Page 21 of She’s Got that Spark

When I get to my street, a shiver runs down my spine. A slew of vehicles are parked in front of my aunt and uncle’s house. I have to park on the street several doors down, racing toward…

Uncle Boyle clapping Crow on the back…and laughing.

What the?—?

Two of the trucks are already pulling away, and a group of men is examining the front of the detached garage my uncle had constructed a few years ago.

“I still can’t believe you got here so fast,” Uncle Boyle says, as he shakes Crow’s hand firmly. “I swear I’ll take back some of the things I’ve said about motorcycles.”

Crow chuckles. “There are safe drivers and dangerous drivers for every kind of vehicle, sir. But I get it.”

Approaching slowly, I’m not sure what to do. I desperately need to hug Crow make sure he’s okay. Just…not in front of my uncle.

“Emma!” Thick tattooed arms are around me before I can blink, as he twirls me in the air. “I got the call to your address and freaked right out.”

“I was still out on that drive.” My voice is very small next to all the commotion with the men, and what seems to be anelectrician going through the wiring now too. “I took the scenic route to clear my head.”

“Clear your head?” Crow tips my chin up with his finger. “Ah, baby, did I make your head cloudy? You know I’d never want to do that.”

Aunt Tish comes barreling down the street, probably from where she was playing cards at the neighbor’s house. “What in the blazes is going on?”

I step away from Crow, hoping she doesn’t go thermonuclear and kick me out of the house or something.

Uncle Boyle steps in. “Tish, that new garage door that your cousin installed shorted out and started a fire.” His wife's face turns ashen. “If it weren’t for this young man, we’d have lost the garage. And it’s so close to the house that a slight breeze could’ve?—”

Crow holds up a hand. “Let’s not create more stress, all right? It was a small fire, we got here quickly, it’s been taken care of. Our electrician and the Fire Marshall are taking a look right now. They’ll give you a detailed rundown of what needs to be replaced, along with a bit of the drywall around that area.”

Aunt Tish nods, muttering, “Well. Thank you. Thank you so much.” She walks into the house, probably heading straight for a glass of wine.

Uncle Boyle goes to talk to the men swarmed around his garage as Crow takes my hand, leading me away from the crowd and to the edge of the sidewalk. “Whatever I did to upset you, I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t really do anything. It’s all me.”

He sits down on the edge of the grass, patting the ground beside him invitingly. As soon as I’m sitting with my back to the chaos, I’m able to take a slow breath.

“I saw something change in your eyes when I suggested playing house.” His deep voice is especially soft. “I was justkidding around. If you don’t think people should live together before they get married…”

“That’s not it at all.” There’s a long pause as I try to collect my thoughts.

Crow smiles gently, rubbing my shoulder. “If you actually hate my place, and would like to buy another house together someday, that’s an option. You might want something traditional, with more room for kids, and a white picket fence, and?—”

“Ohhellno!” My head shakes viciously. “I don’t want any of that.”

His hand begins to rub slow circles at the base of my spine as he nods, and everything clicks into place. This incredible man only wants what I want. Whatwewant. To make us happy. No schedule, or agenda, or keeping up appearances.

And somehow, even though on paper he’s a bit of a bad boy since he’s a tattoo artist with a solo business, he’s also a firefighter. The ultimate good guy. Nobody could possibly complain about that.

Not that I care what anyone thinks, anyway.

“I’ll explain the full version another time.” Tipping my chin up, I smile as his eyes meet mine. “But the TLDR is that my older sisters have perfect husbands and perfect houses and three children each and everything the same and are convinced that’s the only acceptable way to live and are hell bent on convincingmeof that, too. I don’t want to be dropped into a template of what my life is supposed to be.”

Crow nods. “Gotcha. I’m open to anything, gorgeous. I mean, now that I’ve found the perfect woman, I’d kind of like to get married to her. But it’s not essential.”

“I think I’d like that as long as we could do things our own way.”

“So no white princess dress, huge crowd of people we don’t know, or fancy dinner that people don’t even enjoy? No sweat. We could have a picnic at the park. Or a hike to the lookout with our ten favorite people. Whatever you think sounds like a good way to launch us into the next phase of our lives.”

“What about kids?”

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