It was glorious.

He’d kissed her with such care and softness she’d gasped and leaned closer.

Yep! She’d kissed him back.

“Oh, God.” Now she needed to face him again.

Him and his entire crew.

Twenty minutes later Matt and the others were dressed in their blue uniform pants and LA County Firefighter T-shirts. They dug into the pile of food like teenage kids walking in the door after school.

“This kind of eating makes me wish for a low-key fire every day,” Tom said as he dished a healthy portion of garlic mashed potatoes onto his plate.

“You just don’t like to cook,” Jessie told him.

Tom shrugged.

“If it makes you feel any better, we don’t like to eat what you cook either,” Matt roasted his friend.

Erin sat quietly watching the banter with a grin. This was the largest group of strangers she’d sat down with since moving to California. And there were only five people at the table she didn’t know. Maci, the woman she was before, loved this kind of thing. But Erin . . . yeah, she wasn’t comfortable in groups of people. This intimate setting was bound to move on to the get to know you questions. And those required well-practiced lies. Good thing there wasn’t any alcohol at the table. She’d drunk enough with Parker to realize that she sucked at keeping her secrets after a few drinks.

“There’s nearly as much for dessert as there is for dinner, so leave some room,” Tamara told them.

“Did you make a cobbler?” Anton asked his wife.

“No. Erin brought dessert,” she told him.

Kim giggled but didn’t say more.

Matt leaned over. “Did you bring brownies?”

That was an easy question. “I did.”

He winced.

“What? I thought you liked them.”

“Your brownies are biblical and introducing them to these guys could be dangerous.”

There was such pride in his voice it was hard not to smile.

“Biblical, huh?” Jessie asked.

Matt shook his head. “No. Actually, you won’t like them at all. I’ll save you the trouble and take them home.”

“Now I have to try them, diet or not,” Tamara said.

“You don’t need to lose weight . . .” Kim changed the subject, and before long the bulk of them were talking like any close family would.

Anton was the boss of this family, with Jessie being the baby. Not that any of them were old or young . . . it was just how it worked. Kim was Tom’s second wife. Anton and Tamara had been married “forever” as she put it before leaning over and kissing her husband. Jessie was a newlywed with a baby on the way.

“How did you two meet?” Tamara turned the conversation on Erin and Matt.

Erin paused long enough for Matt to answer. “Through Colin. His fiancée is Erin’s landlord.”

“I didn’t know Colin had a fiancée,” Tom said.

“It’s not official yet,” Erin added and looked at Matt. “Unless you know something I don’t know.”

“I’m sure he’s popped the question by now,” Matt said. He turned to the others at the table. “He and Parker are in Cabo. He’s putting a ring on it before the end of the weekend.”

“But will she say yes?” Jessie asked.

Everyone looked at Erin.

“Yes. She will,” she said.

Matt smiled.

Tamara tilted her head. “That’s wonderful. This is the girl that lives at the top of Creek Canyon, right? Where all the flooding was?”

Matt nodded. “Yeah. Erin lives in her guesthouse. It’s been a crazy winter for all of them.”

Several sets of eyes turned to her.

“That must have been awful. First the fire, then the flooding,” Kim said.

“I moved in after the fire. But Parker told me it was like living through hell,” Erin told them.

Anton pushed his empty plate aside and leaned back. “The Creek Canyon fire was one of the worst we’ve seen here. The way it exploded out of that canyon didn’t give any time for air attacks or hand crews and dozers to cut a line. I’m surprised we didn’t lose more homes.”

From there the men talked about the fire they were just on. How it behaved, what they did to save homes. As the conversation rolled on and on, Erin realized this was why the wives were a part of this first fire of the season. The firefighters—Matt’s friends—discussed their day in a way that decompressed everyone at the table. Fire was normal to them. What would scare the average person was their daily life. Or at least it was potentially a daily part of their life. Erin learned that every wildfire they’d been called to so far that year had been contained within an hour. She also discovered that the next wildfire that caught would result in phone calls and not sit-down dinners at the station.

“Normally, if a fire goes on for any length of time, a new crew is brought here to man the station while we’re out on the line.” There were three shifts at the station. A, B, and C. They were B shift, which meant this crew worked together most of the time. But that didn’t mean they didn’t work with others at the station.

Erin had a lot to learn.

When Tamara stood up and grabbed a dish, everyone else followed.

No one stayed sitting while they cleaned up the dinner mess. Any leftovers were put in containers so the wives could take them home.

“What is all that?” Jessie indicated an entire counter piled up with foil-wrapped goodies.

“Dessert,” Kim told him. “I hope you left room.”

Matt turned to Erin. “How many brownies did you make?”

She blinked several times. “I like to bake.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Matt walked Erin out of the station and to her car parked on the street. “You can park in the lot next time.”

“You’re assuming there’s going to be a next time.” The smile on her face told him she was teasing.

Yet with Erin, one could never be sure. He leaned against her car door so he could spend a few more minutes with her alone before she said goodbye. “I was surprised to see you here.”

She had the most beautiful eyes. Sky blue, but not pale, wide and innocent . . . the kind he could drown in.

“I was a little shocked myself,” she said.

“You do realize you made enough desserts to make us all diabetic.”

That made her laugh.

He liked her laugh. Now if only he could make her look him in the eye.

“I’m sorry I’m going to miss tomorrow’s barbeque.”

“It’s okay. It’s late. I’ll probably sleep in and Austin and Mallory will order pizza.”

He really wanted to see those eyes looking at him. “Still sorry I’m going to miss it. I mean, unless they like anchovies. Then never mind.”

Bingo. Her eyes met his with a smile that lit them up.

Then he said what he knew would result in her looking away. But with this woman, he knew instinctively that talking was to his advantage. So he channeled his little sister. “I kissed you.”

Her gaze immediately dropped to her feet. “I noticed.”

“You didn’t pull away.”

Her hands started a personal tug-of-war with the strap of her purse that hung from her shoulder. “I noticed that, too.”