Blaze: A Small Town, Nerdy Girl, Opposites Attract, Protector Romance (Ghost Ops Book 1)

Chapter 57

One month later…

Emma directedthe delivery people on where to put the new furniture she’d picked out for their apartment. Blaze’s couch and table had been donated to Daphne, who was renting one of the top floor apartments now that she’d been hired at One Shot Tactical, had a steady income, and people to vouch for her.

Emma didn’t know Daphne’s story, but she thought there was something sad in it. Daphne was friendly, but she didn’t share many things about herself. Maybe she would once she’d lived in Sutton’s Creek for a while. Most folks warmed up to the small-town environment.

The One Shot guys stayed busy with clients and training, and they sometimes worked odd hours. Emma didn’t ask.

Rory had left the hospital after two days and returned to the Salty Dawg, finding a temporary chef to help out, and opening for business after a brief hiatus. Theo had been on bed rest for a couple of weeks, but he was back at the Dawg now too, though he tired out quicker than before. Still, the food at the Dawg was as awesome as always, and they stayed busy.

Rory had hired the guys to put up an alarm system and cameras at her house. Chance had wanted to do it for nothing, but Rory insisted on paying for their labor in addition to the equipment.

Emma sighed. She didn’t know what was going on with those two, but they were back to hating each other. Whatever truce they’d had when Chance carried her from the tent had ended.

Emma had harbored such hope for that first week or two when Rory and Chance had seemed to get along so well. Chance was always visiting the Dawg, talking to Rory, and she was talking right back. Then it was over.

Emma never asked if Rory had followed through and gotten that Vitamin D from Chance. She’d been too busy getting her own Vitamin D. Repeatedly. Thoroughly.

Happily.

Emma shifted her thoughts back to Rory as her insides squirmed. Her normally bold friend hadn’t said whether or not she and Chance had done the deed. Chance Hughes was not a topic Rory liked to touch on.

Once the delivery people were gone, Emma worked on arranging and rearranging some of the picture frames and artwork she’d bought on the floor. She wanted to make a gallery wall, and she wanted it perfect before they pounded the first nail into the wall.

She looked out the window at the rear parking lot. When Blaze had told her that Colleen said Melvin thought they should stay in the rear apartment for the light, she’d laughed. She’d already decided she liked this apartment better. Yes, there was a parking lot, but it wasn’t too big or ugly. There were beautiful buildings all around, and the trees offered shade and greenery to look at. And she could see when Blaze was home, like now.

He parked and opened the door, climbing out onto the pavement. Colleen rushed from the rear of her building to say something to him. They stood there for a few moments, Colleen gesticulating and Blaze nodding.

He made Emma’s heart thump every time she looked at him. He was handsome, masculine, and he made her feel both strong and protected at the same time. He held her tenderly, made love to her like a house on fire, and let her know every day how special she was to him.

They would get married next summer. She’d already told her mother, who was both thrilled to plan a wedding and sad it wasn’t sooner. But then she’d said that it gave her plenty of time to plan the wedding of the decade in Sutton’s Creek.

Blaze finished his conversation with Colleen and headed for the building. Emma scooped Sassy up and went to stand on the landing. When he appeared on the stairs, her heart squeezed.

“Hey you two,” he said. “How are my girls?”

“Happy to see you,” Emma replied. Sassy merely yawned. Blaze got to the top of the stairs and kissed them both before they went into the apartment and Emma put Sassy on the floor. She shot toward the new couch and jumped on the back of it.

“Looks good,” Blaze said. “You were right about the color.”

Emma went to the fridge and pulled out two beers. “Thank you. What did Colleen want?”

Blaze laughed as she handed him an icy can of Monkeynaut. “Aliens. They’re hovering over that big field off Church Road before you get to the Refuge.”

“Of course they are. What did she want you to do about it?”

Blaze took a drink. “Film them of course. Set up some cameras, show her how to work them.”

Emma shook her head. “Are you going to do it?”

“Not if I can help it. Can’t your mother get her involved in the town planning committee or the beautification committee or something?”

“I’ll ask, but I doubt it. Colleen dances to her own tune.”

“At least Melvin is happy.”

“He seems to be.”

Blaze came over and hooked an arm around her waist, tugging her in close until they were breast to hip. “What about you, Sunshine? Are you happy?”

She set her beer down on the counter and hooked her arms around his neck. Happy? She was ecstatic. She loved Sutton’s Creek, loved being home again, even loved working with her dad and getting to know the patients. She’d finally agreed to create her own office instead of using a makeshift one in the stock room.

Patients mostly called her Doctor now, but some slipped up and said her name. She’d come to believe that was part of belonging to a small town. She’d even decided she didn’t mind being called Emma Grace by all who’d known her for her whole life. It was slow and Southern and flowed off the tongue when spoken by people whose accents were as thick as the corn in the fields in summer.

She loved it. Loved being home. Loved Blaze Connolly with every atom of her soul.

“Yes,” she said, standing on tiptoe to lick his bottom lip. “I am very happy.”

He set his beer down and hooked an arm behind her legs, swooping her up. “Then I’m about to make you even happier.”

Then he carried her to the bedroom and made good on his promise.

* * *

Thanks for reading BLAZE!I hope you loved this start to a new series set in small-town Alabama! As you might imagine, Rory and Chance are NEXT! The question is… did they or didn’t they….? Their book is called CHANCE: Ghost Ops.