The Last of The Red Hot Firefighters (Red Hot Reunions Book 1) (16 page)

His lips lifted softly at the edges. “Life can be full of dark times, and things that knock us off our feet, but there are good times, too, and gifts along the way. It would be wrong to turn our backs on a gift just because we’ve been knocked down once or twice, or because some of the people we love aren’t here anymore.”

Naomi studied him for a long moment.

“Does that make sense?” he asked, eyebrows lifting uncertainly.

“Absolutely.” She cupped his face in her hand for a moment. “I think you’re right, and I feel one hundred percent better.”

Jake shrugged with a hint of shyness that Naomi found completely adorable, but then she found most things about Jake adorable.

“Well, I’m getting pretty good at the feeling talk,” he said with a sigh. “Faith says it’s because I’m in love, but…”

“I like you being in love.” Naomi grinned, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Especially with me. It’s one of my favorite things ever.”

“Mine, too,” Jake said, returning her smile. “Now let’s get out of here. I’m starving, and I heard they’re serving pulled pork sandwiches before the hayride.”

Naomi took his hand, letting him lead the way across the street to her car. “Sounds delicious, but we have to save room for half a dozen s’mores, too. Maddie made me promise.”

Jake sighed. “Sounds like a rough job, but if you promised…”

Naomi giggled, handing Jake the keys to her car. “You drive. I don’t see as well when it starts getting dark.”

“You are getting old, aren’t you?” Jake teased, earning himself a punch on the arm before Naomi settled into the passenger’s seat.

“That’s right,” she said when he’d joined her in the car. “I
am
getting old, so you’d better let me get to sleep before midnight tonight, instead of keeping me up for hours with all that kissy-kissy stuff.”

Jake cast her a look so intense it made her shiver. “Then we’ll have to leave the hayride early. Because I’m not of the mind to skimp on the kissy-kissy stuff.”

Naomi took a shaky breath. “How can you sound so sexy saying things like ‘kissy-kissy?’”

Jake grinned wickedly before murmuring in his most gravelly voice, “Skill, babe. Skill and practice.”

“Oh, stop it,” Naomi said, buckling her seatbelt. “I never should have told you that voice made me horny.”

“What voice?” Jake asked in that same nipple-tightening tone, temptation glittering in his eyes.

“Okay, fine,” she breathed, things low in her body fisting with longing. “Home for fifteen minutes, but then straight to the hayride. I paid for four dates, dang it, and I mean to have them all.”

“And I mean to have all of you,” Jake said, pulling out of the bakery parking lot before Naomi’s pulse could recover from that pronouncement.

Ten minutes later they were naked in Jake’s bed, and not long after that, Naomi was crying out his name. Even when it came to a quickie, Jake was never one to cheat his partner. He brought her over the edge twice before they jumped into the shower. By the time they arrived at the hayride, Naomi was so relaxed and satisfied and just plain blissed-out that not even Jamison’s hard look from the other side of the bonfire could make her anxious.

Jamison would come around. Once he realized how happy she and Jake were, he would let the past fade into his subconscious the way she had.

The past was the past; Naomi and Jake were the future, a future as bright and welcome as the first rays of sunlight after a long, mid-winter’s night.

Naomi was so content, and so certain that she and Jake were meant to be, that she forgot that the past has long arms, arms that can reach out of the shadows when you least expect it and pull you back into the dark.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Jake

Jake opened the door for Naomi and Faith, letting them pass before him into the gaily decorated ballroom of the historic home playing host to the Fireman’s Ball.

Mitzy and her decorating committee had really outdone themselves. Boughs of holly draped the walls, gas lanterns flickered on the tables at the edges of the room, and bundles of mistletoe tied with red and gold bows hung from the ceiling, ready to catch couples unaware and give them an excuse to kiss in public.

Not that Jake needed one…

As he helped Naomi out of her coat, he pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, secure in the knowledge he had the most beautiful date at the dance. In her floor-length, black sleeveless gown, Naomi looked like she should be at an opera premiere in New York City, not a Fireman’s Ball in Summerville, Georgia, but he was glad that she was on his arm. Very glad, indeed.

Naomi turned to him and smiled her warmest smile, the one that left no doubt in Jake’s mind that he was loved, treasured by a woman who adored him for exactly who he was—nothing more, nothing less. The smile sent a fresh wave of gratitude rushing through him. He was so grateful for Naomi, for the love they’d rediscovered, and for the gift of the next six days.

He had taken vacation for the first time in two years. Starting tomorrow, he and Naomi had plans to do nothing but cook, eat, watch old movies, play chess on the set Jake had made, and make love, breaking only to have Christmas Dinner with her family before returning to his place for more of the same. It sounded like the best holiday ever, and Jake couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so completely content, so filled with anticipation or so very aware of his many blessings.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with us?” Naomi asked Faith, squeezing the younger woman’s hand with an affection that made Jake love her a little more. “We don’t mind.”

Faith was Jake’s people, and so she had immediately become Naomi’s people, too. Naomi had embraced Faith with warmth and generosity that left no doubt in Jake’s mind that Naomi was going to be an amazing mother. He couldn’t wait to see her holding her son or daughter. He couldn’t wait to sign his name on the dotted line beside hers, committing himself to being the father of their child. He and Naomi hadn’t talked about adopting together yet, but hopefully, after tonight, it would be a no-brainer.

The ring Jake had picked up from the jewelry store on Main Street this afternoon was burning a hole in his pocket, but he wanted to wait for the perfect moment. He wanted this proposal to be something neither he, nor Naomi, would ever forget.

“Jake can take turns dancing with both of us,” Naomi continued, as Faith cast an anxious look around the ballroom. “I don’t mind standing on the sidelines because that’s where the cookies are, and I am all about cookies until January first when I may or may not think about considering dieting in a low-key, half-assed sort of way.”

Faith laughed and tugged nervously at her skirt. In a floor-length, cream-colored dress with a gold belt, Faith looked stunning, but Jake could tell she didn’t feel it. The fact her date was a Neanderthal who had done his best to make Faith feel like an ugly duckling probably didn’t help any. Jake doubted Neil had intentionally meant to shake Faith’s confidence, but Jake still wanted to pound the kid. And although he respected Faith for sticking it out and showing up for her last two dates, part of him wished she’d taken Jamison’s advice and told Neil to go to hell and rot there.

“No, I’m good,” Faith said. “I’m going to find my loser, eat some cookies, dance three dances, and get the hell out of here as soon as they announce how much money we’ve made.”

“Is Jamison still going to give you a ride home?” Jake asked.

Faith nodded. “Yeah. He wants to cut out early, too. He said he figures his date and her soon-to-be-not-ex-boyfriend will be making out under the mistletoe by eight o’clock anyway. Her plan to make her ex jealous seems to have worked out. Poor Jamison isn’t going to get any action, and he’s pretty cranky about it.”

That’s not the only thing he’s cranky about
, Jake thought, but didn’t say aloud. He wasn’t in the mood to discuss his brother’s sour disposition.

Tonight was a night for good things,
wonderful
things. Jake couldn’t imagine anything better than hearing Naomi say she would be his wife and had his fingers crossed that by the end of the evening the ring in his pocket would be sitting pretty on her left hand.

“I’m not nearly as cranky as he is,” Faith continued. “But I may have to break my punch glass over Neil’s head if we haven’t raised enough money for a new firehouse.”

“You’ve raised enough,” Naomi said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. “I know Mitzy from school. She gave me the scoop last week at the hayride. Everything’s on track, and they already have a builder contracted. They’re planning to break ground at the new location in the spring.”

“Praise Jesus,” Faith said with a grin before shooting Jake a thumbs-up he knew was about more than the new firehouse.

Faith had spotted the bag from the jewelry store on his desk at work today and put two and two together to make a marriage proposal. She was the only one who knew Jake intended to pop the question tonight, which was a good thing. If too many other people were rooting for him, Jake would be more nervous than he was already.

“All right, wish me luck,” Faith said, diving into the crowd.

“Good luck, and don’t take any crap,” Jake called after her, watching Faith make her way through the throngs of people already filling the room.

The dancing hadn’t started yet, but the room already felt packed. He certainly wouldn’t have any trouble finding an excuse to whisk Naomi outside for a breather—and an opportunity for him to bend down on one knee.

“Of course there is one big downside to the new firehouse going ahead, you know,” Naomi said, turning back to him, slipping her arm around his waist with a familiarity that felt just right.

“We won’t work across the street from each other anymore.”

“Exactly,” Naomi said with a sigh. “But I guess we’ll get more work done, be less distracted, and dumb stuff like that.”

Jake chuckled. “You don’t sound very enthusiastic about getting work done.”

“Work is overrated.” She tipped her head back, smiling up at him. “I’d rather spend my time lurking by the window, hoping for a glance of the red hot firefighter across the street.”

“The red hot firefighter across the street likes that part, too,” he said, leaning down to press a kiss to Naomi’s lips, earning himself a coat of lip gloss in the process.

As they parted, Naomi looked up at him and giggled. “When I saw you in this tux, I was sure you couldn’t get any sexier, but you look good in lip gloss. It brings out the sparkly bits in your eyes.”

Jake grunted. “Then maybe I’ll leave it on. I was going to go grab some cookies and napkins while you checked the coats, but—”

“No! Go! Grab napkins and cookies.” Naomi snatched the coats he had draped over his arm and draped them over her own. “Grab as many of Maddie’s caramel ones as you can without looking tacky before everyone else snatches them up. I’m serious about eating all the cookies until January.”

“Good,” Jake said. “And I don’t think you should go on a diet. You look perfect the way you are.”

Naomi shot him a mock glare. “Is dating you going to be bad for my waistline?”

“No way,” Jake said, leaning down to kiss her forehead before adding, “Because we’ll be working off those calories in the bedroom every chance we get.”

“Go get cookies,” Naomi said, giving his bicep a squeeze. “Before I drag you out to the truck and have my way with you.”

Jake grinned. “I’m okay with being dragged out to the truck.”

Naomi laughed as she put a hand to his chest and pushed him gently away. “No way. It’s freezing out there. Go get cookies. I’ll meet you by the fireplace in ten.”

Jake winked and turned to go, threading his way through the crowd, managing to stop only twice—once for a hug from Mrs. Keller, his kindergarten teacher, and once to shoot Neil Simpson a hard look as he presented a cranky-looking Faith with a glass of mulled cider. Still, by the time he reached the refreshment table, all of Maddie’s cookies were gone.

“Well, shit,” Jake mumbled, taking a glance at the remaining plates, wondering what Naomi would like best instead.

He was about to go for a few round cookies coated in powdered sugar with a placard that proclaimed them to be filled with almonds and orange liqueur—two things he knew Naomi loved—when Jamison appeared next to him, his increasingly familiar scowl firmly in place.

Jamison didn’t seem to be getting used to the idea of Jake and Naomi. If anything, he was becoming increasingly disapproving.

“I just talked to Faith,” Jamison said, propping his hands on his hips, looking ready for combat, even in a tux.

“Is she okay?” Jake glanced back to where he’d seen Faith last, but couldn’t find her in the crowd. “Do we need to go intervene with that Simpson kid?”

“No, I need to intervene. With you.” Jamison shrugged his arms and adjusted his tux coat, which looked to be a size too small, making Jake grateful Naomi had been with him when he picked out his jacket and encouraged him to go up a size.

“Faith told me what you’re planning to do tonight,” Jamison continued. “That you’re going to propose to Naomi.”

Jake nodded and fought the wave of irritation triggered by Jamison’s tone. To hear his brother talk, you’d think Jake was planning to fill his well with strychnine and invite a bunch of orphans over for lemonade.