Page 32 of One Touch

“Hey, this isn’t cosplay, I’m an actual firefighter.” He jabbed a thumb into his chest. His very strong, rock-hard chest. The chest I’d been pushed up against just a few days ago. Ethan crossed his arms, “Look, before I change my mind, why don’t you tell me when you can start.”

“Now?”

“Now is a bit soon. Tomorrow could work, though. Why don’t you drop your stuff around sometime during the day and then hang out with Ava in the evening? Have a practice run while I’m around?”

“Great, I’ll bring my stuff.”

“Do you want to see the room you’ll be staying in first?”

“Does it have a bed and a window?”

“Yup.”

“Then I’m down.”

“Right. Tomorrow, then.”

Ethan’s gaze met mine, and the intensity in his blue eyes made my breath catch. He reached out, as though to take my arm, but at the last moment, he held back. Although we didn’t touch, I felt something pass between us. “Thank you, Lily. For noticing, for caring. It means more than you know.”

I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the heat spreading through me. “Of course.”

Oh, he was handsome. Oh, he was charismatic.

Oh, I was fucked.

Luckily I had sworn off men. Otherwise, I might be in real, real trouble.

Chapter 8

Ethan

As a trainee firefighter,I should know better than to play with fire.

Lily arrived on my doorstep looking as sexy as sin in that long, white dress, her red hair falling in glossy waves around her shoulders. Like a cross between an angel and the devil. And now I was in the middle of an inferno of my own making.

On top of making the mistake of asking Lily to be Ava’s nanny, I’d told her that she could start the very next day. What had I been thinking?

You couldn’t help yourself, could you, Ethan?

I revved the engine of my T-Bird, then shifted the stick into fifth. We were late getting to school this morning because of Ava’s audiobook. Lily had told me before she left last night that they might be a fun way for Ava to get back into books without the pressure of reading. When I’d told Ava she could choose one this morning, she’d been insanely excited, so I let her listen over breakfast. She choseMatilda. Normally, I’m a stickler when itcomes to punctuality, but seeing my little girl so engrossed in the book made my insides feel all gooey.

We left a full ten minutes later than normal this morning. So, after I kissed Ava goodbye at the school gates, I drove as quickly as I could—within the speed limit, obviously—back home to get things ready. I had to prepare Lily’s bedroom.

Now, when Lily had asked me if her room had a bed and a window, I’d half lied. Therewasa window. And there was a sleeper sofa. A very old sleeper sofa.

That was it.

We almost never had overnight guests. Almost everyone I knew lived in Bluehaven Beach already, so there was no need for them to crash at mine. The only person who ever slept here was Jack, but he was such a bigshot these days he normally went for a suite at the Goldharbor Hotel.

I parked up and hurried inside, before springing up the stairs two at a time to the spare room. Opening the door, I froze.

“Holy fuck, this is bleak.”

That was putting it mildly. If you squinted just right, you could mistake this for a prison cell.

No curtains on the windows, no rug on the scuffed hardwood floor. No bookshelves, no paintings. Not even a closet.

“Crap,” I muttered under my breath. This wouldn’t do at all. I glanced at my watch. I only had a couple of hours before she was supposed to arrive.

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