We Burn As One

By Melissa Bell

This story is dedicated to all those Heroes that fight fires every day all around the world.

Thank you to all the countries that came to aid Australia in fighting the 2019-2020 bushfires.

Those fires are now known as the worst bushfires in Australian history.

 

Charity's father is a firefighter, so is her sister and her sister's new husband.
Charity has had a crush on Cole since they were just teenagers.
Now he's all grown up, but he's also a firefighter.

Is she willing to spend her life with regrets because she doesn't want a relationship with one,
or will she surrender herself to loving a real modern-day hero?

 

Previously Published as part of an Anthology in 2021.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melissa Bell & Jordin Thiele Inc.
• Release date: Jun 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393253204

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Charity stood in the back of the Firehouse watching Pippa and Steve flirt with one another. ‘Gag,’ she thought. She honestly figured her sister had more sense than to marry a fellow firefighter, but that was a big fat guess not. She glanced sideways at the table where the wedding cake sat in all its glory. She’d tirelessly worked on it, and now she scrutinized each layer as an itemized checklist. Pink and white buttercream flowers – Tick! Three layers all increasing in size by precise measurements from top to bottom – Tick! She hoped that it was everything her sister wanted, after many delays and changes in her mind. In the end, Charity had taken a little something from each of her sister’s requests and allowed her craft to take over.

Charity’s mother nudged her, nodding her head towards the bride and groom, she scowled at her youngest daughter.

What? Charity mouthed with a furrowed brow. ‘Roll me in buttercream and bite me!’ she thought, barely stopping it from being muttered under her breath, while her attention shifted back to eye off her creation.

Chari’s father, Darren, was a fireman. Her sister was a firefighter, and Pippa was now married to a firefighter. Charity’s love for baking and the extra couple of pounds on her hips and thighs meant that she had no inclination to ever grow up to be a member of the Australian Royal Fire Brigade. Not that she felt like she was missing out on anything. She’d grown quite literally attached to her curves. Her handles were a matching set, and she loved those too.

Luckily her mother was a keen baker, and she’d taught Charity everything she knew about frostings, glazes, rolled icing, sugar pastes, and the delicate art of moulding flowers and petals. Not to mention how therapeutic she found it to do lace piping. A second bump to her left had Charity turning her head swiftly to have a go at her mother, Stop! she whispered harshly.

I’m sorry, replied the deep voice, which reminded her of all things sinful. She closed her eyes with the overpowering desire to lick him just to see if he tasted as hot and sweet as he sounded. Charity barely managed to stop herself from fanning her face. Cole was one of the guys she’d grown up with. She’d always had a secret crush on him, but she’d never dared to act on it. At seventeen, he’d been solid, at twenty-nine he was titanium. He had muscles in all the right places. Abs you could eat off of. Broad