The butterflies in Erin’s stomach started to flap their wings. And not the fun, tingly kind one felt right before a first kiss, but the kind that threatened to bring up breakfast if she wasn’t careful. “You wouldn’t. I mean, we’re just friends and . . .” Her face grew hot. “We haven’t known each other long.”

“Don’t fret, hon. We’re not prying. Just wondering,” Tamara said. “Did you want something to drink? Water, soda? They don’t keep anything stronger here.”

“No, no. I probably shouldn’t stay. I was just . . .” A nervous wreck with worry.

Kim pulled a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator and handed it to Erin. “You don’t have to explain it to us. We understand being a mess when the guys are out there. That’s why we’re here,” she indicated.

That replaced her frown with a smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t know either one of your husbands. This must be awful for you. I’m just a friend and . . .”

Tamara grinned. “Right. I like to say it gets easier.”

Kim removed the wrap from a batch of cookies. “Do you own a bakery?”

Erin shook her head. “I bake when I’m nervous.”

“Oh, boy. This was just a small fire. I wonder what it will look like with a weeklong wildfire.”

She swallowed at the thought. “Do you guys cook here all the time?”

“Oh, no. This is the first real fire of the season. Kim and I like to do this for them. On bigger fires they never get back to the station and there is plenty of food at the camps. Smaller ones like this are really more about us not going crazy while they’re out.” Tamara nodded to Kim. “Christina was here a little bit ago, but we sent her home after we heard from the guys.”

“Who’s Christina?” Erin asked.

“Jessie’s wife.”

Kim must have read the blank stare on her face. “You’ll meet them all, don’t worry. Christina is very pregnant. We told her we’d call if anything changed.”

The thought of meeting anyone made her jumpy. “I should probably—”

“How did you meet Matt?” Tamara asked.

“My friend is dating his brother.”

“How long have you been dating?”

Erin blinked several times. “We’re just friends.”

Kim and Tamara exchanged glances. “Ah, huh . . . right.” Kim lifted a brownie. “These are fabulous.”

Not realizing she’d sat or that she’d downed half the bottle of water, Erin stood. “I really should be going.”

The words no sooner left her lips than the distinctive sound of a motorized door opening caught their attention.

“Looks like they’re back.”

Erin lost her smile. How the heck was she going to explain her presence to Matt?

 

He was hungry, filthy, and pumped full of adrenaline.

“Looks like we’re getting a hot meal after all,” Tom said into their headsets as they pulled the truck up to the garage.

In the parking lot Matt noticed a couple of extra cars. He liked that sometimes the wives, and even a husband or two, would be at the station when they returned from a fire with hot food and a fresh audience to talk about the day. On long calls, his mom had been known to join the families of the firefighters and help out. It was a win-win for all of them.

The fire had been fast and furious and quickly controlled because of the lack of wind and the fact that the brush hadn’t completely dried out. Crews were still out mopping it up, and he was on the list of volunteers to take the extra shift the next day. Overtime was a wonderful thing. That would mean missing out on the barbeque with Erin, but he didn’t think she’d mind. In fact, it might even make her think about him a little more and perhaps be quicker to say yes to a real date.

Tom backed the truck into the station, and they all climbed out of the rig.

The captain left them to the task of hooking up the exhaust pipe and readying the truck for the next call before they dragged their dirty butts inside the station.

“Feels like we wore off the winter rust,” Tom said.

Matt offered a fist bump. “Couldn’t agree more. Ready for the next one.” In Southern California, there was always a “next one.”

One step inside the station and his senses were met with the smell of garlic and spices that put his stomach into overdrive.

He noticed the captain holding Tamara in the middle of the kitchen and Kim sliding in close to Tom as they cleared the door.

“We told Christina to go home, Jessie. You need to call her before taking your shower.”

Jessie was already on his phone.

Matt turned to head to the shower when he saw her.

He blinked several times.

“Erin?”

She stood on the other side of the farm-style table behind a mound of food. Her hands nervously folded in front of her, and she shuffled her feet. “Hi.”

Matt wasn’t sure what he was thinking. He would reflect later, and realize he probably wasn’t. His feet moved until he stood in front of her and his hand reached out. One minute she was watching him nervously, and the next he was tilting her face in his hands and his lips were reaching for hers.

The second their lips touched, the adrenaline in his system peaked in a way a fire couldn’t achieve regardless of how dangerous it became.

She tasted like sunshine and spring rain all at the same time.

Erin gasped, or maybe it was him. But she didn’t pull away. And when his brain caught up with his actions, he held on just a little longer. “You’re here.”

Her face was beet red, her eyes wide with surprise, and her gaze focused on his lips. “I was, uhm . . .”

He knew he wasn’t going to stop smiling anytime soon. “Worried?”

She offered three tiny nods.

Matt moved his hands to her shoulders and saw the smudge of soot he left in his wake. He tried to smooth it off with his thumb and made it worse.

Much as he didn’t want to stop touching her, he let his hand fall. “I need to shower.”

She was still speechless.

“Don’t leave.” He was pretty sure he had to tell her that or she would.

“Uhm . . .”

“Please.”

Erin brought her fingertips to her lips. “Okay.”

He reached for a paper towel and handed it to Erin before walking away.

The captain and Tom followed.

He heard Tamara’s voice as he walked out of the room. “Just friends, huh?”

 

Erin was numb.

She looked at the paper towel in her hand and found it just as confusing as what had happened. Matt had kissed her.

And she’d let him.

In front of his coworkers.

Kim walked up to her and laughed. “You have a little . . .” She made a swiping motion at her cheek.

“There’s a bathroom over there,” Tamara said, pointing.

That sounded perfect.

Erin hustled behind the bathroom door, immediately noticed the soot on her face and the gleam in her eyes. She ran the water and washed away Matt’s touch. Then she stood over the sink staring at herself.

He’d kissed her.

And God help her, she’d kissed him back.

Wait, had she? She closed her eyes and recalled his kiss, the second before his lips touched hers and the fluttering inside her belly. She’d noticed the day’s grime on him when he walked through the back door, and the way his eyes found hers and held. He’d reached for her without thought. As if he’d done so a hundred times and kissing her was a natural thing instead of a first-time thing.