“That’s bullshit.”

He didn’t realize he’d sworn aloud until his mother looked at him with raised eyebrows, but he couldn’t stand the thought that Megan blamed herself in some way for anything that had happened.

“She was incredibly strong. She should have been unconscious long before then, but she was fighting for her daughter’s life.” He closed his eyes for a brief second and he was right back there in the smoke. “You should have seen her.”

“Sophie is thrilled they’ve reconnected. I hope to see more of her.”

Only Zach knew that he didn’t date fire victims anymore—and the reason why. Which was probably why Zach thought it was safe to make a play for Megan, because he knew being with her would break one of Gabe’s hard and fast rules.

But his mother had never believed in matchmaking, thank God. So he tried not to read anything into her statement.

“What can I get you to drink, honey?”

Man, did he ever need something to take the edge off. The problem was, even though this wasn’t his official shift, the station was short staffed over the winter holidays and he’d agreed to be a backup on the roster. Which meant there’d be no alcohol for him tonight.

“Go ahead and entertain your guests, Mom. I’ll take care of my own drink.”

“Okay, and if you wouldn’t mind starting a fire in the fire pit outside, I’d really appreciate it.”

Any one of his siblings could have started the fire for her, but he knew she liked to have him do it because she—correctly—assumed he was more concerned with fire safety than the others.

“No problem.”

She kissed him on the cheek and moved back into the throng of old friends, but instead of heading over to the bar for a soda, he made a beeline for the woman he’d planned on staying away from the rest of the night.

Chapter Six

Why was Gabe looking at her like that?

Megan felt the slightest bit fuzzy from the glass of champagne she’d guzzled way too fast, but she wasn’t even close to drunk. So then, why was she all but wobbling in her heels as Gabe moved through the crowded living room toward where she was standing with his brother?

She’d felt him watching her while she’d been talking to Zach and Ryan—and maybe she’d let herself laugh a little louder than normal, if only to make sure he didn’t think she was at all interested in him.

“Call me tomorrow about your flat and I’ll take care of it for you.” Zach Sullivan followed up his words with a grin that had her flushing.

But not because she was attracted to him. Okay, so she was human, and out of all the Sullivan men, Zach was undoubtedly the best looking on a technical scale that measured height of cheekbones and distance between the eyes.

The thing was, for whatever teeny-tiny flutter that had happened as a result of Zach’s undivided attention, there was an earthquake going on inside her from nothing more than Gabe’s hot eyes staring a hole in her from across the room. An earthquake causing ruptures inside, threatening to break open parts of her that she’d sworn to keep locked down.

She opened her mouth to thank him for the offer, but before she could, Gabe moved between the two of them. “Get lost, Zach.”

Zach who? Megan couldn’t take her eyes off the gorgeous firefighter.

“Where’s Summer?” he asked.

Despite all the champagne, her mouth was almost too dry to answer. “Your mother introduced her to some of the other kids. I think they’re checking out the game room in the basement.”

“Good. We need to talk.” He gestured to the backyard. “Somewhere private would be best.”

Even though he was easygoing with her daughter, Gabe had always been intense around her. Still, he seemed more serious than usual right now. Something was wrong, she was sure of it. Only, she couldn’t figure out what. Not, of course, that she’d been able to figure him out at all, yet.

She headed through the French doors that led to the empty back patio, with Gabe close enough behind her that she could feel his heat keeping her warm as they stepped out into the cool air. She moved farther into the darkness, away from the crowd of people drinking and eating and laughing together.

He took off his leather jacket. “Here.”

There was nothing soft or romantic about his brusque word or tone. And yet, when he slipped the jacket on over her shoulders before she could refuse it, she couldn’t help but be warmed by the gesture, both inside and out. She loved the smell of him, the way a little bit of smoke always seemed to cling to him, a scent that was utterly unique to him.

“What do you need to speak with me about?”

“Fighting fires is my job, Megan,” he began with no preamble, no small talk whatsoever. “I’m trained to deal with dangerous, possibly deadly situations. When firefighters get hurt, it’s either their own fault for not taking the proper precautions, or it’s a natural force of the fire that no one can control.” He searched her face and when he clearly didn’t see what he was looking for, he said, “You shouldn’t be apologizing to my mother about what happened to me.”

She couldn’t mask her surprise. “But it’s true. If I could have—”

He cut her off. “I should have had two dead weights to carry out of there, but you never let go for a second. Not for one goddamned second until you knew your daughter was safe.”

There was enough outdoor lighting from the decorative lanterns hanging from the oak’s branches for her to see the expression on his face.

Out-and-out respect.

For her.

“You were amazing, Megan. And I don’t want you to feel guilty about my part in the fire. Not ever again.”

Beyond surprised, she finally said, “Thank you for saying that, although I don’t think I can help the way I feel.”

“Neither can I.”

They stared at each other, the air between them doing that thing with the sparks and the electricity. Suddenly she didn’t know if they were talking about the fire anymore...or the sensual tension in the air.

“I shouldn’t have brought you out here,” he suddenly said. “It’s too cold without a fire. I’ll see you inside in a bit after I get something going in the fire pit.”

Clearly, that was his way of dismissing her. And Megan knew she would be wise to leave before any of the sparks ignited between them. But, darn it, she didn’t like leaving on his terms. And she definitely didn’t like it when he turned away as if she was already gone, and started piling his arms with nearby firewood.