Page 45 of The Fire Captain's Unexpected Baby
Warmth spreads through my chest.
“Let’s get you out of that diaper,” I announce, swinging him up and around. A giggle escapes him as he lands on the cushion atop the changing table.
Noah and I keep up a steady stream of chatter. I tell him all about the guys at the firehouse while he babbles up at me. I imagine he might be telling me about his day with Paige, something I wasn’t privy to.
“Am I interrupting?” Paige leans against the doorframe, her curvy body silhouetted by the darkness of the hall.
“Nope. We were just having a man-to-man conversation.”
She enters the room just as I’m setting Noah down from the changing table. The soft smile on her face is unlike any I’ve seen on her. It’s gentle, reflective. The kind of smile she probably only reserves for Noah.
Only this time, it’s directed at me.
There are only a handful of people on this earth who look at me that way. It sparks something in my chest—not desire, but a sense of belonging. The feeling of coming home. Of family.
She walks past Noah, who is diving into a bin of toys, and straight into my arms. Quickly, I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her into me as tightly as I can. Like Noah, she tucks her head under my chin.
“What did I do to deserve this?” I ask playfully, tugging at the ends of her hair.
“You’re just so good with him,” she whispers. “I really like seeing this side of you. Not just the firefighter doing his thing.”
When she leans back to look at me, I don’t waste a second. I press my lips to hers, the very thing I have been waiting to do all day.
For once, I’m not the one responsible for deepening our kiss. Paige wraps her arms around my neck, granting me access to her full lips. She presses into me harder, her breasts molded to my chest. Of course, she has no idea what that does to me—but she will soon.
In the span of a heartbeat, the tenderness turns into heat and pent-up desire. Likethisis what has been on her mind all day, instead of work and puppies and Noah.
Because she is shorter than me, she has to rise on her tiptoes to press hard on my lips. But she does, her teeth colliding with the corner of my mouth.
I tilt her face up again, letting her bite my bottom lip this time. At my sharp exhale, she takes encouragement and sucks it into her mouth. I keep one ear out for Noah, but this kiss makes it hard to think about anything but Paige.
Her heat. Her warmth. Her body pressed against mine.
The things I would do to her right now.
It’s getting hard to remember why wecan’tdo this until I hear the tiny giggle from the corner.
It feels like we’re two teenagers, stealing a moment that might not truly belong to us. It feels like we’re getting more than we deserve, more than we should have.
At the feel of Noah tugging at my leg, I laugh and pull back reluctantly. Paige starts when I pull back, no doubt feeling like I rejected her, until she sees Noah demanding our attention.
“We can pick this up later,” she promises.
“No can do,” I sigh, scooping Noah up and heading downstairs to more neutral ground. “I’m here for a limited time. Got a short break from the station, but I still have a 24-hour shift.”
She groans. “Of course, you have a long shift on the one night I have off for a while.”
“We’ll figure something out. This isn’t our last chance to have a little alone time.”
I’m trying to be optimistic, but the idea of spending too many nights away from her makes my heart ache.
“Let me at least invite you to dinner,” she says from the bottom of the stairs. “Maybe the café, so you’re close to the station if they need you?”
“You’re just trying to capitalize on my free coffee.”
“I’d do anything for some free diner coffee,” she yawns. “But seriously, I could use a cup of coffee right now if I’m going to get anything done tonight.”
“The café it is, then.” I grab my keys from the bowl by the door. It feels so normal to have my keys here, mingled with hers.
