Only Her Smokejumper Firefighter - Cami Checketts Page 0,11

only Grams could help him see how to make things work with him and Mavyn. He cursed himself. Would he ever be strong enough to let his perfect woman, who would only tromp on his susceptible heart again, go?

She smiled up at him. “I bet you’re tired. I know I’m beat.”

Ren was surprised. Usually, Grams wanted to stay up late and talk. He’d been waiting all night for her to cuss him out for the way he’d treated Mavyn. He should be glad to avoid that, but he deserved it. Deep down, he wanted Grams to confirm his aching hope that Mavyn was the one for him and he should somehow fight through her thick barriers.

“I could sleep,” he admitted.

“Yes, you rest. Then tomorrow we’ll talk about that gorgeous Mavyn, and your future together.”

Ren should’ve expected it. He barely held on to his vacant smile. Could Grams’s words mean anything? Sadly, he feared that he and Mavyn had no future together. He could easily see himself forgiving her and begging her to give him a chance, but he couldn’t see a world where she let down her barricades and let him in.

“Okay, Grams. Is it just you and I here?” He’d stayed the past few nights, through the blizzard, with Cedar, Aster, Chelsea, and Dax at Aster and Chelsea’s mansion. Even though they were stuck inside because of the snow, he’d loved the time with his brothers, sister-in-law, and hilarious nephew. Tonight Cedar was staying in a honeymoon suite at the resort with his new wife Hope, and Ren had told Aster and Chelsea he wanted some time alone with Grams before he left.

“Yep, but I want you to sleep in Iris’s old room. I’ve got a bunch of scrapbooking junk laid out in the other one.”

“Okay, I’ll sleep in the frilly lace bed. I’m manly enough to handle it.” Any bed was a good bed after hundreds of nights spent sleeping on nothing but dirt.

She laughed and waved a hand at him. “Love you. So glad you’re here through the holidays, sweet boy.”

“Love you too, Grams.” Only she could get away with calling him “sweet boy.” He could just imagine the men on his crew chortling if they heard that.

She stood and he gave her a long hug. She smiled up at him, a characteristic twinkle in her eyes that had him wondering what schemes were lurking in that sharp brain of hers. She adored all of them, but she could also tease and prank as well as the firefighters he’d spent the last twelve years with. He felt suddenly uneasy. Grams had backed down far too quickly from forcing him and Mavyn together. Yes, she’d said they’d talk in the morning, but it wasn’t typical Grams to let anything move slowly. He’d better be on high alert the next few days. He’d almost cracked the instant he saw Mavyn tonight. He’d said a few things that showed his weakness for her. It was only when Mavyn reminded him that she’d never fall to any man that he found his strength again.

Grams disappeared into the master bedroom on the main level of her open cabin and he hefted his bag and strode up the stairs. He didn’t hear Grams’s bedroom door close below him. Odd.

There were two bedrooms next to the loft and a shared bathroom between. Flinging open the door on the right side of the loft, he dropped his bag and flipped on the light.

A woman’s scream alerted him that he wasn’t alone.

Grams’s cackle echoed up to him from below.

What had Grams done? Ren almost hurried back out of the room to cuss his grandmother, but the beautiful woman sitting up in bed looking at him with wild eyes captured his attention.

“Mavyn?” His gaze traveled over her. Her tank top revealed the smooth skin of her shoulders. Her face was free of makeup and her curls poked out in all directions. She looked as beautiful as she ever had. How in the world could he stay immune from this ultra-appealing woman who still held his heart?

Dang him for being so weak and dang Grams and her scheming.

Clutching the comforter to her chest, she gasped, “What are you doing?”

“I, um… Grams…” he stuttered by way of explanation. Ren was in charge, always. The only ones with more power than him were his Savior, the incident commander, and Grams. Right now, he was ready to set the last person on the list straight. Right now, he wasn’t in charge