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What a day! First the inflammatory photo in the Rockford Sentinel. Then the Junior League representative asked to see a copy of Vanessa’s speech. Apparently, the woman thought Vanessa was too brash sometimes in her presentations. Offended, Vanessa refused and offered to cancel her appearance at the luncheon. Unfortunately, the woman said they’d go ahead with the talk.

And then there were the meetings with her staff. Her chief of staff, Abigail Rogers, was off now, Vanessa ran the show. She’d kept her communications manager after the meeting, and had been clear in what happened at dinner and insisted she deal with this alone. Carolyn Reese, who usually agreed with her, was unhappy. Later in the day, the staff counselor, Susan Summers, had come to see her, but she’d been low-key about the photo.

She’d also gotten calls.

Dawson: What was that all about in the paper? I’m afraid it makes a fool of me, Vanessa.

The newspaper itself: Care to comment, Madam Mayor?

Finally, two council officials phoned.

One was distressed: We can’t have anything like this happening, Madam Mayor. A relationship between you two is conflict of interest, and could be construed as sexual harassment.

But a female member who ran her own business had a different take on the situation. Don’t let them make you cower, Vanessa. Stand up to them. If you don’t, they’ll be on you for your whole term.

Jeannine Marks had run for mayor against her, but took the loss graciously. Vanessa had encouraged her to run for the council, which she did, and suggested they have lunch as soon as things settled down.

Her shoulders tight, her lower back aching, Vanessa glanced at the clock. Seven p.m. Later than she thought. She’d sent Betsy and the rest of the staff home at six.

Leaning back into the chair, she pondered what to do with her night. She definitely didn’t want to go home to the emptiness of her mayoral residence on East Avenue. Get something to eat? Maybe.

Or she could call Holly. See if she and her parents would let Vanessa stop over. Energized by the notion, she clicked into contacts and Holly’s number. The other end rang. And rang. And rang. Then, “This is Holly Michaels. Leave a message.”

Insecurity reared its ugly head. Was Holly screening her calls? Screening Vanessa out?

Vanessa disconnected. “Shit!”

“My mama would wash your mouth out with soap for usin’ that curse word.”

She raised her head, and found Chase Talbot in the doorway. Her heart beat faster at the sight of him. All day long, she’d planned her strategy: mostly, it was to freeze him out when he called. And for the rest of her life. But, damn it, he was slouched against the doorjamb, looking sexy even in his uniform with a navy windbreaker hooked over his shoulder. He must have left his office on the seventh floor to go home and stopped to see her.

Everything about him was casual. So she’d match that.

Again, she sat back in her chair. “Do you think it’s wise to be here?”

“Well, I don’t rightly know. If you want me to leave, tell me and I will.”

“No, come on in. We should talk this out.”

“Promise me something before I cross this threshold.”

“What?”

“No yelling. From either of us. That’s been working for us since our truce.”

“I think I can do that.” She’d been trying with all her department heads to be calmer, more solicitous of their opinions, gentler when she disagreed. So it was the least she could do with the chief.

She rose and gestured to the couch grouping across the room. They took seats on the sofa. Up close, she could see his cheeks were red from sun he must have gotten today. His hair was a bit damp and was combed back off his face more.

“How was your day?” he asked. They both knew what he was talking about.

“Very busy. Lots of phone calls.”

“Bad ones?”

“A couple of people were supportive.” She told him about Jeanine Marks, about Betsy. “But some of the others from the council and outside of it challenged my...our...ethics.”

Frowning, he held her gaze. And she was struck by the fact that this man listened, took the gravity of the situation for what it was. “I’m sorry.”

“What about you?”

“Me? I checked my calls, but I hid out at the fire academy most of the day.”

Though this was serious, she laughed. “You look like you were outside.”

“Yeah.” He sat back and stretched his arm across the back of the couch. Beneath his white shirt, which sported the chief epaulets, were an impressive set of muscles. “We train recruits for stamina by doing what we call confidence walks, where they suit up in their gear...sixty pounds’ worth—and walk for miles. That way, they’ll have confidence in a fire that they have the strength and stamina to handle the incident.” He chuckled. “The instructors were glad to let me take over.”

“The weather was pretty warm to be doing that.”

“Yeah, it was. I took off the helmet they gave me and opened the turnout coat. Told the kids to do the same. It was hotter than hell.”

“Didn’t you have meetings at your office?”

“Actually, today was my day to visit the academy and the firehouses. I go to different stations every other week.”

“I know. You skipped the firehouses?”

“I did. The guys would never say anything to my face, but I’ll bet there’d be snickers. Besides, Ben Cordaro is my buddy, and I had lunch at the academy with him and Reed Macauley to talk about the situation.” He rolled his eyes. “And then I went shopping.”

“Seriously?”

He told her about Delaney and Kassie.

She was enthralled. And a little bit jealous. “I can’t even remember the last time I went shopping with my daughter.”

His expression turned sympathetic. “Isn’t that going any better?”

“Actually, it is. I took your advice and went over to her house. My way of telling her I wanted to see it, and her.”

“What happened?”

She sipped her coffee then told him the details.

“I’m sorry your father ruined it.”

“Not completely. I enjoyed being with her for an hour.”

He stared at her. “So how long are we gonna avoid the subject, Vanessa?”

Her name sounded like an endearment as it rolled off his tongue. Stifling a shiver, she said, “Let’s tackle what the paper published. In the short term, we either have to address the implication or ignore it.”

“Yeah, that’s what I decided, too.”

“So, which one did you pick?”

“To ignore it. That might douse the flame.”

“I don’t want to comment on the story either, so I’m game. But as far as the future goes, we can’t be seen in a compromising situation again, Chase.”

“Damn!” He looked genuinely miffed. “I was just starting to get to know the real you. I’m not sure I want to forego that.”

“I’m not sure you have a choice.”

“There are always choices.”

“No, not in this.” She shook her head for emphasis and to remind herself to enforce this decision. “No more dinners, no meetings outside of this office. We’ll be professional when we have to be together. And I won’t call you in the middle of the night again.” She remembered how sexy he sounded on the phone. “Same for texts or voice mails to see how my parents are.”

He cocked his head. “How are they?”

“They seem to be doing well.” The hollow feeling in her stomach returned. “I wanted to see them for dinner tonight, but Holly didn’t answer her phone.”

“So, you’re free for dinner?”

“Chase, didn’t you hear what I said?”

“Yeah, and I know we have to steer clear of each other. I don’t like it. As matter of fact, I hate it, but let’s share one more meal. We’ll order for my office and I’ll go pick it up.” At her hesitation, he added, “Sort of like a Last Supper.”

That made her laugh out loud.

“We can say goodbye in private.”

She had a sudden vision of Chase leaning over her, naked, brushing his lips over hers. The image was fleeting, like others she’d had for the last couple of weeks. “Um...”

“Come on, Vanessa. We’ll kowtow to the press and the officials, but we deserve a night together.”

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt.” After all, they were in the mayoral office. They were both adults, not horny teenagers. He would never do anything without her consent.

He fished out his phone. “Where do you like Chinese from?”

“Bless her heart, she picked out this crazy footwear: Converse sneakers, clunky shoes and low boots to wear with dresses!”

“That’s in, Chief. Holly wore those kind of boots with a skirt the last time I saw her.”

He set down his carton of spicy chicken lo mein and picked up his glass of wine. He’d gotten a bottle as a gift from Ben Cordaro and brought it down when he’d run up to his own office to get the food. He’d convinced Vanessa to indulge by saying the Last Supper had vino.

Continuing their conversation, he said, “At least they weren’t combat boots.”

Chopsticks poised at her mouth, Vanessa asked, “What do you mean?”

“Remember I said when Kassie came to live with me, she dressed in all black?” Vanessa nodded. “With it, she wore combat boots.”

“You never explained why.”

“I don’t know. Scott never told me she was into that kind of thing, and I hadn’t seen her in about six months. But he did say moving back to Rockford would be good for Kassie. Must be she was having troubles, hence her appearance.”

“What happened to her mother, Chase?”

“That I do know. She and Scott met in California when he went out there to be a smokejumper. She was a clerk at a pharmacy. She got hooked on opioids after her second pregnancy, and there was some talk of her stealing them from the place she worked. It was all downhill after that.”

“How old were the kids?”

“Kass was eight, Colette a toddler.”

“How did Scott manage?”

“Smokejumpers have time off in big chucks, because of their vicious schedule when a fire does break out. So he was with them a lot.”

“Your poor family.”

“Luckily he found a nanny for the days or nights he couldn’t be home.”

“At least he could afford one out there.”

Chase could feel himself flush.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You paid for the help.”

“Yeah, after I tried to convince him to come home right then and move the family in with me. But he loved that job.” His throat got thick. “If he’d moved to Rockford, he’d still be alive.”

Vanessa took a sip of wine. “I’m so sorry, Chase. His death had to be excruciating for you both.” She waited. “But Kassie’s better now, right?”

“As I said, no more army gear. But she’s still hurting, I can tell.”

“So are you.”

He sat back on the plush leather. Now his gut was churning. “I don’t talk about that much. I try not to dwell on what I lost.”

Reaching out, she squeezed his arm. “Okay, but you should be hurting. His death wasn’t that long ago. How do you channel your grief?”

“Exercise. Lots of it. That’s how I could keep up today with the recruits. You?”

She stiffened a bit. “What do you mean?”

“When you became estranged from your family five years ago, what did you do?”

“Throw myself into my work.”

“I guess I didn’t do that because Kassie and Colette needed me.”

She pushed her food away, too. “I’d rather have had Holly to dote on than my job, but for a while she wouldn’t see me. I should have fought harder for her.”

Rising from the chair, he cleared their cartons away and poured more wine. He sat back down, intentionally closer to her this time. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“I guess. Since we won’t be having any more conversations like this.”

“I looked up the reference to a scarlet A after you said it to Paul in the hospital that first night. It’s a symbol for adulterer.”

“Yeah.” She stared over his shoulder, faraway now. “I had an affair. Paul was always furious about my work. That I spent too much time on it. That I was too ambitious. We fought a lot, and finally, he started sleeping in the spare room. Holly was at college by then. I, um, knew someone for a long time who I got too close to, both physically and emotionally.”

“I can understand that.”

She cocked her head. “Why?” Her eyes widened. “Did you ever...”

“Cheat on my wife? I’m afraid so.” He gave a sigh, thinking back to his fragile, disturbed spouse. “Celine was bipolar. She had some bad periods and they were constantly changing her meds. I went to a conference for a week while one of her sisters came to stay with her. I...had a fling, I guess. I...” His hand fisted. “I wanted to feel like a man again, not a caretaker. Still, I broke vows.”

“I never would have imagined you’d do something like that. You’re so straight-arrow most times.”

“Ha! I considered you too uptight for risky behavior, too.”

“My downfall lasted six months. Then Craig, the guy, felt guilty and told his wife. Who told Paul. Truthfully, the whole family got involved.”

“Holly?”

“And my parents. Our two families were close—grandparents, couples and we each had a child. When this came out, it was disastrous for us all.”

Chase took her hand. Hers was soft and feminine. “I’m so sorry, Vanessa. So that’s why they blame you?”

“Uh-huh. They sided with Paul.”

“Even Holly?”

“Well, I saw her, but she stayed with Paul when she came home from college. She was...” Chase saw tears in her eyes. It shocked him. “She was engaged to Craig’s son, Linc. They’d been high-school sweethearts. They went to the same college and were going to marry and bind our families legally. We were delighted. I ruined everything.”

“Holly and Linc broke up?”

“He did the breaking, not long after they graduated. He said every time he looked at her, he thought about his parents and what her mother had done to them.”

“I’m sorry. He was probably torn. Did his parents divorce?”

“No, they stayed together.” A tear fell. He captured it with his fingers. “I never stopped feeling guilty about what I did to Holly. We grew apart after that.”

“I’ll reiterate what you told them. It’s been five years. Long enough to have that red A thing pinned on your chest.”

“I guess.” She stood. “Excuse me, will you? I need to use the bathroom.”

“All right. Is it okay if I make us some coffee?”

“Yeah, sure.”

She disappeared though a door.

What was she doing? Vanessa asked herself as she washed her tear-stained face in her small bathroom. She’d cried in front of the fire chief. Who she’d argued with like cats and dogs, who blew up at her about the budget and who criticized her in the paper. How much professional ground had she lost tonight?

She’d told him her most horrific secret and he’d shared one of his. But the confidences weren’t the worst of it. The lack of professional decorum was not her main concern.

She was attracted to him. More than attracted. She wanted badly to touch him, kiss him...do other things.

When he sat close, she could smell the scent of some woodsy aftershave. And his maleness came through on its own. Her body had even gravitated toward his.

When had all that started? Yes, for a long time, she’d noticed what he wore, how his hair fell onto his forehead, how he leaned against a doorjamb in that sexy way of his. But she’d crossed a line tonight.

Did it even matter? There would be no more of these cozy meetings. They’d promised each other that. Convincing herself she had nothing to worry about, she brushed her hair, threw back her shoulders and left the room.

He was standing by her windows, the one with three high arches, framing him in the darkness outside. His back was broad and tapered to a narrow waist just above his navy blue trousers. He was taller than she, bigger, and so masculine...

Vanessa cleared her throat of the sudden slice of desire. “Chief?”

He turned with an odd expression on his face.

She walked toward him. When she reached him, she folded her arms across her chest. “I think we went too far.”

“What do you mean?”

“We...I...shared too much. We have a highly visible, very important professional relationship. We had no business confiding those things in each other.”

“We’re only human, Vanessa.”

“We can’t be. Not when we’re together. Since my parents got hurt in the fire, things between you and me are even more precarious.”

Tawny brows furrowed. “What brought this on?”

“Sanity.”

“I’m not sure that’s it.” He stepped closer. “I think you have feelings for me as a man. I know I’ve been thinking about you as a woman since the night of the fire.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “A very desirable woman.”

“Don’t say that.” She stepped back. “Don’t do that.”

Gently, he grasped her upper arms. She shivered. “There, I’m right. You trembled when I touched you.”

“If I did, this is even worse than I said. Nothing can transpire between us.”

“Transpire?” He rubbed her arms, up and down. “It would erupt, sweetheart.”

“No, no, don’t call me that.” This time, she stepped out of range of his caress. “I insist you go now.”

For a moment, he seemed thoughtful, as if he was making a decision. “All right. I will.”

She was shocked. No arguing? Did she want him to try to convince her to change her mind?

Damn it, he walked away. He was leaving her! She pivoted quickly.

He stopped at the door.

Oh my God, he threw the lock.

Then he stalked back to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’ll go. After this.”

Slowly, deliberately, Chase lowered his head. This might take some convincing. But as soon as he brushed her lips with his, she fell into the kiss and he stopped thinking about anything else. His tongue prodded her mouth open, explored it. He tasted hints of coffee and wine and some sweetness he didn’t expect. He drew her flush with him, feeling every curve and indentation of her body meeting his. Melding with his. He cupped her rear with both hands.

She let it go on for a bit, then eased back. Surprising him. “This is a big mistake.”

“It’s a hell of a big mistake, and it’ll be the best one we ever make.” When she still looked unconvinced, her put his mouth on her ear and whispered, “Don’t we have the right to experience this, this once, regardless of what happens afterward?”

When he pulled back, he saw doubt flicker in those green eyes, one of the many colors of fire. Her beautiful brow furrowed. She bit her lip and he was so attuned to her he could practically feel the nip.

Finally she nodded. “All right, Chase, let’s have this one time.”

Taking her by the hand, he led her to the couch. Locking his gaze with hers, he yanked at the buttons of his shirt.

Again, suddenly, she said, “Wait.”

“Why?” Exasperation made his tone curt.

“I don’t have any condoms here.” She raised her eyes to the ceiling, slapped a hand on her thigh. “Of course I don’t. We’re in my freaking office. Do you carry them?”

“No.” He continued unbuttoning.

“Why not? Don’t tell me you aren’t sexually active.”

He stopped the action of his fingers and grasped her hands. “I had a vasectomy. Because Celine was...I already told you.”

“Condoms are for more than pregnancy, Chase.”

“I had my annual firefighter checkup last week. I’m good to go if you are.”

The sexiest smile broached her lips. “Hmm. I saw the doctor last week myself. I’m very good to go.”

He got busy with her blouse, and when he had it open, he was shocked to find her wearing a little sexy underwire thing with a front closure, her breasts swelling over the top. He outlined the garment with his finger. “Nice,” he said, and popped the clasp. What happened made him hard.

She filled his hands. He kneaded her, making her eyes close, her body curving into his hands. Now her scent, probably some French perfume, filled his head.

“That feels wonderful.”

Inflamed by her gravelly compliment, he lowered his head, took a beaded nipple into his mouth and sucked. Her skin tasted like lotion. She anchored herself with her hands on his shoulders. She moaned so loud it echoed in the room.

“The skirt?” he asked, already fumbling at the zipper in the back.

Impatiently, she stepped away and shed everything but her white-lace panties. Before she could do that, he plastered her against him. “No,” she protested. “You have too many clothes on.”

She wrestled with his white shirt and tugged the T-shirt beneath over his head. Then he divested himself of everything but his navy briefs. She explored his chest. “You’re beautiful, Chase.”

He laughed. “That’s a first.” His hands drifted to her panties. Inside them. He cupped her cheeks. They were firm, like the rest of her. His lower body felt like granite when it lurched into hers.

She went right for ground zero. He felt himself pulse in her grip. “Don’t do that if you want to enjoy this, too.”

It was her turn to laugh.

The couch was wide enough for them to lie side-by-side, though she never had this in mind for when she bought the furniture for this room. Would she ever be able to... “Ahhhhhhhh.” He’d cupped her, explored the area hidden by her curls with his strong fingers. Arching against him she said, “Chase.”

“I love the way you say my name.” He accompanied the comment by pressing his palm hard into her.

“I...I...”

Suddenly, he was on his back, and she’d braced her arms on his chest. “I can’t stand that any longer. Besides, it’s my turn.” Lowering her head, she kissed his abdomen. It was well-defined, and when she roamed the planes and indentations, he was firm to the touch. He seemed to vibrate at her ministrations.

She licked him. “You taste good. Is it you or soap or...”

“For God’s sake, woman, you’re driving me crazy. Who cares what it is?”

She sniffed various parts of his chest. “Must be the soap. It’s got a hint of Ireland.”

“Move your hand lower, or I’m going to bolt up and take you down.”

She gripped his penis. Felt him throb again. Then she massaged him. She wasn’t an expert at lovemaking, but she knew what men liked. “How’s that?”

“Agony and ecstasy.”

Near his ear, she whispered, “I know the feeling.”

Not too gently, he moved her to her side so they were next to each other again. Sanity was slipping...fast, faster...

“Now, please.”

He thrust inside her. “Christ...Vanessa...Lord...”

Again, and again he thrust. Her nails dug into his back when they spiraled and spiraled until the world burst into multi-colored flames, consuming them both.