Noah shook his head, smiling. “Thank you,” he said, and he did actually mean it. He’d needed a kick up the pants to take that step, but looking back now, he couldn’t imagine it going any other way.
If he’d never agreed to do that favor for Debra … if he hadn’t needed rescuing from Marisa that night …
If he hadn’t taken a chance and found the strength to open up about his past.
“It’s not just a fling, is it?” Mackenzie asked, bringing him back to reality. She was looking at him quizzically. “You’re really serious about her.”
Noah couldn’t deny it. “I … told her about what happened,” he said quietly. “With Caitlin.”
Mackenzie’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s a big step. You barely even talk to me about that.”
“She understands,” he said simply, filled with peace all over again. Sharing the darkest parts of his soul hadn’t been easy, but now that he’d said the words out loud and there were no secrets between them …
Noah never believed he could feel at ease like this again. The guilt and shame had lifted, somehow, and he felt ready to finally put the past behind him.
Ready to love again.
“I’m so happy for you,” Mackenzie said, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “And not just because my mom and Aunt Gayle will stop bugging me about having kids and turn the force of their nagging onto you instead.”
Noah grinned. “Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad,” he said, his eyes drawn to Evie again as if by gravity.
Marriage, kids … they didn’t seem like impossible dreams anymore.
His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Mackenzie gaped at him. “Noah!” she gasped.
“Not now!” he said hurriedly, trying to cover. “Down the road, I mean. And if you dare breathe a word that I just said that,” he added, warning her. “I’ll deny it.”
His cousin smirked. “How the mighty have fallen.”
But he had. Fallen hard. And Noah didn’t mind one bit. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said, grabbing another soda, “I see a woman in dire need of a kiss.”
“Now I know you’ve got it bad.”
Mackenzie’s laughter followed him as Noah made his way through the crowd. “Can I steal you for a moment?” he asked, interrupting Evie. He took her hand and flashed an apologetic smile at Stella and Aidan. “I owe her the grand tour.”
“Sure, we were just going to get ice cream,” Stella replied with a wink. “Enjoy!”
Noah led Evie back into the main firehouse. “A tour, huh?” she asked, teasing, her fingers intertwined with his. “Is there a lot to see?”
“Mm-hmm,” he murmured, steering her through a door marked “private”, into the lounge area they’d decided to make off-limits to the rest of the party. Now, Noah was glad to have a place to escape. The noise and music receded, and they were finally alone.
He took Evie in his arms and kissed her the way he’d been wanting to all day: slow and deep, taking his time to just breathe her in. The taste of her mouth, the feel of her skin beneath his fingertips, the curves of her body pressed against him …
He could kiss this woman a hundred thousand times over and still never lose the spark.
Evie drew back, a little breathless now. “I thought you were showing me around?” she joked, smiling up at him. “Don’t tell me it was just a ploy to get me in private.”
“Never.” Noah grinned, tugging her closer again. “There’s a lot to see. For example, this is where we hang out between calls.” He kissed her again, and Evie laughed against his mouth.
“Looks great,” she said, not looking at all.
“And here’s my locker …,” he continued, pushing her gently back against the door.
“An important landmark,” she agreed, kissing him back. “I understand the rush.”
After that, there was no talking for a while, just their mouths and hands exploring, the sensation all the more thrilling with the party just outside.
“Evie?”
A voice came from behind them, cutting through the haze of passion. Evie froze in his arms.
“We’re busy,” Noah replied with his back still turned, not wanting the moment to end so soon. “Declan’s on grill duty for another five minutes.”
He dipped his head to kiss Evie again, but she pulled away. “Oh my God,” he heard her whisper under her breath, and when Noah turned, he found young woman standing there in the doorway. She was about twenty, wearing an NYU T-shirt—and an expression of horror on her face.
“Evie? What are you doing?” the newcomer asked, stricken. “Who is this guy?”
16
Evie stared across the room in shock. In an instant, her blood cooled from hot passion to icy shame. She ducked away from Noah, trying frantically to smooth her hair back and pull her shirt down.
Her shirt. Oh God.
“Starr …” Evie tried to think of something to say—some way to explain the fact that her dead husband’s sister had just walked in on her making out with another man. It felt like two different halves of her life were colliding right there in front of her, and she was powerless to stop the fallout. “What are you doing here?” she finally managed to ask, flustered. “I mean … hi. I wasn’t expecting you!”
“Clearly.” Starr glared at Noah like she wished she could incinerate him on the spot. “The delivery guy at the inn said I’d find you here,” she said, turning back to Evie. “I was going to surprise you. I thought maybe I hadn’t heard from you because you were feeling low. I guess I was wrong about that,” she added with a bitter laugh.
Evie’s heart sank. “It’s not what it looks like!” she blurted. Even though, of course, it was. “I mean … this is Noah,” she offered helplessly.
“Hi.” Noah gave Starr a friendly wave, even though it was clear he had no idea what was going on. He moved closer and offered his hand. “Nice to meet you. Uh …”
“This is Starr,” Evie said, her cheeks still flushed with guilt. “Glen’s little sister.”
“Oh.” Noah’s eyes widened. He looked back and forth between them, as Starr crossed her arms and kept glaring. Noah slowly lowered his hand. “Right.”
Evie swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry,” she said to Starr, feeling a terrible lurch of shame. “If you’d let me know you were coming—”
“You wouldn’t be making out with random guys?” Starr snapped back.
“Noah’s not random,” Evie found herself saying, as if that would make it any better.
Sure enough, Starr’s expression changed. “Is this guy your boyfriend?” Her voice rose accusingly.
The guilt sliced through Evie again. She hadn’t said anything to Starr about dating again. She hadn’t prepared her for this. But before Evie could reply, there was a bustle of activity, and a bunch of kids came spilling past her into the room.
“I want to wear the jacket!”
“No, I want the hat!”