Page 10

Chapter 9

The ONLY time you have too much fuel is when you’re on fire.

“You’ve got good friends,” Colin murmured as they sat at the kitchen table, plates of lasagna in front of them.

“I really do.” Mari had finally convinced Magnolia that she could leave, and now they were diving into some of the food they’d left behind. It was only a little awkward being under one roof with him, mainly because he was being sweet and he’d saved her life today. So she was feeling vulnerable and…a little attracted to him. But just because he’d saved her, that was all. It had nothing to do with the way his T-shirt molded to his biceps and chest, revealing just how fit the man was.

At least the place was relatively large so she could hibernate in another room if things got too weird.

“Though I am curious why they have a safe house at all.”

She shrugged in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. “Sometimes their clients need to lie low. Usually domestic violence situations.”

He raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “That makes sense.”

It was true, even if it wasn’t the only reason they had multiple safe houses in the city and beyond .

“So, you and Bradford ever date?”

She paused with her fork halfway to her mouth, the tantalizing scent of all the cheese and pasta filling the air. “Uh, what?”

Colin shrugged, but there was nothing casual about his question. “Just curious. You seemed very comfortable together.”

“We’re friends. And not that it’s any of your business, but no. He’s just fun to hang out with.” She didn’t understand why he even cared if she’d dated Bradford. Sure, she was having thoughts about Colin that involved him in various states of undress, but there was no way he was having the same ones about her. She knew where she stood with him—she was Evan’s little sister, end of story.

“Magnolia seems happy with Ezra,” he said, thankfully changing the subject. “Though I’m pretty sure she still doesn’t like me.”

“She’s incredibly happy. And I’m sure my brother told you the whole story about why they were separated?” Mari decided to ignore the last bit, because it was definitely true. Magnolia didn’t hold grudges like Mari did, but they were best friends, so if she didn’t like someone, Magnolia didn’t like them.

He nodded, his expression darkening. “Yeah.”

“So she deserves happiness more than anyone.”

He nodded in agreement. “Are you ever going to tell me what happened between us? Why one day you just decided that you hated me?”

“I really just want to eat dinner and crash.” It had been a ridiculously long day for both of them. “And I really want to play the ‘I got shot at’ card, but you did too.”

He simply raised an eyebrow in response.

And fine, he had saved her life. Ugh, fine, they were apparently doing this now. She set her fork down, eyeing him across the table. Might as well get this over with now. If she was truly going to put this behind her, this was a necessary step. “When I was seventeen, I overheard you tell Grayson Sutton that I had an STI and that if he valued his genitalia, he’d stay away from me.”

Colin blinked once. Twice. Went a little pale. “Oh… Shit . I did say that.”

“Yep.” She picked her fork back up, scooped up some creamy goodness—Magnolia made it with cheese substitutes for her because she was a goddess. Though at this point her stomach had twisted into a tight knot regardless. But she was exhausted and knew she’d sleep better if she ate. And she wasn’t going to run out of here anyway. Nope, not happening. She would finish this conversation like an adult. Double ugh. Being an adult sucked. And it wasn’t like she’d done anything wrong so she wasn’t leaving all this food.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and sat back in the chair. The kitchen was large and looked like it hadn’t been updated since the nineties, but it was cozy and right now the only sound was the icemaker in the refrigerator, churning out ice. “I’m not making excuses, but for context, he was a pig. He wanted to ask you out, so I lied to him to scare him off. I was young and stupid and was trying to keep him away from you.”

“You weren’t that young.” He’d been home on leave, was well out of school—he’d been old enough to know better.

“I know. It was messed up. I was trying to look out for you but I didn’t stop to think how it would affect you, and I’m sorry.”

“Why did you even care if he asked me out?”

“He screwed anything that moved.”

“And you just assumed I’d go out with him?”

Colin was still leaning back, not touching his food. “Yeah. He was…conventionally attractive. I don’t think anyone ever said no to him.”

“And you thought I…what, didn’t know about his reputation? Or couldn’t make the decision for myself? ”

His jaw tightened. “He wasn’t good enough for you, so I lied. For the record, I later told him that I’d lied and that he better stay away from you regardless.”

“Why?” It made no sense why he’d felt the need to protect her like that. She got that he was best friends with her brother, but she could take care of herself.

“For all the reasons I’ve said. He wasn’t good enough for you.”

“You don’t even sound sorry now.”

“I’m sorry for lying about you. That I’m sorry for. But…I’m not sorry for warning that asshole off.”

He seemed sincere. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”

Colin shrugged in that maddening way of his and she didn’t know if she wanted to punch or kiss him.

Or both. And she was not in the right headspace for this nonsense. She’d almost been shot dead today. It had to be the reason for all these feelings bubbling up inside her. “Fine. I accept your half-assed apology, but only because you saved my life today. So now we’re even.”

He gave her a small grin, his mouth curving up in the sexiest way and she knew she was in trouble where he was concerned. “So we’re friends now?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Well, we’re stuck under the same roof for now.”

“For one night only. Tomorrow we’ll figure something else out.” Because this wasn’t a long-term solution. She had a job to do, contracts to honor—a professional reputation she’d worked hard to cultivate. She wasn’t letting it vanish because of this nonsense.

And she knew that if she was alone with Colin for much longer while feeling so off-kilter, she was at risk of making a stupid decision and giving in to her attraction to him. Which would be bad for two reasons. One, he would be into it and then they’d both regret it afterward. Or two, he would reject her and she would never live down the humiliation.