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  “What we have to do is worry about us, not everyone else.” He stepped toward her but she rushed to put the chair between them.

  “This is a conversation we should’ve had a long time ago. Now it’s too complicated.” She sighed. “You’d better go.”

  “All right. I’m going.” He held her gaze a moment before heading for the door. Once there, he turned to face her. “And, Layla?”

  Her chin lifted. “Yeah?”

  “We’re not done.”

  Not by a long shot.

  ***

  It was noon before Layla was able to head downstairs to work. By the time her godfather, along with Noah, Jax, and the police officer they brought with them left, she already missed a half day’s work. Luckily, her efficient team picked up the slack in both the café and the cat room, where she usually divided her time.

  Still, she felt guilty and jumped right into the mounds of paperwork stacked on the desk when she entered the office from the stairwell. It was more of an alcove than a closed in office, with the backend opening to the hall and cat room. Transporting the cats to and from the building was easier with access to the parking lot out back, via the office side door.

  “Hey,” Tanya said, glancing up from her desk in the front corner. “They finally gone?”

  She dropped into her chair and nodded. “Waste of time, too. Nothing new was found. No fingerprints, hairs. Nothing.” The investigation was becoming more of a pain than the actual notes.

  “Are they going to post a hot cop to watch over you?” Her friend grinned. “Cause, you know, I’d be happy to come by and stay with you, if they do.”

  Layla chuckled. “You’re so caring. Thank you.”

  “Hey, what are friends for if they can’t watch your back and the hot guy’s too? Speaking of hot guys—did your old crush finally make a move?”

  The memory of their kiss heated her blood and tingled through her body. She shifted in her seat and shook her head. “Not really.”

  Tanya laughed. “Bullshit. You’re flushed, and that isn’t caused by ‘not really’, so spill. Your high school crush totally kissed you, right?”

  “Yes.” But the crush lasted a hell of a lot longer than high school. In fact, she realized with utter certainty when his mouth had been on her that morning, zapping her strength and knocking down barriers she’d built up over the years that nothing had changed. Except maybe her infatuation had increased. As well as her longing.

  Darnit.

  “I knew it!” Tanya clasped her hands and grinned. “So? How was it? Come on, after all of the pining, was it worth it?”

  She couldn’t let that happen again. He took away her reasoning. But boy, could that man kiss.

  “God, yes.” She fanned herself, knowing better than to lie to her all-knowing business partner, especially with the telltale blush heating her cheeks.

  “Really?”

  “You kissed?”

  She hadn’t realized Kelly and Jade entered the work space. “Yes, but it was a one and done kind of thing.”

  “Why?” Tanya frowned.

  “Because I told him it had to be. Robert’s marrying Christie. His brother. My sister. We don’t need to rock the family boat, so to speak.”

  “I think you should give him a chance.” Kelly’s gaze bounced to everyone in the room. “If someone I was crushing on kissed me, I’d be over the moon and hold on tight.”

  Tanya nodded. “Me, too.”

  “Yeah,” even Jade agreed.

  The kiss...

  Noah’s promise they were going to talk about it, plus her conversation with her friends stayed with Layla long after she finished running the last background checks on two perspective adopters, happy that everything checked out, and upset with herself. She hated that her mind wasn’t on business. But Noah’s arrival knocked her world off kilter and it didn’t appear she was going to be able to right it any time soon, especially after that kiss.

  She filed the reports in their respective folders and slid them into a bin on her desk, then picked up the phone and called to deliver the good news. That was one of her favorite perks of the job. After arranging times to come in to sign the papers and pick up their cats, Layla set the phone down and smiled.

  “What’s got you in such a good mood?” Her sister smirked, as she moved further into the room where Layla had been working alone since Tanya took over in the cat room for an hour.

  “Hey, Christie.” She got up to give her sister a quick hug. “What are you doing here?”

  “I brought some supper to share with Robert at the station if he didn’t get a call, but guess what?”

  “He got a call,” Layla replied. “I know, I heard it.” The whole building had been soundproofed, but with the activity in and out of the front doors the whine of sirens echoed daily down the hall.

  “Well, now you and I get to share the pot roast I slaved over today.”

  “Sweet. Lucky me.” She cleared a portion of her desk and rolled Tanya’s chair over. “A great end to a great afternoon. I just set up two more adoptions.”

  “That’s terrific.” Her sister placed their plates, silverware, and big container of roast down. It smelled so good Layla’s stomach rumbled and mouth watered. “Great to see you in a good mood, especially since I dropped in to ask you a favor.”

  Layla’s back immediately stiffened. “What kind of favor?” She hoped it wasn’t another blind date.

  “Relax. It’s no big deal. I just wanted to recruit you to make your famous potato salad for the barbeque on Saturday that the Donovans are throwing to welcome Noah home.”

  Fudge. She wasn’t surprised about the party. Or that it was only two days from now. The family was close-knit, a coming home party was inevitable. She was just hoping to beg off. Not much chance of that now. It would raise too many brows if she refused to cook and go.

  “Sure. Five or ten pounds of potatoes?”

  “Better make it ten. Those Donovans love your potato salad.”

  She smiled. “Okay. What time’s the party?”

  “Two,” Christie replied, loading their plates. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  Layla sat and lifted a shoulder. “No thanks necessary. The Donovans have always been like family.” Half of her problem with Noah.

  “I know. And in less than six months, it’ll be legal.” Her sister beamed, replacing the lid on the container of leftover roast to hold out her left hand and gaze at the sparkling diamond on her ring finger.

  And that would be the other half of Layla’s problem.

  Christie took her seat and leveled her with a serious look. “I also stopped in to see what was up with your new note. Robert told me you had another one on your door this morning.”

  Of course he did. She knew it would get back to her sister at some point that day.

  “Yeah. The captain, and Noah, and Jax, along with the police, were here all morning snooping around but found nothing new to go on. And quite frankly, I think they’re blowing it out of proportion.”

  “Well, until that’s determined, you can’t treat it as anything but a threat, Layla.” Christie set a hand on her arm. “Just be careful.”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  But she couldn’t help but feel Noah possessed a bigger threat than all the notes combined.

  Chapter Four

  As evening fell on Noah’s first day back at Station 58 he was buckling up his turnout gear in the back of the engine for the third time that day, alongside his brother Robert, Jax, and Dane Chandler, while Tory Wilcox maneuvered the engine through the heavy traffic to a burning warehouse on the corner up ahead.

  “Stations 12 and 19 are already on scene with their engines and ladder trucks,” Lieutenant Nathan Boone informed from the passenger seat. “We’re to assist in containing the fire so it doesn’t jump to the other buildings.”

  “Rescues?” Noah asked. He’d already assisted in two today, and he wasn’t counting Layla’s cat…or her, for that matter.


  “All personnel accounted for. Let’s set our lines on the east side of the building and keep this from spreading.”

  As soon as the engine grinded to a halt, Noah was out of the truck with the others, running to the side compartments to grab his SCBA, self-contained breathing apparatus, and slipped the pack on. After taking turns with Jax to quickly check their equipment and turn-out gear, Noah raced to help him and Tory set up a two-and-a-half inch attack hose while the others readied the elevated hoses to douse the flames up high.

  An attack hose was a beast and a challenge. If Noah didn’t sync his movements with the others they risked injury, so even though thoughts of Layla and her incredible kiss and that damn note floated in his head most of the day, now was not the time to think of either. He needed all his focus. The massive pressure from the volume of water funneling through the line could throw his team to the ground. That was where he needed his attention. Not on sweet-tasting Layla.

  He and the guys had a fire to fight, preferably without breaking a bone.

  After a rare, fairly incident-free fire, Noah was back at the station within three hours, stepping out of the shower. The fire was out, the aftermath dealt with. Gear cleaned and put away. Only thing left was taking care of himself. He dried off and pulled on his third set of clothes he’d tossed into his duffle bag that morning.

  That morning.

  Seemed so far away, and yet that kiss still lingered. Damn. He hadn’t meant to kiss Layla. Noah knew…he knew there’d be no turning back once he’d tasted her and he was right. She was sweet and hot and so damn responsive he craved her more than anyone before.

  He was screwed.

  Mentally chewing himself out, he walked into the kitchen to join the others for a meal cooked by Dane. Everyone else was already seated and digging in to beef enchiladas, and his stomach was already cheering.

  “Pull up a chair, newbie.” Dane nodded to an empty seat.

  “He’s no newbie.” Tory glanced up from his plate. “The guy has skills. Damn, he attacked that hose like a pro.”

  “He used to work at 58 before moving to Yankee territory.” Dane set a plate in front of him. “I didn’t call him a probie. But he’s the newest hire here at the table, so he’s a newbie.”

  Noah laughed. “Can’t argue with that logic.”

  “But I did hear my brother learned to cook a mean chicken parm at his buddy’s Italian restaurant up in the Poconos,” Robert informed with a grin, digging into his enchiladas.

  An inch taller but not as broad, his brother’s eyes and hair were also typical Donovan brown, but his brother’s hair was a little longer, not restricted by the military like Noah.

  Cheers went up around the room.

  “Then I vote the newbie cooks on his next shift, which is when? Monday?” Dane asked.

  He nodded, not at all put out by cooking duty. After all, he’d made some of his living cooking part time at Nico’s family’s restaurant. “Consider it done.”

  More cheers.

  “Donovan,” Captain Stewart called from the doorway and he and his brother both stood. The guy was lean, sharp and the senior man at the station. “The good-looking one.”

  A grin tugged at Noah’s lips and he remained standing with Robert as the men snickered around them.

  “Good-looing? Then Cap must mean Noah,” Lexi Fletcher, one of the station’s paramedics said, waltzing into the room, instantly sucking the pleasant from Dane’s features.

  So that’s how it was? Noah swallowed a groan and hoped to God the woman didn’t bring him into the couple’s ongoing tug of war. Jesus, the air instantly crackled and he wondered if this was what Nico had felt when he walked in on him and Layla.

  “Yeah, I mean the newbie.” Captain Stewart nodded. “My office. Now. You can eat later.”

  He immediately turned and followed the man out of the room, fighting a smile at Tory’s whispering taunts that he was in trouble. Damn, it was great to be back. He’d forgotten how tight the family aspect of the station was, having only been volunteer firefighting up in the Poconos since there were no full time stations.

  Once he shut the office door, the captain motioned to take the chair opposite the big dark maple desk where he sat, fingers laced in front of him. “We haven’t had a chance to talk. This morning’s note ate up our time. What, if anything, have you discovered about my goddaughter’s admirer?”

  “Nothing you don’t already know, sir.”

  “Well, hell.” Stewart scowled. “I was hoping you spotted something we all overlooked.

  He shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “Not yet. But I will.”

  “My thoughts exactly. That’s why I asked you to come down and grab that vacant apartment before someone else did…or worse, the culprit.”

  Noah’s blood froze on that remark. Thank God that hadn’t happened. He leaned forward and held his boss’s gaze. “I have no explanation for how the bastard got into the damn building, but I promise you he won’t get to Layla. He’ll have to go through me first.”

  Stewart held his gaze a moment before giving a curt nod. “What do you plan to do? Sleep on her couch?”

  He shook his head. Hell, no. If he was in her apartment at night, he knew there was no way he’d be on the couch. He’d be in her bed and they wouldn’t be sleeping. “No. Outside her door.”

  Again, Steward nodded. “Not sure how you’ll get her to agree to it, but that sounds like a plan.”

  Now Noah nodded. “She isn’t going to know.”

  Stewart laughed. “Smart. Because she’ll throw a fit otherwise. My goddaughter can be stubborn.”

  Noah chuckled. “I’ve noticed.”

  He noticed a few other things, like her sweet taste, soft curves, and sensuous sighs. Damn. This was not the time to recall that kiss.

  “Well, I feel better knowing you’re across the hall.” Stewart rose to his feet and thrust out his hand. “Thank you for coming down on such short notice.”

  Noah stood and shook the man’s hand. “No thanks necessary, sir. Layla’s an old friend. She means a lot to me.”

  “I was counting on that.” Stewart nodded. “Go enjoy your cold enchiladas. Sorry I messed up your supper.”

  “No worries. Won’t be the first time I ate a cold meal. At least they’re better than the guard’s MREs.” He grinned as he headed for the door.

  “And, Noah,” the captain said as Noah reached for the handle.

  He turned and raised a brow. “Yes, sir?”

  “Great job today. You jumped right in, as if you’d never left.”

  “Like riding a bike, sir.” He set two fingers to his forehead and saluted before leaving the room and a smirking captain.

  It was strange how it felt as if he’d never left. Not only at the station, but at the ranch when he’d visited yesterday, and especially around Layla. His attraction was still there and going strong. And despite what she said about it being too late he was going to prove her wrong—after he caught the creep leaving her threats and he had a chance to come clean about living across the hall to keep an eye on her.

  He just hoped that didn’t kill his chances.

  ***

  At twenty minutes after two on Saturday afternoon, Layla was ready to leave Noah’s welcome home party at the Donovan ranch and escape to her quiet apartment to cuddle with Rescue on the couch and binge on Netflix. Staying here two more hours, as would deem proper, was going to severely whittle down her defenses.

  He showed up today dressed in an emerald T-shirt that stretched across his wide shoulders and broad chest, showcasing his powerful build, magnificent biceps, and muscular forearms she could still feel wrapped around her while they’d kissed in her apartment the other day. And if that wasn’t enough to make her ovaries ache, he wore jeans that hugged his lean hips and fantastic butt, with worn creases in all the good parts, which in turn, warmed all her good parts. And they hadn’t even talked yet. In fact, she hadn’t spoken to him face-to-face since the morning they kissed. H
e’d called to check on her, but she managed to avoid seeing him.

  Until now.

  “Hi, Layla.” He sat across from her at the picnic table she occupied with her sister, Robert, Tory, Jax, and his girlfriend Skye, flashing her a look that did funny things to her stomach.

  And a tad south.

  Not good. Layla tried to ignore the attraction she didn’t want, but her hormones had their own agenda. Darn them. With supreme effort, she forced her gaze off him and took in the table, and the ambiance. It felt good, she realized. Really good. And something else occurred to her. With Noah part of the bunch of friends, the atmosphere seemed different, closer, cozy, intimate. And dang if he wasn’t taking over, interfering with all her senses, without even trying.

  He leaned closer. “Why didn’t you wait to drive here with me? I would’ve been happy to give you a ride. No sense in us both driving when we live in the same building.”

  That was true, which was exactly why she’d made plans to cover her butt. “I left earlier this morning to help my mother with the chili.”

  “Yeah, she was at Mom’s by nine,” her sister confirmed, and for once Layla was grateful her sister liked to add her two cents.

  “Ah.” He nodded, but she could tell he wasn’t quite convinced. “Well, thank you. It’s as delicious as your potato salad.”

  Tory leaned forward and winked. “It’s the reason I showed up on time. I’ve heard a lot about Layla’s potato salad and didn’t want to miss out.”

  Noah narrowed his gaze on the good-looking blond, then her, but didn’t say anything. Which was good, because she knew what he was thinking, and it wasn’t true. There was nothing going on between her and Tory. They were just friends. The guy was a great supporter of Coffee Cats, but that was it.

  Luckily his mother called to him as more guests arrived. He excused himself—plate in hand—and made his way to his mom. Layla turned back to her food and told herself she did not miss his presence. That was silly. And foolish. And a big fat lie. Still, she ate and joked with everyone at the table, and partnered with Tory for a round of horseshoes, getting their butts handed to them by her father and godfather. Twice.