Page 12 of Caden

The tips of his fingers land lightly against the inside of my elbow, a beckoning if ever there was one, and I feel my heart stall. Gently, Caden turns me to face him. He’s still in his firefighting suspenders, and I’m suddenly, intimately aware that I’m the one wearing his jacket. My entire body stirs with heat I know I shouldn’t entertain. I try my damnedest not to focus on the hard muscles beneath those suspenders, because my fingers itch to touch him.

“Look at me, Ruby,” he demands.

I almost make a joke about him being so pushy, but then my gaze flickers up to his and the warring emotions in his eyes stuns me to silence. It’s a mixture of anger, intensity, and …fear?

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

Considering the way I let my former life implode and apparently follow me to the place I hoped to start over, I don’t agree with Caden. Luckily my throat is too dry to tell him so.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he continues, his rough palm gripping my arm through the thick fabric. His fingers dig in, urgency in the sudden rise and fall of his chest on a ragged breath.

Sweet magnolias. I want him so bad. I don’t fight the urge to step closer. I just do. His eyes flare with desire and heat and need as my bare thigh brushes against his fire pants. Not that he can feel it under the heavy-duty fabric. ButIfeel it. The closeness.

The bob of his throat on a dry swallow says something else entirely. “Ruby?—”

“Ms. McCray?” Nathan Walker’s voice echoes.

“Down the hall,” I call back.

“Get Nathan the video,” Caden says, his voice low and firm as he pins me with his serious gaze. “I’ll be back.”

“You don’t need to come back?—”

Caden reaches his hand to my neck, looking me in the eyes. “I’m not letting you spend the night alone with a fucking maniac on the loose, Ruby. I’m coming back whether you like it or not.”

8

CADEN

Stayingat Ruby’s house is a fucking stupid idea.

We both know it.

The sexual tension and desire that’s swirled between us since day one has been a silent secret the two of us have kept. The only way we survive it is to pretend we hate each other and do everything we can to keep our distance from one another.

It’s worked for months.

Until Ruby started working on the garden beside the gym.

Nothing has been the same since.

My desire to claim her for my own has only increased ten-fold this past week. The stupidest thing I could do right now is stay in the same fucking house overnight with only a dog as our chaperone.

If I was trying to fool myself into thinking this was purely physical between us, tonight proved that it is anything but. The second the fire engine pulled up to her house, I nearly died from the fear of losing her. I never should have gone back to my booth without her.

Ruby is a strong fucking woman, but I refuse to leave her unprotected until that psychopath is arrested. Until I know he won’t start the fucking house on fire and put her life in any more danger than he already has.

I leave my truck in her driveway, risking the wrath of small town gossip reaching Marshall before I’ve had a chance to explain any of this. But if that jackass pyromaniac comes back tonight, I want it known Ruby isnothome alone.

“Caden, you really don’t have to do this,” Ruby says, opening the front door wider to invite me in. She’s wrapped in a blanket, and I can’t help but wonder what she’s wearing beneath it. I should rein in my thoughts, but I just don’t give a damn right now. I’m too fucking relieved she’s okay to care about keeping my guard up.

A sleepy Gram greets me, waiting for a head scratch and a treat before retreating to his bed in the living room. Was she going to sleep on the damn couch tonight?

“Do you want me to leave?” I ask, my question just as much a challenge as it is about requesting permission.

“No.”

“Good. I wasn’t going to anyway,” I say, meaning to tease her. But the seriousness of what I’m saying hangs between us.

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