Page 5 of Burned By My Mate

I can tell what she’s thinking. It’s written all over her face. She doesn’t want my help. She doesn’t want anything from me.

I can’t have that. I need her, and I need her to need me, too.

She does need me. We have to protect her from whoever tried to hurt her.

She turns and walks toward her car, and my feet move before my brain can catch up.

Don’t let her leave. She’s ours. Protect her.

I stop beside her just as she reaches for her car door.

“Hey, I’m serious. You okay?” I ask gruffly.

She shoots me a sharp look. “Why do you care?”

I grit my teeth. “Look… I was out of line earlier.”

She scoffs. “Which part? When you accused me of being an idiot or an arsonist?”

I deserve that.

I scrub a hand down my face, exhaling. “I just… I want to help.”

Her lips press into a tight line. “You’ve done enough.”

Dammit.

I glance toward the wreckage of her house. “There’s a motel in town. It’s not great, but--”

She sighs. “It’ll do.”

The idea of her staying there makes my bear snarl.

“Come stay with me.”

She blinks, taken aback. “What?”

I square my shoulders. “You don’t have anywhere else to go, and that motel’s a dump. Stay at my place until you figure something out.”

She shakes her head immediately. “No, thanks.”

I expected that. She doesn’t trust me, and after how I acted, I don’t blame her.

Still, I can’t let her fend for herself.

She climbs into her car, and before she can pull away, Imake a decision and I run over to my Jeep and climb in.

Then, I follow her to the motel.

I radio along the way to tell Harris and the other guys to make sure the fire is out and let me know if they find anything else in or around the house that could tell us who started the fire.

She parks and glares at me through the windshield before stepping out. “What are you doing?”

I ignore her question and walk straight inside. The night clerk barely glances at me as I pull out my wallet and slap down my credit card.

“A week,” I say.

The clerk slides over the key, and I hand it to her.

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