Page 6 of Single Mom for the Firemen

As they continue to talk, I look around to her place once more. I have to admit, though I’m not going to be thirsting after her like Killian is, there is a part of me that’s curious about what this woman is doing here. I’ve never seen that place occupied, not in the few years we’ve lived out here—why would she move into it now? And with a daughter? It doesn’t seem like the best place to raise a kid, but maybe if the alternative is something much worse, this is the best place for them…

But that’s none of my business. And if she keeps her head down and doesn’t land herself in any more trouble, then I don’t see any reason why we’d have to encounter each other again.

And I know that should be a good thing. But instead, I feel a tug of disappointment at my chest when the thought crosses my mind.

Maybe Killian’s got more of a point than I’d care to admit.

3

KILLIAN

“Anything?”

Mason’s voice crackles through the radio, checking in on me now that I’m out on patrol. I lift mine to my mouth to reply.

“Nothing,” I assure him. “All quiet out here. You guys are fine. I’m going to go around the lake, and then I’ll be done.”

“Sure. Tell us if you need anything.”

“Will do.”

With that, the radio falls silent again, and I tuck it into the loop of my belt. I’m not expecting to come across anything out here, if I’m being honest. It’s too early in the summer for the campers and other problem-makers to have turned out, but we like to get on our patrol routine early, to make sure we’re ready to react if anything does take a turn for the worse. And besides, it’s beautiful out here. That’s not the reason we came out to the woods like this, but it’s a damn good bonus to get to enjoy the changing seasons and the fresh air, far from the city.

The grass is soft beneath my boots as I duck beneath a tree branch to turn onto the path that leads around the watering hole. This is one of my favorite places to stroll this time of year, and soon enough, it’s going to be inundated with people swimming and cooking and camping. Best to soak up the last few weeks of quiet before it all kicks off.

And besides, I was getting restless in the cabin. After what happened a couple of days ago, I’ve been itching to get out and see if I can accidentally-on-purpose run into that woman again. I don’t even know her name, but she’s been burned onto my mind ever since I laid eyes on her. That little towel, her full breasts poking out over the top of it as she remonstrated with Jake, her thick thighs…fuck, I’ve been out here without a woman in sight for way too long.

And that’s not exactly something I’m used to, even now. Sure, when Jake and Mason told me their plans to move out here and do their public service as firefighters to keep any more forest fires from spreading to the local township, I came with them—to make sure they didn’t go stir-crazy out in a cabin alone, as much as anything else. And maybe I needed a chance to get away from some drama I stirred up back in the city, with a few too many women I was seeing at one time. I swore off girls back then, convincing myself that I just couldn’t be trusted with them, but damn if I don’t miss the hell out of it sometimes.

You know, the whole game—the flirting, the touches, the heated looks, the first kiss, the hands all over my body as I move inside of her. Now that I’m nearing forty, I figured I’d grow out of my need to pick up chicks, but it seems like that’s just baked into who I am as a person. For better or for worse.

And now that there’s a hot girl living just a few hundred yards away from our home…well, it’s not fair to ask me not to notice that, right?

Reaching the path, I start around the watering hole, checking for any ashy remains that might indicate some campers have been around here. But just as I stoop down to check on some dark wood on the forest floor, I hear voices, and my head snaps up in time to see that woman and her daughter on the other side of the watering hole.

I straighten up again at once. Damn, can’t say I expected to run into her here—it’s like thinking about her hard enough has conjured her right in front of me, like some kind of mirage. It takes her a moment to spot me, but when she glances up and sees me on the other side of the small pool, her eyes widen.

“Hey!” she calls out to me, waving, and I make my way toward her. She’s holding her daughter’s hand as she wades into the shallow water. I glance around, half expecting to see a dad standing nearby, but there’s nobody. I grin and lift a hand.

“Hi,” I call back, and I arrive at the side of the pool she’s standing on. She’s a little more dressed now, not that I was complaining about the towel, in a pair of cut-off denim shorts and a light pink tee. I can’t help but notice the way her soft thighs are spilling out of the bottom of those jean shorts, my hands itching to brush against them.

“It’s too cold,” her daughter protests, pulling back from the water. “I’m going to go collect some sticks instead…”

“Okay, Callie, you do that,” she replies, ruffling her daughter’s hair before she sends her off into the woods. As soon as the girlis out of sight, the woman turns to me, plants her hands on her hips, and raises her eyebrows curiously.

“So, do firefighters do follow-up calls now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you guys were at my house the other day after the alarm went off,” she reminds me. “I didn’t expect to see you in the forest again so soon, unless you’re checking up on me?”

I chuckle and shake my head.

“We’re not checking up on you, you have my word,” I reply, planting a hand on my chest to prove how serious I am. “We just live here.”

She cocks her head to the side with interest.

“You live here?”

---