Colin nodded. “He’s right, brother. We’ve got you covered.”

“It’s been quiet,” Erin told him. “Go to work. I really want you there on Friday, and if you take off now, someone is going to start bitching.”

They’d made the decision together. Something Erin was adamant about. He tried to explain that this was all her. And that he’d support whatever she wanted to do. But it wasn’t until they’d debated for hours that they concluded the best thing to do was take her father’s offer and get Desmond out of her life once and for all.

He didn’t like the thought of leaving her until Desmond was accounted for.

“I hate this.”

“Wait until you’re standing with me in front of the media when we make our announcement. Then you’ll really know what hate is.”

He’d been warned.

“Fine. I’ll call in. Let them know I’m available.” Otherwise he had to report first thing in the morning. With the winds blowing with gusts upwards of fifty miles per hour, he really hoped they could ward off any sparks until it all died down.

As they walked out of the main house and down to the guesthouse, Matt took a shotgun with them. Austin stopped him and handed him a box of shotgun shells. “Change it out. It has snake shot in there.”

Matt thanked them and said good night.

Outside, ash from the previous year’s fire blew everywhere. The familiar smell actually put a smile on his face. He would always be a firefighter. It was truly in his blood.

Inside Erin’s house, he closed the door behind them and set the alarm. He dropped the gun on her kitchen counter along with the box of ammo as Erin walked behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He paused in that moment and smiled. “You feel so good.”

“I’m going to be all right.”

“You’re going to be better than all right. It’s me who’s a mess.”

“Well, don’t let me distract you from your job. You need to be focused out there to come home to me.”

He twisted around and settled his arms on her shoulders. “I can say the same to you.”

“What do you mean? I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’re going to be a rich woman again really soon. It’s me who wants you to come home to me.”

“Oh, Matt. Are you actually worried about that?”

“It’s crossed my mind. I clicked through those society pages. That isn’t the kind of life I can offer you here.”

She pressed both her palms into his chest and flexed her fingers. “I walked away from that life willingly.”

“But you’re stepping back into it.”

“Only to get Desmond out of it. I’m not going back to overpriced salads at the country club and dinners with pretentious people who smile to your face and lie about their wives’ black eyes.”

“I’m sure they weren’t all like that.”

“No. But they happily looked the other way when it was me. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the money. Helen and I have a lot to talk about. But Vertex doesn’t need its shareholders present to run. My dad is an expert shareholder but he doesn’t know squat about running every company he has stock in.”

“When did you get so smart?” he asked as he brushed hair that had fallen in her eyes.

“When I stopped being too scared to live,” she told him.

“I’m never going to be able to compete with that life, Erin.”

She placed the palm of her hand on his cheek. “I fell in love with you as a poor woman and I’ll still love you as a rich one. Money didn’t create us and it won’t destroy us. And if at any time it is trying to do that, I’ll walk away from all of it a second time.”

Did she just say what . . . “Say that again.”

“The poor woman bit?” she asked, smiling.

He lowered his hands to her hips, lifted her up, and set her on his favorite spot on her kitchen counter. “Again . . . this time with meaning.”

She giggled. “I love you, Matthew Hudson.”

He closed his eyes and soaked in her words. “Damn, that’s sexy.”

“Well, don’t leave me hanging.”

He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her until she was pliant in his arms. Only then did he whisper what she had to already know. “Come home to me and I’ll tell you how much I love you every day and show you every night.”

She wrapped her legs around his waist and scooted to the edge of the counter. “Let’s start the showing part now, shall we?”

Matt lifted her off the counter and carried her into the bedroom.

At two in the morning his phone rang, waking him up.

It was his captain. “We need you. It’s blowing up off the five in Castaic.” Arwin told him where the command station had been set up and where to report.

Matt looked over at Erin, concern for her safety caught in his throat. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Erin rolled over and flung her hand out across his chest. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a wildfire. I have to go.”

She leaned up on her elbow and blinked several times. “I can make coffee.”

Matt leaned over and kissed her. “No time. Go back to sleep. I’ll call you as soon as I can, which might be a while. Don’t worry.”

She was already blinking heavy lids. “Please be careful. You have someone to come home to.”

That was never going to get old.

“I’ll set the alarm behind me. Go back to sleep.”

He didn’t need to tell her twice.

He fumbled around with minimal light and wished he’d insisted that Scout sleep down in the guesthouse with them. First thing Matt was going to do once this fire was out . . . go to the shelter and pick out a dog for Erin.

Everything in the main house was dark. The motion lights outside would pop on with every gust of wind, giving way too much light to the property. Using night scope binoculars he bought online, he watched lights go on and off inside Maci’s house.

When her boy toy slipped out the front door and started up his truck, Desmond knew his plan was going to work. Simple people were so easy to manipulate. He just needed to take his time and not rush anything. Give time for Maci to fall back asleep and Fire Boy to make it to work, and he wouldn’t be an issue for hours if not days.

Desmond patted himself on the back. He was actually pretty good at this. The only risk was the boyfriend not reporting to work. But if the fire was big enough, they’d all come in.

Thirty minutes slipped by in painstaking seconds. It took another ten to cut the power and the landlines that worked the alarm system to the house. The lack of emergency lights flickering on and off shot adrenaline down his spine.

Still he waited. No sign of activity in the main house . . . and everything was dark at Maci’s. It was after three in the morning. It was time to end this.

He had a plane to catch.

A tree limb slapped against the side of the house with a continual beat. The minute Matt had closed the door behind him, Erin had dozed in and out of wakefulness. She managed about thirty solid minutes but the tree kept thudding. Finally things calmed down and the lights outside stopped flickering.