Chapter 29
HANNA
I pull into the parking lot of his building and reread the text he sent me earlier in the day to make sure I’m in the right place.
I got lucky this morning and had my final client of the day cancel at the last minute which meant I could leave the office an hour earlier.
When I got home, I quickly changed into my favorite pair of overalls, a Christmas themed long-sleeved shirt I thrifted last year, and braided my hair under the navy blue hat I topped the outfit off with.
After he mentioned it, I decided to wear it over tonight, finally lifting it from where I’d set it down that night after getting home from the bar.
It doesn’t match my shirt at all but it still makes me smile every time I see it in my rearview mirror on the drive over.
I walk up to the door and hit the buzzer for his apartment. Within an instant, his voice comes over the intercom.
“Hello?”
“Hey, fireman, it’s me,” I call back, leaning in to speak into the system.
“Hey, you,” he says back and I can hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll be right down.”
“Okay,” I say and take a few steps away.
My feet start to pace in small circles outside the front door of the building.
As I move, my brain starts to ask all the questions I’d been asking myself since the last time I saw him.
Are we dating? Sure we’ve kissed a few times but does that make him my boyfriend?
Are we in a relationship? Why is this still so confusing at my age?
I thought people in their mid-thirties were supposed to have it figured out by now.
My mind doesn’t have time to spiral for long before the striking feature of a well-built man hits me from the other side of the glass front door.
“What are you doing out here without a coat? It’s freezing,” he says, quickly stepping out of the door and slipping out of the windbreaker he always wears. Before I can object he’s swinging it around my shoulders and wrapping me up in it.
“First off, it’s not that cold. If you think it is, then you’re a wimp. Secondly”—I push up to my toes and kiss him on the cheek—“Thanks for being a gentleman and giving me your coat. Even if I’m only going to wear it for the few seconds we’re outside.”
“First off,” he mimics, pulling me close to his chest and smiling, “it’s cold out here. You’re crazy if you don’t think it is. And secondly”—this time he leans down and presses a possessive kiss to my lips—“You should wear my clothes more often. Makes me feel good seeing you in them.”
He pauses as his eyes glance up towards my forehead. “Hat looks good, doc.”
“Thanks, I stole it from this cute guy I sang to at the bar one night. He was very protective of me after that,” I tease.
Squeezing me closer, he dips his head down and hums close to my lips before kissing me again. “What can I say, I always take good care of what’s mine.”
I feel a fresh heat in my cheeks and a growing one between my legs as he slips his hand into mine and punches in a code that unlocks the front door of his building.
He holds my hand the entire elevator ride up to his place, including when another couple steps on.
Before we reach his floor, he leans over and presses a kiss to my cheek.
He only lets me go when he unlocks the door to his apartment and waves his hand to gesture for me to go in ahead of him.
“This is nice,” I say, spinning in a slow circle to take it all in.
You never know what you’re going to get when you go to a man’s place but he has clearly put some time and thought into his home.
The furniture all matches and it’s cleaner than any of the places my ex’s have lived in.
My guess is that’s a byproduct of being a service member for the better part of his life.
That, and the fact that he hardly lives here with his schedule at the firehouse.
“Thanks. It’s not a lot but I feel like I’ve made it look presentable.”
I nod in response, picking up a picture frame that’s sitting on the mantle.
It’s a picture of who I assume is his family.
I notice the other two men in the photo—Carter and Cooper.
Then there’s two women, one much younger than the other.
The older one has a kind smile. One that intrinsically makes you feel safe and welcomed.
“Is this your mom?” I ask, pointing to the woman.
“Yep, that’s Ivy. The other girl in the photo is Coop’s little sister, Willow. Technically she’s an adult, a woman, but calling her that feels weird. She’s still ‘Coop’s little sister’ to me even though she’s only a few years younger than us.”
“She’s the nurse?”
“Good memory,” he compliments.
“Please, it’s my job to have a good memory,” I say over my shoulder and wink at him. That’s when I notice a massive pile of bags and boxes behind him. Through the sheer plastic bags, I can make out different characters, toys, and stuffed animals hiding inside.
“Is that what we’re wrapping tonight?” I ask, pointing a finger at the mound of toys. Taking a few steps closer, I can see that there’s at least five full trash bags of stuff as well as a handful of paper bags filled with clothes and shoes.
“If you’re up for it,” he starts, taking a step closer to me.
“Where did you get all this? And who’s it for?” I turn my head to look at him. When I do, his hat slides down my face and covers my eyes. He reaches over and adjusts it for me, flashing me a smile that almost makes me melt into a puddle right at his feet.
“It’s for the kids at Fresh Start. I organize a toy drive every year for them and people always show up and donate.
This is this year’s haul that I need to wrap and take over there before the holiday.
Sam and Patti will then assign the gifts to kids for them to open on Christmas Day.
The first few years they wrapped the gifts themselves but it became too much for them.
Now I take care of it.” He shrugs as he explains like it’s not a big deal.
“Miles…” I glance from him to the pile of toys. There has to be at least a thousand dollars worth of stuff in front of us. “This is one of the most generous things I’ve ever heard of someone doing.” Unable to stop myself, I wrap my arm around his waist and kiss him on the cheek again.
“When are you going to learn that that’s not enough for me?
” he asks hastily before pulling me into him completely and kissing me.
He holds me in place, kissing me hard and I can feel my brain starting to go all fuzzy like it does when he’s too close.
But we have presents to wrap and if I don’t stop us now, I’ll let him keep kissing me forever.
“Okay, okay, enough of that. We have work to do. You can kiss me more later once all of this is wrapped,” I say, pushing him away gently. A small whine escapes him as I do and I have to bite back my laugh.
“I’d like to do a lot more than kiss you,” he whispers. I don’t think he meant for me to hear it but I did.
“Maybe if you’re lucky,” I joke knowing good and well that if he suddenly threw me over his shoulder and marched me into his bedroom, I won’t put up a fight. I spin his hat around so it’s now backwards on my head. “Alright, let’s get to work.”
He laughs next to me and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “How about I cook us dinner first? I did offer to do that.”
“Okay. You cook and I’ll start sorting this stuff so it’s ready to wrap after we eat. Does that work?”
He smiles at me and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Sounds like a plan to me, beautiful.”
A couple of hours and one delicious meal later, we’re sitting on the floor in his living room surrounded by expertly organized toys, clothes, and essentials.
People have donated a mix of everything—from shoes to school supplies to the latest and greatest toy for the season.
I wish he would have told me he was organizing this because I would have donated something myself.
While working to organize everything, I came up with a gift idea that I know will make a certain someone very happy and I plan on going out tomorrow to pick it up.
“Okay, here’s some paper, scissors, and some tape,” he starts, handing me each supply one at a time.
When he leans over to hand me the tape, he quickly pulls it away and moves closer with his lips pushed out.
A shy laugh tumbles out of my mouth before I lean over and give him what he wants.
Once he’s gotten his kiss, he offers his hand holding the tape in it to me again.
“You’re ridiculous,” I joke, unrolling the red and green paper he picked out.
“I won’t apologize for enjoying kissing you,” he rebuttals.
Shaking my head with a smirk, I cut the paper and set a Tonka truck in the center of it.
Wrapping it up, I fold and crease in neat lines, taping the paper down when needed.
When he starts to wrap, I try to sneak a peek at him every few moments to see how he’s doing.
Every time I look up, though, he’s already looking at me.
“You know if you think I’m cute, you can just tell me,” he jokes after catching my eye for the third time.
“I’m just checking to make sure you’re doing a good job,” I say as nonchalantly as I can. ‘Cute’ isn’t enough to accurately describe his appearance. Dangerously handsome would be more apt.
“Of course I’m doing a good job. I’ve gotten pretty good the last few years of doing this,” he says, holding up a beautifully packaged gift.
“That’s pretty good. I’m impressed.”
“I’m pretty good at a lot of things. You just wait and see.”
The space between my legs tingles with excitement as the lowness of his voice.
I peer at him over the brim of my glasses. “Is that a promise?”
His eyes shoot up and lock on me. Suddenly the air around us feels heavier than it did ten seconds ago. Warmer too.
“Do you want it to be?”