Burn by Dawn Altieri

Author:Dawn Altieri [Altieri, Dawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Redemption, Scarred Past, romantic suspense, Protector, fireman, firefighter, Entangled, Tortured hero, Select Suspense, romance, tortured heroine
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2017-04-30T18:00:00+00:00

“Can I help with anything?” Chloe asked as Janet pulled the plastic wrap off a tray of pickles.

“Yes, thank you,” Janet replied with great enthusiasm and a huge smile before she surveyed the spread of food. She pointed to a few bowls still covered in plastic wrap. “Open those up, if you don’t mind, and then you can help me set the rolls out on these platters.” She glanced toward her husband, who’d finally gotten the grill started. “Then all that’s left is for Sparky over there to do his job.”

Chloe laughed and straightened a stack of napkins that had shifted in the breeze before uncovering the rest of the salads.

“You and Ryan been dating long?”

Chloe lifted her gaze to catch Ryan watching her as her mouth fell open. “Oh, we’re not dating.”

Janet raised her brow in disbelief. “Why the hell not? Have you seen the way that boy looks at you?”

Chloe slipped into a shy laugh, but said nothing as she opened a bag of hot dog buns and arranged them on a tray. She had seen the way he looked at her, and she’d thought about him a lot since she quit her job at Toriello. Ryan was nothing like Christopher, nothing like her father.

“You could do a lot worse than Ryan Monroe,” Janet said. “A lot worse. He’s a good man, and it’s about time he found a nice girl to bring around here. It’s been quite a while.”

The temptation to ask for details about the girl he’d last brought around hit Chloe strong and hard, but she resisted the urge. All she needed to know was these people were Ryan’s surrogate family, and they obviously had the utmost respect for him. That had to mean something, right?

Her gaze settled on Ryan out on the field as he ruffled the hair of the boy who’d filled in pitching for him, and her heart warmed. Only a few days had passed since she’d seen him, but she’d missed him more than she expected to. The lonely ache as she woke up alone this morning, longing for his arms and the safe haven they provided, had almost been unbearable. There’d been no question. She had to come to the picnic. She may have been torn about appearing in public with Ryan among his fellow firefighters, but she had nothing to hide. She was not an arsonist, and if Ryan wanted her to join him for family day, she had no reason not to accept his invitation.

And the swell she’d felt in his jeans when she crashed into him moments earlier only lent support to that decision.

“Aunt Janet?” One of the younger boys ran over with tears in his eyes as he clutched his elbow. “It hurts.”

Chloe was closer to him, and her instincts took over as she set aside the hot dog buns to squat and reach for his arm. “What happened?”

“I fell off the bottom of the slide and landed on my arm. I think it’s bleeding.”

The boy was right; it was bleeding.

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