Grumpy Firefighter (Copper Creek Firehouse #2)

Cole

Everyone in Copper Creek calls me a hero.They’re wrong.I went back into a burning house for a little girl, and I didn’t bring her out.

So now I don’t eat right. I don’t let them fix my shoulder.I sit outside a boy’s hospital room every day, because he lived and his sister didn’t, and a man like me doesn’t get to feel better than that.Then the department drags me to physiotherapy, and she’s the one waiting for me.Maya Holt.

First week on the job.All soft curves and stubborn sunshine, looking at me like I’m still worth saving.I give her one-word answers and a cold shoulder.She gives it right back and books me in for next week.She should walk away.

Everyone walks away.She just stays.She doesn’t try to fix me.She wipes a tear I didn’t know I’d shed and tells me it wasn’t my fault, over and over, until it finally gets in.I’ve spent every day since the fire making sure I never feel one good thing.Now there’s Maya. And God help me, she’s mine.

He’s the grumpiest man in Copper Creek. She’s the only one who refuses to give up on him.