I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’ll dry.”
His brows shot to his hairline as he glanced back up at my face. “You’re wearing a white shirt.”
I tilted my head and followed his gaze back down to my chest. Oh. Crap. The outline of my bra showed perfectly through the now drenched material. Not only that, but my nipples and the piercings were obvious too. Maybe I should have gone with the padded bra instead of a sheer one.
I looked back up at him. His eyes darkened, making his hazel irises almost nonexistent, and he licked his lips, taking a small step forward. My breath caught in my throat. It was impossible to deny the lust in his eyes as he stared at my breasts.
The sound of kids and their parents came from behind me, reminding me of my current, very public situation.
Seth blinked. “Don’t move,” he growled before moving out of my eye line. He reappeared a moment later with his turnout jacket and wrapped it over my shoulders.
I smiled. He was being a bit over the top, but just like everything else he’d done in the last month, he was also super sweet.
“I’ll be right back.” My voice cracked and I cleared it, trying to rid the lust from it.
He nodded and I turned and made my way back inside the station. Trying and failing to not overthink everything I thought I knew. Because there was no way I could ignore the way he looked at me. But what did it mean? And was I ready to find out?
SETH
I was sure seeing her in a see-through white T-shirt, confirming the nipple piercings, would be the thing to bring me to my knees. It was all I could think about since she’d walked away. But that was nothing compared to seeing her in one ofmyshirts. I was doing a shit job of concentrating on the current group of kids we had because my gaze kept drifting to her in those ridiculous cutoffs and fishnets with one of my T-shirts tied at her left hip, showing off just a sliver of skin.
All week I kept reminding myself it wasn’t the right time to tell her how I felt and what I wanted. But after today, I wasn’t sure I could wait much longer. The need to pull her into my arms and kiss her until neither of us could breathe had become so strong I was surprised I hadn’t yet.
Finally, the last group finished, and we were alone once again. She carried the wooden cutouts up and leaned them against the back of the firehouse as I rolled the hose back up.
“So that fundraising dinner I was invited to?” She took a breath before continuing. “I can bring a date.”
I froze. This was my opportunity. I placed the hose in the back of the utility truck and spun to face her, trying not to smilelike an idiot at her. But I couldn’t stop the excitement that sped through me. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “I wondered if you’d be able to go with me.”
Hell yes, I wanted to go with her.
She shifted on her feet. “I understand if not. It’s not like anyone from Half Moon Lake will see us.” My shoulders dropped. “But if you wanted to go with me…” Her shoulders lifted in a slight shrug, and she glanced at the ground between us.
I hated what I had to say, but I was officially done with the fake dating crap. “No.”
Her gaze found mine and I cursed the disappointment that stared back at me. Before I could say more, she started talking again.
“Right. No, that’s fine.” She took a quick breath, trying to brush off what she'd obviously thought was a rejection, before continuing. “It’s way too serious to bring a fake date to.”
I took a step forward. “Violet?—”
“No big deal. Really. I totally get it.”
Another step forward. “Violet—” I tried again.
She waved me away. “It was a stupid idea. Not even sure why I brought it up.”
I needed her to just be quiet and let me talk. To explain that I wanted to go with her. But in no way as herfakeboyfriend.
I closed the distance between us and cupped her face in my hands, smirking as her eyes widened, and brought her lips to meet mine.
This time I wasn’t holding back. I put everything I wanted to tell her in the kiss. Everything I felt. Her hands came up, holding onto my forearms as I devoured her mouth. Moving, desperate, purposeful. I swallowed down a moan, not sure which of us it came from, and deepened the kiss. Intent on showing her exactlywhat I wanted. Claiming her mouth so she had no doubts about what this was.
She pulled back, her breath coming quickly, and stared up at me. “Why—I mean…What was that for?”
I brushed my thumbs along her cheeks. “I needed you to stop talking so I could tell you that I don’t want to fake date anymore.”
