Page 6 of Silver Fox Firefighters Next Door

He let out a bark of laughter. “Jesus, Eve. Go easy on a guy. No. I didn’t just come back for Billie. I wanted to work the ranch, but I don’t suspect that’s going to happen now. I just need a reset. Life hasn’t been kind lately.”

“You’re preaching to the choir.” I sat up and turned in my seat to face him. “If anyone in town offers you watermelon lube, don’t take it. Okay?”

His eyebrows climbed up his forehead. “I’m sorry?”

“Consider this life being kinder. Just don’t use any watermelon lube.”

“There’s a story there, I’m assuming.” He glanced over at me and grinned at whatever he saw on my face. “How much liquor do I need to give you to hear that story?”

“I’d die of alcohol poisoning before I uttered a single word.” I saw the lights of the cabins in the distance and felt the same nervous energy I always felt when I saw the guys next door were home. The few feet from my car to the cabin door stretched for miles when I was worried I’d get caught by one of them and have to behave like a normal human being. Although, that idea was out the window after Aliengate.

“Is someone staying at the other cabin?” Brad drove slowly down the driveway, watching out for potholes.

“Yeah. Grandpa rented it out.” I could see the guys moving around in the cabin through the massive front windows. “Thanks for driving me home, Brad. I know this isn’t how you wanted to end your night.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. I was hoping you were in town for a visit at least when I came back. I’m glad we’re getting to hang out.”

I was going to get out and run as soon as he parked, but he was already opening his door and getting out. I didn’t want to be rude so I just decided I’d get us both inside as fast as possible. I was a tiny bit tipsy, though, and I forgot the door was broken so I stupidly dug around in my purse looking for the keys.

“Is Sheriff Hank here? I’d love to see if he remembers threatening to throw me under the jail if I ever sped down his driveway again.” Brad waited on the step below me, oblivious to my nervous energy. “Or the time he threatened to throw me under the jail if I ever dropped you off ten minutes late again. He was a lot of fun.”

“Is everything okay here?” Tate’s voice was deeper and more authoritative when it came out of nowhere in the middle of the night. “Eve?”

I jumped and then made an awkward sound as I backed into the broken door and it swung open. “Dammit.”

Brad looked between me and Tate and held up his hands. “I’ve been threatened once tonight. I’m out. I’ll see you around, Eve. I’m staying at the little cabins in Lilyfield if you want to stop by.”

“Brad, no, you don’t…” I groaned. “Okay, then.”

Tate watched me as I watched Brad leave. “Boyfriend? He seems a bit…fearful?”

“He’s a friend from childhood and he almost got beat up tonight for hitting on someone else’s love interest.” I held the sides of my messy purse together and forced a smile. “Okay. Well, goodnight.”

I pushed into the cabin and found Tate coming in behind me. He smirked at me when I gawked at him. “What? I can’t just not check out the cabin. What if a bear came in while you were gone?”

I put my purse down on the kitchen counter. “A bear? In this cabin?”

His smile stretched wider. “You never know.”

I didn’t want to face him after Aliengate but I also liked the buzz of adrenaline I felt with him in the cabin. I was asking for trouble. “See any bears?”

He glanced down at something and when he looked back up at me, his eyes were practically twinkling with mischief. “No bears but a lot of abandoned sex toys.”

CHAPTER 6

Eve

I watched in horror as he reached down and grabbed the alien dick. I might’ve screamed. Rushing around the kitchen, I tried to grab the toy from him but he turned away with it. “Tate!”

“This toy did nothing wrong, Eve. It doesn’t deserve such a cruel fate.” He laughed and held the toy over his head when I twisted around him to grab it. “It’s special, after all. It introduced us.”

Any maturity I normally possessed was vapor at that point of the day. I jumped up, trying my hardest to grab the toy. “Not funny! That thing goes back in the trash.”

We struggled around the kitchen for it, with him holding it just over my head the whole time. I took to jumping to grab it but the whiskey killed my balance. He wrapped his arm around my back when I bounced into him and the next time I jumped and smashed into him, he locked that strong arm around me and pinned me to his chest. We were both breathing harder as our eyes locked. My chest brushed his with every rough inhale. What could’ve been five seconds or five minutes passed and something akin to a bolt of raw energy traveled down my spine.

I wasn’t sure if I moved first or if Tate did, but suddenly we were kissing. It wasn’t even so much kissing as it was trying to inhale each other. His stubble was rough on my face but his lips were full and soft against mine. He dropped whatever was in his hands and grabbed my ass, using it to lift me off my feet. I wrapped my legs around his waist and locked my arms around his neck as he kissed down my jaw and throat and then back up to my mouth.

Tate stumbled over something on the floor and muttered against my mouth without bothering to break our kiss. He carried me over to the couch and sank onto it with me straddling him. His hands tangled in my hair and tugged at it before he ran his hands down my sides and back up to cup my breasts.

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