Page 27 of Burn for You

The receptionist nodded and passed the phone over. Marlee started punching in a number. She was slipping through my fingers, right in front of me.

“I can take you wherever you want to go,” I said. “I could drop you off at a motel. There’s a cute bed and breakfast at the edge of town, nice and quiet.”

Marlee ignored me as she called an Uber. When she was finished, she hung up and pretended like I wasn’t even there asshe headed for the door. I was right on her heels, scrambling after her as she stepped outside.

“I had no idea Amy was the one behind these fires,” I said. “I would have warned you if I knew something.”

Those fucking cookies. I hated myself for eating them. I should have chucked them in the trash. Instead, I’d gloated about them in front of the guys, completely oblivious to the fact that Amy was staking her claim on me in the most toxic, dangerous way.

“Marlee, please—” I caught her elbow and hurried to stand in front of her. She regarded me with wary blue eyes. Shit, those walls were back up and twice as high than they were before. “I didn’t know about any of this, I swear.”

“I believe you,” Marlee replied.

The steadiness of her voice suggested she was telling the truth. Although the twitching muscle in her jaw proved she wasn’t happy about it. I smoothed my palms down Marlee’s arms and took her hands in mine.

“Now that Amy has confessed, she’s going away for a long time. We don’t have to worry about her anymore. We can rebuild your house, and you could even design it yourself. You can move in with me while you get back on your feet.”

Marlee didn’t look hopeful though. She looked…tired. Beaten down.

“I heard the other firefighters talking at the cookout, Seth,” she said. “You’re a player, a flirt. You’ve slept with half the women in this town.”

I stifled a grimace. Technically, that was true, so I couldn’t deny it. My stomach churned as Marlee brushed past me, moving a few feet away to stand at the curb, waiting for her ride.

After less than two weeks of being around Marlee, learning her little mannerisms and tells, I recognized that stubborn angle of her jaw and the straightness of her spine. She’d made up hermind that we were over. But I was a firefighter. I didn’t stop fighting, even when everything went up in flames around me, even when it seemed like it was a losing battle.

“You’re right,” I said.

Marlee flicked a sideways glance at me for a split second, then returned her attention to watching the road.

“When we first met,” I continued. “I saw you as a challenge. I admired how feisty you were.”

“So, you wanted to wear me down.”

“I wanted…” I paused and blew out a breath. “I wanted no strings attached, and you seemed like someone who would keep it strictly business as usual. Sex would purely be used to scratch an itch, then we’d mutually agree to move on.”

A flash of hurt darkened Marlee’s gaze as she turned her head away.

“But I don’t feel like that anymore,” I admitted. “I don’t know when my feelings changed. Seeing you huddled in that bathtub when the house burned down around you…it still haunts me every time I close my eyes. I almost lost you that day.”

Marlee crossed her arms. Wearing my oversized clothes and my heavy boots, she looked small, tender, and bruised. All I wanted to do was hold her, to protect her heart after everything she’d been through. Instead, I’d only added to her troubles with my ex-girlfriend-turned-arsonist.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t have any intention of getting serious with you either,” Marlee countered. “So, I guess it’s time we go our separate ways.”

Her throat worked as she swallowed. She wouldn’t look at me as she spoke. I shook my head.

“You don’t mean that,” I said softly.

“I do,” she protested, with a hint of her old sharpness coming back into her voice again. Marlee squared her shoulders. “I had an ex like you back in California. He was charming, too.Handsome. When we were together, he made me feel like a princess. I dreamed about settling down with him in a cute little neighborhood, having kids together…”

She paused. I waited silently for her to continue.

“While I was planning our wedding, he was sleeping with his secretary.” Marlee’s voice wavered but didn’t break. “While I was thinking about baby names, he was getting the phone number for every cute waitress and hot barista he came across.”

What a dick,I thought.

For the first time in several minutes, Marlee finally turned her gaze on me. She didn’t have to say anything because I could see it written all over her face.

Despite her plans to keep our relationship surface-level, she didn’t know how to do casual. But she was still afraid of falling, afraid of having her heart broken again by a man who didn’t cherish her the way she deserved.

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