Firefighter Amber Chapman has been working for the Seattle Fire Department for three years and loves the excitement of her job. She’s been single for just as long, and despite her attraction to her team leader, she knows that when you’re one of the guys, it’s hard to break out of the friend zone.
Lieutenant Reggie Andrews lives and breathes firefighting and would do anything for his station family. He’s got a soft spot for Amber, who he took under his wing when she first joined their team. She’s the “girl bro” in the group, as he affectionately calls her, so she’ll always be off limits. When a house fire engulfs them, Reggie’s quick thinking saves Amber. Except he doesn’t escape unscathed, and he’s convinced his future as a firefighter is going up in flames.
But Amber won’t let him sit around feeling sorry for himself. As Amber helps nurture his body and his spirit, Reggie is shocked to realize she’s also nursing a flame of desire that he tried to deny…and can no longer ignore.
EXCERPT
“Why did you do it?”
Amber blinked, glancing down at the strong fingers wrapped around her upper arm.
Heat bloomed where he touched her and spread low through her body.
“Why did I do what?” She wet her lips.
The kiss. It had to be what he was asking about. But she still played dumb. She lowered her gaze so he wouldn’t see the guilt and embarrassment in her eyes.
What had she been thinking to plant one on him like that?
“You know what.” He moved his fingers from her arm to her chin and gently tilted it up so she had to look at him.
The heat in his eyes stole her breath.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” she admitted faintly.
“If you were going to kiss me—go and break all the damn rules—you should’ve really kissed me.”
Her breath caught. “What rules?”
“So many rules. One being The Bro Code. You don’t get involved with the girl bro.”
She blinked. “I’m the girl bro in this scenario?”
Was there really some kind of Bro Code thing, and she was part of it?
“Amber.” He closed his eyes, looking like he was barely restraining himself.
From what, though?
Her pulse quickened.
Don’t ask him.
But the other part of what he’d said wouldn’t leave her alone.
“And what do you mean by I should’ve really kissed you?” she blurted. “Lips on lips qualifies as a ki—”
This time it was his mouth that covered hers. It wasn’t just lips on lips. It wasn’t gentle or tentative. It was demanding and full of need.
It was nothing like she would’ve expected from the nicest guy she knew, but it was everything she wanted.
Amber whimpered, opening her mouth to him when his tongue demanded inside.
Oh god, the taste of him.
She reached up to hold his shoulders, but he pulled back just enough to grab her wrists, using one big, calloused hand to pin them above her head against the brick building. His mouth claimed hers again.
Whoa.
The desire for him before had been at a slow simmer, but that little move there had put it at a boil.
