Deck the Fire Halls

Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

SOREN

He brought me pizza.

And that might be nothing to anyone else, but it meant the world to me.

Because it wasn’t just pizza. It meant that he was thinking of me. That I was on his mind, that he was considerate and thoughtful, and he went out of his way for me.

He might have only been just down the road, but that wasn’t the point. He could’ve very well had just gone home. I wouldn’t have even known he’d been out for pizza.

But he didn’t.

He’d ordered it with me in mind and hand-delivered it. Even driving and walking in the snow, which I knew he didn’t love. And for me, the guy who had dreamed of having someone in his life to look after and be looked after by, well, this was a gesture I’d never forget.

And damn, he’d looked so uncertain when he was standing at the door. And incredibly gorgeous .

As soon as Chuck relieved him of the pizza, I had to do something that expressed how insanely happy I was in that moment. Which apparently was dancing in the fire hall.

I was kinda glad it was just Chuck and me, not because I cared what anyone else thought, but holy hell, the ribbing they’d give me for weeks would be relentless.

Chuck was too busy feeding his face with pizza to even notice.

So I danced with Rob. Because he made me so fucking happy. And my god, the way he laughed, the way he smiled.

The way he kissed me when he left. It was so soft and sweet it was almost indecent.

It did crazy things to my heart.

“Go and enjoy your pizza,” he said. “While it’s hot.”

“What’s left of it,” I said. “Tomorrow’s your last day this week?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Working three days a week is... a lot to get used to.”

“Good,” I replied. “Then tomorrow night when I finish work, I’ll come to your place. You’ll need your first day off to sleep it off.”

His pupils blew out and his cheeks grew pink. “Oh.” He swallowed hard. “Okay.”

I watched him as he walked to his car. He managed not to slip and slide, and only when his car turned the corner did I close the door and go inside.

Chuck gave me his shit-eating grin with his mouth full of pizza. “You are in so deep already.” He nodded to the door. “I saw you dancing. ”

I fell into my seat with a sigh that ended with a groan. “He is so...” I let my head fall back with a groan. “Perfect. I can’t explain it.”

Chuck pushed the pizza box toward me. “Eat it before it gets cold. And no one is perfect. If you believe that, you’re setting yourself up for heartbreak, my friend.”

“He’s not perfect, obviously.” I shrugged as I bit into a slice. Because Chuck was right. No one was perfect . “But I dunno, Chucky. I’m thinking he’s perfect for me.”

Chuck looked at me and shook his head with a long sigh. “I’m happy for you, bro. I know you’ve been wanting someone of your own for a while now. I hope it works out. I really do. I mean, he brought you a pizza. A whole-ass pizza.” Then he shrugged. “If you decide he’s not as perfect as you thought, put a good word in for me.”

I shoved him so hard he almost fell off his chair. “Fuck off.” Chuck was as straight as an arrow and in a long-term relationship with a great girl, whom he absolutely adored, despite his best efforts to act blasé. “Your girlfriend might have something to say about that.”

“She’s never brought me a pizza at work.”

I nudged him this time, finishing off the rest of the slice of pizza. “You get lazy in the bedroom, you ain’t getting no pizza. Do them so thoroughly they can’t form words for ten minutes and you’re getting pizza. Trust me.”

Chuck cracked up laughing and I bit into a fresh slice—it was so damn good—but then a call came in and we were on our feet and out the door in a flash.

Working shifts wasn’t all bad, and it’d been a part of my job forever. I was used to it. What I wasn’t used to was wishing I kept similar hours to a certain someone or wishing he was in my bed sound asleep when I finally got home, that I could crawl in beside him, cuddle up to his warm body, and fall asleep with him in my arms.

It was early hours of the morning when Chuck and I’d finally clocked out. My house was dark and my bed incredibly empty and cold. I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep. Knowing Rob was just next door, so close but yet so far.

But I didn’t have to wish that tonight, because I’d told him I was coming to his house straight after work, no matter what time it was. I’d also implied it was just as well he wasn’t working the day after as he’d need to sleep in the following morning.

To say that I was looking forward to it was an understatement.

I arrived at work, smiling when I saw Rob’s car at the clinic across the street. He was right there, again, yet so far.

I wouldn’t disturb him at work. His was an important job involving the private lives of people in town. And I only had to get through one shift.

One shift, then I’d be in that man’s bed, with him in my arms and preferably with him underneath me. Naked, with me nailing him to the mattress.

Our first time together had been magical.

It was an intensity I wasn’t quite prepared for. Which, given the build-up, I shouldn’t have been surprised. But being inside him, holding him while I impaled him, hearing how his breath hitched, how he moaned, pleaded...

Utter perfection.

Today was going to be a long day. And long it was... Time dragged, every minute on the clock, and my anticipation ticked up a notch. Keeping busy didn’t even help much.

Chuck kept laughing at me, and the last time he caught me checking the damn clock on the wall, he clipped me upside the head. “Stop it. You’re making me antsy.”

“Can’t help it,” I grumbled. “If you had plans for hours of sex, you’d be watching the clock too.”

“Hours?” He squinted at me, then shook his head. “Really?”

“And this is why you don’t get pizza hand-delivered to work. You need to up your game, bro. Worship that woman’s body, wring her out, good and thorough. Make it all about her.”

“Hey, I know what I’m doing. How is this even a conversation we’re having right now?”

“Have you ever hand-delivered pizza to her work?”

“Well . . . no. Have you?”

“I hand-delivered him a single red rose,” I said proudly. “At his work, three days ago. You should have seen his smile.”

He gave me a disappointed shake of his head. “You’re making me look bad. Come on, man.”

I laughed. “It doesn’t have to be a red rose or anything expensive. Google how to make a paper flower. Hell, buy a packet of her favorite cookies from the store and make her a hot chocolate.” I looked him dead in the eye. “Or hand-deliver pizza to her work.”

He sighed. “Fine.”

“And then worship her body for hours?—”

He shoved me. “Shut the fuck up.”

I laughed, then looked at the clock. It had moved all of three minutes.

Goddammit.

It was after midnight by the time I got to Rob’s place. He’d left the front porch light on, a warm light welcoming me, and that made me smile. Whereas my house looked dark and cold, lonely, and the metaphor of this contrast was not lost on me.

I opened the screen door and before I could try the door handle, the door opened inward. Rob stood there in his long pajamas and slippers—home comfort personified—and he smiled. “Hey.”

I stepped inside, collected him in an embrace, and kissed him. “You look so good,” I murmured.

He laughed, surprised. “I was almost asleep in my chair.”

My heart knocked against my ribs. “You stayed up for me?”

“Of course.”

Man, that made me so freaking happy. I kissed him softly. “Thank you.”

“It’s only midnight. If you were finishing at three, it’d be a different story.”

“I had visions of sneaking into your house and crawling into your bed. You’d be asleep and all cozy and warm, and I’d snuggle in close, pull you into my arms...”

“You envisioned all that?”

“Many times. It played out a dozen different ways.”

Grinning, he pushed my coat off my shoulders. “Only a dozen, huh?” Then he pulled my toque off my head and began undoing my belt. “Should I go climb into bed and wait? Or do you need help getting undressed?”

I groaned, so turned on, so desperate. I fumbled and fought with the laces on my boots, and he laughed, hanging my coat on the rack. I tried to slow down, but then I saw his pajama pants were nicely tented, and yeah, slowing down wasn’t going to happen.

I all but yanked my boots off, tossed them by the door, took his face in my hands, and kissed him, hard.

He laughed and was smiling, until I plundered my tongue into his mouth. He grunted, the sound sending a jolt through me, and he walked us backward toward the hall. We bumped into the doorway and I couldn’t resist pressing him hard against the wall as I fucked his mouth with my tongue.

He whined and lifted one leg up. I gripped his ass and ground our erections together through our clothes.

So fucking desperate.

We weren’t going to make it to bed at this rate.

I broke the kiss. “Bed. Now.”

His lips were swollen, his eyes dark. Chest heaving, cock straining, he walked to his room. Sultry, inviting.

Holy hell. I was gonna fuck that smirk right off his face.

His bedroom was dark, the bed made. He ripped back the covers, then stripped off his clothes and knelt on the bed. He glanced at me over his shoulder, then at the bedside where he’d put lube and condoms. He put a hand to his naked ass, rubbing the cheek. “Do your worst, Soren.”

My dick throbbed painfully, my whole-body electric with anticipation and need.

This wasn’t just desire. This was pure need. Like I needed oxygen to breathe, I needed to be inside him.

I pulled off my sweater and shirt in one go and stepped out of my pants and briefs. I took the lube first and poured it down his ass crack, thumbing it into his hole. Then a finger, then two. No preamble, no games.

Still on his knees at the edge of the bed, his back arched and he whined. I put my free hand to his throat, fucking him with my other fingers, and whispered into the back of his neck, “Oh, Robinson. I have no words.”

He groaned, pushing back onto me. He stroked himself and it was so fucking hot knowing he was as desperate as me. “Oh god, please. I need it.”

I pulled my fingers out of him, rolled a condom down my cock, and lubed up. I followed him onto the bed, pushing him down face first and holding him down with my body, my cock nestled between his ass cheeks. “Is this how you want it?”

“Oh god, yes. Please.” His voice was strung tight. “Just do it. I’m ready. I need it.”

I positioned myself at his entrance, pushing in just a fraction, testing his hole. “You been thinking about this all day, huh? ”

“Yes.”

“You wanting my cock buried inside you, is that what you want?”

“Soren, please.”

God, hearing him beg for it almost ended me.

I pushed into him, torturously slow, all the way to the hilt. He clawed at his bedsheets, trying to find purchase, his back arched, and he moaned like the devil.

But he took me. All of me. I was up to my balls in him. So deep, so hot. I lay down on top of him and kept still, giving him a moment to adjust, to breathe.

I scraped my teeth along his shoulder. “That what you wanted?”

He panted and groaned. “Yes.”

I ran my hand over the back of his head, lightly pulling his hair as I kissed the back of his neck. “You’re so fucking sexy like this. Taking every inch of me, waiting up for me. Waiting for me to fuck you.”

He grunted and rolled his hips. “Need you to move, Soren. Do something.”

Do something?

I half-pulled out and pushed back in, all the way. “Like that?”

He cried out. “Yes. Please.”

So I did it again, and he groaned out a pitiful sound, a gruff keening noise. And the more I did it, the more guttural he sounded.

He loved it.

Getting dicked like this.

He lifted his hips and widened his legs, and I drove into him, slow and deep. He felt so good, so fucking good. Hot and tight, as if he was made just for me.

He slipped his hand underneath his hip and began to stroke himself, and I wasn’t having that.

I pulled out of him and flipped him over, spreading his thighs wide and pushing his knees up so I could just sink right back in. I fell forward onto my left hand, my eyes on his as I wrapped my right hand around his cock.

“This what you wanted?” I asked, working him slowly, kissing him, pulling his bottom lip in between my teeth.

“Oh god, yes,” he hissed. His eyes went wide, his hands flailed until they found my chest.

He tweaked my nipple and it sent jolts of pleasure straight to my dick. “Fuck,” I ground out as I thrust into him, hard and sharp.

He yelped but he did it again, earning him another hard and sharp flex of my hips. His eyes went wide with surprise, his mouth open. “Fuck, right there,” he cried. “Oh fuck. There.”

Then he kept flicking my nipples wanting more and more, and I realized what was happening. The change of position, the surprised look of ecstasy on his face, how his cock jerked in my hand.

I was hitting his prostate.

So I held him right there and rammed into him, jerking him at the same time. It was unforgiving, without restraint, and so fucking hot.

Then his whole body went rigid, his thighs trembled, and his ass clenched hard around me as his orgasm took hold .

He groaned, teeth clenched, hands shaking, and shot his load onto his stomach.

It was too much, too good, his body squeezing my cock as he shuddered, milking me, milking my orgasm from my balls. I drove into him one last time, as deep as I could go, and pumped my load into the condom.

My world went dark and quiet, spinning in utter bliss. I came back to reality with Rob’s hands cupping my face, and I allowed myself to collapse on him.

He lowered his legs to the mattress, expelling me from inside him. We both shuddered but he made a pained sound. “You okay?” I asked quickly.

“Sensitive,” he said, then his whole body tremored, jerking, and he laughed. “God help me. Whatever that was...”

I snorted, collecting him in my arms and pulling the covers over us. I’d deal with the mess and the condom later. He needed to be held first. “That was amazing,” I whispered, kissing the side of his head. “That’s what that was.”

He shuddered and shivered again. “No, I mean . . . Uh. Whatever that was. I’ve never . . .”

“A prostate orgasm?”

He grunted out a laugh, shuddering again. “I’ve heard they’re good.”

Smiling, I kissed his temple, his forehead, his eyelids, then his lips. “I had plans to do you slowly tonight, but I think that was better.”

“So good,” he mumbled. “Slow next time.” He was heavy in my arms, as if sleep was dragging him under .

I gave him a long squeeze, breathing in the scent of us. “Go to sleep.”

He was already out, and I lay there for a second, watching him in the darkened room, his face a pale outline. His closed eyelids, dark lashes, the Cupid’s bow of his top lip.

So thoroughly had and so sated.

So beautiful.

So mine.

I knew it was too early to be thinking long term and to be feeling such emotions. I always did fall hard and fast. I loved with my whole heart, right or wrong, and I refused to think of that as a flaw.

And I refused to think it was anything other than fate that brought our paths together. There was no way of ever knowing if we had a few months of this or forever. And watching him sleep, peaceful and perfect, I didn’t care how long I had with him, how long we lasted. I’d take every second I could get.

I was falling in love with him.

And I refused to think that was a bad thing either. I wouldn’t be sorry for it.

I needed to get us cleaned up, but when I tried to move my arm from underneath him, he fussed and clung to me, and sound asleep, he mumbled my name. “Soren.”

My heart expanded, soaring and full. I exchanged my arm from under his neck with a kiss to his cheek. “Just gonna clean you up,” I murmured.

He mumbled something else I couldn’t make out, his eyelids never opening, but his lips curled up in a smile .

Oh yeah, I was falling for him. Absolutely no doubt about it.

I pulled the blankets up for him and kissed his lips before getting out of bed. I discarded the condom in his bathroom wastebasket, found a washcloth, ran it under hot water, and went back into the bedroom.

I cleaned up his stomach and chest, then mine from where it had smeared, and I climbed back into bed.

As soon as I was beside him, he snuggled right in and I held him tight. I closed my eyes, thanking all my lucky stars for bringing this man into my life.

Then I thanked fate, and for good measure—and just in case—I thanked that Christmas Cupid too.

I don’t know which of us woke first. We both stirred, wrapped around each other. Warm, comfortable, sleepy. “Morning,” I croaked.

“Hmm.”

“You feel okay?” I rubbed his back, then slid my hand down to his ass, gently rubbing a circle on his ass cheek with my thumb. “Kinda worked you over hard last night. If you’re sore...”

He stretched his back and clenched his butt cheeks. “Hm. A little. S’not bad though. Not sore enough to not want to do it again.”

I chuckled. “Maybe we should give your perfect ass a rest.”

He whined and when I pulled back to look at his face, yes, he was pouting. Laughing, I tucked his face into my neck for a tight hug. “I have no clue what time it is, but maybe we could snooze for a little while yet.”

“Sounds good,” he mumbled.

“Do you have any plans for today?” I asked. “Any time you need to be up by? I’d say from the light behind your blinds it’s about eight.”

Rob sighed. “Nothing. The only thing I planned on doing this morning was you.” He froze, then snorted out a laugh. “I didn’t mean it to sound like that and I was going to correct it, but I’m just gonna leave it as it is.”

I rubbed his back, and we lay there in silence, dozing. I heard sounds of life outside: cars, someone calling their dog, even a phone ringing somewhere across the street. And normally I was up by now, even when I had worked the late shift.

But today, I wasn’t getting out of this bed or out of Rob’s arms for anything or anyone.

Until my phone rang anyway. I groaned, rolling over, wondering where my phone even was. It wasn’t on the bedside table, so I peered over the side of the bed, where our clothes were still a crumpled mess on the floor. My phone was in the pocket of my work pants.

Ugh. I had to get up.

“Goddammit,” I grumbled, as I left Rob to collect my phone.

“No,” Rob said, trying to keep hold of me. “You’re nice and warm.”

“Sorry. Gotta check my phone. It could be work. If it is, I’ll have to go.”

I found my phone underneath my pants and checked the screen for the missed call. I sighed with relief. Rob was now propped up on his elbow looking at me, sleep rumpled and super cute. “Was it work?”

I turned the screen around to show him. “Just my mom.”

“Oh. Is everything okay?”

I shrugged. “She’s probably calling to tell me that my great aunt’s third cousin twice removed’s niece has had a baby. I’ll text her.” I thumbed out a quick text, sounding it out as I did. “Will... call... you... later.” Then I saw the battery icon. “Ah. I forgot to charge my phone. Can I borrow?—”

I looked at Rob, and he was staring—and I mean staring—at my crotch. At my very naked half-mast dick to be more precise.

I resisted the urge to cover up and gave it a little wiggle instead. “Do you like what you see?”

He was still staring, and it took him a moment before he looked at my face. “Oh, huh?”

It made me laugh. “I asked if you like what you see, but I’m pretty sure I know the answer.”

“Hmm. I mean, damn,” he murmured. “You’re so hot. Not just your cock.” He waved his hand up and down. “The whole package, honestly.” His gaze dropped back down to my cock, and he licked his lips. “I wouldn’t mind tasting that.”

Of course my cock liked the sound of that.

His tongue slowly swiped across his top lip. “Come over here,” he beckoned. “Feed it to me.”

Now, I had every intention of suggesting a shower first. Granted, I had cleaned myself up last night, but then he said that?

Feed it to me?

I was on that bed, on my knees in front of his face before he’d barely had time to smile.

He licked the underside of my cockhead, then looked up at me while he took me into his mouth.

“Oh fuck,” I breathed. Every nerve ending in my body fired ecstasy and bliss to my balls. His mouth was warm and wet, his tongue swirling.

I was going to come so fast.

From zero to one hundred in a heartbeat. Every fucking time.

And then he used his hands. One on my shaft, one cupping my balls, pumping, pulling, teasing.

“Oh, Rob,” I murmured. “Fuck yes.”

I braced one hand on the wall, the other on the back of his head, grasping at his hair as he worked me over. I tried to think of other things. I tried to concentrate on nothing but the sensation, the pleasure.

But then I made the mistake of looking down.

His lips around my shaft, my cock sliding in and out, and his eyes... his glazed-over fuck-me eyes. Sultry, alluring, sexy.

Mine.

He smiled as he took me in and my grip on his hair tightened as I fought the urge to fuck his mouth. I groaned at the effort it took not to ram into his throat.

“Suck it,” I hissed. “Take it.”

He closed his eyes and took me into his throat, and that was it. I couldn’t fight it. I didn’t want to. I wanted to give it all to him. He swallowed around me, sucking my orgasm to the surface. My cock pulsed in his throat, shooting my load in heavenly spurts. He moaned and swallowed again, sending shudders through me.

I leaned against the wall, letting my body succumb to the ecstasy rolling through me. I had to unclench my fist from his hair, and he pulled back, licking me clean as my spent cock slipped from his mouth.

Tremors racked through me, spasms of aftershocks, and I slumped on the pillows with a strained groan. “Fuck,” I panted. “Fucking hell.”

Rob laughed, then in a move I was not suspecting, he smacked my ass. “I’m making you breakfast.”

I wanted to wrap my arms around him, doze in the afterglow, but he was rolling out of bed. I heard him take a piss and wash his hands, then a moment later, I heard the coffee machine beep awake.

Damn.

I considered getting up, but my bones were Jell-O. I ran my hand down my body, giving my dick a palm, and I shuddered and jerked at the sensitivity.

Christ, he’d ruined me.

I was useless to do anything but laugh.

A few moments later, I heard cupboards opening and a pot clanging, so I made myself get out of bed. I pulled on my briefs and work pants but left the shirt off. I relieved myself, washed my hands and face, and found him in the kitchen at the counter, wearing a dark gray robe, whisking eggs in a bowl.

Never had a man looked so sexy.

I walked up behind him, wrapped my arms around his waist, and pressed my face into the soft fabric at the back of his neck. “You’re so fucking sexy. ”

He laughed as he kept whisking. “Scrambled eggs okay?”

“Mmm,” I mumbled. “Perfect. Need me to do anything?”

“No, I got it.” Then he shrugged. “I like looking after you.”

I snorted. “You just did. You gave me the best morning wake-up blow job in the history of blow jobs.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“Pretty sure it was mine. And I didn’t get to return the favor.”

He stopped whisking. “You don’t have to. I did it because I wanted it, not because I wanted you to do it to me.”

“And now,” I murmured, kissing the top of his shoulder. “What if I wanted it?”

His shoulders rose with his intake of breath, but he didn’t say anything.

“If I were to turn you around right now,” I said, undoing the belt of his robe. “And sink to my knees.”

He made a noise in the back of his throat. “Yes?”

“And suck your cock right here in the kitchen. Would you like that?”

He turned around then, his robe open, his eyes dark, and his cock half-hard.

“Hm,” I said with a smirk. “I take it that’s a yes. And you naked under that robe is my new favorite thing,” I said as I slowly went to my knees in front of him.

I took him straight into my mouth, earning me a strangled cry. I pinned him to the kitchen counter and worked him over without mercy. Hands, tongue, lips, sucking the come from his balls.

He came with a cry, his hands in my hair, his body clenching, trembling. And when he’d had enough, I stood up, collecting him in my arms. He was heavy, panting, and we stood there for I don’t know how long.

Just holding each other, arms wrapped around each other, our faces resting on each other’s shoulders.

Embracing what this was. How we felt. Even if we weren’t ready to name it yet or ready to admit it or say it out loud, there in his kitchen, we felt it.

I knew he did. I had no doubt.

He couldn’t cling to me like he did and not have feelings.

But then the coffee machine beeped, turning itself off because we’d neglected it. He pulled back first, and I cupped his face and pressed my lips to his forehead. “I’ll make the coffee,” I said.

He nodded, smiling shyly, his cheeks pink. “And... I don’t even remember what I was doing.”

I chuckled. “Nice to know your brain goes offline too, after having your brains blown.”

He snorted. “I’m sure there’s been research done on the correlation to intense pleasure effects on the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus.”

I laughed at that. “And the frontal lobe. Or wherever the ability to form words comes from. At least in complete sentences because you leave me unable to do anything other than blink and breathe.”

Rob smiled as he heated the frying pan, and we made our breakfast of eggs and toast and fresh coffee in a companionable silence. Moving around each other in his kitchen so naturally. Not for one second did it feel awkward or forced.

It was the most natural thing in the world.

We ate at his small dining table by the front window, looking out to the quiet street. Snow on the ground, on roofs, trees made it all so serene.

I could get used to this. So easily. So damn easily could I get used to waking up with Rob, making a lazy breakfast, eating next to each other.

The blow jobs were a bonus. But the comfort, the contentment of sharing this with him, was what made my heart so happy.

My phone beeped in his bedroom and I remembered I told my mother I’d call her. “Ugh, better get that,” I said, disappearing into his room. I took my phone off the charger and saw the text was from my mom. I saw the words nothing urgent in the first line and decided it’d just be easier to get it over with.

I hit Call and went back to the dining table. Rob was still sitting there in his sexy-as-hell robe, his legs crossed, reading a news article on his phone.

Mom answered on the second ring. “Oh hello, love,” she said. “I didn’t wake you, did I? I never know which week of shift work you’re up to.”

“No, it’s fine, Mom. How is everything?”

Rob looked up then, smiling at me.

“Oh, everything up here is fine. I was just calling to see how you were. You keeping well, love? Taking care of yourself, I hope.”

I smiled at Rob and rubbed my foot on his when I replied. “Oh, I’m keeping very well. Taking very good care of myself, Mom.”

He grinned, ducking his face, but then he took our plates and cups and let me finish my phone call. By the time I said goodbye and promised I’d call her for Christmas, Rob came back with two fresh cups of coffee.

I slid my phone onto the table. “Oh, thank you.”

He sat down, eyes smiling behind his coffee cup. “Everything well back home? And your great aunt’s third cousin twice removed niece’s newborn doing okay?”

I chuckled. “Everything’s fine. She just wanted to check that I was taking care of myself.”

“I heard.”

I had to rein my smile in a bit. “I gave her the PG-rated version of just how well I’m being taken care of.”

Rob’s smile and the way his cheeks flushed pink was the sexiest damn thing I’d ever seen. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. It was almost funny to me now that I’d never once thought of a man older than me as sexy when this man was everything—every single thing—I could ever want in a partner.

I needed to change the topic or at least stop looking at him so I didn’t do something stupid like tell him I was falling in love with him.

Because I was sure that’d bring it all to a screeching halt. I just had to enjoy it for what it was, for where it was up to. I didn’t want to rush anything, didn’t want to miss a minute of this path we were on.

“Do you have plans for today?” I asked before sipping my coffee.

“I told Gunter I’d stop in. I have an idea I want to put to him. I don’t know if it’s feasible, or even possible. But it can’t hurt to throw some ideas around.”

“What idea is that?”

He made a face. “Well, small towns are hard for teenagers, right? It’s a great place to grow up, don’t get me wrong, but there are limited opportunities for experience. Most of these kids will be moving after school, to the bigger cities for work or college, and so I was thinking, wouldn’t it be good if we could provide hands-on experience to help them find work? Barista, waiting tables, food service, that kind of thing. The kinds of jobs city kids have on almost every block, or huge malls. Hartbridge doesn’t have that. But there’s no reason why we couldn’t foster that experience for these kids so they can walk into a coffee shop or retail store and say they have some experience. Hell, even office work, reception skills, classes on how to do budgets and fill in tenant lease agreements, but also on how to manage responsible social media practices because prospective employers look at that now. It’s hard out there these days. Different from how it was when we were that age—” He grimaced at me. “Sorry. When I was that age.”

I chuckled as I stood up, took his face in both hands, and smacked a kiss on his lips. Hearing how passionate he was about helping kids and making this community a better place made me happy. “I think that’s an amazing idea.”

He grinned. “You do?”

I nodded. “Hell, yes.”

“I thought Gunter might like it too. We could use his center to run classes on certain days or afternoons. Get qualified trainers to come in so these kids have a qualification certificate at the end of it. Maybe even get the high school involved? I’m not sure. I was just reading up on requirements in Montana, but I would assume there’s more to it than meets the eye.” He gave me a shy smile. “I thought it was worth looking into.”

“Definitely.” Then I thought... “I could come down with you. Before work. I’ll need to go home and get showered and dressed, of course.”

He looked down at my still naked chest. “Or not.”

I snorted. “Pretty sure Doug would not approve.”

Rob sighed. “Shame.”

“Would that be okay?” I asked. “If I came with you. I’d understand if you want to keep that part of your life separate from me.”

He was clearly confused. “Separate?”

“Yeah. That thing where we each keep our own thing. I don’t mind. I love that you volunteer at the center. I didn’t want to encroach on your thing. Know what I mean?”

“Not really. Of course you can come with me.” Then he gave me a bit of a side-eye. “Do you have a thing that’s just your thing?”

I snorted. “No. I have work. I work out. Go to Vern’s Bar a few times a month with the boys to watch a game. I go fishing. Nothing that’s just my thing.”

He snorted. “Fishing? That is something that will definitely be something you do without me.”

That made me laugh. I remembered he’d mentioned it before. “Not a fan?”

“Never been. And it’s funny you should mention that,” he said. “When I handed in my resignation, the chief surgeon begged me not to throw it all away. She was a friend of mine. Had been for years. She offered me a different role in a quieter department, but honestly, I couldn’t go back. Not to that hospital, not to the same red tape and the same policies. I told her I needed to leave Seattle.” He smiled sadly as he remembered. “I even told her I might look at one of those build-a-school projects in Vietnam or Peru; it was just an errant thought, but god, the idea of actually helping people sounded so damn good. And she said she knew of a small town in Montana that needed a physician three days a week. She said I could go skiing on my days off, fishing in the summer.” He grinned at me and shook his head. “Where she got the idea I’d ever spend one minute of my life fishing, I’ll never know.”

My smile was wide and determined. “Then I’m gonna take you. In the summer, we can drive out on Ponderosa Road, past where we went the other day. There’s a really good spot. Nothing but sunshine in the mountains, the sound of the river, and birds in the trees. It’s a special kinda peaceful you have to see to believe.”

A smile won out, his eyes shining. “Well, the sunshine, mountains, river, and birds do sound nice. You can do the fishing part. For me, it’ll be purely a spectator sport. I’ll bring lunch and a book.”

“Deal.”

He’d just divulged a sliver of his history to me, and while I wanted to know more, I didn’t want to push.

I reached out and took his hand, threading our fingers. “I’m glad your friend convinced you to come here,” I added. “As rewarding as building a school in Vietnam sounds, helping kids here at the center isn’t so bad.”

Rob nodded, and the mention of his time in Seattle brought it to the forefront, because I didn’t even have to prompt.

“My friend,” he continued. “Alaya Ross, chief surgeon. Helluva of a doctor. I hadn’t seen her for a couple of months and she took one look at me and,” he snorted. “Christ, she thought I’d started taking amphetamines or coke. That’s how bad I looked. I guess the people I worked with every day didn’t notice the decline, but I hadn’t seen Alaya in a while...” Then he sighed heavily. “She asked me what was wrong and I finally admitted I was done. I couldn’t do it anymore. I was so exhausted I could barely function, and I was running on autopilot. It was either going to kill me or someone else. Exhausted doctors shouldn’t make decisions between life and death.”

Oh shit. “Did... did that happen to you?”

He shook his head. “No. But it was bound to. It was only a matter of time before I overlooked a symptom, made the wrong call, or didn’t connect the dots.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t just the pace, the hours, and the trauma. It was the bureaucracy. I was having anxiety before every shift, during and after every shift. I became a doctor to help people, to save lives, and make people’s lives better. And all I found was red tape, bureaucracy, and insurance companies—” He stopped himself. “Being told I couldn’t treat someone because a patient couldn’t afford it or because their insurance company wouldn’t cover it, again and again, just fucking broke me.”

I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and let it out slowly, trying to calm down. This poor man. This poor beautiful, compassionate man. I just wanted to scoop him up and protect him.

“I’m glad you didn’t quit,” I said, squeezing his hand. “The world needs more people like you. Not just doctors who care, but people. And I’m really glad you’re here, Rob.”

He smiled and looked out the window for a bit. “I still can’t believe this is my life. It doesn’t feel real. It’s as if I’ve stepped into a movie like The Truman Show .” Then he laughed and turned back to me. “You’d tell me if none of this was real, right?”

He was clearly joking, but I wasn’t. “Oh, it’s real. It’s all real.” Everything. The town. Him, me. Us. How I felt about him...

I kissed him again, softer this time, my free hand to his cheek. “I’m so fucking glad you’re here.”

He closed his eyes and lowered his forehead to the side of my face. “Me too.”

We stayed like that for a long moment, me still holding his hand, his head now resting against my neck. Until I pulled his chair closer, our legs tangled, so I could hold him better.

We didn’t seem to need words.

He was very nearly straddling me, and I could have so easily pulled him onto me so I could feel him against me. I considered it, because I was only half-dressed, and his robe was barely covering anything. But this wasn’t sexual.

It was so much more than that.

I kissed the side of his head. “Thank you for sharing that part of your life with me.”

“Do you... do you think it makes me...?” He shook his head and sat back, but I was quick to take both his hands.

I looked him dead in the eye. “Do I think it makes you compassionate and caring? Yes. Do I think it makes you a better doctor and a wonderful human being? Yes.”

His eyes grew a little glassy, and he nodded, a sad smile on his face.

“Do I think you’re amazing? Do I think you’re kind, and funny, and actually really kinda perfect? Yes.” Sure, it might be premature to be saying this, but knowing he had one lick of self-doubt just fucking killed me. “Do I think I’m the luckiest guy on the planet right now? Absolutely. Hartbridge is lucky to have you. I’m lucky to have you. And I’m glad you made the decision to leave your old job. You deserve to be happy, Rob. Do what makes you happy. Do what feeds your soul.”

His eyes were teary, but he laughed and nodded. “Thank you. I like that: do whatever feeds my soul. It’s a great motto to live by.”

“Absolutely.”

“I think being here might do that. In this cute little town, in my cute little house.” His cheeks flushed pink. “And you.”

God, how hearing him say that made my heart sing.

“And me.” I kissed him softly, loving the revealing robe and his naked body underneath, but this was the problem I’d wanted to avoid. I knew once we started having sex, we’d want to do nothing else, and the equally if not more important part of getting a relationship right was communication and spending quality time together outside the bedroom.

So then, of course, he had to move himself closer, his thigh over mine, and he kissed me. Soft, open mouthed with a hint of tongue. I knew where this was going. And my body was certainly on board...

But my heart and my head told me to pump the brakes.

I put my finger to Rob’s lips, stopping the kiss. His eyes flashed to mine, and I smiled. “You have no idea how much I want you right now, but we shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because you wanted to go to the youth center, and I will need to go to work.”

“I can go to the center any time. When you go to work or this afternoon. It’s no big deal.”

“Rob, it’s important to you.”

“You’re really saying no?”

I laughed, though it was more of a pained groan. “You have no idea how much I want to take you back to bed right now. Like good god, so bad.” I risked looking down at where his robe barely covered his crotch, how it opened revealing his hairy chest. “Like, damn... Okay, well, maybe we could go later. What time is it?”

He laughed then, a free and happy sound, as he sat back in his chair and straightened his robe. “Your willpower lasted point-two of a second. ”

“Were you testing me?”

“No, I honestly wasn’t. But what you said was right. The center is important. You are too, don’t get me wrong, but the center is only open for certain hours of the day where you, my own private firefighter,” he pointed the finger to my chest, “will just have to come back here when you finish work tonight.”

I grinned at him. “Is that so?”

God, I liked the sound of that.

“Yes,” he said seriously. “You cannot let me taste the best sex of my entire life, and then put me on rations.”

That made me laugh. “Rations? I’d hardly call everything we’ve done rations. Four orgasms between us in the last twelve hours. Believe me, coming off a long drought, those numbers are a downpour.”

Rob chuckled. “I know, I know. I’m just being greedy. I want more.”

“Best sex of your life, huh?”

His eyes met mine, full of humor and honesty. “Hands down, the best. Not even a competition. So yes, tonight I will leave my door unlocked, and you may find me in bed, waiting. Naked. Possibly pre-lubed.”

I dropped my head back and groaned. “Okay, so now I’m definitely coming here after work.”

His grin sent my heart into a flurry, my body was already looking forward to it.

“Okay then,” I declared. “Now all that’s organized, I should go home and get showered and dressed for work. What time did you want to leave for the center?”

He checked the time on my phone. “In about an hour? ”

“Sounds perfect.” I stood up. “I should get dressed first, though. Don’t want Mr. Ling to see me leaving your house half-dressed.”

Rob glanced out the front window. “We could open the blinds and give him a full show.”

I burst out laughing. He was only joking but I still hadn’t expected his sense of humor. I went into his room and found my clothes, quickly pulling them on. When I went back out to the living room, Rob had fixed his robe and tied the belt, and he was fixing some pine needles on his Christmas tree.

It still looked incredible, but very empty underneath.

“No presents underneath it yet?” I said, sitting on the sofa to pull on my socks and boots.

He looked at the emptiness under the tree and shook his head. “No. I’ll ship my niece’s and my sister’s gifts. Straight from the store, gift-wrapped option included.”

Damn. That was it? He had no one else, and that was kinda sad.

“You better get Katie something,” I warned him.

“Oh, yes, you’re right.” He adjusted one bauble that didn’t need adjusting. “And you, I suppose. Are we doing gift exchanges? We should probably clarify to save embarrassment or disappointment. You know. I mean, it’s fine if you don’t want to but I thought...”

I walked over and slid my arms around his waist and whispered into the back of his ear. “Hell yes, we are.” Then I kissed his nape. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

He walked me to the door, smiling so sweetly, his cheeks a delicious pink .

God, it almost made me change my mind and march him straight to his bed.

But no, now I had a plan. But it wasn’t something I could do on my own.

As soon as I walked through my front door, I pulled my phone out and scrolled for the number I was looking for and hit Call.

“Hartbridge Hardware, how can I help you?”

“Hamish?” I asked, though I knew that voice and accent was his. “It’s Soren.”

“Oh, hi. Is everything okay? If you’re after Ren?—”

“No, I wanted to speak to you, actually. I want to do something for Rob, and I’ll need your help.”

He was quiet for a second and I swore I could hear him smiling. “I’m listening.”