Burning Love (An Evans Mill Romance Book 3)

by Scarlett Brooks

  “Sure, dinner sounds great.”

  “I make it at home. Shrimp scampi, you’re favorite.”

  “Yes, it is. Thank you, Francesca.”

  After we got back to the firehouse, I was just about finished with my shift. And I knew exactly what I needed to do.

  I needed to see Willow again.

  I didn’t know what it was about fighting a fire, but it always pushed me to take action. Maybe it reminded me that life could go up in flames in an instant and I needed to seize it when I could. Willow was in the back of my mind all day, and I knew it wouldn’t stop until I saw her again.

  The second I got into my truck and gave her a call.

  “Hello?” she answered on the first ring and a large smile spread across my lips.

  “Hey, it’s Kalen.”

  “Kalen… hmm, I don’t know anyone named Kalen,” she said.

  “The fireman carried your friend out of Scrubby’s,” I said chuckling. She let out a loud laugh.

  “It was getting late, I didn’t think I was going to hear from you today.”

  “We had a call at the station, so work was a little longer than I expected.”

  “Is everything alright?” I could hear the concern in her voice.

  “Yeah, everything is fine. It was just a small fire at Mia’s. It looked a lot worse than it actually was. We were able to get it out pretty easily.”

  “Well that’s good,” she said. “So what are you up to now?”

  “Well, I was hoping I could take you out.”

  “I think I can do that, Vic is still nursing her hangover so I don’t think she will be going anywhere tonight.”

  “Man she was a wreck last night,” I said laughing.

  “You don’t even know the half of it,” she sighed.

  “Well, I can pick you up in about ten minutes. Sound good?”

  “Sounds great. See you then.”

  “Ok you are supposed to get the ball to hit the pins, not run it in the gutter every time,” I said with a laugh.

  “It’s my strategy,” she said mischievously as she sat down next to me on the bench.

  “Strategy huh? How so?” I said as I stood up and grabbed a bowling ball from the machine.

  “To make you think I’m terrible. Then in the last frame, I will get all the points.”

  “You have no idea how this game is scored do you?”

  “Alright fine, you got me. I haven’t been bowling since I was a kid.”

  I turned around and threw the ball down the lane. It towed the edge of the gutter. I’d show her how to play.

  “See you suck at this game too!” Willow exclaimed.

  “Just watch,” I said with a smirk. Just then the ball turned and hit the pins dead center giving me a strike.

  “Show off,” she teased.

  “Well maybe I am trying to show off,” I said.

  “You don’t need to show off. The second you mentioned you were a fireman, you had me interested.” I let out a loud laugh. What was it with women and firemen?

  “Have a fantasy there for a fireman do you?”

  “Doesn’t every woman?”

  “It’s the suspenders isn’t it?”

  “Totally the suspenders,” she said smiling.

  We finished up our game quickly. Every time she was up, I couldn’t help but stare at her figure. Her curves fit perfectly into the jeans and top she was wearing. She noticed my stares because each time she seemed to bend a little deeper.

  Willow was trouble, and she totally knew it.

  I won, obviously, a by a lot.

  “You wanna get a drink?” I asked, hoping this date wasn’t over yet.

  “I guess loser pays?” She asked coyly.

  “Nah, I got this.”

  “I could pay you know, I owe you pretty big.”

  “Fine, I guess I won’t make a lady feel like her money isn’t good.”

  “A true feminist,” she laughed.

  We returned our shoes and wandered over to the bar. Luckily there were walls around the bar, so it was a little quieter over there. I could still hear the cheers from a strike, but we could talk at least. I was looking forward to getting to know more about her.

  “Two beers and an order of loaded fries,” she said to the bartender. She looked over to me, “Anything else?”

  “I mean if you’re paying, how about a steak sandwich too?”

  “Fabulous.”

  The bartender gave us our drinks and we walked over to a table to sit down.

  “Thanks for dinner, you really didn’t need to do that.” I didn’t want her to think I couldn’t afford it. Even though I had distanced myself from my family, I still had a full-time job, that I loved.

  “It’s the least I could do. Besides, you got me out of the house on my staycation. Which was great since Vic was too sick to do anything with me.”

  “Yeah, your vacation is kind of tough so far. Drunk cousin, and then stuck at home.”

  “I slept, which was nice actually. I’m always so busy at home, so sleeping until noon? Yeah, I don’t think I’ve done that since college.” The bartender arrived and set down our food. She offered me sauce for my sandwich before walking away.

  Willow took a bite of her fries. “These are pretty good. Yay for fried food, another luxury I don’t really partake in. What about you? Is it true about firemen, do you guys all eat together usually?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, that’s pretty accurate. And I mean the firehouse pays for that, so food is kind of an expense we don’t have to think about. And we never have to eat alone.”

  “Never lonely then?”

  “Ha, not really. And it’s always fast-paced, we always have a call or something to fix or clean. It’s a busy lifestyle for sure. What about your work?” I took a bite of my sandwich and she kind of zoned out for a second. “Not good?” I asked.

  “It’s… fine. It’s boring according to Victoria. But I like numbers. They’re predictable. Unlike people. I manage financial planning for companies. Big ones. Where people don’t bother you as long as the math is right. And I always make sure the math is right.”

  Smart and beautiful? This girl had it all. I continued to eat my sandwich as she spoke about her company. Lots of cubicles and people managing a lot of money. It definitely didn’t sound like something I would want to do, but that was ok. But by the time she was done speaking she sounded a little sad, or maybe tired.

  “But you love it?” I asked her, trying to figure out where this was coming from.

  She played with her food. “I did.” She paused again. “I don’t know, sometimes I feel like I might be in a rut. I mean I follow the same routine pretty much every day. It’s just me and my cat Gus. And the lady down the hall who cares for him when I’m at work. I think it gives her something to do. I go to the gym, but I run alone. I’m at about as high as I can go at my current company. I just feel like I’m not going anywhere. Being here, being spontaneous, hanging out with you, going to the local bar. It just all feels a bit slower but in a good way. Like I don’t have so much weight here.”

  I knew all too much about the pressure of the rat race. It was one of the reasons I became a firefighter. Yeah, there was pressure in my job. But it was real pressure, saving lives. Not the pressure imposed on you by society. “I get it. I mean you just want to live freely, but your own person. I think that’s admirable.”

  “Well thanks, but it’s just a dream. In a few days, I’ll go back to Denver and all this will be over. And that’ll be ok too.” She sighed.

  As we finished our food, I didn’t know if it would be ok though. I, for sure, wasn’t ready for her to leave.

  When we got back to Victoria’s place, I couldn’t help but wish the night wasn’t over. I got out of the truck and opened up the door for her. She smiled brightly.

  “Not used to doors being opened for you?”

  “Yeah, that isn’t something guys do in Denver.”

  “I always knew we were better than t
he big city.”

  “It sure is seeming that way,” she said with a laugh.

  I walked her up to the door. Silence surrounded us. She fumbled slightly with her keys and bit her lower lip. She looked down at her feet and shuffled her weight. A slow smile spread on my lips.

  She was stalling.

  I reached underneath her chin and pulled her face up to look at me. Her beautiful brown eyes sucked me in. I gently pulled her lips towards mine, and the moment they touched, sparks coursed through my body.

  My arms wrapped around her waist and I pulled her close. Her lips parted and our kiss deepened. My hands played with the seam of her shirt at her hips. I wanted nothing but to take it off and feel her skin against mine. I slid my hands under the seam and I heard her moan slightly. My pants became tight and I felt my cock harden.

  Then suddenly the front door opened.

  “Where the hell… ohhh sorry guys,” Victoria laughed.

  This girl was going to be the death of me.

  “Hi, Victoria, glad to see you back on your feet,” I said, attempting to make a good impression, since I doubted she remembered me, or anything else, from that night.

  “Heyyyyy,” she gave a little wave. She looked around nervously, “Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I had a little too much to drink. And oh my God, did I offer you mac and cheese?”

  Willow sighed and I laughed. “Yeah, you did.”

  “Did I ever give it to you? Or did I…” her face turned bright red. “God that’s when I vommed. I am SO sorry.”

  Willow responded, “Yeah not one of your best moments. Are you going somewhere?”

  “Nope, sorry I heard your voice and I was wondering where you went! You’ve been gone for hours, I texted you!”

  Willow pulled out her phone, “Crap yeah you did. Sorry.”

  “Anyway I’ll let you guys get back to whatever you were doing,” Victoria began to close the door. Just then my phone buzzed and it was the firehouse.

  “Actually I gotta go, this is the fire station.” My eyes scanned the text. “Looks like Levi needs me. I’ll call you soon.” I kissed her on the cheek and darted back to my truck. As much as I wanted to spend more time with Willow, duty called.

  Five

  Willow

  “Mrs. Damascus thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking care of Gus. I'm so glad to hear that he's ok.”

  I’d been in Evans Mill for about half a week, and I was missing little Gus more than I cared to admit. A feeling of sadness washed through my body and realized that Gus was the only thing I was really looking forward to returning to in Denver. I quickly shook my head as I tried to push the sadness away.

  Victoria opened the door to the apartment and sat down next to me on the couch. She had just gotten back from work, and I could smell the ground coffee on her. She pointed to the phone against my ear.

  I covered the receiver for a moment, “It's my old lady neighbor, she's watching my cat.”

  She nodded and then started to flip through her mail.

  “Yes, I'll be back at the end of the weekend. So if you can just stop by one more time that would be great. Thank you!”

  I hung up and set the phone down on the coffee table switching it out for the soda I had sitting there. “What you got there?”

  “Just the mail, that I haven't checked, in like a couple of weeks.”

  “Victoria! When are you going to learn how to adult?”

  “I don't want to. So essentially never. You work too hard anyway, so I'm definitely not looking at you as a potential role model in that situation.”

  “Oh really? I took an entire week off of work to come to hang out with you, in which you get completely trashed on the first night that I'm here and end up spending the whole next day recovering in bed.”

  “Yeah so? I gave you an opportunity to go bowling. How sweet is that? Bowling. Who takes somebody on a bowling date?”

  I could feel my cheeks flush. “Leave me alone.”

  “Never. Besides Kalen is so cute! I think it's adorable. And I think you're lucky that I drank a little too much.”

  “I rolled my eyes, a little too much?”

  “Ok fine. I had a rough night. But still, it ended up with you meeting super hot firefighter stranger guy.”

  She had a point. I hadn't really dated in a while and going out with Kalen was nice. Nicer than nice, way sexier than nice. He had this strong jawline that just made me weak in the knees. I felt like I was in some type of TV movie.

  “You like him don’t you?” she said as she plopped down next to me on the couch. I felt my face blush again. She lightly hit me on the shoulder.”You so do, don’t even deny it.”

  I hated that she was right. I’d never met anyone like Kalen. There was something that pulled me to him. Like a moth to a flame. But I had to question if these feelings were only happening because I was leaving soon. What if all of this was way more excited because I knew I would be gone?

  Even if my feelings were true, would it even matter? I was only here for a week. What could happen in that amount of time? Not much. And even if something did happen, how would it even work? While Evans Mill and Denver were both in Colorado, they weren’t that close to each other. Long distance relationships were not my thing. Especially one that would be as new as this one. I needed to focus on my life back in Denver. If Kalen wanted to go out again, I would, but that would probably be the end of our relationship. And I needed to accept that.

  “Well, it's not like anything is really going to come out of it, I'm going back to Denver at the end of the week.”

  “To what?” She said in a snappy tone.

  “Den-ver.” I said slowly, “Did the alcohol ruin your brain?” I laughed, but she didn't seem to find it as funny.

  “No, I mean what do you have in Denver? Your cat?”

  “And my job. I've worked really hard to be an account manager. I don't want to lose that.”

  “Number cruncher, right? That's all you really are, a human calculator. You have told me that so many times. You could get a job managing someone else's financials here in town, and you'd probably make more money because there's not really anybody who offers that type of service around here. You could set your own prices and your own hours and make a fortune living in a tiny town. You can probably buy a house in like less than a year.”

  “That's not true. Besides, there aren't even enough clients in this area that would need that type of service to hire me on full time. I have to be smart about my money, I am a Financial Consultant. It would look ridiculous if I just left a six-figure job to come live in Evans Mill. And do what, the books for your coffee shop? Or maybe the soap shop down the street? Do you think that would be enough to cover my bills? No way.” I get that Vic wanted me to stay but I had to be realistic. I had student loans that weren’t going to pay off themselves.

  She sighed and turned to face me on the couch. “Evans Mill is not just full of tiny little shops and small businesses. There are a couple of big companies around here, they just keep things quiet. I mean who do you think owns all the farmland around this area, and we lease all of our shops. Rarely does somebody actually own the building. There are a couple of pretty big real estate developers in the area and they definitely could get your salary to a point that you living here would make more sense. What do you have to lose by looking?”

  She had a point there. I could take half an hour and look up some local businesses to contact about a potential job. Or I could look at a local job board and see if there was anything that interested me. She was heading back to the coffee shop in a couple of hours just for a short shift but it would give me an opportunity to see what Evans Mill had to offer me. And maybe it would be worth looking into. And if not, then I could at least tell her I told you so. Which that feeling alone was totally worth a half an hour of my time. Either way, I had nothing to lose.

  “Fine, I'll look. But when there's nothing available you owe me a glass of wine.”

  She held
out her hand for me to shake. “It's a deal.”

  Six

  Willow

  I sat down on the sofa completely prepared for a day of leggings and scrolling through jobs on the internet. As much as I hated to admit it Victoria had been right. Yesterday I took a few minutes just to look through some potential options and there were more jobs here in Evans Mill than I anticipated. I thought that there was just going to be a few retail jobs available, but instead I found a booming real estate business that required a new accountant. Also, there was a lawyer that specialized in trust funds looking for a financial advisor to partner with. Either Victoria could see the future, or she was more connected in this town than I had realized.

  I just started my computer up when I saw a text message flash across my screen. If it was Victoria asking me to get more bananas, which suddenly had become her new favorite food, I was going to scream. But instead, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kalen had reached out.

  What are you up to today?

  I was up to hopefully finding a new job and potentially staying here, but I knew that that would scare him off. If he was even someone to be scared off, I wasn't sure yet. This was all so new, and spontaneous and mysterious, and nothing like I've ever done before.

  Not much, you?

  I watched as he immediately started to respond to the three little dots telling me that he was anxious to see me.

  Do you want to grab some coffee?

  I'll never say no to coffee. Give me half an hour?

  Sure. We can meet at Roasted.

  Roasted was where Victoria was the head barista, I quickly typed back.

  Is there another option?

  I didn't need her all over me right now. Or all over Kalen, asking him a million questions or apologizing for her drunkfest some more. I just wanted some time alone with him. With those steely gray-blue eyes and chiseled features.

  Yeah. I'll meet you at your front door. Sound good?

  Sure!

  I looked at the time on my phone. I had thirty minutes to make myself look like a human, not a girl who just rolled out of bed in her leggings and threw her hair on top of her head. I quickly shut my laptop and ran around like a crazy person trying to get ready in time. A quick shower really freshened things up and I braided my hair on the side because I took less time. I put on some light makeup and by the time the doorbell rang, I felt pretty good about how I looked.