She couldn’t mask her surprise. “But it’s true. If I could have—”

He cut her off. “I should have had two dead weights to carry out of there, but you never let go for a second. Not for one goddamned second until you knew your daughter was safe.”

There was enough outdoor lighting from the decorative lanterns hanging from the oak’s branches for her to see the expression on his face.

Out-and-out respect.

For her.

“You were amazing, Megan. And I don’t want you to feel guilty about my part in the fire. Not ever again.”

Beyond surprised, she finally said, “Thank you for saying that, although I don’t think I can help the way I feel.”

“Neither can I.”

They stared at each other, the air between them doing that thing with the sparks and the electricity. Suddenly she didn’t know if they were talking about the fire anymore...or the sensual tension in the air.

“I shouldn’t have brought you out here,” he suddenly said. “It’s too cold without a fire. I’ll see you inside in a bit after I get something going in the fire pit.”

Clearly, that was his way of dismissing her. And Megan knew she would be wise to leave before any of the sparks ignited between them. But, darn it, she didn’t like leaving on his terms. And she definitely didn’t like it when he turned away as if she was already gone, and started piling his arms with nearby firewood.

No woman wanted to think that she could be forgotten that quickly. Even one who had sworn not to want the attention of the man in question.

Knowing she was often too stubborn for her own good, she headed to the woodpile and picked up several good-looking pieces of firewood.

Gabe didn’t look happy to see that she was still there. “Weren’t you going inside?”

Quickly guessing that most women Gabe dealt with probably jumped at every command out of that gorgeous mouth, she knelt by the built-in fire pit he was uncovering. “I figured I’d help you get the bonfire going.” She admired the brickwork. “This is fantastic. Summer is going to beg me for one just like it in our backyard. She’s a huge s’mores fan.”

“Your apartment has a yard?”

She shook her head. “Not the temporary apartment we’re in now. But once we find the perfect new place, I might put one in.” Although, even as she said it, she knew she wouldn’t, knew she would be too worried about fire spreading from the fire pit to her building.

“I hope you find the perfect house soon, Megan.” He was silent for a moment before adding, “I’ve been to a thousand fires in a thousand people’s homes, but it’s not the same as having it happen to me. I’m sorry about what you must have lost.”

She didn’t look up from where she was positioning the logs into a perfect pyramid. “I am, too.”

She hadn’t wanted to say as much to Summer, believing instead that her daughter needed her to be strong. She hadn’t wanted her clients to worry that she couldn’t handle their workloads, so she’d simply reminded each of them that she had backup records in a secure, fire-safe location. Her parents were bound to worry no matter what she said, so of course she’d been tight-lipped about her feelings to them, too. And as for her girlfriends, well, the truth was she hadn’t had a lot of time for going out with the girls between working and taking care of Summer. Some of the other mothers at school were friendly, but she hadn’t felt a strong connection with any of them. That’s why it had been so nice to run into Sophie again.

“Fortunately, most of our pictures were all still on my hard drive, but the things I saved from when Summer was a baby, from her first day at school, her first lost tooth...I wish all of those things weren’t gone.” She made herself shrug and pull her lips up at the corners as she took the matches he handed her. “But they are and we’re doing pretty great, all in all. I got lucky with that kid of mine.”

He was nodding and looking into the fire that she’d just Nookd as he said, “You sure did.” The flames took off and he grinned at her. “Nice job with that fire, by the way.”

He’d grinned at Summer plenty of times, but never directly at her. The force of that smile, so utterly genuine, without any of the knowing charm that his brothers Ryan and Zach laid on, had her wanting to take two steps closer to him and kiss him.

As if he could hear her silent yearnings, in an instant his smile fell away and his eyes darkened, filling with that heat that she couldn’t help but be drawn to, heat she was dying to get closer to, to see if it could warm all those places inside her that had been cold for so long.

“I should get back inside to check and make sure Summer’s doing okay.”

His eyes were still hot, still intense when he nodded. “Go.”

She was halfway to the French doors when she realized she was still wearing his jacket. She turned, moved back to where he was staring after her, and lifted it from her shoulders. “Thank you.”

His fingertips moved across her knuckles as they made the transfer and she was glad for the excuse the cold weather gave as goose bumps suddenly appeared on her skin. Only she needed to know it wasn’t the outside temperature that had caused them.

She didn’t wait for him to say “You’re welcome.” She simply turned and hightailed it back to safer ground.

* * *

When the kids found out there was a bonfire outside, they all went to find sticks in the backyard for the marshmallows that Mrs. Sullivan had put out on a nearby table. But the melted sugar on a stick wasn’t the end of the delightful surprises for them.

“They have a clubhouse up in one of the trees,” Summer told Megan, her eyes wide and thrilled. The party had clearly been as much fun as she’d thought it would be. “Gabe said he’s going to take us up and show us around, if our parents say it’s okay.”

Ignoring the voice inside her head that was saying I want to play in the tree house, too, Megan ran a hand over her daughter’s silky, soft hair. “Of course you can go. Just don’t fall out.”

Summer rolled her eyes. “I’m not a baby.”

Megan had to pull her in for a hug. “You’re my baby.”

“Mom!” Summer pushed away. “I’ve got to grab a flashlight before they’re all gone.”

She ran across the yard to where Gabe was waiting with flashlights and Megan tried not to let her insides turn to mush as he headed off with the kids toward adventure, laughing and joking with the energetic group.

She’d never known a man to be so comfortable with kids. But it was more than that, she quickly realized. He liked kids, plain and simple. Even Summer’s father, while he’d clearly adored his baby girl, hadn’t really known what to do with her. And Megan always had the sense that David was counting down the minutes to nap time so that he could get back to something more exciting.

Megan was giving herself a little shake, thinking that she shouldn’t be comparing David to Gabe, when she saw Sophie moving quickly across the patio, out of a dark corner and into the light for a brief moment before heading around the side of the house.

She’d looked for Sophie when she’d arrived, but hadn’t been able to find her so that they could catch up on old times. They’d tried to connect a few times over the past couple of days, but between Sophie’s busy schedule at the library and Summer’s winter break from school, they’d accepted the party would be their first chance to chat.

Now, however, instead of just wanting to have some girl talk with someone she’d always liked a great deal, Megan was a little worried.

Knowing Summer was in good hands with Gabe, Megan followed the path that Sophie had taken around the yard to a small shed. Opening it slowly, she looked inside and found her friend sitting on a large upturned pot.

“Sophie?”

“Oh!” Sophie started to jump up, when she realized who it was. “Megan, hi.” She looked a little sheepish at being caught in the potting shed, but she smiled and said, “Care to join me?”

Megan grinned at her old friend, closing the door behind her. There was a light bulb in the ceiling that illuminated that tidy interior, permeated with the smell of potting soil. “Is everything okay?”

Sophie blew out a shaky breath. “Have you ever wanted something you really, really shouldn’t want?”

Megan was struck by her friend’s honest question. There was no pretense with Sophie. There never had been. It was one of the things she’d always been drawn to in the other woman.

So although she was tempted to try and evade Sophie’s question, because she was hoping that they could make good on the budding friendship they’d started in college, especially living as close to each other in the city as they did, Megan nodded.

“I know exactly how that is,” she said, thinking about being in the backyard with Gabe, and the heat that had nothing to do with the fire jumping to life in the fire pit.

Only, her admission didn’t seem to make Sophie feel any better.

As the other woman looked at her hands, Megan followed her gaze to neatly trimmed nails with no polish. Sophie was wearing a simple navy knit dress that covered her arms and most of her legs. She had on no makeup, no jewelry, and yet where other women would have been plain, Sophie was undeniably beautiful. After having spent a good half-hour on her hair and makeup, not to mention trying on all of the new dresses she’d bought since the fire, Megan felt a little overdressed.

She found an empty pot and turned it upside down, sitting across from Sophie. “Do you want to talk about it?”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Sophie was upset over a man. Only, Megan was a little ashamed she couldn’t possibly have known who, since she’d barely been able to focus on anyone but Gabe all night.

Sophie shook her head and she looked around the small shed. “I’m sorry, Megan. I think I’m just about the worst friend in the world, inviting you to a party and then disappearing off into the potting shed to mope.”

Megan had to laugh at the funny expression on Sophie’s face. “I’ve always liked gardening.”

“Come on,” Sophie said, standing up and extending her hand to Megan. “Let’s go get a couple of glasses of bubbly and you can fill me in on the past seven years.”

Megan could see that Sophie wasn’t at all over what had sent her off to hide in the potting shed, but she clearly didn’t want to talk about it. Not yet, anyway. Maybe when they’d gotten closer, she’d open up.

Then again, Megan knew exactly what it was to have a secret crush on someone who was totally off limits. It didn’t matter how close she and Sophie grew as friends, Megan was never, ever going to admit that she got tingly and breathless whenever Gabe was near.

If anything, the short conversation they’d just had was more than long enough to reinforce what she already knew: that giving in to the sparks she felt with Gabe would only end up breaking her heart.

Or worse, her daughter’s heart.

Chapter Seven

As the Sullivan holiday party wound down, most of Gabe’s siblings gravitated toward each other in a tight group around the fire. Normally, Gabe would have been in there with them all, but Sophie had pulled Megan into the group and he didn’t have a good enough grip on himself around her yet.

Sure, there was nothing going on between them. And there wouldn’t be in the future. But every once in a while a guy needed a break from a half-dozen pairs of probing eyes that just might see what he didn’t want them to.

Gabe kept himself busy playing pirate ship with the kids in the tree fort, and then flashlight tag in the backyard, until his mother called out that she’d put a movie on for them in the basement.

By that point, Gabe had to face up to what he was doing. He figured he’d been called a lot of things over the years, but he could guarantee he’d never been called a coward.