Chapter 10
Thorne I woke up with Lissa in my arms. I stared at her peaceful face sleeping on my chest. I should have regretted last night, a drunken one-night stand with a co-worker, but I couldn’t. I don’t know when my feelings started, but I wouldn’t deny them now.
Lissa rubbed her face on my chest and stretched, waking up. Hazel eyes peeked up at me through half opened eyelids. Her body stiffened. We’d never woken up together since I moved in. Did she react this way each time she woke up before me?
I raised an eyebrow. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” Her voice sounded hoarse. She looked around the room and down at us under the covers. “So, I didn’t dream…us happening, huh?”
I shook my head. “Not a dream.”
She finally looked back at me. “What are you thinking?”
I took a deep breath. “Truth?”
She nodded.
“I don’t regret it. I should because we work together, but I’d like to see where this could go.”
Her eyes widened. “I…um.” She turned her face away as her cheeks flushed pink. “I might be on the same page as you. I need a shower first.”
I watched Lissa slide out of bed and leave the room naked. My head plopped back down on the pillow when I heard the water running. I crossed my fingers that she wouldn’t change her mind in the shower.
Lissa In the washroom I noticed he’d cleaned me up last night while I slept.
He even tried to clean off the makeup on my face.
In whatever drunken state he was in, he still managed to wipe me down before sleeping himself.
I felt a warmth build inside of me, and I almost lost it.
I covered my mouth before I could scream.
Water washed over me as I tried to figure out my feelings. I switched between scared and excited, both with a side of freaking out. These last four weeks really changed how I felt about Thorne.
I didn’t expect him to want more than what happened last night. My memories slowly came back to me during the shower. The one thing that played on repeat was how I wanted to mark him as mine. How I wanted him to mark me.
Thirty minutes later, I stepped out of the bathroom and smelled eggs and coffee.
I didn’t realize how hungry I was until then.
Thorne was putting plates of eggs and toast on the table.
Two steaming mugs were already sitting in front of the chairs with a couple of acetaminophens beside mine.
But what really caught my attention was Thorne in only a pair of gym shorts hanging low on his hips.
When did I develop a thing for thick, muscular thighs?
“Hungry?” he asked, tearing my attention away from his legs.
“Yes.”
I sat across from him and swallowed my medicine with a sip of my coffee.
Perfect. I wouldn’t get too excited. We already knew each other’s coffee order after being partners for years.
But the eggs, the eggs were new. Over easy with buttered toast. It meant he noticed.
I looked at his plate. Eggs scrambled and toast smeared with jelly.
I hadn’t remembered how he liked his eggs.
Those warm feelings churned in my chest as I started to eat. I peeked at him through my lashes between bites. His bangs were almost in his eyes now, and he’d gotten tanner after a month of daily walks. What he wasn’t doing was shaking his leg or chatting.
In the too bright room, I sat up straight and really watched him. He bit his bottom lip and kept his head down as he gathered another bite. If he wasn’t moving his fork, he would be completely still.
How cute to see him nervous, too. And this feeling? It wasn’t one-night stand feelings. Would we be risking our jobs to explore this?
He finally noticed me staring. He sat up and said, “What? Why are you staring at me?”
“You’re nervous.”
He blinked several times. “Yes. I am.”
“You’re nice,” I said. “And handsome. And annoying. And have been all up in my space for the last month. And for some reason, I don’t mind it. I kind of like it. I like you, but I don’t know what to do about it.”
He reached over and put his hand over mine. “You’re nice, too. And fun to be around. I like seeing your competitive side outside of work, and I like being here with you. You’re gorgeous. I like you, too. But I can wait until you figure out what you need to figure out.”
“You said you wanted to see where this could go.”
He nodded. “I did, and I do.”
“What does that look like to you?” I didn’t move my hand from his. I liked the feeling of his hand on mine.
“Like dating. Doing stuff together and kissing when the moment calls for it.” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Stuff?”
“Yeah, stuff. Like what we already do. Walking, working out, watching TV, basketball, rock climbing. Stuff.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And sex?”
“Well, I won’t say no, but I’ll also take a blowjob.”
I pulled my hand away and slapped his still on the table. He laughed pulled my chair and me over to him. His arms wrapped around me, and he pulled me close.
“We’ll need to set boundaries,” I said, letting him hold me.
“Agreed. You go first.”
“This doesn’t cross over into work. At work, we’re partners, nothing more.”
“I agree with that.” He paused then said, “Next, we don’t let work interfere with our relationship when we’re off duty.”
“Okay, I can do that. We don’t tell anyone at work.”
“Why not?” He gave me those puppy dog eyes.
“We might not be allowed to work the same shift if we are dating. I’d like to wait.”
“Until we’re serious?” He tightened his arms around my middle.
“Serious? What do you mean?”
“Like introduce you to the family serious. Spending holidays together serious. Of course we already live together, so maybe this is serious.”
I flicked his forehead. “This is temporary. You’re lucky I haven’t forced you to go back to your place. You can go up and down stairs just fine. I just don’t want your right leg to be giant compared to your left from only stepping up on your right leg for four floors.”
He laughed. “I appreciate it, though having one super muscular leg would be hilarious. I’d be the star of all the firefighter calendars. It would just be a picture of the one leg.”
“Leg day calendar.” I laughed, then winced. “My head still hurts.”
“Poor hungover firecracker.” He smoothed out my hair. “You should rest.”
I nodded. “I’ll postpone my training with Chelsea until this afternoon and go take a nap.”
I got up and dragged my feet into the bedroom.
After an hour of tossing and turning, I went to the living room and sat on the couch next to Thorne as he watched TV.
I pulled on the blanket I kept on the back of the couch, leaned on Thorne, and closed my eyes.
I felt him lay his head on mine before I drifted off to sleep.