Never Too Hot (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #3)(9)
Author: Bella Andre

“The cabin has held this long,” she insisted. “I’m sure it’ll make it another few months.”

“Ever use the stove? The microwave? A blow dryer?”

Knowing his questions had to be a trick, that with every word he said her perfect summer was disappearing day by day, hour by hour, she reluctantly said, “Of course, all of them.”

“The wiring is ancient. Anyone of those appliances could start a fire. You wouldn’t know the house was burning at first. The sparks would start behind the walls. They wouldn’t kick into overdrive until you were asleep. That’s when smoke would start flooding into the room.”

He paused. Gave her plenty of time to color in the picture he’d just sketched.

“Odds are you’d never wake up.”

He was doing it again. Trying to scare her into giving up her home. To him.

She leaned in closer over the top of the counter, too angry now to remember to keep her distance from all those muscles, all that heat.

“You were sure I wouldn’t be able to say no to that, weren’t you?” Especially when he was practically a walking billboard for the necessity of fire safety. “Well, guess what? The answer is still no. I can hire an electrician to work on the cabin. I don’t need you to do it.”

“My grandparents aren’t going to pay to rewire the place from the ground up. Not when I’m here and able to do the work for free.”

Unfortunately, she didn’t have the money either. Not anymore, damn it. Not unless she wanted to ask her parents for a loan, which she definitely didn’t.

“Fine,” she snapped, loud enough that a couple of customers looked up from their plates to see what the problem was. “You can redo the wiring. And then I want you out.” She propped her pencil point hard enough against the paper to make a small hole. “Now what do you want to eat?”

But instead of looking at the menu, he said, “We’re not done yet. I’m not just here to fix the cabin’s safety issues.”

“There’s more?” she said, amazed by his nerve. Almost impressed by it, in fact.

“My brother’s fiancйe is pregnant. It was a long road for them to get there.”

“Good for them. But since I don’t know your brother or his fiancйe,” she said, knowing she was being harsh, but hating herself for giving in about letting him redo the wiring, “I’m missing the part where any of this matters to me.”

“They want to get married on the beach at Poplar Cove. End of July.”

How was it that he seemed to know right where to aim to hit her most vulnerable spots?

He had to mention marriage, didn’t he? That elusive happily ever after they were all searching for. That she was searching for. Because even though her own marriage had crumbled to pieces, in her heart of hearts she still wanted to believe that lasting happiness was possible.

Worse, after living at Blue Mountain Lake for eight months she agreed that Poplar Cove would be the perfect place to host a wedding.

Beyond frustrated, the words, “Next thing I know you’re going to be telling me you couldn’t get a room at the Inn,” came pouring out.

“You’re right. A big wedding has taken over.”

Oh no, she’d completely forgotten that her friend Sue said a Bridezilla was in residence for the next few days.

“What about one of the B&Bs?” she tried, feeling the situation slip even further out of her hands.

“Nope. Nothing on the lake. But there’s a room open in Piseco.”

“Piseco? That’s an hour away.”

“At least,” he agreed, finally picking up the menu.

The movement drew her eyes down to his hands and she was stunned by how bad his scars were up close. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from them, couldn’t stop thinking about how much pain he must have endured from not only the burns, but the grafts as well. And then, he rubbed his left hand with his right, as if he were trying to work out the kinks in the muscles and tendons beneath the rough skin.

“When I was a little girl,” she found herself saying in a much softer voice, “I reached up to the stove and knocked over a pot of boiling water onto my shoulder. I still remember how much it hurt.”

It had been only a first degree burn, and the scar had almost completely disappeared by now, but it had been one of the most painful physical experiences in her life.

“For so long afterward,” she continued, “it hurt. So badly. Do your hands hurt anymore?”

When he didn’t reply, she looked back up into an expression so intense her skin prickled, her palms started to sweat. She couldn’t look away as his eyes dilated, the black pushing nearly all the blue away. She held her breath, waiting for his answer. And then she heard it, low and raw.

“Yes.”

From the tense lines of his shoulders, the tendon jumping in his forehead, she could see how much the admission had cost him. And that was when she realized, for the first time, that he wasn’t just some big, gorgeous guy intent on ruining her summer.

Connor was human.

He was a man who had obviously survived something horrific, who was just trying to deal with what life threw at him.

She had to ask herself why she’d decided she needed to act like such a bitch about letting him work on the cabin. Even staying there a couple of nights until the Inn opened up.

Was she being strong? Tough? Taking a stand, claiming what was hers because she wasn’t a pushover anymore?

Or — and this was the worst possible option — was it the exact opposite? Was she afraid of herself? Afraid that her new life wasn’t quite as settled and solid as she thought it was? That the addition of a stranger into her cocoon might break it apart completely?

No, she told herself. The life she was building at Blue Mountain Lake was a good one. And really, the more she thought about it, Connor had come all the way from California with no idea that his grandparents had rented out their house. Under the fluorescent lights she could see how tired he looked.

“You know what, this is stupid. You’re not going to drive all the way to Piseco tonight. There are plenty of empty bedrooms upstairs at Poplar Cove. Until the Inn empties out again.”

He was silent for a long moment and although she’d been expecting to see victory in his eyes, there wasn’t even a hint of it.

“I appreciate that, Ginger.”

Knowing she was repeating herself, but wanting to make sure she was being perfectly clear — not only for his sake, but for hers too — she said again, “But just until you find a new place to stay.”

“Sure.” He smiled, then, for the very first time, and even though it was only the smallest upturn of his lips her breath went. “Only until then. And I’ll have the special.”