He nodded in the direction away from the fence, then pivoted and headed that way without giving her time to come up with some sort of witty retort.
“I have a very good vocabulary, I’ll have you know,” she said when she caught up to him, then rolled her eyes at her less-than-formidable response. She’d never had to work to impress when it came to wordplay, but Carter Bowen threw her off her game. He made her tongue-tied and nervous and anxious to lob witty comebacks without a second thought. She had the undeniable urge to show him how much of her there was to like because—ugh—she was really starting to like him.
Where would that get her, though? She didn’t want to think about that, not when she was up here, able to let go of the fear, even if it was only for a short while.
He laid the pack on the ground and unzipped one of three compartments, pulling out a blue-and-white-checked picnic blanket.
“Here,” she said, motioning to take it, since he was kneeling. “I can do that.”
He relinquished the blanket, and she shook it out, spreading it over the grass.
Next he opened a plastic container filled with sliced apples and another with what looked like warm, grilled sandwiches.
“Damn,” he said. “I didn’t think to ask. You don’t have a peanut allergy, do you?”
She sat down across from him and shook her head. “Carter Bowen, did you make me peanut butter and jelly?” she asked with a grin.
“No, ma’am. Pearl did. You know Pearl at the Meadow Valley Inn?”
Ivy gasped. “Did you bring me Pearl’s grilled PB and J with brie? Because if you did, I just might have to kiss you.” Her hand flew over her mouth. “I meant because of how much I love that sandwich, not because—” She greedily grabbed one of the sandwich halves from the container and tore off a healthy bite. Anything to keep her from saying more incriminating statements about kissing. “Mmm. Delicious,” she said around her mouthful of food.
Carter laughed and dropped back onto his ass—the ass she’d had her eye on for much of the trail ride. It wasn’t like she had a choice. He led the way. And if she was searching her limited vocabulary for a way to describe the view, it was a long way from cute.
He handed her a thermos of Pearl’s equally delicious raspberry iced tea, then picked up his own half a sandwich from the container and took a bite. He unscrewed the lid from his own tea and took a couple of long swigs.
“You know,” he said, resting his elbows on his knees, “you don’t have to be embarrassed about wanting to kiss me. Hell, you don’t even have to use my great-aunt’s cooking as an excuse for wanting to do it.”
Her eyes widened, and she stopped herself in the middle of taking another bite. “Pearl? Pearl Sweeney is your great-aunt?”
He held his index finger to his lips.
“She is, though I’d appreciate you keeping that between us for right now. When she heard the chief might be looking to hire from the outside, she passed him my name. That was it. Her only involvement. I got the job on my own merits. I know I’m good at what I do. But I’m an uninvited guest right now, so until I prove myself to the company—which I know I will—I don’t want to give anyone reason to doubt my abilities.”
She lowered her sandwich onto the lid of the container. “But Jessie, Wyatt, and Shane seemed to respect you just fine when you answered my nonemergency alarm.”
He laughed, but the smile looked forced. “That’s because I’d just written them up for insubordination before we left the station.”
“What? Why?” That didn’t sound like either of them.
He shrugged. “Because when they saw where the call was coming from, they argued with me about suiting up and taking the truck. ‘It’s Ivy’s place. That girl knows more about fire than we do. By the time we get there, there’ll be nothing left to do but paperwork.’”
Ivy winced because they were right about her. But Carter was in the right as their superior. “You did everything by the book like you were supposed to. I get it. No one should take shortcuts in a possible life-or-death situation.”
He set his sandwich down and leaned back on his elbows, his long legs stretching out in front of him. His cowboy hat cast a shadow over his eyes. “Anyway,” he said. “You can see why I don’t want anyone claiming favoritism.”
She moved the food out of the way and stretched out next to him on her side. The sun was low enough that she didn’t need her sunglasses anymore, so she took them off and tossed them toward her feet. “Why’d you tell me all that, then? Aren’t you afraid I’ll spill the beans? For all you know, I’m the town gossip.”
“Nah,” he said. “I know the type, and you’re not it. Besides, I needed to tell someone. Figured I couldn’t do much worse than you.”
She scoffed and backhanded him on the shoulder. “I don’t know if that’s a compliment or an insult. But judging from the sound of your voice, I’m guessing it’s the latter.”
He rolled onto his side to face her, but the hat was still obscuring his eyes. So she grabbed it and tossed it the same way she did her sunglasses.
“There,” she said. “Now I can see those baby blues.”
“Are they cute?” he asked.
Something in the pit of her belly tightened, and she shook her head.
“Then what?” he asked, his eyes darkening with the same mischief to match his tone.
“Okay,” she said. “Before then what? I need to ask you something, Mr. Bowen.”
“Go ahead, darlin’.”
She blew out a breath. “There’s something about being up here with you, away from everything at the bottom of the hill. It’s like I can forget what happens down there, you know? Like nothing matters except for what’s up here.”
“The Gaze ’n’ Graze Hill,” he said with a wink.
She rolled her eyes but laughed. “There’s something between us, right? I mean, you brought me here with Pearl’s best sandwich and—and I’m not imagining any of it, am I?”
“No,” he said simply. “I can’t be with a woman who doesn’t support what I do. So I know my wooing is going to waste, even if I keep saying that’s not what this is. But I can’t seem to help myself. Guess I was hoping I’d be able to change your perspective.”
“I support what you do,” she said. “But I just can’t put my heart out there like that. You have to understand.” She paused and took a steadying breath. “Wait. No, this isn’t where this was supposed to be going. What I meant to say is that maybe up here, for today, I can forget what’s down there. We both can.” She propped herself up and squinted over the top of the hill.
“If I say yes, that I’d like the same thing,” he said, “then I get to hear what else is in that vocabulary of yours?”
She lowered herself so she was facing him again and nodded. “You’d get to hear me say how sexy your butt looks in those jeans.”
He laughed. “And here I thought we were talking about my eyes.”
“Those are pretty sexy, too.” She grinned. “I might even find you a little bit charming.”
He trailed his fingers down the bare skin of her arm. “Darlin’, I find you to be too many things to list.”
She batted her lashes, and he laughed again. “Why don’t you try,” she said.
“Hmm, I should get comfortable. This’ll take a minute or two.” He rolled onto his back and clasped his hands behind his head. “Smart. Beautiful. A competent rider—”
“I like where this is headed,” she interrupted. “Feel free to continue.”
“A passion for what you do. Oh, can’t forget terrible taste in liquor.”
“Hey,” she said. “I thought you were supposed to be complimenting me.”
He raised his brows. “I said there was too much to list to describe you. Never said it was all complimentary.” He scrubbed a hand across his jaw. “And…headstrong.” He held up his hands like he was waiting for some sort of physical retribution, but she simply sat up, crossed her arms, and glared.
It was easier
to find a reason to be indignant than to admit to herself how much she liked hearing what he was saying—complimentary or not. Because even his ribbing meant he’d noticed her. He’d paid attention to her. And he’d thought about her as much as she’d thought about him since their walk last night.
“That one was a compliment,” he said, sitting up so she couldn’t escape the depths of those blue eyes. “You know exactly what you want and what you don’t, Ivy. I admire the heck out of that. Even if it means you not wanting to get involved with a catch like me.”
Her gaze softened. “And you don’t want to get involved with a mess like me.”
“You’re not a mess,” he said. “But no. We already know we’re not right for each other. And despite what you’re offering up here on the hill, I think we both deserve better than that.”
He grabbed his hat, stood, and dropped it back on his head.
She clamored back to her feet. “Wait. That’s it? What about forgetting what’s down there while we’re up here?”
He dipped his head and kissed her. She didn’t have time to think because her body melted into his like she was molten metal and he was made to mold her into shape. Her stomach contracted, and her back arched. His hands slid around her waist, and hers draped over his shoulders. His kiss was everything he had promised and everything she’d hoped—firm and insistent while at the same time careful and considerate. Whatever he asked for right now, she was more than willing to give. She parted her lips, and his tongue slipped past, tangling with hers. He was heat and fire and passion like she hadn’t known existed.
Erase it all, she thought. My fear, my hesitation—heck, even my name. She knew it wasn’t that easy, that a kiss couldn’t take away two years of grief and how scared she was to even consider putting her heart at risk again. But now that she knew what she’d tried to resist, she wanted all she could take before logic stepped back into the picture.
But before she could catch her breath, he backed away and tipped his hat.
“Are you gonna forget that once we get back to town?” he asked. “Because I sure as hell won’t.”
Chapter Six
Carter Bowen was on fire. Not literally, of course. In the two weeks he’d been in Meadow Valley, the closest he’d gotten to any sort of real flame was the fire at Ivy’s shop—the one she’d put out before he’d probably had his gear on.
No gear today, just a very sweaty Meadow Valley Fire Station T-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. Lieutenant Heinz’s crew took over a few hours early so Carter and his team could spend the last of their twenty-four-hour shift doing a scrub down of the rig.
In a hundred-degree heat, because even in the late afternoon, the day was a scorcher, and they needed daylight to see what they were doing. Carter paused from waxing the front of the truck to take a water break.
“You know this rig never sees any action, right?” Shane O’Brien said. “Other than the occasional emergency room transport—and for that we use the ambulance—I think the last fire Meadow Valley saw was two years ago.”
He was on top of the rig, checking the ladder hydraulics and making sure there weren’t any leaks.
“Not that I owe you an explanation, probie,” Carter said, and Shane scowled at the nickname. “But I know the station’s history. I’d expect that, having grown up in Meadow Valley, you’d know that while things have been quiet here the past eighteen months, we don’t service only our own town. Our company has been called for backup more than a few times for forest fires in neighboring jurisdictions. In a rural area like this, debris from low-hanging trees and falling ash can cause issues over time if the upper level isn’t cleared out and rinsed every now and then.” He took a long swig from his canteen of water. “Plus a good day of work builds character for someone who might have taken a job because he thought he could sit with his feet up and watch ESPN all day.”
He’d actually kill to be inside in the air-conditioning checking the Astros score, but there was no way he was going to bond with his team without working with them, and a clean rig was always the safest rig.
“Thanks for the exaggeration,” Shane bit back. “I can count how many times we’ve been called for backup on one hand. And just so we’re clear, my probationary period ended months ago. I could put myself in the running for your job if I wanted. We all know about your one-month trial period. You mess up and you’re out, Lieutenant Probie.”
Carter’s teeth ground together. He’d been the youngest of three, the button pusher, all his life. But it had all been because he looked up to his brothers. He wanted to be like them. This was different. Shane O’Brien had some sort of vendetta, and Carter was the target.
Jessie popped her head out of the driver-side door.
“Mats and underneath the mats are all clean, Lieutenant!” she called. “Gotta admit, it was pretty nasty in there.”
Carter did his best to shake off his interaction with Shane. “Let me take a quick look. If all looks good, you’re clear to go.”
He rounded the rig and climbed inside. The cab was damn near pristine, like no one had ever used it.
“Excellent work, Morris,” he said as he hopped out. “I’ll see you in forty-eight hours.”
She grinned. “Thanks, Lieutenant.” Then she gathered up her portion of the cleaning supplies and headed into the garage.
She and a few others on his team had seemed to come around in the past week, even though he’d been extra surly after the way things had ended with Ivy on Sunday. Maybe it started with his team not wanting to poke the bear, as it was, but now they’d fallen into an easy rhythm that felt good. The way he felt about Ivy Serrano, though? There was nothing easy about that.
It was Thursday now, and he was finishing the second of two twenty-four-hour shifts since he’d seen her. He hadn’t been able to shake off how much he’d wanted her that evening and how much he still did even after putting four days between them.
It had meant keeping to the station and avoiding any other stops at the Midtown Tavern. But it seemed the more he avoided his attraction, the more he thought about it and wished he hadn’t gone from a father who didn’t support his life choices to a woman who drove him all kinds of crazy but also couldn’t get behind what he did for a living.
He drained his canteen and then finished the rig’s waxing. After that he went around the truck, inspecting stations and dismissing his firefighters as they completed their jobs. Until the only one left was Shane O’Brien—who’d decided to take an extended water break.
Carter climbed up to the roof of the truck and found him nestled into a corner, his baseball cap pulled low to cover his closed eyes. But Carter could tell by the rhythm of his breathing that the guy was asleep.
What the hell was it with his guy? It was one thing to push his buttons, but this was a complete disregard for Carter’s authority.
He looked down at the small bag of twigs and branches Shane had collected—and at the untouched bucket of soapy water meant to wipe down the roof and ladder.
Carter picked up the bucket and tossed half the contents at the sleeping rookie.
“What the hell?” Shane growled, startling awake.
Carter checked his watch. “I’m off the clock. So is the rest of the team. Except you.” He nodded toward the spilled water. “Clean that up and wipe down the rest of the roof. I’ll let Lieutenant Heinz know you’re not stepping foot off this property until you’re done. See you in forty-eight hours.”
He gritted his teeth and climbed to the ground before Shane had a chance to be any more insubordinate than he’d already been. Carter needed a shower. And a drink. But that meant hitting the tavern. Except he was avoiding the tavern. And right now he wanted to avoid the firehouse as well.
He pulled out his cell phone and called his great-aunt.
“I need a room,” he said when she answered.
“Got one ready and waiting. Rough day?”
“Yeah. Does that Everything Store sell liquor?”
She
laughed. “And steal business from Casey’s place? Kitchen’s still open over here, and I might have a few longnecks hiding in the fridge.”
He blew out a breath. “You’re a lifesaver. Be there in a few.” Then he ended the call.
He grabbed his few belongings from the bunkhouse, hoisted his duffel over his shoulder, and headed straight for the front door. He pushed through to find Ivy Serrano heading up the front walkway. Her eyes widened when she saw him.
“Can I help you, Ms. Serrano?” he said with as much formality as he could muster.
Her hair was in two low braids on either side of her head, and she wore a black baseball cap that said SLUGGERS across the top in yellow, a white tank top under fitted overalls, and a pair of what he guessed used to be white sneakers on which she’d doodled intricate floral designs in vibrant colored marker.
Damn she looked cute.
She hesitated, her hands fidgeting with the bag slung over her shoulder.
“Softball practice was canceled on account of the heat, and I figured since I was free and it looks like you’re still in need of that haircut…”
He ran a hand through his hair. The overgrown ends were slick with sweat.
“Ivy,” he said, more serious this time. “What are you doing here?”
She shrugged. “You were right. I haven’t been able to forget about that kiss.” She noticed his duffel. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Decided to take a room at the inn. I need a shower and a cold-as-hell beer.”
She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “I’ve got a shower. And a six-pack of Coors.”
He sighed. Despite having thought about her all week, he had every reason in the world to say no. There was something between them, for sure. But they couldn’t be together, not when his job seemed to be growing more complicated, especially after what he’d just done. Not to mention the woman standing in front of him couldn’t handle his job to begin with.
He got it. He understood and wouldn’t fault her for her grief. But he couldn’t be anyone else for her.
First Kiss with a Cowboy: Includes a bonus novella Page 29