"Because something could have happened to you. You could have been hurt or . . . or . . . and that was when I knew."
Golden Gate Park and the hundreds of people in it seemed to recede around Annabel. Everything else faded into the background until she and Cole were alone. The two of them were the only ones in the world as they stood there, only inches separating them now, their gazes locked. Something trembled deep inside Annabel, a need that sprang to life, vital but still fragile, and so easily crushed.
"What did you know, Cole?" she whispered.
"That I love you"
The trembling became a full-fledged shaking that went all through her. It drew her toward him, and her arms lifted to go around his neck. His arms folded her against him, strong yet tender, and his mouth came down on hers as he kissed her with desperation. Cole had never felt anything like this before, Annabel knew, because she was feeling the same thing and it was equally new to her. This was love, pure and simple, and though she would have said she had experienced that emotion before, she knew now that she had not. Not like this. Never like this.
She had no idea how long they had been kissing when it suddenly occurred to her what their display of affection must look like. To anyone else, she and Cole would have appeared to be two firemen embracing and kissing each other passionately. The thought made her start to giggle.
Cole pulled back, frowning. "What? What's wrong?"
Annabel looked around, and sure enough, there were several dozen people standing nearby watching them, some with smiles on their faces, others sporting confused frowns.
Understanding, Cole muttered, "Oh, good grief." His face started to flush. He covered up his embarrassment by saying, "She's a woman." He looked at Annabel again and added softly, "A woman . . ."
And then he kissed her again.
****
Well, this had been quite a day, Cole thought a few minutes later. He and Annabel had found a quiet spot near one of the park's gardens. She had taken off the long leather overcoat, and he had draped it over his arm. Despite the fireman's garb, she was beautiful. He missed her long hair, but her brown eyes were as compelling as ever.
He wasn't sure what he felt more when he looked at her: adoration . . . or irritation.
They sat down on a stone bench, and he said, "You shouldn't have tricked your way into the competition like that."
Not unexpectedly, she gave a challenging toss of her head. "What else was I supposed to do?" she demanded. "No one was willing to give me a chance to prove what I can do."
"Why is it so important to you to prove that?"
"Because it is" Annabel said, and Cole knew he couldn't argue with that sentiment. Nor did he want to argue with her. After what he had told her a few minutes earlier, he had more pressing worries.
Annabel hadn't forgotten. She said, "Did you mean it?"
"Mean what?" he asked, then regretted it. His feigned ignorance was so transparent it was laughable. Annabel wasn't laughing, though.
"When you said you loved me, did you mean it?"
Cole met her intense gaze squarely and nodded. "Yes," he said. "I meant it"
"I love you, too."
He had thought that he was prepared to hear those words; he had hoped that he would hear them. And yet, as he did a shock went through him, a shock as profound as any he had ever experienced in his life. His occasional dalliances with other women had been just that, he realized—dalliances. Pleasant but meaningless. This was completely different. This was the real thing.
He put his hands on his knees and drew in a deep breath.' "Well," he said, "what are we going to do about this?"
Annabel looked at him and slowly started to shake her head in amazement "You . . . you big . . . I don't know what to call you! What do you mean, what are we going to do about it?"
"We can't just ignore what happened here today."
"Is that what you want to do? Ignore it?"
"No, of course not. But. . . it's complicated. I never dreamed you'd dress up like a fireman and sneak into the contests. It's. . . it's outrageous!"
She grinned. "Better get used to it, sweetie."
"And that's another thing. You're so different from all the other women I've known."
"Is that necessarily a bad thing?"
"Well . . . no. I don't suppose it is."
Before he could say anything else, a little girl stopped in front of the bench where they were sitting. She said shyly to Annabel, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For saving my papa's life." . Cole looked up and saw a young couple standing behind the little girl. The man took off his straw boater and held it in front of him as he said to Annabel, "I just wanted to thank you again, ah, miss."
"And to tell, you how excited we were that you did so well in the competition," the man's wife added. "We had no idea you were a woman!"
There was a lot of that going around, Cole thought.
The little girl said, "Maybe I can be a fireman when I grow up, too."