Matt could feel her unease just as much as he felt the cool night air reminding him it wasn’t quite summer.

He took a step away from the car and opened the door for her to climb in.

Erin moved in front of him and hesitated. Her eyes drifted to his and she glanced ever so slowly at his lips. It was an invitation. But instead of acting on it, he waited.

Move in, his mind screamed. Just a fraction of an inch and he could kiss her again and make sure she felt it.

“Uhm . . . ,” she started.

Then the alarm inside the fire station ripped them both out of the moment.

He rolled his head back, closed his eyes.

“What’s that?”

“A call.”

“But you just got back.”

He laughed. Couldn’t help himself. “We made it through dinner. It’s a blessing, trust me.” He slowly brought his hand to her cheek and leaned close. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“You don’t have—”

The door to the main garage rolled up.

He had to go.

His hand dropped, and the kiss she offered would have to wait. “Drive carefully.”

“Be safe.”

He winked. “I always am.”

Erin’s phone vibrated on the nightstand three times in a row, pulling her from her morning fog. It didn’t help that she hadn’t slept well all night. She’d replayed Matt’s words, his expressions, and his kiss more times than a teenager on their very first date. She was helpless. Absolutely helpless. When she wasn’t tossing and turning, she was checking her phone and the app that told her when his station needed to respond to a call.

Her phone buzzed a fourth time, and Erin reached over to find out what the emergency was at seven in the morning on a Saturday.

The first text was only an image sent from Parker. A picture of what she assumed was her friend’s left hand with a stunning diamond brightening up her ring finger.

The second text was an image of them standing on a beach with large rocks in the background. The sky was cloudy and they were both drenched from head to toe. Almost like they’d fallen in the water fully clothed and were pulled out and dragged in the sand. They looked awful and yet they were both smiling like they’d stopped laughing long enough to pose for the camera. With this image Parker texted. Boy do I have a story behind this picture.

The third text was from Matt. Parker said yes. And . . . Good Morning.

Erin responded to Parker first. Congratulations! I can’t wait to hear all about why you both look like drowned rats.

Her next text went to Matt. Good morning to you. And yes, Parker has already sent me pictures. Your brother has good taste in rings. Although Erin was fairly certain that Parker had left pictures of rings that she liked in plain view for Colin to pick up on. Still, he delivered.

Erin put her phone down and tossed her covers back. She listened for sounds of Austin or Scout and didn’t hear anything. Then again, Austin slept late on weekends from what Parker had told her.

Her phone buzzed.

OMG!!! He kissed you? Matt kissed you?

Erin blinked several times, shook her head, and blinked again.

Nope, she was reading that right.

He told you? she texted.

The screen flashed three dots for quite a while. Matt told Colin, Colin told me. Close family . . . I know, it’s strange. How was it?

Wonderful . . . too wonderful. We’ll talk when you’re home. Enjoy your new bling.

Seriously. You’re killing me, Erin. Just tell me one thing. Are you smiling right now? Parker’s question caught her by surprise.

Erin lifted a hand to her cheek, felt the grin on her lips.

Yes.

Sure enough, Parker needed to have the last word. Eeekkkkk! Okay. We’ll talk when I get back. Following her text were three lines of hearts of different colors, kissy lips, and flowers.

The woman was obviously happy.

She wiggled her toes in the carpet and forced herself off the bed. By the time she was in the kitchen, Scout had pushed out of Austin’s bedroom and stood at the sliding door wagging his tail.

It was already in the low seventies, so she left the door open for the dog to come and go as he pleased.

Instead of coffee, she boiled water for tea. Caffeine was on the high-priority list. So was figuring out how to deal with Matt. She had no business kissing him back or letting him do it in the first place.

She wasn’t even divorced yet.

Not that he knew that. And not that she considered herself married. Still.

Her phone rang as the kettle on the stove started to hum.

Speaking of hot lips. “Good morning, Matt.”

“I like how you say that,” he told her.

She shook her head. “You’re such a flirt.”

“Guilty. I started to text you again and thought I’d call since we were both obviously up.”

She placed the phone on the counter and pressed the speaker option. “It sounds like you’ve been doing lots of early morning phone calls.”

“Ohhh, I’m busted, aren’t I?”

She added the boiled water to the cup that housed a tea bag. “Do you share everything with your brother?”

“The important stuff, yeah. He told me Parker said yes, and I might have told him that we kissed.”

“I honestly didn’t think men did that,” she said.

“It was more like he told me Parker loved the ring and she thought everyone needed a little romance in their life. Parker was sitting right there, and I heard her ask how everything was at the house. You know how she micromanages everything.”

“Yeah. I do.”

“Right. So she asked if I had been to the house. I told them you came to the station. I think Parker screamed. You know, the kind where a woman is happy screaming.”

Erin pictured the scene. “Yeah. I know.”

“And then I accidentally told them I kissed you.” He paused. “Then there was more screaming.”

“You had me up until you accidentally told them we kissed. How does one accidentally say anything?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m delirious from a lack of sleep last night. Are you mad?”

He hadn’t slept either. And that made her smile.

“No.”

“Thank God.”

“But I’m a private person, Matt.”

“It won’t happen again.”

She hesitated. “The kiss?”

“No! I mean, I hope not. I’m totally game for more kissing. I’ll just keep it to myself.”

The reality that she was flirting back and shamelessly leading him on hit her hard. “I’m not in a great place to guarantee more kissing.”

He was silent for a second. “You didn’t like it?”

“No. It was . . .” She sighed. “I’m not good at this.”

“You’re wrong there. I didn’t sleep last night because I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

She rolled her eyes. “You didn’t sleep last night because you were called out of bed twice.”

“Wait. How do you know that?”

She winced. Probably shouldn’t have shared that. “The app.”

“You’re totally spying on me.” There was laughter in his voice.

“It’s a public app. It wasn’t like I was outside the station with binoculars or anything.”