Chapter 13
Alex
Emma is warm and quiet against my chest, her breath soft against my skin.
I’m still trying to steady my own breathing, my head tucked into the curve of her neck.
I should roll off her, give her space, be sensible.
Instead I kiss her shoulder, then the corner of her jaw, because I cannot seem to stop touching her.
When I finally settle beside her and pull the duvet over us, she curls in immediately, as if her body knows the way before her mind does.
Her eyes are closed and a smile smile is playing around her lips.
“Emms,” I murmur, brushing a hand through her hair. “You still haven’t opened your eyes.”
She makes a tiny, embarrassed sound. “I’m scared that if I do, I’ll find out it was all just a dream.”
“No dream,” I say softly.
She lifts her eyelids at last. The way she looks at me…
I feel it everywhere. Her hand rises and strokes my hair, tentative but sure, as if she wants to memorise the shape of me.
I press a kiss to the top of her head and hold her closer.
Above us the stars still burn white against the dark sky.
The whole field is quiet save for the occasional rustle of grass.
I’m aware of nothing but her, and the fact that life feels absurdly perfect in this moment.
The first thing I register is warmth. Emma’s warmth.
Her cheek is on my chest, her breath soft against my skin, one arm draped over me as if she’s always slept this way.
The stars have faded to a dusky wash, the sky that quiet blue-grey you get this time of the year.
I should be focusing on the fact that I’m naked in the back of a pickup on a farm field, but I can’t seem to care.
Not when she’s here, tangled up in the duvet and in me.
My phone rings.
The sound slices through the calm. My eyes snap open and I realise I must have drifted off. Carefully I slide out from beneath her, easing her onto the mattress. The dawn light paints a faint gold across her hair. She murmurs, curls instinctively closer to where I was lying, then settles again.
I reach for my jeans, rummage for my phone and keep my voice low as I answer. “Hello?”
“Alex, it’s Tommy. We’ve got a call-out. Two tourists missing up on Horse Pike. They never came back from their hike yesterday. Their group didn’t realise till half an hour ago.”
The adrenaline arrives instantly. “Where are we meeting?”
“Hill Road, by Kendall Farm. The helicopter is already up.”
“I’ll be there in forty.”
When I hang up, the weight of reality settles in. I want to climb back beside Emma, pull the duvet over us, shut the world out until morning becomes afternoon. Instead I look at her, still lost in sleep, the sky brightening behind her.
I lean down and kiss her jaw gently. “Emms.”
She stirs, a sleepy sound escaping her, but her eyes stay closed. I brush my thumb against her cheek.
“Emma.”
This time her eyelids flutter open. She smiles, slow and soft, and something inside me reacts far too strongly for a man who should be focusing on a rescue.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I murmur. “It makes me want to take you again, and I don’t have the time.”
Her smile dips into a frown.
“Oh sorry. You probably want to get home.” she says quietly, looking embarrassed. I’m fucking going to kill whoever hurt her that bad in the past.
I stop her gently and pull her into a kiss, “FMR called. We've another rescue. Otherwise, I would latch onto your delicious pussy right here, right now until you scream my name.”
“Alex!” she gently slaps me but the smile she gives me tells me that my words have driven off any dark thoughts from the past.
“I’ve got to get you home and then grab my gear,” I explain.
She exhales, accepting it with more grace than I deserve. “Okay. Just give me a moment.”
We dress quickly, both reluctant to break whatever magic held us through the night.
She helps me fold the makeshift bedding, smoothing the duvet without meeting my eyes, as if she isn’t entirely ready for morning either.
When I hold the passenger door open, she pauses and looks up at the sky one more time.
“Best date ever,” she says, grinning, and kisses me before climbing in.
That one line carries me all the way back to Fellside.
I reach the meeting point with seconds to spare. The team is already gathered, backpacks laid out by the off-roaders, the usual tired determination settling over everyone. Phil spots me first.
“How come you’re last? You live closer than all of us.”
I keep my voice low. “I wasn’t home last night.”
Phil’s eyebrows shoot up. “Wasn’t this supposed to be just a date?” he mutters, putting air quotes around the last word.
“I’ll tell you later. Focus now.”
He grins, because he’s already reading between the lines and storing ammunition for later teasing.
Nick appears at my shoulder with a smirk that’s a fraction too smug. “Alright, mate?” he says. It’s the tone that sets me on alert. Nick has two settings around me: overfriendly and antagonistic. Neither is ever sincere.
Before I can answer, Tommy calls us in. Work first. Always.
The search takes nearly two hours. The helicopter spots them tucked beneath a rock overhang. We hike in, stabilise the tourists and walk them down to the waiting ambulance. Mild hypothermia, bruised egos, nothing worse.
Back at the rescue centre, debrief is mercifully short. Everyone is hollow-eyed and starving. I head for the kitchen, grateful for whatever cakes supporters have donated this week. My stomach growls loudly enough to startle Phil.
I’m hunting for something edible in the rescue centre fridge when Nick drifts over, wearing that smirk he reserves for when he thinks he’s about to be clever.
“So,” he says, far too casually, “didn’t expect to see you in full snog mode at the florist the other day.”
I shut the fridge with enough force to make the magnets jump. “And?”
“And,” he continues, pleased with himself, “she’s cute. Real curves. Proper woman. Not the usual polished catalogue type you go for.”
Phil stiffens beside me. “Nick,” he warns quietly.
Nick ignores him. “Just saying, mate, she’s the sort who actually looks like she’d stick around. Not really something you are good at.”
My jaw clamps so tightly it aches. “Watch what you’re implying.”
He waves a hand like he’s being reasonable. “No need to get defensive. I mean, good for you. Surprised, but good. I just hope you don’t do what you always do.”
“And what’s that?” I ask, voice dangerously calm.
He grins. “Get bored. Move on. Leave someone else to pick up the pieces.”
Phil exhales sharply. “Nick, wind it in.”
But Nick’s enjoying himself too much to stop. “Look, when you’re done—because you will be—give me a shout. A woman like her deserves someone who’ll appreciate her properly. Not waste her time while you scratch an itch.”
The room tilts.
Before I know it, I’ve grabbed his jacket and slammed him back against the wall hard enough that the mugs on the counter rattle. Nick’s smirk falters, replaced with a brief flicker of uncertainty.
“You stay away from her,” I say, every word sharp as broken glass.
Rob appears instantly, moving between us, one arm braced across Nick’s chest while the other pushes against mine. “Alright, enough,” he says firmly. “Knock it off.”
Nick’s bravado returns the moment someone else has hold of him. “Don’t pretend, mate,” he sneers, “we both know she’s just another notch on your bedpost.”
Phil has both fists in the back of my jacket now, dragging me away inch by inch. “Alex. Don’t do something stupid. He’s not worth it.”
But I barely hear him. My vision tunnels, rage humming low and tight beneath my skin.
“She’s not another notch,” I bite out. “And I’m not ‘done’ with her. Not now. Not ever.”
Nick snorts. “You’ve known her five minutes. Don’t be pathetic.”
And then it tears out of me, fierce and unfiltered.
“I love her, you idiot!”
The room goes dead still. Rob’s eyes blow wide. Phil freezes, hands still knotted in my jacket. Even Nick falters, his mouth snapping shut as if someone’s slapped a hand over it.
That is exactly the moment Tommy steps into the doorway.
“What the hell is going on here?”
His voice slices clean through the tension. All three of us instinctively straighten like schoolboys caught fighting behind the bike sheds. Tommy’s hair is still damp from the hill, his jacket half-zipped, but the look he levels at us could probably extinguish a wildfire.
Rob clears his throat. “Bit of a disagreement.”
Tommy’s gaze flicks from my clenched fists to Nick’s crumpled shirt. “This what we’re doing now? Brawling in the rescue centre? Do I need to start assigning time-outs like you’re toddlers?”
Nick shifts, suddenly very interested in a patch of floor tile. “Just a misunderstanding,” he mutters.
“A misunderstanding that nearly turned into a disciplinary meeting,” Tommy says sharply. “Sort yourselves out or take it outside. And if either of you brings this rubbish on a callout, you’re off my roster until you grow up.”
I nod because it’s easier than trying to speak around the remnants of fury lodged in my throat. Phil’s hand squeezes my shoulder, a silent plea to let it end here.
Tommy gives one last warning glare, then jerks his head for Rob to follow him. As they leave, I hear him mutter, “Forty three years old and still scrapping like teenagers. Bloody ridiculous.”
Nick slinks out without meeting my eyes.
The kitchen falls quiet again. My pulse finally begins to slow.
Phil steps round in front of me, eyebrows halfway up his forehead. “You love her.”
It isn’t a question. More like he’s reading a headline out loud.
I drag a hand through my hair. “Yeah,” I say, breath leaving me in a rush. “I do.”
Phil’s grin spreads slowly, bright as a sunrise. “Mate… that’s brilliant.”
“It’s terrifying is what it is,” I mutter.
“Maybe,” he says, clapping my shoulder. “But it’s also the most alive I’ve seen you in years.”
I can’t argue with that. Not when the truth of it settles so solidly in my chest.
Phil nudges me towards the corridor. “Come on. Shower. Food. And then you can tell me exactly how one woman has turned you from Fellside’s most committed bachelor into a man who starts fights at dawn.”
Despite myself, I laugh.
Because he’s right.
I’m in deep.
And I don’t want out.