell off the table and then Eve grabbed the popcorn that was on fire and threw it in the sink. She was a hero. But, now, look at your hand, Eve. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. My brothers are definitely going to hear about this and flip out.”

I glared at Vera. “I’m not having guy issues!”

“No, no, of course not.” She started chewing on her nails. “I’m sorry. I ramble when I’m freaking out.”

“Guy issues? Is that why you snuck out this morning? Are we an issue now?” Aiden glanced up from my hand and frowned. “You burned the shit out of your hand, Eve. You need to go to the clinic and get this treated.”

I shook my head, unsure of which thing I was disagreeing with first. “I’m okay. I just need a Band-Aid or something. And I didn’t sneak out. There’s no issue.”

The other firefighter walked out of the house with my phone in his hand. “This has been going off nonstop for the past few minutes. I figured it might be important.”

Vera grabbed it and looked at the screen. It took her a minute to realize that she wasn’t holding her own phone. When she did, she frowned at the screen and hit ignore. “Mark has called five times. Does he have some kind of sixth sense about when you’re slightly on fire? Why’s he calling like that? Creep.”

My stomach dropped. I wanted to grab my phone but I would’ve had to reach over my burnt hand to do so. Instead, I just looked down at the ground and wondered if I was being punished for something I’d done so wrong in my life.

“If you won’t go to the clinic, I’ll need to spend a few minutes doctoring you here. I can’t let you go with your hand like this, Eve.” Aiden hesitated. “Who’s Mark?”

I met Vera’s gaze and I could read the expression on her face. She saw an opportunity for me to use Mark to make Aiden jealous or something. She didn’t know that Aiden wasn’t the jealous type. Why would he get jealous? I was nothing more than a fling while they were stopping by Harmony Valley.

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