Forever Summer - Melody Grace Page 0,29

Brooke shrieked.

“Andre said not to panic,” the girl added, even as she looked pretty panicked herself. “We called the fire department, they just arrived.”

Brooke was already out of her chair, bolting through the restaurant. Evie hesitated a moment, then followed, curious, the poor clerk scurrying after them. Was this the kind of thing she would be having to deal with at the inn? Evie gulped. She’d already been planning for insurance and fire codes, but maybe she should increase her coverage …

She found Brooke by the kitchens, the staff milling around her, a burning smell wafting in the air, and a chef with slightly singed eyebrows was trying to calm her down.

And Noah. In his firefighter’s uniform.

Evie froze.

Talk about burning up.

“It was just one of the guys getting enthusiastic about the flambé,” Noah was saying. “No real damage done.”

“I told Greta not to worry you,” the chef piped up.

Brooke quelled him with a look. “Was anyone hurt? Is anything damaged?”

“Nope,” Noah replied. “Looks like your team handled everything perfectly. The whole thing was out before we even arrived.”

Brooke exhaled. “Thank you.” She turned to her chef. “And as for you—”

“You heard him!” the man protested. “We did everything right. Well—the gratin might need to get bumped from tonight’s menu. But that’s only because we used the potato water to put out the flames.”

Noah moved away from their bickering and seemed to notice Evie for the first time. “Well, hello there,” he said, breaking into a smile. “What are you doing here?”

Trying to ignore how good he looked in his navy T-shirt and firefighter’s pants.

Evie cleared her throat. Had it really been only twelve hours since she’d been passionately kissing this man in the middle of the pub? She flushed, suddenly dry-mouthed as she remembered just how good it had felt to be in his arms.

Even if it would never happen again.

“I was, umm, getting lunch with Brooke,” she explained, trying to pull herself together.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Noah said. “Although, it looks like her chef is even sorrier.” He nodded to where Brooke was calmly dressing the man down as she inspected every inch of the kitchen.

“They’ll be fine,” Evie defended her. “Brooke seems like a good boss.”

“Oh, she’s great. Always on time with her fire inspections, too,” Noah said with a grin. “No wonder those guys put the fire out in a flash. She’ll have had them running drills in their sleep.”

“Montgomery. You coming?” one of the other firefighters called out.

“Right behind you,” Noah called back. He hoisted his duffel bag and began to stroll towards the lobby. Since Brooke looked like she’d be occupied for a while longer, Evie fell into step beside him.

“So, what would you have done, if it had been a real fire?” she asked, curious.

“Followed protocol,” he replied. “Evacuated the premises, put out the flames, assessed the damage.”

“Don’t you ever get scared?”

Noah paused, smiling down at her. “This is where I pretend to be manly and invincible, right? Impress you with my towering acts of bravery.”

Evie smiled. “Come on, be serious.”

He gave a shrug. “Sure, I’ve been in some hairy situations. But that’s what the training’s for: so you act from habit, not instinct.”

Was that what had happened last night? She’d sure been acting on pure instinct, but maybe being grabbed by a strange woman was normal to Noah. Maybe he kissed her back out of simple habit.

Her mood dimmed at the thought. “About last night,” she began, feeling awkward. But they were going to have to talk about it, and she’d already learned, there was no avoiding him in a small town like Sweetbriar Cove.

Noah cleared his throat. “You mean … our kiss—”

“Our fake kiss,” Evie interrupted quickly. “Because it was all for show.” She paused, shooting him a sidelong look. “Right?”

Noah exhaled. “Right. I guess I should be thanking you,” he added with a wry grin.

“What for?”

“Throwing Marisa off the scent,” he replied. “She seemed to buy the act. Since it was all just an act. Right?”

“Right,” Evie answered, lying through her teeth.

But what else was she supposed to say? That was the most epic kiss I’ve had in years, except for the part where it immediately threw me into a spiral of self-loathing and doubt?

Definitely not.

Anyway, Noah had just said it himself: it was all to get a pesky ex off his case. Mission accomplished. Game over. No repeat performance required.

Unless …

“So, have you learned your lesson?” Evie asked, making sure to add a teasing note to her voice. “Or do you