Page 109 of Burning for Alexander
“But that was stupid,” he whispered. “Because when I saw you running in there without any gear, I realized it didn’t matter whether we were in a relationship or not. If you were hurt, I would want to be there for you. If you were killed, I’d want to lie down and die, too. I fell for you a long time ago. First when you wereIndexEcho. And then again when you first called me Firebug.” He sniffled. “Letting my fear keep me from being honest about that wouldn’t protect me from having my heart broken; all it would do was prevent us from being happy together right now. I… I don’t want to live afraid anymore.”
God, this man was so fucking strong. So beautiful.
I brushed his messy hair back and kissed him firmly on the forehead. “You were brave enough to move away and follow your dream. I know you’re brave enough to do this with me. If I need to promise you that I will not be as stupid again as I was tonight, I’ll do it. On one condition.” I tilted his chin up until he met my eyes. “That it’s never you in a burning building. Because apparently, I’m shit at the rules when it comes to you, Firebug.”
Alex threw his arms around me again and kissed me again.When I finally pulled away, it was time for us to break out of our little bubble and face reality.
While we may have figured things out between the two of us, we still needed to figure out what the hell happened to his home.
I wasn’t going to rest until I got to the bottom of the damn fire… and made sure the man I loved was safe.
35
ALEX
Alex:You know I’d walk through fire for you, right?
Judd:Like I’d ever let that happen.
_____________________
After watchingthe man I loved race into a burning building—myburning building—then having him confess that he loved me as much as I loved him, I was an exhausted, emotional mess. My eyes still stung a little from the smoke, and I seemed physically incapable of detaching myself from Judd Kincaid’s person.
And both of us seemed to be okay with that.
When the blaze was mostly out and Judd’s crew confirmed that the fire, smoke, and water damage had been confined to the attics and the rooms in the back on the second floor, I was relieved… and also beyond ready to have the nightmare portion of the day be over so I could enjoy the wonderful bits.
Specifically, I wanted to head back to Judd’s comfortable little cabin, shower the ash off both of us, climb into his warm bed, breathe in his scent into my lungs like oxygen, and then hold him as close to me as physically possible for at least twelve hours.
Possibly twenty-four.
However long it took for a person’s heart rate to return to normal after a night like this one.
Unfortunately, while I might’ve been done with the day, the day wasn’t done with me… which became clear when Sheriff Westland hurried over to us.
“Kincaid—” he began. His expression softened when he saw me doing my human limpet impression as Judd and I stood bundled together, using his truck’s back door as a windbreak.
Judd didn’t move away even a fraction at the sheriff’s approach but kept me curled against his chest as he shook the other man’s hand. “Elias.”
“And Alex,” the sheriff said, turning to me. “Sorry about Timber. Glad you’re okay, though.”
“I’m fine,” I assured him. “Just… really lucky we were closed tonight so no one got hurt.”
“Actually, I think it might have been more than luck.” His eyes met Judd’s. “Don’t suppose either of you knows a Steve Hinton?”
Judd and I exchanged a look, and both of us shook our heads.
“Should I?” Judd asked.
The sheriff shook his head. “I had three of my officers canvass the neighborhood,” he said. “They found a rental car parked by the entrance to the back lot. Your fire crew actually blocked it in with their rigs when they arrived.” He hooked a thumb at the far side of the building, where the fire trucks were still parked at an odd angle to the street. “Now, ordinarily, I wouldn’t think anything of it, considering how many tourists we have in town for the holidays… but then my uncle Folger called.”
“Folger, the Grumpy Bear?” I asked. I nodded toward the small hotel at the other end of the street, where the old hotel’s ursine logo looked more cuddly than grumpy.
“That’s him. He named the place for himself, according to family legend,” the sheriff said with a small smile. “So, you can imagine he wasn’t thrilled when he got woken up by an out-of-towner needing a room a little over an hour ago. And he was even less impressed when the guy started complaining about being unable to get a ride to the airport right then and there.”
“From Legacy? In the middle of the night? In winter?” Judd demanded.
The sheriff’s laugh came out as puffs of white vapor. “Exactly what Folger told him. Then Folger noticed the guy didn’t have a car, a suitcase, or a proper winter parka, which made him more than a little suspicious, so he called me. I’ll give you two guesses what the name on this out-of-towner’s credit card was.”
