“Yes.” Riley had told them this before. “I didn’t realize the alarm would be so sensitive.”
The firemen had already announced that people could return to the inn, but everybody stayed outside, bundled up in their coats, chatting happily. The college girls were taking selfies with the truck.
This wasn’t going to look good on social media.
Riley turned to the group and raised her voice. “You can all go back to your rooms now!” When none of them moved, she waved to get Sara’s attention. “Can you usher people inside? It’s cold out here.”
“Ma’am,” the fireman said. All of his focus was on her, even though Lucas stood next to her, his hands shoved in his coat pockets in a resigned manner. “Ma’am, do you realize how dangerous it is to purposely burn paper over a table? Your tablecloth could’ve caught on fire, and then,” his hands made an explosive motion, “this whole building could’ve gone up.”
Probably not, since a fire extinguisher hung in Lucas’s kitchen, but she wasn’t going to argue the point.
“Sorry,” she said. Again.
Man, the fire department knew how to ruin a romantic mood.
When the flame had grown large—quicker than Riley had anticipated—she’d dropped the envelope onto her plate where it had been perfectly contained. Time would tell if burn marks came off the china.
The fireman finally turned his attention to Lucas. “Carson would have your hide if you burned down his inn.”
“Don’t I know it,” Lucas said.
Oh, so the fireman was on a first-name basis with Lucas too. They probably all knew him. And now she could add embarrassing him in front of his peers to the things she’d done wrong in the last twenty-five minutes.
Riley checked on Sara. Far from gathering people to go inside, she was flirting with one of the firemen.
Figured.
People were going to catch colds from standing out here. Riley put her hand to her mouth in a cupping position. “Everyone can return to the inn! The lobby has warm drinks!”
Hot chocolate couldn’t compete with hot firemen. No one moved. Mrs. Nickle, the writer, seemed to be interviewing one of them.
Maybe when Riley went back inside, people would follow her.
She turned to the fireman who’d been talking to them and held up her hand as though making a pledge. “From here on out, I promise not to burn anything else except for the candle at both ends. Also, occasionally some rubber when I leave work. Maybe a few bridges. Sometimes that can’t be helped. Can I go now?”
“Yes,” the fireman said.
As she headed toward the walkway, he spoke to Lucas, his formal, chastising tone gone. “Bro, are you planning on any more calls today? Because maybe we should just stay out here instead of waiting for the next one.”
“No more calls,” Lucas said firmly. “Also, do me a favor and don’t tell my mother about this.”
Riley didn’t hear the rest.
Once she reached the lobby, she realized she didn’t know what to do there. She was off the clock. She was about to text Lucas and ask if their dinner was still on when he strode inside and joined her.
She tried to read how upset he was from his expression but couldn’t tell. He looked—not angry exactly, just determined.
“I’m sorry about this.” She fiddled with her necklace, sliding the pendant back and forth on the chain. “Before I burned that letter, I should’ve thought about the fire alarms. Also, I should’ve known how to turn them off. The assistant manager shouldn’t have to flip through three binders to find that information or call Mr. Ross in Florida and ask him.” Her ex-boss had been less than happy to get that call. “It’s just that the alarms have never gone off before while I was at work.” She was babbling and couldn’t stop. “But I’d like to point out that none of the doors were locked, so your firemen friends couldn’t yell at us about that.”
“Riley.” Lucas put his hands on her shoulders to cut through her torrent of words. His eyes found hers. There was softness in them as well as determination. “I love you,” he said.
“What?” Those weren’t the words she’d been expecting at this moment.
“That was the third thing on my list that I was going to tell you if you fell for me. I know it was supposed to be two truths and a lie, but I’m never going to lie to you again. You told me that you loved me right before the fire alarm went off, and I didn’t have a chance to say it back to you. So I’m telling you now. I love you.”
A sound, half laugh, half cry, escaped her lips. All the stress of the evening drained away from her. “I love you too. I guess I already said that.”
He gathered her in his arms, and she leaned into him. This feeling of pressing her cheek into his chest made everything feel better. “I’m never going to get tired of hearing you say that,” she murmured. “In fact, I need to hear you say it every day.”