Two months later…

“All right, Chief,” I said. “You ready for the assignment of your life?”

“You know, I’ve been spending the last day psyching myself up for it, and I think I’m finally ready.”

“The crowd’s going to be all over you, you know,” I said, applying my lipstick. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they ate you alive in there.”

“I’ll just have to do my best.”

I took one last look at myself in the full-length mirror in the bedroom of Ethan’s apartment—or, I should say, our apartment. Pleased with my outfit for the day, I nodded and walked over to Ethan’s side. He was dressed in the dark blue, form-fitting chief’s dress uniform, his medals shiny on his chest.

“You know, you cut a hell of a figure in that thing,” I said, then stood up on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Like you were born to wear it.”

He let out a snort of laughter through his nose as he buttoned the last button. “Let’s wait until I’m a year into the job before we start saying stuff like that,” he said.

“Oh, my sweet Ethan,” I said, my tone playful. “Always so humble. You heard what Chief Swift said the last time he stopped into the station, that you’re running the place like the tightest ship he’s ever seen.”

“Makes me wonder if the incident at that fire didn’t knock the sense out of him,” said Ethan.

“He’s more than proud of you, baby,” I said. “I can tell. And if my opinion means anything—which it’d better—I think you’re the best station chief in the city.”

“Thanks,” he said, turning to me with a warm smile and kissing me softly.

“Now,” I said, straightening my back. “You ready to do this?”

“You bet that gorgeous little ass of yours,” he said.

Before I could react, he reached around and gave my rear a hard swat. A delighted shriek shot out of my mouth.

“I’m going to have to report you to FDNY HR if you keep that up, Chief Stokes,” I said, a broad smile on my face.

“Glad you’re finally addressing me by my full title,” he said.

I wagged my finger at him as we stepped out into the living room. I took a sip of my coffee and then screwed on the lid and grabbed my purse.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Whoa,” he said. “Hold up.”

Ethan swiped the remote off of the bar counter and unmuted the TV. On the screen was previously recorded footage of a trial.

“…the trial of the three Queens men thought responsible for the serial arsons that tore through Brooklyn earlier this year concluded this morning with a guilty verdict.”

“Holy shit,” I said. “They got ’em!” After everything we’d been through—statements to the police, testifying on the stand about what I’d seen, the harsh gazes of the jury members, it was a relief. I’d refused to be present for the verdict, but Ethan had insisted on watching it, regardless.

The camera went in for a close-up of the three men, those assholes who’d come so close to destroying my life. They were dressed in cheap, ill-fitting suits, all three of them standing with blank expressions on their faces as the guilty verdicts were read.

“In addition,” said the reporter, “the three arsonists agreed to reduced sentencing in exchange for a testimony against a local supply company believed to have hired the men for the purpose of leading an extortion racket against the local businesses targeted.”

The screen then cut to a fat, middle-aged man dressed in an expensive-looking suit being led into the back of a squad car.

“Elrond Walker, the CEO of Rite-Quick Distribution, was named by the arsonists as the mastermind behind the fires. The trial for Mr. Walker is set to begin later this month. Now, Kendra, it’s looking like we’ve got a beautiful fall weekend ahead of us…”

And then on to the weather.

Ethan slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me tight.

“It’s over,” I said, shaking my head. “It took two months, but those assholes are finally behind bars.”

“Not for long enough,” said Ethan. “Psychos like them should be sent off to a desert island. Instead, they’ll do ten, maybe, fifteen, before they get out on parole.”

“At least they got the guy in charge,” I said.

Ethan nodded.

“At least there’s that.”

He reached around, took my coffee, and brought the thermos to his mouth.

“Now, I don’t know about you,” he said, “but I’m ready to get this weekend started.”

I closed my eyes with delight, picturing the lovely weekend upstate we had planned.

“Three days in a bed and breakfast in the Adirondacks, the leaves all gold and red around us, nothing to do but sip hot cocoa and…” I moved my hand down Ethan’s dress coat, stopping just at his waist. “Whatever else you might have in mind.”

“I could definitely think of a few things,” he said, leaning in and planting a kiss on my neck. “But first…”

“But first we have to get through today.”

“That’s right,” he said. “So, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready.”

“Let’s do it,” I said with an eager nod.

We grabbed the rest of our things and headed out. The morning was a perfect New York autumn day. The sky was bright and clear, the leaves were changing color all around us, and the air had the perfect amount of crispness to it. With the sun warm on my face, I just had to close my eyes for a moment and take it all in.

Ethan hooked his arm around mine and we were off. I glanced up at him, loving the sight of him in his full dress uniform, pleased as could be that I could call him mine. Sure, sometimes I wondered what was going to become of our relationship, slightly worried that with his new responsibilities he simply wouldn’t have the time or energy to take things to the next level.

But I made sure to put these thoughts out of my head as fast as possible. Considering the start our relationship got off to, it was a miracle that he and I had been able to find such a nice routine. We lived together and were in love, and I knew that this was more than enough for now.

“Almost there,” I said as we turned the corner that led to our destination. “You know what? I have no idea what you’re even worried about. You’ve talked to them before. They already love you.”

“It’s just the PR thing,” he said. “It’s all different when you’re the chief. More pressure.”

“Since when have you been the kind of man to shy away from a challenge?” I said.

“I guess you’ve got me there,” said Ethan. “I am dating you, after all.”

I nudged him with my hip, and we continued on. A few minutes later, the imposing form of the school appeared ahead, the front steps and street a bustle of students, teachers, and parents.

“Place looks great,” said Ethan. “You’d never know that some psychos had tried to burn it down.”

“No kidding,” I said. “A few weeks of work down in the basement and things were as good as new.”

The same couldn’t be said for the business next door, which had been burned so badly it needed to be demolished. But, due to me and Ethan’s teamwork, it would be the last building in the city to suffer that fate.

“I’ve got a whole hour, huh?” asked Ethan, his sharp uniform already attracting the attention of the kids around us.

“It’ll go by like nothing. Assemblies are a total piece of cake,” I said. “One second you’ll be up there wondering what you’re going to be talking about, the next it’ll be time for Q and A.”

Ethan watched the throng of kids move here and there, the sounds of their eager chatting and play filling the air.

“Next generation of firemen, right here,” he said.

“And women,” I added with a wink.

“Hey, guys!” shouted a booming voice from down the block behind us.

Ethan and I turned and were greeted with the sight of Stone rushing toward us. He was dressed in the dark blue shirt of Ladder 128, the Dalmatian Mitch at his side.

“There you are!” shouted Ethan, giving his fellow fireman a slap-on-the-back hug.

I said hello and then squatted down to give Mitch a few pets.

“You ready for this, Chief?” asked Stone. “A whole assembly just for you. The pressure’s on, huh?”

Ethan let out a chuckle. “I’m thinking I can handle this,” he said. “And I’ve got the toughest teacher in the school to help me out if things get too crazy.”

I gave Ethan a wink, then planted a kiss on his cheek. A few “woos” sounded out from some of the kids nearby.

“OK,” I said. “Time for me to help wrangle these little dudes and dudettes. Meet you down there?”

“Sounds good,” said Ethan.

And with that, he and Stone were off, Mitch already attracting enough attention to make the energetic pooch very happy as they headed toward the school.

I scanned the crowd of kids and found my homeroom class, using my teacher voice to get them to all form up. The other teachers did the same, and we soon were leading our little platoons of kids into the massive auditorium and filing them into rows of seats. The rest of the teachers and I took our places near the back, keeping a watchful eye on the students as they chattered among themselves.

I was about to explode with anticipation. Sure, my kids had met Ethan before and loved him, but now everyone in the school would get to find out firsthand what an amazing man he was.

After all the kids were seated, the lights dimmed. Principal Wexler strode onto the stage with her usual aplomb and with one stern look at the kids had them all clammed up and paying attention.

“Good morning, everyone.”

“Good morning, Principal Wexler,” said all of the kids in unison.

“First of all, I’d like to thank you all for being on your best behavior during our assembly. As you all are well aware by now, we had something of an incident a few months back.”

The kids broke out into lively chatter again, all of them eager to talk about the fire. Principal Wexler raised her hands again, silencing the kids as quickly as before.

“With that in mind, the staff and I thought it would be a wonderful idea to have the chief of one of the local stations come to speak to all of you about fire safety and prevention. So, without further ado, I present to you Chief Ethan Stokes of Ladder 128!”

With that, Ethan strode onto the stage to booming applause. My heart soared at the sight of him, his commanding presence capturing the attention of everyone in the audience instantly.

“Holy shit,” said Bethany, leaning in close to me and whispering. “That’s him?”

“That’s him,” I said, trying to hide my smile.

“He looks like a freaking statue or something,” said Katelyn.

I glanced down the row of teachers all watching, a wistful expression on each and every one of their faces. Hey, I couldn’t help it if I had the man that they all wanted, now could I?

Ethan shook hands with Principal Wexler and took his place at the podium. Once there, he raised his palms, the crowd going silent as he did.

“First of all, I’d like to thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to speak to you today. My last time here was for different reasons entirely, and it’s nice to be here in PS 204 when I’m not surrounded by a fire.”

Laughs sounded from the kids and teachers.

“Now, fire safety is about as important a topic as it gets, and I’d like to give you all a few tips about how to keep safe if a fire breaks out…”

And with that, he was off to the races. He started with the dry topic of fire safety, but he quickly went into some exciting stories about his time with the FDNY, even throwing in a little bit from his time in the service. By the time he was done, he had the hundreds of kids in the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. And it was all over when Stone and Mitch showed up at the end.

When the assembly was over, it took all of the teachers’ coordination skills to prevent the kids from rushing the stage. We managed to do it, and soon we had the kids sorted back into their class groups and ready to leave.

“Hey,” said Ethan, sidling through the crowds of excited kids.

“That was so awesome!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him and planting a big kiss on his cheek.

“Thanks,” he said. “Would you mind meeting me in the school garden when lunch rolls around? I’ve got something I want to talk about with you.”

His tone was strange, almost conspiratorial.

“Um, sure,” I said.

He nodded, and that was that. Ethan hurried over to Stone, the two of them chatting as they stepped behind the stage curtain.

He wanted to talk to me? About what? Something about his tone struck me as…off, like he had some bad news he needed to break to me. Tension formed in my gut, and I could barely concentrate when I got back to class. The time until lunch ticked by at such a slow pace that I could hardly stand it.

When it finally was time for lunch, I was nearly a nervous wreck. I gathered the kids up and led them to the back area of the school for an outdoor lunch along with the rest of the students. Once the kids were seated on the grass, happily munching their food, I hurried off toward the garden, eager to see what it was that Ethan wanted.

The school garden was a lovely little area, a nice little nook that allowed in natural light but was still secluded from the rest of the green space. And sure enough, there was Ethan.

His eyes locked onto mine as soon as I arrived.

“Hey!” he said, his eyes lighting up.

“Um, something you wanted to talk about?” I asked.

He looked at me curiously. “You OK?” he asked. “You’re looking a little pale, Miss Parker.”

“It’s just that, um, I guess I don’t handle surprises very well.”

He smiled. “Maybe this will be the exception, then. Come here.”

I stepped up to him, suddenly feeling very small in his commanding presence. Ethan took off his hat and looked away for a moment before turning his eyes back to mine.

“Chloe, I never would’ve guessed that someone like you would enter my life, especially in the way that you did. But I can’t put into words how glad I am that it happened. You’re bossy, you’re stubborn, and you can be a real pain in my ass sometimes. But you’re also strong-willed, independent, and fearless. And most importantly, you’re the woman that I love.”

Then, he reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a small, dark red box. I nearly jumped out of my shoes when I realized what it was.

“I wanted to wait until this weekend to do this, but something about you today…I don’t know. I just can’t wait any longer.”

He popped open the box, revealing a gorgeous diamond ring.

“Chloe Parker, will you—”

Speaking of not being able to wait any longer… “Yes!” I shouted, tears in my eyes as I threw my arms around him.

Then, to my total shock, the sound of cheers broke out behind me. I turned and was confronted with nearly every third grade class, along with their teachers, and Stone. Even Mitch was there to watch.

I turned back to Ethan.

“You saw them, and you didn’t say anything?”

“I couldn’t resist,” he said, flashing me that smile, that loving, warm smile that I knew now I’d be lucky enough to see every day for the rest of my life.

I gave him a playful swat on the chest before kissing him again. He slipped the ring on my finger, and more cheers broke out from the little audience.

“I love you,” said Ethan, pulling me close.

“And I love you, Chief Stokes,” I said.

And then we kissed, the first of thousands more kisses to come in our budding new love.