Fighting the Flames (Firefighter Romance #1)(28)

“His loss is your gain?”

“Exactly. At least I hope it is.” He smiled against her lips before giving her another kiss, this time longer and hotter. He decided he didn’t need to know why she left him three years ago. He just needed to make sure she didn’t run again. The waitress arrived with their food. Jessie was both grateful and annoyed. Ryan sat back down and winked at her. Her body buzzed and fluttered and hummed and all the other crazy stuff it did every time she was near him. Good grief, how did he do that to her? They ate in silence for several moments.

“The food is fantastic,” she said, swallowing the last of it and taking a sip of her fresh-squeezed orange juice.

“I knew you’d like it.”

“It’s not as good as your French toast, though.” She smiled and finished her juice.

“Oh yeah?” He raised a brow. “Maybe I can make them for you tomorrow morning.”

The way he said it, the tilt of his head, the inflection of his voice—she knew he was asking her to spend the night. It was a bad idea. Continuing to have sex with him was only going to complicate things more than they already were. She couldn’t let that happen. “We’ll see,” she said with a wink. It was a lighthearted, wimp induced response intended to appease him without causing an argument, but her mind was already made up: she was absolutely, positively, without a doubt not having sex with Ryan tonight.



“Wow! That was incredible.” Jessie collapsed on top of him, her face buried in the crook of his neck, and fought to catch her breath. He’d managed to give her back-to-back-to-back orgasms. That had to be a new record. Her whole body was shaking, and she was sure she wouldn’t be able to walk for a week.

“Yeah,” he panted. “Incredible.”

She laughed and nuzzled his neck. She’d never felt so content before, so at peace with the world and herself. Maybe she could be with him. Maybe they could have a relationship, a future together without her losing who she was as a person. For all she knew, maybe Ryan didn’t want a relationship. Maybe he just wanted casual sex. Damn, her clitoris was doing the thinking again.

Ryan ran his fingers up and down her back. “Mmm, that feels good,” she said. He continued to stroke her back and she yawned. “I’m going to fall asleep if you keep doing that.”

He chuckled. “I won’t object if you fall asleep like this.”

Jessie closed her eyes. The next thing she knew she was waking up to sunlight streaming through the crack in the curtains. She was lying on her back, a sheet covering her body. Stretching her arms above her head and extending her legs, she smiled. It had been ages since she’d slept through the night so deeply. She usually woke up with nightmares five or six times. She felt terrific! She caught sight of Ryan from the corner of her eye. He was lying beside her, head propped in his hand, smiling.

“Morning, beautiful,” he said, placing his hand on her stomach.


“Morning.” She rolled onto her side and faced him. “I fell asleep on you, didn’t I?” He nodded and grinned. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You know I love it when you fall asleep in my arms.”

She loved it, too, but she’d never tell him that. “What are we doing here, Ryan?” she blurted out before she had a chance to stop herself. Shit. She hadn’t meant to say that. At least, not like that.

“I believe it’s called cuddling.”

She laughed. “That’s not what I meant.”

Ryan put his hand on her lower back and pulled her close to him. “I know.” His soft lips pressed against hers, his tongue slipping into her mouth as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She couldn’t deny it. Everything with Ryan felt natural. “Do we have to define it? Can’t we just enjoy it? Enjoy each other?”

“You have no idea how much I wish we could, Ryan, but there are things I haven’t told you, things you need to know.”

“Uh-oh, this doesn’t sound good.” He moved away just enough to be able to look at her comfortably, but not far enough to put any real distance between them.

Despite their kiss moments ago, her lips felt drier than the Sahara. She licked them and took a shaky breath. “That summer at the beach, I was there because I’d found out Derrick had been cheating on me.”

“Wait, I thought you said you dated him within the last three years.”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t completely honest with you. I had been dating Derrick for five years before that summer. I caught him cheating on me, and that’s when I decided to get away. The day I left for my family’s beach house, Derrick showed up and begged me for another chance. He asked me to marry him.”

Ryan’s gaze hardened. “Are you telling me you were engaged that summer? That everything we shared was a lie?”

“No.” Jessie shook her head frantically. “No. I told Derrick I needed time to think about it, that I’d give him an answer when I returned. Derrick and I weren’t together when I met you. I swear.”

“But you were considering marrying him.” Ryan sat up, grabbed his jeans from the floor and pulled them on. “You spent every damn night with me for two months, Jess. Two whole months! And the entire time you were thinking about marrying another man.” He yanked his shirt over his head. “Unbelievable.”