Page 46 of One Touch

I squirmed a little uncomfortably. “What are you doing? Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Remembering this,” he said. “I never want to forget how you look, and how I feel.”

“How do you feel?” I asked, a smile forcing its way onto my lips.

“Alive,” he replied.

Then, a moment later, he was gone.

I sagged against the wall, my knees weak, my heart threatening to pound right out of my chest. I pressed my trembling fingers to my lips, still feeling the imprint of his mouth on mine.

Alive. I felt more than alive.

“Holy shit,” I whispered to the empty corridor. “What just happened?”

But I knew. Oh, I knew.

Chapter 10

Ethan

My heart pounded. Mybody ached. My brain buzzed.

What had Lily done to me? I’d ended up in training for the last three nights running, but still, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Get that kiss out of my head.

“McCoy?” The chief’s voice broke through the fog of desire. “You all right there, son?”

“Yup,” I replied.

If by all right you mean crushing on a nanny who’s over a decade younger than me, then yep, I’m all right.

“Keep your head in the game, son. Keep that form tight!”

Sweat dripped down my brow as I hauled the heavy fire hose over my shoulder. The fire station training yard was alive with activity, the air thick with the smell of smoke from controlled fires.

“Don’t worry about the chief,” Mitch called out, his grizzled face breaking into a grin. Mitch was an old friend of my dad’s, and I’d known him since I was a kid. “He’s a ballbuster!”

I nodded, too out of breath to respond. These past few days of training had been grueling, but I welcomed the distraction. Anything to keep my mind off Lily and the way her hand felt on my—

“Earth to Ethan!” That was Sam. He was a few years younger than me, and a real jock. He’d played hockey with my brother Jack as a junior until an injury had taken him out of the game. “Anyone in there?”

“I’m here.”

“Got this glazed look in your eye. Like a donut.”

“Can you boys stop discussing breakfast and focus on your drills!” The chief’s voice rang out from the edge of the yard.

I continued to heave the fire hose, feeling the burn in my muscles but pressing on regardless. In the distance, I could see the outline of Bluehaven Beach, the early morning waves lapping at the shore. I wondered if Lily was looking out at the sea right now. Was she walking on the sand collecting seashells? Or would she be at work by now, perched behind the counter of Happy Ever Affogato? Was she reading a steamy romance novel, maybe? Fantasizing that I was the main character?

This was not what I needed.

And yet, I couldn’t help myself. That kiss had woken me up. I’d been asleep for years, denying myself just about every simple pleasure that life tried to throw at me. I’d done nothing but focus on raising my own daughter, and now, all of a sudden, I was raising . . . other things.

Damn. I seriously hadn’t gotten so many erections in such a short space of time in forever. What the hell was wrong with me? Was I seriously that turned on by being around a woman ten years younger than me? Her soft skin, her pert breasts, her plump little butt? Or was there even more to it than that? Lily’s gorgeously seductive red hair, for one thing. The way she always knew how to make Ava and I open up around her. Her impishsense of humor. The way she always knew just how much to tease me. Enough to make my cock hard but keep my ego intact.

The energy between us the other night had been wild. I had been trying so hard not to feel attracted to her, but when she suggested stargazing, I knew I was done for. The sight of her sparkling eyes looking up at the universe. The feeling of peace the three of us had sitting under the night sky. And when that shooting star streaked across the sky, it was like a punch to the gut.

You’re going to kiss her again tonight, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

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