Page 44 of Love in the Time of Wildfires

I’m starting to regret everything.

Oh, I seriously doubt it.

Because River knew exactly what she was going to wear and she wasn’t going to be giving him any hints. River saw it as payback for when he’d taken off his shirt without any warning and had gotten her all giggly. Either way, she was looking forward to it and to seeing him.

She didn’t have to wait long. She’d been walking up the stairs to her apartment after her knitting class with iced decaf coffee when his door opened. Had he been waiting for her? He looked so good it almost hurt, like River hadn’t realized how deeply she missed him. As much as she wanted to run and throw herself into his arms, she couldn’t be flinging herself at people like she’d already fallen head over heels. It wasn’t smart when he kept reminding her that dating wasn’t in the books for them.

River stopped just short of the landing and leaned against the stair railing. She offered a friendly smile as she took him in, and he seemed to do the same with her.

“River,” he said, looking like he was also trying to play it cool.

“Logan. Welcome home.”

“Aren’t you going to ask if you can hug me?”

She barked a laugh. He may be emotionally stunted, but she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. “If you want it so bad, why don’t you ask for it yourself?”

“River.” He sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair before saying, “Can I hug you?”

“Absolutely.” She bounded the rest of the way and threw herself into his open arms. Unlike their previous hug, which mostly felt one-sided, he fully wrapped his arms around her, holding and lifting River right off her feet. It made sense that her osito gave the best bear hugs, because that’s what this was.

It felt like home.

Chapter Thirteen

As much as Logan wasn’t looking forward to this award event, there was a part of him that absolutely was—mostly because of River.

They’d gone on a couple small hikes over the course of the week—whenever she wasn’t working and he hadn’t lined up any side jobs. It was getting to the point where he’d much rather see her than take the other work, even if it meant taking longer to obtain his secluded cabin in the woods. He finally had something to live for in the present instead of only working toward some distant future dream.

He commended himself for not kissing her again, even when there were times he wanted to. Like the evening he arrived home after being gone for weeks due to the Bear Gulch fire. He was itchy with anticipation the whole ride home, which seemed twice as long as any other trip.

Even if River claimed she wasn’t going on dates, his imagination was active with all the ways she could meet someone and start dating for real. She’d told him she wasn’t going to sit around and wait for things, and he got the message loud and clear.

Not that it mattered. He’d made the decision not to have another relationship. The only fair thing would be to let her go so things could end up where they belonged. It should have been easy. Except something in him wouldn’t let go, especially after that hug. It was both too much and not enough. Logan wanted to press his face into her hair, her skin, soaking up every bit of the sweet apple scent. God damn, her hugs were something else. He wanted it all like a selfish, jealous ass, and he wasn’t doing a good job of hiding it because she always knew what buttons of his to push.

The evening honoring the wildland firefighters had finally arrived. It was being held in an old Elk’s Lodge building in the center of town. He stood in front of his closet wondering what to wear. Unlike city firefighters, his unit didn’t have a dress uniform for formal events. There were no fancy Nomex garment with elegant reflective strips for an evening gala. There wasn’t even a matching Nomex tie. He settled on a simple black suit his mom had insisted he needed. Under his suit jacket he wore a basic black button-down shirt and no tie. It was good enough.

When he’d texted River about the dress code, she’d responded, I’ll get my ballgown back from the dry cleaners soon.

He wasn’t sure if she’d been serious or not. Sometimes it was hard to tell, especially when he couldn’t catch the sparkle of mischief in her dark eyes. Logan was still curious.

What are you going to wear?

River

I don’t know. I guess you’ll just have to wait and find out.

So he had no idea what to expect. In the end, he was just happy she’d agreed to go with him and had given up the idea of bringing her own date. Again, he didn’t know if she’d been joking or pushing his buttons. Either way, it had worked, because despite telling himself he wasn’t going to be possessive, he couldn’t help feeling that he wanted everyone to know she was with him.

Logan knocked on her door, smoothing a hand down the back of his freshly cut hair. He had a brief moment of panic because he’d forgotten to bring flowers but then remembered this wasn’t a date.

River opened the door and—

His brain stopped functioning, immediately vacating his skull. With it gone, he lost use of everything else he normally had control over, like his mouth. All he could do was stare at her like a goddamn deer.

She, on the other hand, didn’t have any trouble. “Hi.” Her bright red-lipped smile lit her whole face. One side of her glossy, wavy hair was swept up in a sparkly sunburst clip. He could have spent an hour focused on her face—from her hair to her perfect pink cheeks and long dark eyelashes. That alone would have been enough to take his breath away, but it was the outfit that made him wordless. It was a tiny, tight black dress that hit her mid-thigh and lovingly hugged every one of her curves, showcasing the most amazing cleavage he’d ever seen in his life. It took every bit of self-control to not leer like a sex-obsessed baboon.

She left the door open as she bent to put on a pair of sexy stiletto heels, which had his gaze zipping a line down her legs.