Page 30 of A Very Grumpy Firefighter

“Okay.”

“It’s about your grandpa.”

I swallow hard, and he squeezes my hand.

“I know that you’re worried about him, and I have a bunch of time off, so I booked us two tickets to go down and see him. I figured that touring the facilities and seeing him in person might make you feel better about all of this.”

Tears sting my eyes, and I stare at him.

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine,” he rushes to add. “Or if you’d rather go by yourself or with Lymric, that’s cool too. I just thought I’d…”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“I didn’t overstep?” He asks cautiously, and I shake my head no.

“No, I—It’s great. Thank you. That was really thoughtful.”

“We leave tomorrow. I mentioned it to Lena, Maple, and Saffron, and they all said to take as much time as you need.”

Tears spill onto my cheeks, and I sniffle. I’ve never had someone to take care of me the way that he does, and I love it.

I love him.

I can’t deny that anymore, not even to myself. I love how he treats me. I love how confident and special he makes me feel. I love how patient, sweet, and funny he is. I just love all of him, and I know that we haven’t been together for very long, but it feels so right. Being with him is easy and effortless. It’s right.

I need to tell him.

“Here you are,” our waiter says, breaking the moment and I blink and clear my throat.

“Thank you.”

We both start to eat, and I pause when a thought occurs to me.

“Wait. The money? We’re not married yet,” I point out to him, and he shrugs.

“I’m not going to hold that over your head, Lilou. We’ll get married whenever you want to. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks,” I whisper.

I want to tell him that I’m ready now, but maybe it’s not the right time.

We both dig in, and the conversation changes to lighter topics. We talk about our favorite movies and artists. He tells me about growing up in Chicago and about his brother, Luca. I tell him more about Lymric and my grandpa, and soon our plates are cleared, and Milo is standing and offering me his hand.

He leads me out to his truck and I smile as he helps me up into the passenger seat.

“Thanks.”

“Oh, Lilou, it’s never a hardship to have my hands on your body,” he whispers as he leans in to press a kiss to my lips.

I grin, and he kisses me once more before he closes the door and heads around to climb behind the wheel. We make the short drive back to our apartment, and he holds my hand the entire way.

“I’ll get your door for you,” he says once he’s parked, and I wait for him to hop out and open my door for me.

Then he’s taking my hand in his and leading me up to our apartment. I unlock the door, and he closes it behind us and flips the lock.

“We should pack,” he says, and I nod, but I have other things that I’d rather do right now.

I start to walk towards him, and I see him swallow hard when he catches the heated look in my eyes.

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