Page 15 of Burn for You

I took her hand and tucked it into the crook of my arm. For the first time since meeting Marlee, her icy blue eyes were no longer cold and sharp. Instead, they sparkled. I liked this side of her—no longer straight-laced and buttoned up. Those wallsshe’d built were gradually beginning to melt and I was more than ready to turn up the heat to turn her into a puddle.

“Now, you’re perfect,” I said, smoothing my thumb over her knuckles.

I leaned in and pressed my lips to her warm, smooth cheek. Marlee’s fingertips flexed tighter on my arm, squeezing my bicep. Her lashes lowered, shielding her gaze. The scent of her perfume had changed too—sweeter, delicate, like strawberries and peaches.

Someone wolf whistled from the firehouse. I glanced over to see Mueller and Anderson manning the barbecues outside the apparatus bay, snickering and elbowing each other as they pointed at me.

“I hope you weren’t planning on flying under the radar today,” I said to Marlee.

She scoffed.

“You said it yourself. There’s a lot of publicity when it comes to dating the hottest firefighter in town.”

I grinned and headed for the firehouse.

It didn’t take long before Marlee was surrounded by my crew, with a firefighter’s helmet perched on her head, utterly enthralled while they told the most embarrassing stories about me that they could come up with. Some of them were true, but most of them were bald-faced lies told purely for entertainment.

“I put itching powder in Teagan’s boxers when he was a candidate,” Mueller said. “A call came in while he was showering—a farm caught on fire. Huge blaze. Took hours to get it under control. So, Teagan threw on his clothes and his gear and headed out.”

“Oh no,” Marlee said.

Anderson cackled.

“That boy was walking funny all day.”

“He doesn’t wear boxers anymore,” Mueller said.

Marlee’s gaze flicked to me as I came over, carrying a cup of lemonade in each hand. I passed one to her.

“Does that mean you go commando now?” she asked.

“Come home with me and find out,” I replied without missing a beat.

Marlee’s gaze dropped down to my belt then dragged back up to my face slowly. She took a long, slow sip of her lemonade. I felt like a prime cut of steak and she was the hungry tiger, licking her chops.

“Everybody goes commando around here,” Anderson chimed in with his complete lack of ability to read the damn room. “Boxers and briefs get in the way when you have to answer a call. Can’t afford to waste time when you need to get in the truck and move.”

“Duly noted,” Marlee said. “Maybe I’ll wander by the fire station for a peek.”

“No,” I said. "Absolutely not. No peeking."

“Why not? Are you jealous? Afraid I’ll find out the other firefighters are packing heavier equipment than you are?”

Oh, she wasfeisty.

I pointed at Anderson and Mueller.

“This is your fault. Why can’t you have civilized conversation instead of subjecting my gorgeous date to the mental image of your bare asses in the locker room?”

Marlee sputtered a laugh, nearly choking on her lemonade.

“I’m not complaining.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, biting my tongue to stop myself from smiling.

“That’s exactly the problem.”

Conway leaned closer to Marlee with a loud whisper.

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