Amy was almost teary-eyed when Crissy told her after Quinn left at the end of the day.

"My best friend, my sweet little cupcake has a date," Amy said. "Praise the lord."

"Shut up."

"So what do you have planned on this wonderful date with this wonderful man?"

Crissy hesitated. "Shopping for stoves."

Amy slouched against the counter. "My god, sugar, you sure know how to have fun."

Crissy beamed. "Just because you would be bored doesn't mean I won't enjoy myself. You can try to rain on my parade all you want. I don't care."

"I'm not raining on your parade. It's just...not what I had in mind."

Crissy glared. "I know what you have in mind and I don't want to hear it."

Amy pouted.

"Don't give me that look."

Amy pouted harder.

"I'm ignoring you."

Amy sighed. "Okay fine. I'll be adult. But I don't have to like it. So...does Quinn think this will be fun?"

Crissy shrugged. "Maybe. He was the one who offered to take me. He saw how disappointed I was that we'd have to close up shop until the stove arrived and that could take weeks. So he said he'd take me."

"Aw. That's so disgustingly sweet I'm going to vomit."

"Not in my kitchen you won't."

"All right, let me be serious for a second here, sugar," Amy said, crossing her arms. "Are you really okay with this?"

Crissy pulled out a Tupperware from the refrigerator filled with leftover bagels and started to take inventory. She shrugged.

"Sure I am. I thought you'd be happy about this?"

"Oh, believe me, I'm over the moon. But I've always had to talk you into these things."

Crissy handed a blueberry bagel over to Amy and chose a cinnamon swirl one for herself.

"It felt right when I asked him and..."

"Wait...you asked him out? You never said that."

Crissy smirked. "Well I did."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Flirty Crissy. That's something I could get used to very quickly." She waved a piece of her bagel in Crissy's direction. "And I bet Quinn would totally agree with me."

[][][]

Quinn arrived the next morning, driving a massive red pick-up truck. Crissy waited in the warmth of the shop, her nose practically pressed against the window as she watched for him. She didn't care if it made her look desperate. She was too jittery with a mix of excitement, nerves, and an overload of caffeine to care.

Quinn tapped his horn twice as he pulled up alongside the curb. Crissy tucked her nose beneath her scarf and ducked out into the icy cold wind. Quinn jumped out, pulled the passenger door open and offered his hand to her.

"It's kind of a big climb up into the cab, I know," he said. "I used to keep a step in the back but it seems someone took off with it."

"Any ideas as to the culprit?"

"Oh definitely. He's short and never stops grinning like an idiot. Also, his name starts with P."

Crissy laughed. "That seems awfully specific."

She took his hand and he helped her climb into the cab of the truck where the heater was already blazing, full force. She was all too keenly aware of Quinn's close proximity, the warmth radiating from him. He placed his free hand on her back, shielding her from the wind with his body before he closed the door. Two minutes into her date and she already had something to tell Amy that would send her into a fit of happiness. By the end of the day, she should have enough "juicy little details" to practically make Amy pass out from sheer joy.

Fingers crossed at least.

When Quinn returned to his seat, he adjusted the heating vents and glanced at her.

"Warm enough?" he asked.

She nodded, shedding her gloves and pressing her hands to the vents. "I don't leave the shop much these days. I forgot how cold it gets out here."

"So why do you stay?"

Crissy raised her eyebrows. "Pardon?"

"I mean here, in Breckenridge. Colorado is always cold. You hardly catch a break in the summer."

She shrugged. "It's pretty and the people are nice."

He cast a knowing sideways look at her as he pulled out onto the street. "And Amy lives here."

"That too. We grew up together. Practically sisters." She paused as a memory came bubbling to the surface. "You grew up around here, didn't you? What makes you stay?"

"Family," he said without a beat of hesitation. "I want to see my nieces and nephews grow up first hand. I want to be there for them as much as I can. As long as I bundle up, I don't mind the cold anyway. Just means I can sharpen my snowball fighting abilities."

Now it was Crissy's turn to peg Quinn with a knowing look. When she didn't respond immediately, Quinn glanced at her then did a double-take.

"What?" he said.

"How many times have you nailed Pete in the face with a snowball?"

Quinn burst out laughing. Crissy watched him, the way his head tipped back, the way his entire face lit up. And she glowed with the realization that she had made him laugh like that.

[][][]

There weren't many options for shopping in Breckenridge and it would take at least an hour and a half to reach Denver, the first city with any kind of shopping center. But the drive felt like it lasted only a few minutes as Crissy and Quinn settled into a comfortable routine, talking about their families, their jobs, what it was like growing up in Colorado.

When they reached the Sears parking lot, Crissy hesitated.

"This part will probably be pretty boring for you," she said. "If you want to meet me back here in an hour, I wouldn't mind."

Quinn slid his hands in his pockets and nodded. "So you know the dimensions you'll need for the stove to fit in your kitchen and everything?"

Crissy's eyes widened and she spun around, looking out over the parking lot.

"Oh no," she whispered. "I didn't..."

Quinn chuckled and she turned on him. He held up a piece of paper full of scribbled pencil markings.

"Got 'em right here," he said. "I thought I'd take them down when I was fixing your wiring."

Crissy pressed her hands over her mouth, closed her eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you," she said. And before she even knew what she was doing, she had placed her hands on his chest, rose up on tiptoe, and kissed his cheek.

Quinn raised his eyebrows. A heartbeat of silence pounded between them. Then Crissy realized what she'd just done and her face flushed. But she didn't step away from him.

"Thank you," she said again. "I didn't even think about it. I should have known."

He lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. "You have enough to worry about. I got you covered."

As they walked into the building, Quinn's arm bumped against Crissy's shoulder. He mumbled an apology and took a giant step to the side, putting much more space between them than was necessary. Crissy frowned but let it pass. For now.

Crissy was completely overwhelmed with the choices of stoves available. Some were basic. Others held so many bells and whistles and touch pads that it felt more like a spaceship than a stove.

"I just need something that will make cookies without burning every other batch," she sighed.

Quinn, however, was not overwhelmed with any of the choices available. He pointed at the most expensive stove available.

"That one," he said.

"But the price tag...."

"Your boss is paying for it, Crissy. Take advantage of that. It doesn't happen often."

Before she could continue protesting, Quinn pointed out all the qualities of a stove that she'd been dreaming about since she could bake.

"The tag says it will hold five baking sheets," he said. "And you can cook at two different temperatures. Think about that, Crissy. Think of how many cookies and pies and turnovers you can make with that."

Crissy squirmed for a moment, but then her mind started to drift with the possibilities. He did have a point. She could double her productivity without factoring in every other batch being burned or so undercooked that they were inedible.

"Maybe..." she hedged.

Quinn moved across the aisle to the most basic stove available, small, humble, modest.

"One baking sheet. One temperature. Very few cookies. You have an entire fire station only a few blocks away from you and we require a lot of sustenance."

Crissy couldn't help the small laugh that spilled into her voice as her protests grew weaker.

"Quinn, I've been providing cookies for the fire station for years on one crappy oven," she said.

Quinn groaned and pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans.

"I hate to do this," he said. "But I'm throwing down my trump card. I'm calling Amy. You're busted now."

"What? No, Quinn, you don't have to do that. Besides, I already know what she would say."

"So you'll get the better stove?"

When she didn't answer right away, he started dialing.

"I didn't think so," he said.

"How do you know Amy's number anyway?" she demanded.

"I don't. I'm calling the shop."

"Tattletale," she said with a scowl. "Give me that."

She made a grab for the phone but Quinn was a full head and a half taller than she was and he held it out of reach easily.

"Oh no you don't," he said, laughing as she tried to jump for the phone.

She tugged on his arm in an attempt to pull him down to her level. But Quinn raised his arm further, bringing her up on her tiptoes. As he twisted away, she lost her balance and wrapped her arms around his waist for support, her cheek pressed to his back. They were both laughing now as they wrestled for control of the phone.

"Ahem."

Crissy froze. A stern, thin woman in a Sears t-shirt stood glaring at them disapprovingly. She crossed her arms. Crissy straightened, pulling her coat into place again. Quinn tucked his phone back in his pocket and managed a quick smile.

"Sorry ma'am," he said. "Just having a bit of a disagreement."

"This isn't a playground," the woman growled.

"No ma'am."

The woman stared at them hard for a full minute more before she stalked off. Crissy burst into giggles and Quinn tried his best to stifle his laughter but she could see his shoulders shaking with laughter.

"Fine," she said at last. "You win. I'm starving and I still have to get a new saucepan after my favorite one got charred in the fire. Let's get that stove already."

"Thank god," Quinn sighed. "I didn't really know the shop's number."

Crissy gasped. "So you lied!"

"Bluffing!"

Crissy held out her hand. "Give me your phone."

Quinn cast a sideways glance at her. She wiggled her fingers. He groaned and slapped his phone into her palm. She punched in a few numbers then handed it back.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"I put the shop's number into your contact's list," she said. Then, after a pause, she added. "And I might have put my cell number in as well. But I could be bluffing on that last part."

[][][]

After lunch at a local café, Crissy and Quinn bought coffee and went for a walk despite the cold, as an excuse to draw the day out a little longer. A sharp gust of wind rose up, nipping at their faces, and Crissy leaned forward, head bowed in an effort to hide from it as best she could. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Quinn reach towards her then hesitate and draw his hand back again. But this time, she didn't let him get away with it.

"Why do you keep doing that?" she asked.

Quinn glanced at her, a flicker of panic in his eyes. "Doing what?"

"You act like you're going to touch me, or you do touch me by accident, and then you recoil like I burned you or something."

He stared down at his coffee, silent. Crissy waited.

"I don't want to...make you uncomfortable," he said. "I've always rushed head long into things, consequences be damned."

Crissy took his elbow and pulled him to a stop.

"Quinn, when I said I wanted to take things slow, I didn't mean that slow."

"You sure?"

"Yes. And if we get going a little too fast, I'll tell you. It's...I have to get used to things here, too."

Quinn nodded. After a beat of silence passed, Crissy slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and kissed his shoulder. She smiled up at him.

"Okay?" she whispered.

Quinn tightened his elbow into his side, squeezing her hand against his ribs. He brushed his thumb over her chin and smiled back.

"Okay," he said.

Crissy and Quinn walked until they were shivering and numb from the cold before they finally returned to Quinn's truck and started the drive home. It was well after dark by the time Quinn dropped Crissy off.

"Thank you for today," she said.

He reached across the seat and lightly took her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles.

"I'll bring some of the guys around tomorrow and get that stove installed," he said. "If that's good with you."

Crissy nodded. "I have an entire fire station to provide sustenance for. The faster I can get back to work, the better."

Quinn chuckled and squeezed her hand one last time before he climbed out of the truck and opened the passenger door for her. He hunched his shoulders against the cold, waiting to make sure she got inside safely before he returned to his truck.

As Crissy reached the door, she turned around.

"Wait," she said.

She hurried back to him as fast as she dared to in the snow, slid her fingers around the back of his neck and rose up on tiptoe to kiss him. Quinn's inhibition vanished as he melted against her, wrapping his arms around her waist, exactly as Crissy had hoped he would.