The Firefighter's Family Secret

by Shirley Jump

  “You look incredible,” he said. Even that wasn’t the right word for how beautiful she was, in the darkened room, with only the moonlight dancing through the windows, casting her in an ethereal glow.

  “And you look...tempting.” A slow, seductive smile curved across her face as she rose up on her elbows then reached out and tugged him forward by a belt loop. “Too tempting.”

  “I could say the same about you.” He reached for the hem of her T-shirt and tugged it up and over her head, revealing a lacy white bra beneath. He ran a finger along the scalloped edge then dipped inside the cup and brushed against her nipple. She gasped, and that made him smile. “Very, very tempting.”

  That blush he loved filled her cheeks. “I wore it because... Well, I didn’t know...”

  Just the thought that she had worn this for him, on the off chance they’d end up here, flattered Colton. He would have to show her how very much.

  He reached for the fly of her jeans. She lifted her hips and he undid the fastener, then the zipper, and tugged the denim off. When he saw the scrap of matching panties, he dropped the jeans on the floor, not even caring where they ended up.

  He climbed onto the bed, and Rachel lay down beneath him, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open, anticipation filling her face. He brushed a kiss across her lips, her cheeks, then down her jaw, along her neck, lingering in the valley of her shoulders. She arched against him, and he splayed his palm, sliding it down her belly, over the mound between her legs, feeling her through the lace. She was wet already, ready for him, but he wasn’t about to rush something this incredible.

  He kissed every inch of skin between her neck and her breasts. She was warm and sweet, and smelled like vanilla and spice. He peeled down the silky strap of her bra, one side then the other, and her breasts rose above the lacy cups. He nudged back the lace and took one nipple in his mouth. Rachel gasped, and when he put his hand between her legs, she ground against the touch. Her breathing came in faster and faster gasps. Then he slid a finger under the lace of her panties and rubbed at the tender, hard bud between her legs, never taking his attention off her nipple. Rachel bucked up against him and let out a long, long, shuddering breath.

  “Oh...oh, my. That...that’s never happened before. Not...that easily.” Another of those blushes he loved appeared on her cheeks.

  “Then we should do it again. And again.” He grinned.

  “First, I think we should be equally naked.” She tugged at his shirt, working her way through the buttons then sliding it over and off his shoulders. Her hands followed the fabric’s path down his arms until it lay on the floor and her hands had slid around to his waist. She undid the button fly and shoved his jeans and underwear down in one fell swoop.

  He climbed onto the bed beside her and rolled Rachel on top of him, undoing the clasp on the back of her bra, then urging her panties down and off. He reached over the side of the bed, tugged his wallet out of his back pocket and found a condom.

  “Let me,” she whispered, taking the foil packet from him. She nudged him onto his back then straddled his thighs, and in one deft movement, unfurled the condom and slid it along his erection.

  This woman was full of surprises. He’d expected someone who blushed as easily as she did to be shy in bed, but as Rachel raised her hips and slid onto his sheathed penis, he realized she was anything but shy. And he was pretty much done thinking for a while.

  She was glorious on top of him, riding him with sure and steady strokes, her breasts full and perfect in the moonlight. He cupped them with his palms, letting his thumbs circle over the nipples. She clutched his hands and moaned, then increased her pace.

  She arched back a little, deepening his entry into her, and a second later she was riding him hard and fast, and the gasps were turning into breathless words of nothing, and then she came again, and he damned near lost it.

  Instead, he flipped her over and braced himself above her head. “You are amazing. Surprising. Intoxicating.”

  That blush again, that captivating blush that had him hooked from the first day. “And you are a serious flatterer.”

  “Because I’m—” He let out a breath, figured why not say it; where had not saying how he felt gotten him in life? “Falling for you.”

  “Falling...for me?”

  “Falling,” he whispered, dancing a finger across her lips, “for you. In a big way.”

  She smiled, and that sweet smile hit him somewhere deep in his chest. Suddenly, this wasn’t sex, it wasn’t a moment of relief, it was more. A connection.

  And when he slid into her, she reached up to draw him even closer and their strokes quickened, the connection quadrupled, and Colton knew he wasn’t just falling for Rachel Morris—he was falling hard.

  Chapter Nine

  Colton left a little after midnight. As content as Rachel had felt, curled in his arms after some seriously amazing sex, a level of panic began to set in when her mind finally processed the words I’m falling for you.

  Because she was falling for him, too, and that thought scared the hell out of her. He wasn’t staying in town—as far as she knew—and she still had a life too full for a relationship. The old familiar fears, the same ones that had made her keep all her other boyfriends at arm’s length, began to creep in. What if she fell for him and made a mistake? Landed in an unhappy marriage, like her parents had?

  She’d planned dozens of weddings, watched dozens of couples say I do. And at the end of the year, maybe six out of ten were still as happy as the day they walked down the aisle. She’d seen the giddy, infatuated stage yield to frustration and resentment, and watched those very dreams dissolve for some of the couples she had worked for. It had made her skittish, unwilling to risk her own heart.

  Until she met Colton.

  And now, in the warm glow of the dark hours after he had left, lying in her bed, with the scent of him still on her sheets and skin, she began to wonder if maybe...just maybe, it was time for her fairy tale, too.

  * * *

  Colton wound his way through the dark streets of Stone Gap, with Rachel’s building growing more and more distant in his rearview mirror. He should have stayed in her bed, with her in his arms, but after saying he was falling for her, he’d begun to realize how quickly this had all become so cozy and intimate, and that maybe it would be a good idea to apply the brakes.

  Okay, so he was a guy and he thought of that after they’d made love.

  He’d realized how easy it would be to fall asleep in that bed, to spend a night with her and wake up to her smile—and all the implications that would come with that. Like that he was staying around. That he wanted something permanent here in Stone Gap. When he wasn’t sure what he wanted or where he was going.

  A storm was beginning to brew, and lightning crackled in the sky, some bolts so close it bathed the car’s interior in white, but Colton hardly noticed. His mind was back on Rachel. He missed her already, and had started missing her the second he said goodbye.

  Half of him wanted to turn around. The other half said it was a good thing he hadn’t stayed.

  This town was settling on him, like easing into a comfortable sweater. Tomorrow morning, he decided, he was going to go to Harry Washington and tell him about what had happened in Atlanta. And if Harry still wanted him to be part of the Stone Gap Fire Department, then Colton was going to take the job. Atlanta no longer held the appeal that this tiny town—and one particular woman in this town—did.

  As he turned the corner onto Main Street, he saw a flicker of light ahead of him. At first he thought it was a streetlight going bad, but then the flicker showed orange, and he knew, with that pit of dread in his stomach, what the light really meant.

  Fire.

  He had no gear, he had no hose, no water. He gunned the car and closed the distance between himself and the flickering flames. Th
e fire was licking up the side of the building housing Ernie’s Hardware. Colton brought the car to a stop, dug out his phone and dialed 9-1-1.

  “There’s a fire at the intersection of Main and Berry,” he said to the dispatcher. “Small, but not contained, on the exterior wall of the hardware shop.”

  “Is anyone inside?” the dispatcher asked.

  “Not that—” Then Colton saw a shadow pass in front of the window and he let out a curse. “Yes, yes, someone’s inside. I’m going in.”

  “Sir, wait for the fire department. Sir—”

  But Colton was already gone, and the dispatcher was talking to the empty interior of his car.

  The flames were moving faster now, spreading up the wooden exterior so quickly it seemed the fire was devouring the building like a late-night snack. In minutes it would be inside, and whoever was inside the building—

  Colton didn’t finish that train of thought. He ran across the street, straight toward the wood-and-glass door of the shop. He tried the handle, but it was locked. He pounded on the door, but there was no response. Had he really seen someone? Or was it his imagination?

  He peered into the glass, but the interior was dark. Nothing but shapes, straight edges of shelves and boxes. Then the flames ate through the exterior wall, and orange light danced over the shop. Maybe he’d been mistaken. Maybe he’d seen the reflection of a passing car or something else.

  There, on the floor, was the shape of a man. Oh, God. He wasn’t moving.

  Colton drew back and slammed his shoulder against the door. It refused to yield. He did it again. A third time. The door was thick and locked tight.

  Panic drummed in his chest, but he tamped it down. Focus—that was what he needed to do. Focus on what he had been trained to do.

  He spun around, looking for something, anything to help him gain entry. The sound of sirens began to rise in the distance, but they were too far away. They’d never make it in time. If he didn’t get in there—

  No. He wasn’t going to think about that. This wasn’t Willis and Foster. And there was still time for Colton to find a way in, to save whoever was lying on that floor.

  He saw a small wooden bench outside the shop next door. He yanked it up and hurled it through the plate-glass window, straight through the display of tackle boxes and waders and the small sign advertising night crawlers. The closed sign blinked and then went out, as the glass shattered and the window fell apart in a cacophony of sound.

  Colton climbed over the sill, careful not to touch the jagged edges. “Where are you?” he called out.

  No response.

  “I’m coming to get you. Just hold on.” He didn’t know if he was talking to someone who was still alive, but that didn’t stop Colton from moving forward.

  The flames were growing on the eastern wall, shivering up the paneled interior like macabre curtains. The smoke was growing thicker, and Colton raised his arm to cover his mouth. His eyes watered, his throat burned and the heat was rising, threatening to burn. But he pushed forward, shoving aside the jumbled mess from the broken window. He rounded the corner, passing the very register where he had first seen Rachel, and there, on the floor, was Ernie.

  He wasn’t moving. In the dark, Colton wasn’t even sure if he was breathing. There was no time to check. There was only hoisting Ernie onto his shoulders and turning for the exit as the flames caught the new inrush of air and spread into the room like a mushroom cloud.

  * * *

  The phone was ringing.

  Rachel clawed her way out of a deep sleep, vaguely aware that this wasn’t a dream, and fumbled for her phone on the bedside table. “Hello?”

  “Rachel? It’s Harry Washington.”

  The fire chief? Why was he calling her at—she glanced at the clock—two thirty in the morning? After Colton had left, she had spent an hour or so working on a plan that might—just might—allow her to take on Ginny’s wedding and work at the shop, before finally going to sleep a little after one. She struggled into a sitting position and pushed the hair out of her eyes. “Okay.”

  “There’s been a fire at the store. Your dad was there, but—”

  Fire? Her father? Had she heard Harry right? No, it was impossible. Her father was sitting at the kitchen table talking to Daryl when she left. “Are you sure? Is he okay? Where is he?”

  “He’s at the hospital,” Harry said. “He’s...he’s had a tough time of it, and I don’t know what his condition is right now. But Colton is there with him.”

  “I’m on my way.” She hung up the phone, pulled on the first clothes she could find and ran out the door. She drove through town, taking the turn that would take her past the store.

  All this time, she’d been hoping Harry was wrong. That it was some kind of terrible prank call. But the sight of the Stone Gap Fire Department fire trucks parked on Main Street, the firefighters hosing down the last of the embers and the acrid, heavy scent of burned wood and plastic spoke the truth. Oh, God. Dad.

  Rachel detoured from the chaos in front of the store and concentrated on getting to the hospital. Whatever had happened to the shop—and whether it was salvageable or not—would have to wait. It didn’t matter, as long as her father was okay.

  A few minutes later she’d arrived at the small local hospital and found her father’s room. The hospital was quiet, save for the occasional beep of a machine and the low murmur of voices in other rooms. She ducked into his room, her heart in her throat.

  Colton sat in the chair beside her father’s bed. He had his head in his hands, his pale blue shirt smudged with soot, his hair and face mussed and dirty. He looked up when she entered and got to his feet.

  “How is he?” she whispered. She almost didn’t want to ask the question. Didn’t want to hear that her father had some fatal injury or that he wasn’t going to wake up. She could see his still body beneath the white sheets, looking thin and fragile.

  “He’s exhausted. Suffered some smoke inhalation, but he’s going to be okay.” Colton moved in front of her and waited until her gaze met his. “He’s going to be fine, Rachel. Just fine.”

  She peered around Colton. To her, her father looked far from fine. “Are you sure?”

  Colton cupped her cheeks and waited for her to look at him again. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  Only then did relief flood the places that had been filled with panic. Only then could she focus on Colton for a second, on his sooty clothes and the way he smelled like smoke. “What happened to you? Why are you such a mess?”

  “Because that damned fool jumped through the window to save this damned fool,” her father muttered from the bed.

  Rachel dashed to her father’s bedside and sank onto the mattress. She took her father’s hand in her own. “Dad. Are you okay?”

  Her father’s eyes fluttered open and he nodded. He coughed, then cleared his throat, but still his voice remained raspy. “Nothing a little time at home can’t solve. Once they let me out of this place. Doctor wants me to stay overnight.”

  She pressed her cheek to her father’s, so happy to have the rough stubble of his unshaven face against hers, to smell the Old Spice cologne he’d worn as long as she could remember. His cologne was mixed with the smell of smoke, but he was here, alive and complaining and exactly the way he’d always been. “What were you doing in the store late at night?”

  “Got it in my foolish head that I wanted to check on things. I got all excited by today and talking to Daryl about fishing. Made me miss the place. I couldn’t sleep—” he paused to cough “—so I walked down there and thought I’d just see how the old girl was holding up. Lightning hit the building and next thing I know, it’s hotter than hell and I can’t breathe. They say I passed out, but I don’t remember much after the lightning.”

  She hugged him tight. Later, she would lecture him about going to the s
hop alone, in the middle of the night, especially with a storm in the air. But for now she had gratitude, and she didn’t want to spoil that moment of blessing. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Thank Colton,” her father said. “I can’t believe he did such a stupid thing.”

  “It wasn’t stupid, sir. It was my job.”

  She turned to Colton and reached for his hand, drawing him into the circle of light cast by the lamp over her father’s head. How did she get so lucky to have this man drop into her life at exactly the right time? She wanted to thank him, but her heart filled her throat.

  “You’re welcome,” Colton said softly, then his gaze cut away.

  Every time she thanked him or praised him, he brushed it off. Because he was humble? Embarrassed? She didn’t care. He deserved the praise times a thousand. She squeezed his fingers. “See? I told you that you’re a hero.”

  “No, I’m not, Rachel.” His eyes clouded over and his body tensed. “Please stop saying that. I got lucky this time. It might not happen again.” He walked to the door, then turned back to meet her confused, hurt gaze. “I’m glad your father is okay.”

  Then he turned on his heel and left the room. The scent of smoke still lingered in the air, but the danger had already passed.

  Chapter Ten

  Colton paced his room at the Stone Gap Inn then took a walk and finally returned to his room to pace again for the rest of the night—in the few hours of darkness left—feeling useless. Yes, he’d gotten Ernie out in time, but he hadn’t been there soon enough to stop the fire, to stop Ernie from even entering the building in the first place. He should have seen it sooner, should have reacted faster. Maybe then Rachel’s father wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed.