Fire and Foreplay

by Melanie Shawn

  Adriana had tried several times to speak to Jonah about saying goodbye to Gabe, but he’d been adamant that he didn’t want to see him.

  “No, bud,” Adriana crouched down in front of him and held his face in her hands. “This is not your fault. That is what Gabe does. He’s a firefighter. Remember how excited you were when you first told me he saved a woman? That he’s a hero? Well, that’s what he is. That’s what he does. Even if he were here, he would’ve had to go when the call came in.”

  “I know. But…”

  “But what?” Adriana could see that her words had done nothing to pacify him. If anything, he was more agitated.

  “But I said I didn’t want to see him. I said I wanted to go home. But, I was just scared. I was scared because he had cancer, too. Just like mom. And I was scared that he was going to die. Just like mom. But now if he dies he’s going to think I don’t want him to be my dad. And I do. I do want him to be my dad. And I don’t want to go back home. I want to stay here.” Jonah threw his arms around her and sobbed. He bawled and Adriana had a feeling a lot of what he was getting out was grief he hadn’t let himself feel over Em.

  Adriana held him and rubbed his back. She told him that it was okay, and that they would work everything out.

  “Can we go see him?” Jonah wiped his eyes and pulled out of her arms.

  “He said he’d call us as soon as he’s done,” Adriana explained calmly.

  “You can go to the station and wait for him,” Naomi offered, “I’ll keep the girls here.”

  Jonah’s face lit up. “Can we, Rina? Can we go to the station?”

  Adriana was about to tell him that there was no way to tell how long Gabe would be gone and they could be waiting for hours, but one look in Jonah’s eyes told her that wouldn’t matter to him.

  She nodded. “Sure, bud.”

  He threw his arms around her neck and when she looked up, she expected to see her mother smirking at her, but instead she saw that her eyes were filled with tears and her smile was one of pure joy.

  The hug was brief. Jonah jumped out of her arms and into the car. After quickly running in to grab her purse and say goodbye to the girls, she and Jonah made the short drive to the fire station.

  They waited for over eight hours and spent half of them across the street hanging out in the coffee shop, Brewed Awakenings. Jonah took the opportunity to open up to her about everything. About feeling scared that she would die just like his mom. They talked about Gabe and how excited Jonah really was that he was his dad. They talked about Em and how much they both missed her. They cried, they laughed, and they talked.

  It was the first time that she’d really felt like his mom. Not that she would ever take Emily’s place, she never could. But she had promised Em that she would step into that sacred place because she wanted her son to grow up with a mom. A real mom, not a substitution.

  It wasn’t all tears, though. They were deep in a game of Heads Up when Adriana saw the fire engine turn the corner.

  “Look.” Adriana pointed to the truck.

  “See! Point!” Jonah held the phone to his forehead as he guessed what she was acting out, thinking they were still playing the game. “Show!”

  “No,” Adriana laughed. “Look.”

  “Discover? Explorer?” His confusion was clear as he continued guessing.

  She pulled the phone out of his hand and turned his shoulders so he was facing the window at the exact moment that Gabe was stepping off the truck.

  “He’s back.” Jonah spun back around to face her before springing out of the car.

  Yes, he is.

  Adriana sat in the car unable to move. She’d seen a few photos of Gabe in his gear, but just like the first time she’d seen him in person, pictures had done nothing to prepare her for the real thing.

  Gabe in his gear was every fantasy she never knew she had, come to life. He was sex personified. He was panty-melting hawt.

  She didn’t think she’d ever be more attracted to him than she was in that moment. Until, she watched as Jonah ran toward him and Gabe squatted down as Jonah launched into his arms.

  Nope. She was wrong. Seeing the look on Gabe’s face when he saw his son, and watching him hug Jonah like his life depended on it was absolutely the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.

  She got out of the car and started walking toward her boys and Gabe’s eyes opened and locked with hers. The look in his eyes stole her breath away and caused her knees to buckle slightly.

  She’d been wrong again.

  Gabe, in his gear after fighting a fire, hugging his son while looking at her with a possessive, alpha stare that made her feel like he’d slay dragons to protect them was the sexiest thing in the entire world.

  Then, he stood with Jonah in his arms, and pulled her to him so they were in a three-way hug and she knew she’d spoken too soon yet again. Being held in his strong arms as he told them both he loved them was the sexiest thing in the world. She had a feeling it wouldn’t remain at the top for long.

  “I love you,” she said the words for the first time as she rested her head against his broad shoulder.

  Her head reared back and she lifted her eyes to meet his.

  “Say it again,” he breathed.

  She smiled. “I love you.”

  His eyes closed and he let out a slow breath as his hand threaded through her hair and he pulled her head to rest against his shoulder once again.

  She closed her eyes and finally let herself believe that for once, things were going to work out. Gabe was there, he wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was she.

  Chapter 20

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  “Where are we going?” Adriana squirmed in her seat excitedly.

  All Gabe had told her was to wear the same thing she’d been wearing the first time they’d made love. Her lucky shirt, her cut off shorts, and even the same lace bra and white panties with the tiny cherries on them.

  “You’ll see.” Gabe grinned as he turned the corner onto Bluebird Way.

  This was the street that she’d admired on the first day that she’d met Gabe when they’d stood on the bridge during the “interview.”

  She marveled once again at the houses there and wondered if he’d found a house for her to rent. It had been two weeks since she and Jonah had met Gabe at the fire station and since then her whole family had been staying at Gabe’s house. Since it was only a two bedroom with one bath, it was crowded to say the least.

  Still that didn’t explain why he’d told her to wear the same outfit…It was driving her bananas not knowing what was going on.

  “How did Naomi’s date with Henry go last night?” Gabe asked, just as casual as could be. Then why wouldn’t he? He knew exactly where they were going.

  Gabe had been gone for the past two days on the job. Now he had four days off.

  “I think it went well considering she didn’t get home until six this morning.”

  Adriana was happy for her mom. They may not have the typical mother-daughter relationship, but at least now they had a relationship. And they were building on it every day.

  “Good for Naomi.” Gabe grinned in approval as he pulled in front of a cottage-style home that sat nestled in the middle of large pines.

  The house was a two story with white shingle siding and navy blue shutters around each window. There was a large, wraparound porch that had stone bottom columns. There was a swing on the porch that Adriana pictured herself having coffee on in the morning or wine at night as she overlooked the amazing view of the mountain and the river.

  Wait, she was getting ahead of herself. “Is it for rent? How many bedrooms is it? How many bathrooms? How much is it per month?” She shot rapid fire questions at him.

  “It’s four bedrooms, plus a den that could be used as an office, three baths. And there is a one-bedroom bungalow in the back.”

  That sounded perfect, but also out of her budget. She’d expected Hope Falls to be less expensive since it was a small mountain community
, but it turned out that it was considered an exclusive getaway destination. So most of the homes here were owned as investment properties and rented out as vacation homes.

  “Let’s go.” Gabe opened his door.

  “How much?” Adriana stayed put. She was already in love with it and she didn’t want to step foot in it for fear she’d fall more in love with it until she knew if it was in her price range.

  He turned and gave her the lop-sided grin that always sent her heart skidding like Tom Cruise across the floor in Risky Business. “Let’s just go see it.”

  “Fine.” She got out.

  On the way up the path she sternly instructed herself that this might just be window shopping. Dream building. If she couldn’t afford this now, then she’d work hard and maybe one day it would be within her reach.

  However by the time she’d walked up the wooden steps and Gabe had opened the front door, she knew she’d be crushed if she couldn’t live here. When she walked in, she saw it was semi-furnished. There was a couch in the large family room that led into an open dining room and in the back there was what appeared to be a newly remodeled, fully-renovated kitchen.

  It was her dream house. She took two steps in to explore but then she stopped. She didn’t want to see another square inch until she knew what it would cost her.

  “How much?” she said firmly as she spun around.

  Her hand flew up and covered her mouth when she saw Gabe on one knee. They’d talked about being a family. He’d told her that he wanted to marry her, but she’d figured he meant in a year or two. This was so soon.

  Was it too soon?

  “What are you doing?” her words were mumbled behind her fingers.

  “I dropped this.” He showed her a key.

  “Oh.” In that moment she knew that it wasn’t too soon. At least that was her heart’s vote in the matter. Because it sank when she realized he wasn’t proposing. She didn’t realize how much she wanted him to do so until it became clear that he wasn’t.

  Instead of getting up, though, he stayed kneeling and extended the key to her.

  “What?” she asked, confused as to why he was still in the classic will-you-marry-me pose and why he was trying to give her the key he dropped.

  “This place isn’t for rent.”

  Her first reaction was great, that was a heartbreaking waste of time.

  Then she looked into Gabe’s eyes and she knew that there was something going on. He might’ve inadvertently kneeled down to pick up a key, but he hadn’t brought her here just to dangle the perfect house in front of her and take it away. He must’ve already rented it.

  “Okay…” Her lips turned up in a smile. She might have to sell a ton of necklaces and bracelets to afford it, but she’d figure out a way.

  “Because I bought it. For you. It’s yours.”

  “You bought me a house?!” Gabe never did what she expected, sure, but this was crazy.

  He nodded. “Yes. It’s yours.”

  “I can’t accept this, Gabe.” She was shaking her head. “It’s too much.”

  “It’s done.” He shrugged, his lop-sided grin still in place. “You can sell it if you want, but it’s yours. Escrow closed yesterday.”

  “Why? I told you that we were staying. Why did you do this?”

  His expression grew serious as he took a deep breath and his smile dropped. “I bought you this house because I wanted you to have the security of knowing no matter what happens, you and the kids have a place that’s yours.”

  Oh no.

  He was breaking up with her. He must think that if they weren’t together, she’d leave Hope Falls and this was his way of keeping her here. It was a little extreme, but that was Gabe’s style. He didn’t half-ass things.

  She felt her stomach churn and her breakfast rise to up in her throat, but she inhaled slowly through her nose and exhaled through her mouth.

  Smell the soup. Cool the soup.

  She nodded and braced herself for the speech about how this was all too much for him and that he thought they’d rushed into things. That he cared about her, but that he thought they were better off as friends. Tears pricked the back of her eyes as she stared down at him.

  This had to be the nicest way that anyone had ever broken up with someone, and probably the first time they’d done it on one knee. Later, she would probably be able to find some humor in it, but right now she was doing everything she could not to throw up or start sobbing.

  “This is your house. No matter what.” He spoke with sincere conviction. “Do you understand that whatever happens in the next few minutes, this place, this house is yours?”

  Here it comes. She nodded again but started to feel a little light-headed. She couldn’t breathe. Her chest felt like a boulder was sitting on it. She just wanted to get this over with.

  “Good, because I don’t want you to feel any pressure when I ask you this.” With that, he reached into his pocket with his other hand and pulled out the most beautiful diamond ring she’d ever seen. She gasped.

  He smiled again. “Did I ever tell you that when you first arrived in Hope Falls I saw you from the window of Sue Ann’s?”

  “Huh uh.” She thought she might have responded, but since she felt like she was floating outside of her body she wasn’t quite sure.

  “You were sitting in your car and you looked upset. I knew in that moment, I wanted to fix whatever was upsetting you. I wanted to make anything in your life that was wrong, right. I know it sounds crazy, but I felt as if I was yours from the second I saw you.

  “After I got sick, I stopped feeling. I stopped living, really. I was going through the motions. But being with you and talking to you made me feel like I was alive. Really, truly, alive for the first time in years.

  “I never believed in fate, or destiny, before you walked into that café. Now I do. I believe that you’re my soul mate. That’s what happened when I saw you in the car. My soul saw its mate.

  “And it’s not just you and me. We all belong together. We’re a family. Jonah, the girls, and us. I know we talked about getting my name on Jonah’s birth certificate, but if you say yes, I want to adopt the girls. I want them to know that I’m their dad, too.”

  Adriana sucked in a shaky breath as tears poured down her face.

  “I love you, Adriana Hale. You are the sexiest, classiest, strongest, sweetest, most creative, intelligent, and beautiful person that has ever walked on this earth and I would be the luckiest, happiest man alive if you’d be my wife. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” she barely got out through her sobs. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  Gabe slid the ring on her finger and stood up to wrap his arms around her and hug her tightly. She held onto the man that had just made every single one of her dreams come true and wondered how she’d ever return the favor. How she would ever show him how happy he’d made her. How much she loved him. There just weren’t words in the English language to express that.

  Since she couldn’t tell him, she decided to show him.

  Lifting up on her toes, she pressed her lips to Gabe’s and infused all of the love, passion, gratitude, and lust that was bursting from her into it. Her hands fisted in his hair and what started as a slow, heated kiss turned into an explosive, demanding kiss that had her entire body shaking with need.

  Chapter 21

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  She said yes.

  That was all Gabe could think about as he tore off the clothes that he’d asked her to wear. His fingers stroked the newly exposed skin that they encountered as he stripped her like he was in the grip of a fever. He was acting entirely on instinct. His mind was completely consumed with one thought. There was no room left for any room for planning some kind of smooth seduction, and that one thought was: she said yes.

  He heard the groans coming from him, but he wasn’t aware of making them. He felt her hot skin under his palms, but he wasn’t conscious of pressing his hands against her. He felt her body pressing against his, but h
e hadn’t thought about pulling her to him beforehand. This was just his natural reaction to the joy and love he felt welling up inside, knowing that one day soon, she would be his wife. Then they would have the rest of their lives to touch, and to kiss, and to love.

  It occurred to him then, when that thought jumped into his head, that they would have the rest of their lives. All the time in the world. So, there was no rush. They didn’t have to devour each other like starving people. They could take their time and savor every single bite.

  Deliberately, and with great effort, he slowed the pace of his frantic kisses, and calmed his frenetic caresses. It wasn’t easy. It was damn hard. Still he forced himself to do it.

  This was the first time he was going to make love to Adriana, the woman that would be his wife, in the house that would be their home.

  It wasn’t going to be a quickie.

  No, they were gonna take it slow and easy, explore each other inch by inch and top to bottom. Not just their bodies, either. They were on an exploratory mission to map the contours of each other’s souls.

  “I love being in your arms.” Adriana murmured in his ear as they moved against each other. “I feel so safe.”

  “You are safe,” he breathed. “I will never let anything happen to you. Protecting you and the kids and giving all of us the best life possible is my number one priority. And it always will be.”

  She pulled back a little and looked into his eyes, and he felt all of the familiar fireworks go off inside of him. She reached up and ran her fingertips lightly over his cheeks and lips, and a rosy blush spread across her cheeks.

  Her lips were red and plump from kissing and her eyes sparked with emotion and lust. She looked more alive than he’d ever seen her, more beautiful than any woman had ever looked.

  And she was going to be his wife. He couldn’t quite get over that, couldn’t really wrap his mind around it. Maybe he never would be able to. Hell, maybe he never wanted to. Something as amazing as being blessed with Adriana should be viewed perpetually with wonder and awe. It shouldn’t be something that he ever took for granted.