She deserved the happily ever after her books demanded.
I promised I’d take the time to figure out just how to give her one. To give us both one.
And that was my last thought before sleep finally found me as well.
? ? ?
When my alarm went off at five in the morning, my bed was empty.
Maisey wasn’t due at the hospital for another couple of hours, so I should have been the first one up. Instead, she’d vanished, slipping out of my room without waking me. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to kiss her good morning. After falling asleep with ideas of happily ever afters wrapped around me, everything about that irritated me.
On top of that, my dog had deserted me too, continuing his new “Vader the Traitor” ways. Then again, it was probably for the best if he stuck close to her. I liked the thought of him being there if anyone came after Maisey while I was gone.
The idea of not being there when she needed me sent a cold wave of panic down my spine. I dragged myself out of bed, threw on my workout gear, grabbed my go-bag, and made my way toward the kitchen.
Where all the panic dissolved in something far more appealing.
She was at the stove, making breakfast in a satiny-blue robe she’d thrown on over my T-shirt. A robe that screamed at me to take it off. She looked perfectly tousled—a morning wet dream. And even with her dad sitting at the island, reading something on a tablet, I was unable to stop my body from reacting to the sight of her dressed like this, in my kitchen, after a night in my bed, looking like she belonged.
With her dad there as an audience, I wasn’t able to say or do the things I really wanted, but I could still make her pay for sneaking away this morning before I’d even gotten a kiss.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent her a text with a smile tugging at my lips. When her phone didn’t even buzz, I realized she must have left it charging somewhere. Disappointed again, I had to live with the comforting thought that I knew exactly what she’d look like once she read my message. She’d be pink from head to toe.
With that image plastered in my head, I sauntered into the kitchen. “Morning.”
She jumped and whirled around with a spatula in hand. Her dad took inher reaction, jaw clenching as he glanced at me. “Maisey told me about the excitement last night. I’m shocked I didn’t hear any of it. I’m usually a light sleeper.”
“I thought about calling off today, but things are on edge at the station right now.”
While it was true, uneasehadsettled over our house as the teams waited for Nattingly’s announcement and a new chief to be selected, I wasn’t sure it was a good enough reason to leave Maisey while things were escalating here.
As if reading my thoughts, Lewis’s face grew grim. “We’ll be okay.”
I wanted to believe him, but he’d admitted he hadn’t heard anything last night. Not my dog snarling or the shattering glass. Would he really be awake and able to help if someone came for her?
This time, when my lungs tightened, it had nothing to do with relationships. It was the same panic I’d felt when I woke, returning with the force of a hammer. But then I reminded myselfMaisey wasn’t even going to be home most of the week either. The majority of the time, she’d be at the hospital, and she’d have lots of people around her. She’d be safe there.
“I’m leaving Vader here.”
Hearing his name, the traitor came sprinting down the hall from Maisey’s room with the cat chasing his tail. I bent down and gave him a full-body rub, all while trying to put a lid on my emotions. The kitten jumped all over me as I pet my dog, chewing on my fingers as if they were a new toy.
“Do you want breakfast?” Maisey asked.
“Not before I work out. I’ll just grab something at the station afterward.”
“Oh, crap,” she said, looking down, as if suddenly realizing she wasn’t dressed. “I was supposed to drive you to work.”
It eased the alarm and tension in my heart once again, and I chuckled just as her dad snorted.
“I needed to get a run in anyway. I haven’t put in enough miles this week,” I told her. “The fob for my SUV is in the drawer by the front door.”
She watched as I slung my bag across my body. “I can drop your stuff off on my way to the hospital later.”
“Maisey.” She looked up from the duffel to my face. “I haul a hundred pounds up and down stairs and mountains regularly, both for training and while fighting fires. I think I can handle hauling my bag for a mile or two.”
Her stare drifted down my body in a way that had me hoping she was thinking of all the same things I’d been thinking about—tearing off clothesand feasting on warm skin.
She shook her head, as if clearing her thoughts, and said, “Thanks for letting me use your car. I’m hoping to have the windshield replaced on my truck in a day or two.”