Page 9 of Burn for You

Maybe it was an accident after all. Electrical wiring in the walls could easily catch fire and bloom into a blaze before anyone noticed something was wrong.

“Teagan,” Lieutenant Hardy called.

I headed downstairs and followed the sound of his voice to the kitchen. He held up a scorched wire coil, coated in blackened and melted plastic. It looked like a heating unit used by farmers and ranchers to keep their livestock water troughs from freezing during the winter. There was no reason for it to be in a house though, and certainly not in warm late May.

“Faulty outlet?” I asked.

Lieutenant Hardy shook his head.

“Smells like gasoline.”

I leaned in and sniffed. Beneath the bitter scent of smoke and ash was a hint of gasoline. A lump formed in my throat. I forced myself to swallow around it.

“So, our firebug strikes again.”

“Twice in one week,” Lieutenant Hardy replied. “And he or she seems to know what they’re doing. I’d bet we have records of their previous attempts somewhere.”

“There you go again, Lieutenant,” I countered. “Placing bets when you’re not a gambling man.”

“This job is enough of a gamble. I don’t need to take any more chances than I already do on a regular basis. Besides, you and that woman seemed cozy. Is she your new conquest to warm your bed and bring you cookies after you break up?”

I snort a dry laugh.

“Doubt it. She’s not really the cookie-baking type.”

Lieutenant Hardy eyed me for a moment and cocked his head. Then he chuckled.

“She turned you down.”

“I didn’t say that,” I countered.

“You didn’t have to. Get the police over here to document every inch of this place. It’s now officially a crime scene.” Lieutenant Hardy patted my shoulder as he passed. “I never thought I’d live to see the day that a woman rejected the undefeated skirt chaser, Seth Teagan.”

I sighed.

“Go ahead. Rub it in.”

“Oh, I will. I intend to squeeze every drop of joy out of this moment that I possibly can. It won’t happen again.”

“Damn straight it won’t,” I mumbled under my breath.

“It’s about time you had a taste of humble pie, Teagan. Admit it. You shot for the moon with that woman, and you missed.”

“Technically, I haven’t asked her out yet,” I said.

“Feeling shy all of a sudden?” Lieutenant Hardy teased with a smirk. Then he laughed and walked away, leaving me to stew in my own thoughts.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Marlee Jenkins was smart as a whip, fierce, sexy, a little stuck-up, and an ice-cold diva. For the first time in my life, I’d met my match. I’d never encountered a woman this resistant to my charms before. I could see the attraction in her eyes, but if I wanted to access it, I had to work for it and she wouldn’t make it easy.

The thought of that didn’t deter me though. If Marlee wanted to play hard to get, I was more than willing to oblige her in the thrill of the chase.

Chapter 4

Marlee

I tapped my pen against my desk, staring out my window. The memory of Seth’s gaze locked on mine as he practically begged me to return to my office wouldn’t stop replaying in my mind.

Please, stay in your office until we have more concrete proof that you’re not in danger right now.

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