Page 17 of She's Got that Fire

"Girls!" The next door neighbor waves over the fence. "Thank Opal then come back, please."

The little girls bounce to their feet. "Thank you, Opal!" The younger one hands her back the pink chalk. "We'll do this again after it rains?"

"Yes, you will." Opal ruffles her hair, then the girls run off.

As soon as the kids are gone, I hold out a hand, but Opal shakes her head. Her body is tense, her shoulders squared. "Liam, I need to know the truth. Did you really think that I would really set a fire big enough that I couldn't put it out myself in seconds?"

Pausing, I wonder. Did I? "Not really." I walk over to the fluffiest part of the grass and sit down, patting the ground invitingly for her to join me. I'm relieved when she does, sitting relatively close. I already miss her touch.

"Baby." It takes effort to keep my rough voice as soft as possible. "I trust you. I really do. I know that you are infatuated with fire, but I also know that you're always as safe as possible."

Holding out my hand again, I’m happy that this time she takes it.

"ButI've seen you work. You're very focused, which is amazing. It also means that sometimes you phase out for a few seconds, paying more attention to the image than the fire itself."

She sighs.

"And…the thing is… I've seen firsthand just how unbelievably unpredictable and destructive fire can be," I continue. "One momentary gust of wind. Someone turning away to check their phone for a split second. One little patch of grass that was sheltered from a tree, so it hadn't really been rained on for several weeks, and poof – a single spark becomes a streak of fire that runs across a lawn and takes out a shed, then a fence, and so on." I squeeze her fingers gently, loving how sexy she looks when she bites her bottom lip, but hating the sadness in her eyes. "I do trust you. Really. It’s fire I don’t trust. And your safety is unbelievably important to me."

"Yeah?" Her voice is small. "Why?"

There's no reason to hold back. "Because I have gigantic feelings for you. I already know it in my heart… You're the one."

Her mouth falls open and she blinks her beautiful blue eyes over and over. It's at least half a minute before she whispers, "Really?"

"Yes."

Her eyes sparkle with the beginning of a smile. "I was so sure that you'd be angry with me. That your firefighter buddies would find out the girl you're hanging out with is…you know. A menace."

"Not hanging out with, baby. Dating." Her fingers squeeze mine gently as I lean in and whisper, "Which makes you my girlfriend." As she nods eagerly, I add, "For now."

She rolls her lovely eyes. "You mean until I accidentally burn down the neighborhood?"

"Not at all. I mean, you’ll be my girlfriendfor now…until you're my live-in girlfriend. Then my fiancée. Then my wife." My arm slips around her as she gasps softly. "Yeah, yeah, I'm not supposed to say all that so soon. I don’t care. I’m saying it anyway."

Opal’s smile stirs up that simmering heat in my core that takes hold every time she is near me. "Hmm. A firefighter and a pyromaniac. That should be against the rules, don’t you think?"

"I don't think you're a pyromaniac. Maybe pyro-obsessed?"

"Pyro-afficionado?" She laughs. "That sounds like a European death metal band."

"It does. But it's accurate." She cuddles against me, relaxing. Thank goodness.

We need this moment, sitting on the grass, arms wrapped around each other, breathing together. Letting the truth wash through us.

We're together. This is real.

After several moments, Opal's head tips up, her perfect rose lips inches from mine. "You beat the fire truck here."

"Yeah."

"Which means you drove like hell without a siren. Who’s being unsafe now, mister?"

"I was careful."

She frowns. "I'm sorry that I worried you. But it's sweet…I mean… It really means a lot to me that you were so worried."

Those lovely blue eyes. The scent of her shampoo on the breeze. The beautiful, delicate face that I want to admire as much as possible for the rest of my life.

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