She bit her lip again and he growled, “If you don’t stop doing that, I’m not sure we’re going to get to your fantasy.”

Her eyes wide, she let her lip go. “Oh.” She almost bit her lip again and caught herself at the last second. “Okay.”

“Megan.” She heard the sensual warning in his voice, which was quickly backed up when he said, “What’s your fantasy?”

But she’d already figured out she’d never be able to put voice to it. Instead, she’d have to show him.

With as much grace as she could manage considering how aroused she was, and how nervous at the same time, she moved her limbs beneath the water so that she wasn’t facing Gabe anymore. Looking at him over her shoulder, she slowly lifted up onto her hands and knees.

“This,” she said in a whisper that was almost swallowed up by the sound of water moving in the tub. “This is my fantasy.”

His groan ricocheted off the tiled walls, and then, thank God, he was moving too, and cupping her bottom in his big hands. But even though she was playing it as risky as she ever had with a lover, she was shocked when he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to first one cheek and then the other. Slowly, he moved his mouth up from her lower back to what felt like each vertebra along her spine, until he was biting at the curve of her shoulder.

“Is this it, Megan? Is this your fantasy?”

She couldn’t speak, could only nod and hold on tight to the edge of the tub as she pushed her bottom into the curve of his hips. Water splashed all around them as he thrust into her from behind and this time when she lost hold of her sanity, he was right there with her, pounding into her so hard, so deep as he came that she didn’t know where he left off and she began.

With one of his big hands on her br**sts, the other between her legs, and his teeth and tongue on her neck, Megan completely shattered in Gabe’s arms.

Chapter Twenty-two

Figure out how to handle the inevitable highs and lows.

~ from “Firefighting 101” ~

Gabe loved watching Megan sleep so peacefully, a small smile on her lips as she curled in closer to him. He felt content, and happy being with her like this, as sunlight streamed in on a new year.

But while his sisters had called him clueless at least a thousand times over the years, Gabe knew that even though Megan had talked about new beginnings and washing the past clean, odds were pretty darn high that she’d be just as upset about ending up in bed with him as she’d been the first time in Lake Tahoe.

Just because he’d made up his mind about what he wanted, didn’t mean she had.

She stirred again and slowly opened her eyes.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

He was damn glad to see that her eyes didn’t go wide with horror this time. Instead, she reached up to slide one hand through his hair. “Hi.”

But before he could get his hopes up too high, she was moving from the bed.

“Summer’s coming home today and I need to get a few things ready for her.”

Gabe wanted to pull her back down onto the bed with him, but he knew he should take this as a step forward from what had happened in the hotel room. She wasn’t running to the farthest corner. Wasn’t throwing around the word never.

As it was, it had been a stroke of sheer luck that he hadn’t been called into the station overnight. His official shift started in a few hours, enough time to make love to her again, to run his tongue over every sweet inch of her skin—

Stick to the plan, hotshot.

Deciding to heed that voice in his head that had been right so far, he said, “Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll go upstairs and get your clothes.”

She looked more than a little surprised by how quickly he agreed to her plan to get on with the day. Away from each other.

“Okay.” She paused, smiled a slightly wobbly smile. “Thanks.”

He grinned at her back as she walked, gorgeously naked, into the bathroom and closed the door behind her with a soft click. Hopefully, she’d have a hell of a time taking a shower without remembering every little thing that had happened in the nearby bathtub just hours before.

He pulled on a pair of faded jeans, went upstairs to get her clothes, and left them for her on his bed before going out to the kitchen to make breakfast.

A few minutes later, she walked toward him, her hair wet around her shoulders, her expression slightly shy. “I could smell the bacon from the bathroom.”

Gabe didn’t want to push his luck, but some things were unstoppable, like pulling her into his arms and kissing her. When they were both breathing hard, he pulled back an inch.

“I like waking up with you in my bed.” He took her hand and pulled her over to her seat at his dining table. “I like watching you eat, too.”

But before either of them could take a bite, his cell buzzed. He quickly looked at the code on it.

Megan was frowning at him when he looked back at her. “Do you need to go?”

“No, not yet. In a couple of hours I’ll start my shift. It was just a reminder from one of the guys about taking over his shift, too.”

“How long is your shift?”

“I’m usually on for forty-eight hours. But this one is seventy-two.”

She looked shocked by the hours. “Do you sleep at the station?”

“When I can.”

She looked as serious as he’d ever seen her. “I wish things were different, Gabe, but they aren’t. Last night was great, but...” She took a deep breath, looked him straight in the eye. “Nothing has changed.”

Her words settled like cement in the bottom of his gut and it wasn’t easy to keep his voice relaxed. “You’re having breakfast with me. That’s change.” A huge one, for the better.

She pushed away from the table, shoving her phone into her pocket and grabbing her bag from his couch as she headed for the door. “I need to go.”

Gabe wanted to beg her to stay, wanted to force her to confront their feelings for each other, wanted to make her admit those feelings weren’t going to go away just because she was scared about her past repeating itself with him.

Instead, he took her plate into the kitchen, pulled off a sheet of tin foil, and moved her food into the foil. He grabbed the keys to his truck. “I’ll take you home.”

“I’d like to walk.”

He could tell from the stubborn tilt of her chin that she was set on getting out of there—and away from him—ASAP. And, for all his male cluelessness, he knew better than to do anything that would push that stubbornness up a notch.