Page 89 of Love JD

Isla turned, flopping onto her back, and I slid down until my face rested on her breasts and we breathed hard together. She threaded her fingers through my hair, and I realized I’d gathered sweat along my hairline, too. “Um, wow,” she panted.

I coughed out a laugh. “I’m not sure, but I might have died. I need a minute to come back down to earth.”

“Okay,” she exhaled. “Yeah. Let’s do that.” I rolled, taking her with me and tucking her along my right side so our sweaty bodies were pressed together, and her head rested on my chest. She plucked at my T-shirt. “I miss your abs.”

I snorted. “My abs miss the gym, I’m sure. I’ll strip down for you when we go shower.”

“Ooh, shower sex?” she asked, lifting her head and turning bright eyes to me. Her hair was a glorious mess, and her cheeks were twin spots the color of pale, pink roses.

I swished her hair away from her dewy face. “Insatiable little creature.”

“That wasn’t a no,” she grinned.

Suddenly, the hotel door beeped, and the door handle unlatched loudly. Isla sucked in a loud breath, scrabbling for a sheet, and I helped her, throwing a crisp bed sheet over our bodies just as Kael came ambling into our hotel room. He paused, one foot raised and eyes bored. “Really? Is this all you two do?”

“How did you get a key card?” I nearly shouted. “Also, get the fuck out.”

“It’s cute you think I need a key,” he smiled blandly. “If you’d answer your phone, I wouldn’t need to barge in.”

“Oh my hell,” Isla squeaked, shrinking against me and pulling the sheet to her chin.

“Who is dying?” I asked with leashed fury. “Because that had better be the reason you waltzed in here.”

Kael tapped his phone, slid his finger over the screen, and then turned it to face us. On the screen, a woman wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses stared in shock at a camera. Whoever was holding the phone camera apparently also had a gun trained on Talia the-Worst-Reporter Teffner.

Kael angled a glance down to the phone screen. “Potentially? This chick.”

Chapter thirty

Isla

I faced the cottage with a mixture of relief and trepidation. Night had fallen in the four and a half hours it had taken us to get from Seattle back to Denver, and although gold light beamed from the windows to the cool shadows beyond, I knew the illusion of safety around Zev’s home had been well and truly shattered.

She’d tried to burn it.

She’d thought we were still inside.

The very thought caused panic to squeeze my insides, and I tightened my hold around Zev’s hand. He glanced down at me from where we stood just outside the garage. “You okay?”

I nodded. But I wasn’t. Zev pulled us across the concrete driveway until we reached the gate to the backyard. The gate latch had been easily broken, and it hung by one loose screw as Zev opened it with his good hand. He inspected the latch, shook his head, and then walked into his backyard.

I followed him, tracing the stone pavers across the side of the house until we reached the back with the maple tree and unfinished garden bed. Flood lights illuminated the scorched, black earth that swept from the garden bed to the shattered patio doors, and I pulled up short. Zev reached for me. “It’s alright, Isla. It’s just things. We can replace things. No one got hurt.”

Tears clogged my throat. “I can’t believe she—we could have died, Zev.”

“We didn’t,” he reiterated calmly. “That’s why I hired security in the first place, right? Everything’s alright.” He tucked my head under his chin like he always did. I fit just perfectly under there, like I’d been made to nestle against him—the puzzle piece that matched his shape.

I followed the burn marks to where they ended along the sunroom floor. Kael stepped out from the well-lit house, his hands in his dark-wash jean pockets. He avoided broken glass and stepped around the wreckage to meet us at the back patio. His head swung over his shoulder, glancing at the fire damage. “Even if we hadn’t caught her, she wouldn’t have managed to damage much. She had no idea what she was doing,” he assured us. Despite the surrounding shadows, the light blue of his eyes stood out starkly. “But regardless, we put out the flames as soon as we could.”

Zev assessed the damage with a calmness I didn’t feel. “What did she do, throw gasoline everywhere?”

“Lighter fluid. That she had bought from a grocery store a mile away.” Kael rolled his eyes. “Amateur.”

“Why?” I breathed, my hand at the base of my throat.

Kael shrugged. “People get ideas in their head, and they fester away until they become something incoherent and dramatic.” He latched a significant look my way. “Happens a lot.”

I cleared my throat. “I didn’t get homicidal, thank you so much, Kael.”

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