Page 90 of Fire Fight

“I need to get a new car,” I croaked eventually.

“Let’s not worry about that right now.”

“Why not?” I asked, peeling my face from the crook of his shoulder to peer up at him.

“Because you’re not going anywhere alone until we catch this fucker, so I don’t see any reason why you need a vehicle right now.”

Oh.

That’s how he wanted to play this.

I threw myself from his arms and was on my feet in a flash.

“That’s not how this works.”

“Not how what works?” he asked, rising to stand as well, though he wisely maintained several feet of space between us. “Me wanting to keep you safe? Me wanting to ensure some deranged killer doesn’t have the opportunity to finish what they started?”

I sighed. “I know you mean well, Crew. But you can’t keep me locked up here like some damsel in distress. I’m a grown woman.”

“I know that. And I know you can take care of yourself. But please, just…please.”

I’d been prepared to stand my ground and press him on this until he relented, but his pleading tone took all the fight right out of me. I’d known from the very start the kind of man Crew was. One who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders in the form of wanting to protect everyone he held dear.

I knew he didn’t think me incapable of watching my own back. He knew I could. He simplywantedto look after me, and I was fucking honored to be someone he cared about so much.

“Okay,” I whispered at last.

He deflated, closing the distance between us to wrap me in an embrace. In his arms, cocooned in his warmth, was the safest place I could imagine.

“I know I’ve said it before, but I really couldn’t take it if something happened to you. Only until we catch this fucker, and then you can go wherever the wind blows you.”

The words were…almost resigned. Like he hadn’t even gotten me yet and was already bracing for the day I’d leave.

Because that’s exactly what would happen. We’d crack this case, put this sicko behind bars, and I’d be gone. Off on my next great adventure.

There’d be another small town. More families to save and more justice to serve.

But there’d never be another Crew Lawless.

This man…hewasthis town. His entire family was here, his roots ran deep into the ground beneath our feet. I knew there was nothing I could do or say to convince him there was a big world out there worth exploring.

A world he should explore withme.

We had to content ourselves with having an expiration date, so maybe there was something to be said for the fact that we hadn’t yet crossed any physical boundaries beyond hugs and handholding.

It’d make it that much harder to walk away when the time came.

twenty-five

. . .

ASPEN

A few hours later,Crew left for work, leaving me once again alone in his big house. After all the excitement from the morning, I crawled back into his bed, his intoxicating scent surrounding me, and promptly fell to sleep.

When I woke again, a glance at my phone screen told me it was nearing three p.m. For the first time in a long time, I felt well rested. My scars weren’t bothering me, and bad dreams hadn’t chased me from sleep.

I got up, showered in Crew’s massive, glass-walled shower, standing way too long under the head that mimicked rainwater, letting it wash over me, soothing me.