Page 25 of Burn for You

“I can’t picture you being a lawyer,” I said, studying him.

He breathed a faint laugh.

“Good. I never wanted to stuff myself into that box. It would break me.” Seth raised his gaze and met mine. “Maybe you came to Romeo looking to escape your own box.”

I hesitated. Is that why I’d really left California? My old life held too many memories that were suffocating me—an overbearing father, a cheating ex, a job that was slowly shaping me into a robot that had no life, no identity outside of work.

What if this was my second chance at the life I actually wanted? What if I could become the architect I’d always dreamed of? What if I was falling in love with Seth after all and we could grow old together?

It sounded…perfect. It sounded like heaven.

And most of all, it sounded too good to be true.

“You said it yourself,” I replied. “I’m not a small town girl. I’m a city slicker. Maybe Romeo is a short pitstop on my way to a bigger city.”

Something flickered in Seth’s eyes—a shadow of disappointment or hurt. I cursed myself for being so flippant. He’d taken care of me since the fire, picked me up from the hospital, washed my hair, and wrapped me in his arms when I needed it the most. I could let down my guard with him in a way that I’d never experienced with anyone else.

And yet, here I was, casually talking about throwing that away in favor of moving somewhere else.

“I thought you were settling in pretty well,” Seth said.

There was no mistaking the faintest hitch of hope in his tone. That hope was a dangerous thing. I had hoped my ex wasn’t cheating on me, even though the evidence was right in front of my face. I had hoped he would apologize. I had hoped we could still salvage our relationship.

Before I could take a breath to speak, Seth’s phone rang. My own phone had been lost to the fire, and I still needed to get a replacement. I returned my focus to my desk, stacking ashy papers in the cardboard boxes Seth had provided.

“You found the arsonist?” Seth said in disbelief.

My head snapped up and met his gaze. He raised his eyebrows with a nod, holding out his hand to me. Without thinking, I moved to him on instinct, interlacing our fingers together.

“You’re absolutely sure?” Seth asked.

I searched his face, gauging his reaction. He seemed…reserved. His expression was unreadable, carefully neutral, giving nothing away. But his grip on my hand tightened.

“All right,” he went on. “Yeah, I’ll let her know. We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

After hanging up, he turned to me.

“Sheriff Beck has the arsonist in custody. He’d like both of us to meet him at the station.”

“Did he give a name? Does he know why the arsonist did all this?”

Seth shook his head, but his gaze slid away. He wasn’t telling me everything, I realized with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

When we arrived at the police station, Sheriff Beck greeted us at the door with a nod of acknowledgement.

“Follow me to the observation room please. The arsonist is giving her confession as we speak.”

Herconfession. Nothis.The arsonist was a woman.

I glanced at Seth, expecting him to gloat a little and sayI told you so,but he kept his gaze straight ahead and didn’t look at me. My stomach twisted into a knot of dread. Something wasn’t right.

After entering the observation room, I came face to face with the one-way glass that overlooked the interrogation room. Seated at a table with an officer I didn’t recognize was an unassuming woman, probably in her late 20s, with a fluffy pink sweater, a sweet smile, and a pink heart on her necklace.

I frowned, confused.

“Is this a joke? That woman set the fires? That woman locked me into my burning house? She looks like she wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Sheriff Beck lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug.

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