The Firefighter Who Rescues Me

Chapter 19 ♚ Family Dinner

My first week back in Silver Grove was taken out of a fairy tale. Getting a heroine's welcome at work almost got to my head as much as seeing Pace in the flesh. Almost. Reacquainting with my boyfriend very closely was where the dream was at.

For a few days, I truly bought into the notion that this was it, my new life. Waking up early to work out at the gym with Pace, after having worked out together the night before. Then getting to the job site and putting up houses that one day would shelter families—and myself, once I'd saved enough money to close on one with Margaret. I hung out with my friends from town, chatted on the phone with my family. I couldn't remember the last time I could say this confidently, but I was happy.

Naturally, that put me on high alert.

The niggling fear something would go wrong was proven correct just a week later.

Pace and I were at a morning workout session, running on adjacent treadmills as though this were the Olympics. Neither wanted to cede ground to the other, although I knew if we were doing this in the streets, his longer strides alone would leave me behind.

When we stopped the machines, I had the pleasure of seeing that, despite his superior physique, I'd burned more calories than him on that run. Solely the result of having pushed myself harder.

"Ha!" I exclaimed, bending over to put my hands on my knees. It was all I could do not to drop on my butt.

"Geez," Pace said, followed by drawing big gulps of air. "You always leave me wrung out."

"Ha!" I repeated, pointing at his face.

He snorted while picking up a towel from his backpack. Spent as I was, I couldn't react in time to avoid him smacking my butt with it.

"How dare you?" I asked, with absolutely no bite behind the question.

"That's what you get for having your mind in the gutter in a public place." Pace plopped on a bench and patted the empty space beside it. I dragged my feet over to join him.

"Maybe I should smack you too, considering how our first date went."

I tried to make a grab for the towel in his hands but he distracted me by shushing me.

"Careful, someone might hear."

I looked around. A few of his firefighter buddies trained this early in the morning, and also a couple of Hunter's guys. But most of them wore headphones or were too busy grunting through the exercises they were focused on. Pace and I might as well be alone right now.

"Anyway," he continued, running a hand through his sweaty hair. His face was pinched with worry. I was about to reassure him no one had heard, when instead he said, "So, uh. Listen. Things are pretty official between us and, since my brother is coming to town this weekend, I was thinking maybe we should have a family dinner."

I wish I could say I reacted like a mature, confident woman who knew exactly what her place in the world was.

The issue was that while, yes, things between Pace and I weren't a temporary arrangement, I did meet his dad under less than perfect circumstances. Which no doubt had reached Chase's ears. Which meant no matter how hard I tried, I would spend most of the dinner basically saying hi, I'm not a floozy instead of hi, I'm a serious girlfriend.

Pace grabbed my hand. "But if that makes you uncomfortable we can postpone."

"No," I said right away. I was definitely uncomfortable, but postponing would send the message I wasn't ready for the more serious aspects of this relationship. "Let's do it."