Burning Hearts

ELLIS:
Cade Briggs is three problems I don’t need: built like a lumberjack, straight, and my rival for a million-dollar prize.
My rules are simple—win the million for my job, stay out of the headlines, and do not fall for Riverfield’s hero firefighter.
Then Aunt Tansy “accidentally” drops a second token with my name into the bowl—on camera—and overnight, the town casts me as the villain.
Now Cade and I are rival finalists in the middle of a small-town circus. Our hotel rooms share a wall, with our doors side by side. On camera, we’re enemies; at Miss Pearl’s diner, she seats us in the same booth with a smile that screams matchmaking.
When a kitchen scare nearly turns into a rerun of Riverfield’s infamous Biscuit Fire, Cade pulls me against his chest like I’m the only thing that matters.
I came here for a paycheck. Turns out I’m the one playing with fire.

CADE:
The prize is a million dollars, and I can’t afford distractions. Distractions get people hurt.
I fight fires and follow code. Romance isn’t on the checklist—definitely not with men—but Ellis Langford shows up with a camera and a last name this town never stops talking about.
Since a fire nearly took out half of Riverfield, I’ve played it safe: gear ready, exits planned, everything under control. The million is Brickyard’s chance to make our taproom permanent—until Tansy Langford makes a show of it and slips a second token with Ellis’s name into the bowl.
It takes one rigged drawing for the town to decide he’s the villain.
I should be furious. Instead, Miss Pearl strong-arms us into a “peace summit,” and pretty soon late-night knocks on our shared hallway door feel like anything but rivalry.
I know how to fight fires, but I have no idea what to do with him.

This is the first book in the Ember City series. It can be read as a standalone with no cliffhanger.