Page 2 of Forest Reed (Seals on Fraiser Mountain #8)

Forest

The city had never felt like home. Too many lights, too much noise, too many people who looked but didn’t see.

But Zoe Brewer? She saw everything.

I leaned against the wall outside the interrogation room, arms crossed, watching her work Harris over with that razor-sharp glare of hers. Most men would’ve folded under it. Harris smirked. He thought he still had control.

Zoe didn’t even blink.

God, she was fire. Fire wrapped in steel, every word she spoke burning with conviction.

I’d guarded her once, back on that ship, and then while she was recovering, and something in me had shifted.

I told myself it was just duty. But every time I caught her profile in that harsh light, every time I remembered the way she’d kissed me like she wanted to erase the world, I knew it was a lie.

She thought it was lust. Fine. Let her think that. I could be patient.

But Harris’s eyes lingered on her too long, and something cold and primal moved through me. He wasn’t allowed that. He wasn’t allowed her.

I straightened, stepping into the room, my voice calm, controlled. “Detective Brewer, we need a word.”

Her head whipped around, irritation flashing in her eyes. But beneath it, I caught the flicker she didn’t want me to see—relief.

Because she might be the toughest woman I’d ever met, but I wasn’t about to let her fight this battle alone. Not now. Not ever. I was staying for now.