Page 35 of Set My Soul Ablaze

“The first batch is ready, y’all!” She shouted over the music. Firefighters lined up to get a plate as she moved over to the stove to stir the remaining fish in the hot grease.

Various compliments were tossed in her direction as everyone happily ate. The music was turned down, and light chatter buzzed around the room as people sat around the tables to eat and catch up. Captain even came out to get a plate and thanked Mali again for another delicious meal. She beamed with pride. I could tell words of affirmation was one of her love languages.

“You outdid yourself with this tartar sauce. I’m not even a fan of it, usually, but you did that.”

“Thank you.” She giggled.

“What?”

“You’ve got . . . a little tartar sauce on your face.”

I used my free hand to swipe down my face. “I get it?”

She laughed. “No. Hold still.” She grabbed a napkin and closed the distance between us. She leaned onto the tips of her toes and wiped the napkin against my cheek. When she was done, she pressed a kiss to the skin and took a step back. I wasn’t expecting the kiss, but it was a welcomed surprise.

“All good,” she squeaked out.

“Thank you. Are you going to eat?”

“I ate the whole time I cooked. Between tasting each batch of fish, to making sure all of the flavors in the sauce and on the fries worked, I’m stuffed.”

“Makes sense. Why don’t you go kick your feet up on one of the couches? I’ll clean up the kitchen.”

“Really? I don’t mind cleaning up.”

“Nonsense. You just threw down for a station full of hungry ass firefighters with huge appetites. The least we can do is clean up.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” She skipped over to the couch and kicked her feet up. She tossed one of the throw blankets over her arms and closed her eyes.

As I cleaned up the kitchen, my mind settled on thoughts of Mali. Mali was beautiful as hell and fit perfectly in my arms. I wanted to revisit our terms from the beginning. I wanted to take things to the next level with her. I wanted to be her man. I wanted to be her best friend. I wanted to be everything she needed from me and more.

“One-four-three, we’ve got a call,” Captain Moore announced just as the alarms blared throughout the station.

I immediately jumped into alert to find Mali, who had folded the blanket and made her way over to me.

“Be safe,” she spoke.

“Always. I’ll text you when I make it back.”

Before I could catch myself, I leaned in for a kiss. It was quick yet electric. I wanted to apologize, but I needed to get geared up and to the truck as soon as possible. I turned on my heels and headed in the direction of the team.

Fuck. What did I just do?

A coupleof days later

I stared into the void as thoughts of Flame’s kiss consumed me. It was a mindless kiss that has haunted me for the last three days. It was short, but powerful. It was all I could think about. He’d wrapped a hand on the small of my back and leaned in before I could say anything. I wasn’t sure what it meant for our situation, but I was excited to see where it could take us.

Knock. Knock.

A light tap brought me out of my thoughts of Flame’s lips.

“Come in,” I called out.

“Hey, boss lady. You alright?” Dominique asked.

“Yeah. I’m good. What’s up?”

“You have a delivery at the front you need to sign for. They won’t let me.”