Page 16 of Single Mom for the Firemen

Honestly, tonight went a lot better than I imagined it would. The guys seem a lot more relaxed this time around, now that they know I’m not trying to burn down the forest on purpose or whatever. I guess it was a good way to make a terrible first impression, but still. I was just trying to make a damn pie.

But tonight was actually…fun. I thought it would just be a chance to lay down the groundwork for something else, but it feels as though we’re already making steps toward a real friendship. They were all so sweet with Callie too—giving her lots of attention and compliments for everything she did to make dinner. She doesn’t spend a lot of time with men, so it’s nice for her to get some positive male influence in her life.

When I get back to the kitchen, my eyes widen at the sight of everything nearly entirely tidied away and taken care of.

“You…you got through that fast!”

Killian, who’s drying his hands on a towel, shrugs.

“Military efficiency in everything I do. It’s one of the things they teach you in the SEALs.”

I laugh. “Even when it comes to washing dishes?”

“Especially when it comes to washing dishes.”

I notice that he’s left two glasses of wine out on the counter—the only thing left there. Hmm, almost as if he’s trying to suggest something, huh…?

I head over to grab a glass, leaning on the same side of the counter as him.

“Thank you for helping out,” I remark. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a guy do the washing-up for me after a date.”

I freeze as soon as the word is out of my mouth. Oh, no. Oh,shit.Did I just say that this was a date? Because—because it’s not. No way, it’s not. It was just a chance for me to get to know them, and if I think of it as a date, that’s just because…

“Not one?” he replies, sounding surprised, but not for the reason I thought he would. I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?”

He falls silent as he takes a drink from his wine glass beside me.

“Oh,” he murmurs, leaning in close to me. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you calling it a date.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Crap! How could I have been so stupid? I wish I felt more embarrassed, but truthfully, the playfulness in his tone tells me that he’s far from averse to the thought of this being some kind of date.

“I don’t know if I should be offended by it or not, though,” he continues, turning to face me. I take in the sight of him for a moment—his brown eyes with a teasing glint in them, his dark hair with streaks of silver at the temples that just make me want him more, the cocky way he smiles at me… There’s something about the way he’s looking at me right now that sends shivers through every inch of my body—even though I know for damn sure I shouldn’t be letting myself even think like that.

“Why?” I shoot back. I can’t remember the last time a man looked at me like this. All I know is that in this moment, I have missed it more than anything in the world.

“Because my two brothers were here,” he murmurs, reaching past me to put his wine glass on the counter. “So I don’t know if you’re happy that I stayed behind, or if you wanted all three.”

My lips part in shock. What is he talking about…?

But before I can think about it any further, he leans forward and plants his lips against mine—and everything else falls out of my mind.

He slips his arms around my waist, pulling me against him hungrily, his tongue plunging into my mouth as his teeth catch on my lip. It’s the kind of kiss that knocks every breath from my lungs, my whole body collapsing into his, my mouth moving against his as though it’s the most important thing in my life right now…

And when he pulls back for a moment, he brushes his nose against mine, and a slightly cocky smile curls up his lips.

“So?” he says.

“So what?” I pant back. As if I can rememberanythingthat happened before his lips found mine.

“You think you can stand having me to yourself tonight?”

I don’t bother with an answer. He doesn’t need one. He already knows it. I sink my mouth into his again, putting my wine glass aside, and he reaches down to hitch me off the ground and onto the counter, so I can wrap my legs around him, the folds of my dress spilling around me onto the marble countertop below.

His hands are hungry and insistent as they move all over my body, pushing up beneath my skirt, gripping my thighs. I don’t know what’s happening, but I know that it has been way too long since I’ve had it happen to me. I haven’t been with anyone since Johnny passed—sure, a couple of dates here and there, mostly to keep my friends off my back, but never all the way. Usually, itfeels too vulnerable, too dangerous, to let someone into my life like that.

But as Killian reaches his hand up into my panties, that falls away. His fingers graze against the outside of my folds, just teasing me, and I feel a flood of pleasure course through my system.

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