Page 75 of Burn With Me

Blinking the orgasm haze from her eyes, she asks, “Really? You ask me this right now?”

I dip my head in a quick nod.

She exhales as she jumps down from the counter, slipping her other foot in her leggings to pull them up. “How did you find out?”

“Noah heard it from Pam. Are you okay? Pam made it seem like you were freaked out. Did he do anything to make you feel unsafe?” My hands curl into fists at my side, palms stinging from my nails biting into my skin.

I’m fighting to stay calm. He doesn’t get to make my girl uncomfortable doing something as simple as grocery shopping in the small town they both live in.

“Well . . . yes, he stared at me through the door, and yes, it made me uncomfortable, but as sad as it sounds. I’m kind of used to it with him.” She lets out a frustrated breath as she brushes a piece of hair out of her face. “He hasn’t stopped asking me out since the moment I met him when I got to town. It’s annoying, and yes, he’s gotten angry that I turn him down because he thinks he’s God’s gift to women. I’m just not interested, and he doesn’t like that.”

Mentally, I’m beating on my chest with pride that I’m who she’s interested in. The caveman part of me wants to believe she was made for me.

“You said that wasn’t it. What happened?”

She tenses, looking down at her hands and taking a breath before looking me in the eye. “I swore I saw Leo, but the more I talked to Pam about it, the more I realized it couldn’t be him. He would never willingly step foot in this town without being here for work. He also has no idea where I live. Unless he pulled any business license or permits, but I only have the farm address and a PO box listed. Also, this man looked disheveled, and there’s no way he would let himself go like that.” She breaks eye contact and fiddles with her shirt as she goes to put it back on. “I think everything with the farm just made me paranoid.”

“Did your gut tell you it was him? If I remember correctly, you said he worked for the FBI, right? Is it possible he was transferred to whatever FBI office is the closest?” I ask because it’s a possibility.

“While the answer is technically yes, he could have been transferred, it wouldn’t explain why he looked so . . . unkept. He didn’t do undercover work. He specializes in white-collar crimes. I think Pam is right, and I’m jumpier than normal, especially since I opened up to you about it, which is the most I’ve talked about him in years. I think my mind is just playing tricks on me with all the stress.”

Pulling her into a hug, I say into her hair, “If that’s truly what you think, sweetness.”

I’m not sure we should write off the possibility of it, but I don’t want her to be freaked out any more than she already is. I make a mental note to message Noah about it tomorrow and see if I can find out more information about Leo from Sam.

“Do you want to tell me why you’re going to work on a fire investigation in the office?” she says in an attempt to change the topic, and I let her for now.

“It’s just a feeling I have. The pattern is less of a group of kids just starting fires for fun and more of someone who’s trying to fine-tune their craft.”

“Is that easy to figure out?”

“It depends. Usually, it takes several fires to link them together based on pattern and accelerant. While I’ve done the schooling to be a fire investigator, I was never really allowed to work with one who has experience back in Boston,” I say as I steer her to the couch to sit down.

She sits down and brings her legs under her, half facing me. “Why? If you have the schooling, wouldn’t they want more people who could help with the investigations in the city?”

I shrug. “The easy answer is, the district I worked in was an old man’s club. I had all the schooling, but other people had families in higher places than me. I was pushed to the bottom of the list. I don’t know how much Sam told you about working where we did, but they blocked transfers, saying they would be short staffed. Basically, since we didn’t know anyone and our families weren’t involved in the political or first responder world, we were outsiders. It’s how we ended up here.”

Which ended up being the best choice I could have made.

“Here, I get to work closely with the current fire investigator a few days a week while being on shift so I can get some hands-on training because he’s looking to retire in a year or so.”

“That’s really cool they’re giving you that chance, and you said even as the fire investigator, you would still go to active fires?”

“Yeah, I like working both sides, so I told them I wouldn’t mind doing it. However, I wouldn’t be as active during investigations, and if they needed help in the county, I would help there too.”

“So, do you work for the county or the city?”

I smile at her genuine interest in my career. “Technically, I’m on the city’s payroll. But because there are a couple of smaller towns within the county, we all kind of work together. Even if it wasn’t that way, if one of the smaller towns needed something and I was the fire investigator, I would help however I could.” I shrug.

She tilts her head and purses her lips before saying. “You know, since nothing else has happened here or at the farm, you don’t have to stay with me if you don’t want to. I feel like you’ve put your life on hold, thinking you have to stay here and protect me.”

I pause, and my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest as my eyebrows shoot up. “Sweetness, if you don’t want me in your space anymore, you just have to say the word.” I reach out and grab her hand so she stops picking at her nails. “While I was here because I didn’t want you to be alone that day and until we got the security systems set up, I’ve stayed because I’ve loved being able to get to know you better.”

“No, no, I love having you here. Which is strange because after Leo, I was so sure I would never want to share my space with anyone again. But I don’t want you to feel like youhaveto stay here if you don’t want to be here,” she says, tucking a stray hair behind her ear and looking down.

A weight lifts off my shoulders hearing her say that, and I close the space between us. Placing my finger under her chin, I tilt her face to look at me. “Sweetness, I’m right where I want to be. I’m not here only for your protection. If I wasn’t afraid of scaring you off, I would tell you exactly what you’re coming to mean to me.”

A blush creeps up her neck, and I lean in and kiss her.

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