Embracing Today, a firefighter romance: (The Trading Yesterday Series, #3) by Kahlen Aymes (best short novels TXT) 📕

My head was telling me that I could be making the same mistake with Ben, but my heart wanted desperately to believe he was everything he seemed. I was probably already in love with him, but that would be stupid and irrational. The last thing I needed was a new relationship when my life was so uncertain. And in a small town, it would look like I was easy, and people would gossip.

My body was buzzing. Somehow, I’d managed to keep from begging Ben to come upstairs to my room and make love to me. God knew, I wanted him to, but I also knew that my life was a mess, and it would be asking too much for him to take it all on. At least, until I had everything sorted out.

On the trip to Minneapolis, I’d considered my options. I could sell the ranch, take the insurance money and start over somewhere else. Or, I could stay and rebuild the shop, or stay and just run the horse boarding and get a job in town to supplement the income.

After the trip home with Ben, I found myself wanting to stay in Jackson. I felt drawn to him in a way I never was with Carter. Carter was good looking and was the first man to really pay attention to me, but Ben was different. I felt like a flower opening whenever I was near him. I sighed and rolled over for the tenth time; my sheet tangled in my bare legs and I kicked at it.

It was dark in my room, and I’d left the window open so that I could hear the crickets chirping and also anything coming from the barn just in case Siri needed me. A decent breeze was drifting through the room, making the lightweight curtains furl.

I was exhausted, but part of me was afraid to sleep. I pushed into a sitting position and reached for the scrunchie on my bed stand to twist my damp hair back into a bun on the top of my head. I sucked in a deep breath. I was thirsty, but I didn’t want to wake Ben by going down to the kitchen. He deserved a good night’s sleep.

Despite my reasoning, I found myself walking softly across the room and into the hallway. The upstairs railing opened over the living room and I crept to the top step to quietly sit down. Peering through the rungs of the bannister, I could see Ben on the couch. He was bare-chested, the sheet low in his waist, but his muscular legs were visible as it tangled between them, as mine had done. His right arm was slung over his eyes and his left hand rested on his stomach. My breath caught. Even in the darkness, his body’s outline, combined with my overactive imagination had my blood racing in my veins. He was magnificent. I would have been happy just sitting there watching him sleep.

Suddenly, Ben sat up, moving with the stealth of a wild animal to the window to look outside. I jumped at his unexpected movement and the old stairs creaked.

He pivoted in less than a second. “Marin?” he called, scanning the room.

I stood up so he wouldn’t catch me lurking. “I’m here.”

Ben visibly relaxed when he saw me at the top of the stairs. “Are you okay?”

“I was thirsty, but I was trying to be quiet so as not to wake you.”

“Oh, yeah. I was just dozing.”

The wooden stairs felt cool to the bottom of my bare feet as I walked down and took a left into the kitchen. “Do you want something to drink? I have white wine in the refrigerator. It might help us both get some sleep.”

“Maybe just one glass,” he answered. His voice, softer now, held a husky tone.

He was wearing the gym shorts he’d had on during the drive and it occurred to me, I should have offered him a shower. “Hey, it was rude of me not to offer you a shower. It might help, too.”

He laughed out a huff as I removed the bottle of wine from the refrigerator and leaving it open so I could use the light from it to move to the cupboard to take out two glasses.

“Like it helped you?” Ben asked.

“Touché,” I said, setting the glasses down with one hand, then pouring the wine into the glasses. “But still, it was rude.”

“It’s okay. I was thinking, or maybe hoping, I was going to get to help with Siri and a shower might be moot.”

“I’m not sure it will be tonight. I don’t think so.”

“Too bad. Do you want me to turn on a light?” he asked as I handed him one of the glasses.

Electricity ran over every surface of my skin when his fingers briefly brushed mine when taking the glass. I took a small sip from my own glass. “Not really… I mean, we’re already having trouble sleeping and a bright light won’t help.” Heat began to seep up from my neck and under the skin of my face toward my cheeks in a flush. I was grateful for the grey shadows that cloaked the room.

We stood in the middle of the kitchen, both of us unsure of what to do next.

“Are you hungry?”

“Not especially. You should try to get some sleep. Do you feel unsafe with me in the house, Marin? Is that why you can’t sleep?” He took a long pull on his wine, nearly emptying his glass.

My mouth fell open in astonishment. “No. I’m glad you’re here. I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

He nodded, then set his glass on the table. “That’s how I feel, too. Do you think you can sleep now?”

I took another swallow of the wine. “I do.”

“Okay, and you can sleep in. I’ll check on Siri and feed the horses in the morning.”

“You should be the one to sleep in. You did all of the driving.”

“I can see you’re going to argue about everything.” He smiled and