Burning Ambition (24 page)

When she opened her bedroom door to track down her MP3 player, she nearly jumped out of her skin to see Joe heading straight for her.

“Morning, sunshine,” he said, smiling warmly as he looked her over.

She hadn’t brushed her hair yet, hadn’t showered. Thank God she had the compulsive habit of brushing her teeth first thing every morning.

Why was he smiling at her?

“Hi,” she said. “Are you here to see my dad?”

“Already saw him.”

The tiny glimmer of hope that he’d say he was there for her crashed and burned. “Where is he?” She craned her neck to see into the kitchen. Her dad’s chair was empty.

“Outside.”

“So you came inside to…?”

He’d reached the hallway. Stood two feet away from her, leaning against the wall in a very noncaptainlike way. Casual.

“Talk to you. You’re better looking.”

She glanced down at her purple sports bra and black running shorts. Bare feet. The tangled ends of her hair. “I need to take a shower.”

“You’re perfect the way you are.”

That stopped her short and she looked up at him, her heart hammering. Stupid body part. She was not going to forgive him just because he buttered her up with compliments.

“Not perfect enough. Why are you really here, Joe?”

“To grovel.”

She crossed her arms and leaned against the cold wall. He must’ve figured out how awkward work was going to be the next time they shared a shift.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to apologize for your feelings. I can be mature about the whole thing.”

“I was an idiot, Faith,” he said quietly. “I screwed up.”

She stared at him, searching the depths of his eyes for his meaning. “Screwed up what?” She didn’t dare to breathe.

“The biggest decision of my life. I blew it. I was stuck on what other people thought I should do, not what I want more than anything.”

The hope she’d been stifling since she’d seen him in the living room took wings. Still, she needed him to spell it out. “Which is?”

“You. And the job. In that order. Without your dad’s recommendation I don’t know if I have a chance at the second one. And I’m waiting to hear whether I have a chance with the first.”

He took her hand and pulled her to him. “I’m sorry, Faith. I know I hurt you, and that’s something I never want to do again. I was so afraid of letting everybody else down that I didn’t let myself think about letting
me
down. And you.”

“You’re stubborn,” she said, unable to keep the smile off her face.

“I’ve been told that a time or two. I can also be persistent. So you could put me out of my misery right now and let me kiss you, or—”

“Make you grovel some more? Is that what you called it?”

“That’s what I called it.” He wrapped his hands around her bare waist. “I may be dense and slow, but I want you in my life. If you’ll have me.”

One thing kept her from jumping into his arms. “What happens if you don’t get the job and realize it’s because of me? What if you resent me because you’re stuck at captain?”

“I won’t. You made me reconsider what I want most. I want you. I want to raise our own company of little firefighters. Or doctors. Bartenders. Hell, lawyers, if that’s what they choose. I want to spend my life with you. I love you, Faith.”

He loved her.

She’d been determined not to forgive him, and all it took was five minutes of him saying the right things, like that he loved her. Call her easy. And over-the-moon happy.

Faith wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for all she was worth. “I love you, too, Joe.”

He slid his hands down to the backs of her thighs and pulled her up off the floor. Into him. He kissed her, and his lips were like cool, lifesaving water to a woman who’d been dying of thirst. Their kiss was thorough, unhurried, as if they had the rest of their lives to love each other. Which, suddenly, they did.

Joe pulled back and gazed at her with the most tender, adoring expression in his eyes. He brushed his lips over the tip of her nose. “Do you think we can live together
and
work together?”

She smiled. “Do you think you can avoid the whole special treatment thing until we’re off the clock?”

“I’ll do my best,” Joe said, “if you’ll stop worrying about what everyone else thinks of you.”

“Already done.”

“Then this might work out,” he said lightly, “as long as…”

Faith pulled her head back to question him. “As long as…what?”

“I seem to have acquired a couple roommates….”

Faith frowned, trying to imagine who Joe would take in and where they would sleep and, most important, how she would ever have enough privacy with this man.

“They’re fuzzy, but they’re small. Shouldn’t take up much room. One’s black, one’s gray…”

Faith threw her head back, laughing. “Cinder?”

“And Smoky. I found places for the rest of the litter, but those two kittens need a home.”

“If it’s your home, I’m in, Mr. Soft Heart.” She pressed her lips to his, thinking she would never get enough of kissing him, loving him.

“You can call me whatever reputation-ruining names you want,” he said between kisses. “But you’re wrong about one thing. It’s no longer my home. It’s ours.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, laughing. “That sounds perfect to me.”

Copyright © 2011 by Amy Knupp

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