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"But you watched me Which means that I was never really bya strand of wet hair behind her ear He loved the silkiness of her hair and hohen she was outside, it always caught the sun, a thousand different colors that he couldn’t possibly na up the words

She studied hi "I didn’t ask for you to watch over er over her te you up on theyears offI saw the love of the place all over your face We had that in coht it was just a friendship only And then that night at the dance when I kissed you and you kissedthat had ever happened to you …" He s his other hand, he slid his fingers into her hair, letting his thulide over her

And da she’d be stopping him any second, he backed her to the wall and then lowered his head

She didn’t stop hied hi the distance to kiss hily so

He told himself he would stand there and let her have her ith hi as she wanted, but he underestimated the speed hich she could deci on until he kneas close to scooping her up and tossing her on her bed, fro back

And he wanted that

God, hoanted that

But he wouldn’t take it there He couldn’t Because soon enough she was going to leave And he didn’t want to feel that pain ever again Heart heavy with regret, he caught her wandering hands in his and slowed the kiss, gentling it A good-night kiss now, one that was still sexy as hell but not going anywhere

Lily stilled as if her wits had just come back to her She blinked and stepped back "Crap That … shouldn’t have happened Again" She shook her head "Especially on her birthday" She paused "You should go"

He wasn’t sure he understood the significance of kissing her on Ashley’s birthday, but she was right about one thing--he needed to go He stepped outside and turned back … just as she shut the door

S hied down the stairs and to his truck

As he started the engine, he looked up and saw Lily at the atching hiht because the roo himself it was for the best

Chapter 12

On the days where there were nocalls, Aidan and his fire crew had a routine First they trained, hard This was usually a four-ear After that they cleaned the station and their gear

Their captain was new this year and still working on earning the guys’ respect He was five foot six in shoes and a hundred and fifty pounds soaking wet, and was not so affectionately referred to as Captain Tyrant

For a few days the fire calls had been few and far between, thanks in part to so could catch fire