Page 15 of Love in the Storm

“You washed them?” He’d expected her to toss them in the dryer at the most.

“Yes. Was that not okay?” she asked.

“It’s fine. Thanks. They would have stayed bloodstained if I’d done it myself.” He knew how to get those stains out–perk of the job–but it hadn’t been his uniform tonight, and he hadn’t been so concerned with preserving his clothes.

“No problem,” Lyric said as she turned and started tidying up the kitchen.

Asa left her to it and ducked into the bathroom. Shower was the first thing on his list, and he took advantage of the hot water while they still had it, making sure not to drain the tank in case Lyric wanted a shower too.

When he emerged clean and ten degrees warmer, Lyric was leaned over a paper on the counter.

“What’s that?” he asked.

She straightened and looked back to the paper. “A list.”

He looked over her shoulder and read the tidy words. “You’re writing down all the things we use?”

“I want to pay Brenda back.”

Wow, Lyric was really afraid of losing her job over this. He couldn’t imagine Brenda was a tough boss. She was well-off and pretty generous when she heard about someone in need.

“Brenda said we could use things here. I told her to book the place under my name while we were here, and she assured me we shouldn’t worry about it.”

Lyric’s eyes widened. “You did? Do you have any idea how much it costs to book this place for even one night?”

“No, but I’d pay it if I had to. Like I said, she told us not to worry about it.”

Lyric tapped the pen against the paper, contemplating his words. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Brenda is a friend, and I think you can relax. She won’t fire you or make you pay for anything.”

Every muscle in Lyric’s body was tense, and she wasn’t moving, wasn’t responding.

“Lyric, breathe,” Asa said.

And just like that, she inhaled a deep breath.

He wrapped his hand around hers, giving it a gentle squeeze and ignoring the tingling where her skin touched his. “Are you afraid of the storm?” he whispered.

“No. I mean, yes.” She squeezed her eyes closed. “It sounds awful out there.”

He leaned in and told himself that the lure he felt toward her was for support or comfort. It was more like a magnetic pull, natural and normal in seemingly irrational ways.

When she opened her eyes, he took in the dark depths and lost track of what they were talking about.

Her gaze lifted an inch, and she took a step back. “You’re bleeding again.”

6

LYRIC

Lyric reached for the first-aid kit and rummaged through it. Why was she so worked up? She wasn’t afraid of storms, just the man from her past she’d rather not face. But when Asa whispered assurances, she was tempted to believe him.

Pulling out the gauze, she looked at the few left in the kit. “Should we call Jameson? We don’t have much gauze left. What if we run out?”

“It’s fine. We’ll use what’s left and worry about it later.”

“Okay!” The word came out way too chipper, but she was more than happy to go along with Asa’s “deal with it later” mentality.

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