Page 72 of Fire Fight

“I do too, actually,” I said, rising to my feet and looking down at Aspen, extending my hand. “You ready?”

Before she could reach for me, her mouth opened on an impressive yawn, giving me my answer.

I helped her up, electricity shooting up my arm at the contact. It brought me right back to the night before in her room, when I’d had her pressed against that wall.

Fuck, I’d wanted to taste her. To lick my way up the column of her throat, capture that perfect mouth with mine, and show her exactly what my lips could do to her other set.

She wanted it too. Her cinnamon eyes had darkened, pupils blown wide.

But I wasn’t in the habit of taking something I wasn’t offered, andwhen—not if—I finally got Aspen naked and willing beneath me, it would be because she asked for it.

As Lane had done, I folded myself over Mom and pressed a kiss to her cheek, murmuring good night, then stepping back so Aspen could bid her farewell.

Mama got to her feet and hauled Aspen into a hug, saying something in her ear too low for me to hear. When they pulled apart, Aspen nodded, took my proffered hand once again, and let me lead her out to the truck.

The sun had sunk completely below the mountains by then, but it lingered somewhere behind them, silhouetting the peaksand turning the sky a pretty, bright pink. Aspen stopped in the middle of the drive, pulling me up short with her, to admire it.

“This place is breathtaking,” she said softly.

“My favorite place in the world,” I agreed.

“How come you don’t live on ranch land like Finn and West?”

I grinned as I tugged her the rest of the way to the truck and helped her in, my hand lingering on her hip for longer than was strictly necessary, slipping down the length of her thigh as she buckled herself in.

“I do,” I said. “A hundred thousand acres, remember?”

“So all the way over there”—she gestured in what she thought was the general direction of my house—“is still your family’s land?”

“A hundred thousand acres is roughly a hundred and fifty square miles, so yes. Trey and Lane have houses on the land too.”

“You guys really love it here.” It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t treat it as such, especially not when she continued, her eyes sparkling and teeth glowing inside a grin in the dashboard lights. “I can see why.”

I hoped that meant she was falling in love with it too. That maybe, when this was all over, she’d want to stay.

“What did my mom say to you back there?”

Aspen’s hand came up to cup my cheek. “She told me to take care of you.”

I scoffed. “I’m a grown man.”

“We all have scars, Crew. Even you.”

I couldn’t argue with that, and now was not the time or the place to get into the gritty details of my personal trauma. With a curt nod, I moved out of the way and gently shut the door. I’d taken one step toward the driver’s door when someone called my name.

Lane sat behind the wheel of his personal SUV, window down and staring at me.

“What?”

“Got a present for you in the back.”

Curiosity piqued, I opened the hatch and found several boxes, each labeled with an assortment of letters and numbers. Instantly, I knew what they were.

Lane met me at the back to help me load them into the bed of my truck. When he finished, he clapped a hand to my shoulder, stalling me in place as his fingers dug into my flesh.

Retribution for earlier, no doubt, but also a reminder that if I fucked this up, there would be hell to pay.

“Be careful. This killer is operating in the shadows, and getting close to Aspen could paint a target on your back. I can’t—” Lane cut himself off and cleared his throat. “I can’t add you to the victim list.”