Page 5 of Burned By Love

“You’re great, but that would be like being with my brother.”

Jonathan narrowed his eyes at her, but she happily ignored him.He knew what she was doing, but he didn’t think he could stop her.Christy always got what she wanted.

He glanced at the hot firefighter, wondering how he was taking the news that he and Christy weren’t together.Jonathan had no intention of flirting with the guy, and they were both on the job, but maybe once Billy was out of there, they would have a moment to talk.

Something flickered in the man’s eyes.If Jonathan hadn’t known better, he would’ve thought it was a trick of the light, but he’d seen something similar before.

His stomach turned, and his chest felt tight.This was a coincidence.The guy was a firefighter.He wasn’t here because Sal had ordered him to find Jonathan.

Still, it was too dangerous.Jonathan knew about dragon shifters and what they could do, and he wasn’t putting himself in that position a second time.He was still healing from the first time he had.

“Well, if Billy’s going to be fine, I’m going home,” he declared, moving toward his desk.

Christy frowned, clearly confused.Jonathan couldn’t talk to her right now, and he hoped she wouldn’t push.He needed to get out.

“What?What’s going on?”Christy asked.

“I’m going home.I’ll be back in time for my next appointment, so you don’t have to worry.”

She smiled at the firefighters, grabbed Jonathan’s arm, and pulled him toward the door.That wasn’t where he was supposed to go, dammit.He needed to grab his backpack.

“What are you doing?”Christy asked, giving Jonathan a good shake.

They were just outside the door, and considering what Jonathan knew about dragon shifters, he was pretty sure that the one inside could still hear them.He glanced back, wondering what the man would think.He didn’t seem to have realized that Jonathan knew what he was, and Jonathan wanted to keep things that way.

“He’s not my type,” he tried.

Christy made a strangled sound.“He’s everyone’s type.Have you seen him?”

“Yeah, I have, and he’s still not my type.”

She stared at him.He knew he should expect more questions, even though he wished Christy would let it go.

“Is this about Sal?”Christy asked, lowering her voice.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”In fact, Jonathan didn’t even want tothinkabout Sal.The man was part of his past—a past he desperately wanted to forget.

Christy raised her hands.“I know.I think you should, but I get it.I’m sorry about what happened in there, and I won’t push.”

“Thank you.”

“For now,” she added.“But this isn’t over.I want to know what just happened, and you’ll tell me eventually.I also want to talk about the fact that you’ve been avoiding life since what happened with Sal.”

Jonathan opened his mouth to tell her that wasn’t true, but he didn’t have time to say anything.One of the firefighters appeared, quickly followed by the hot one.Jonathan kept his gaze down because he didn’t want to look at the guy.He was scared of what he’d see if he did.

“The patient will be fine,” the paramedic from earlier said as she, too, appeared.“He refused transport to the hospital, but it shouldn’t be a problem.He’s alert and getting up.”

“Do you think you could stay until he leaves?”Christy asked.“I trust your judgment, but I want to make sure he doesn’t faint again or something.”

“We’ll make sure he leaves,” the second firefighter said with a smile.

In the shuffle in the tight hallway, Jonathan ended up pushed next to the hot firefighter.The man glanced at him, and Jonathan had to resist the urge to run.There were no signs of the dragon inside the man at the moment, but Jonathan knew all too well how quickly the dragon could come out.

“I’m West,” the hot firefighter said.“It’s a nice shop you have here.”

“Thank you,” Jonathan mumbled.

When Billy appeared at the door, clutching the doorframe, Jonathan was so happy to see him that he could’ve kissed him.He was pretty sure thathewould puke if he did that, though, so he kept his distance and watched as the paramedics helped Billy outside.

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