Page 17 of Wildfire (Owl Creek #1)

I know it's none of my business, but when Zoe's car pulls into the driveway after midnight, I want to rush over there and see where she and Renée have been. It takes everything I have to keep my feet planted firmly on the floor in front of the stove where I've been… baking.

I don't know if it's my mom's influence finally taking sprout or that a beautiful woman is living ten yards away, but the baking thing has gotten out of control. I made scones for the two of them for the morning and decide to photograph and text them to Renée innocently.

I see an earlier text I missed from Renée about Wi-Fi. I know my brother Caleb has killer Wi-Fi in his apartment, but I'm not about to feed Zoe to that wolf. The library does a pretty good job with its technology, so I send that address and the photo of the scones over.

I get heart emojis in return and it makes me grin from ear to ear.

Fucking sucker.

I get another text a few minutes later, but this one is a selfie. It takes me a second to register that what I am looking at is real, but the picture is Renée on the deck blowing me a kiss.

Okay. Calm the fuck down. She's probably been drinking.

I decide to send one back, but it takes me ten minutes to figure out what is appropriate. Maybe she was thanking me with that kiss. I settle on, "Hopefully, they taste good," with a wink emoji.

In return, she shoots another one off that says, "I bet everything you do tastes good."

And I promptly go into my room and whack off.

Renée won't make eye contact with me when they come for breakfast in the morning. As she puts the dishes in the sink to clean, I sidle up next to her and whisper as I reach for a drying cloth.

"Hey, everything okay?"

She glances up from the soapy water. "Yeah, I just…um… I'm sorry about the text last night. I had a little too much to drink."

"It's alright. But if you do it again, I'm going to have to prove you right, Wildfire."

I hear her suck in her breath and stand right next to her, drying the dishes as I feel electrical currents move along my skin.

When we finish cleaning up, she and Zoe step outside to go to work.

As she reaches the passenger side of the car, she looks back toward the house, and we lock eyes through the kitchen window.

There is no sound anywhere except the pounding of my heart, and I swear in that silence, I hear a voice telling me to go to her, pull her into me, and never let go.

But I know she has big dreams waiting for her when Caleb finishes her car, so I wave instead.

When they pull out, I review the pictures we faxed to the Sheriff last night. The logo on the lighter and the partial piece of paper are the only things we have to go on, and it is driving me nuts because I've seen it before.

In the movies, a guy like me could upload it to some vast database that would look expensive while it scoured files and then spit out the possible matches, but that isn't real.

The only real thing is a town we have to keep safe from a guy who has escalated to bigger fires that are becoming more frequent.

I drive into town to relieve Seth and sort through the tips people have emailed since we sent the alert. Small-town folk are already in everyone's business, so telling them to keep an eye out is like telling a cat to sit in a box. They're going to do it whether you want them to or not.

I’m at my desk in the office that I share with Seth when I hear a soft knock at the door. I look up and see Zoe. I wave her in, and she solemnly plunks down in the chair across from me.

"Hi, Chief."

"You're staying at my house, Zoe. You can call me Cole."

"Okay." She brushes the hair out of her eyes and squints at me like she is sizing me up or trying to decide on something.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

She sucks in her breath and then starts rambling—fast. "It's about Renée. I know you haven't known her long, but I can tell that she cares about you, and please don't tell her I came here to talk to you about this because she'll kill me, but I don't want her to get hurt, okay?"

"Slow down, Zoe. I won't hurt— wait, why do you think I would hurt her?"

"Because she said a few things last night when we were out. I have known her my whole life and know when she's in denial. I think…Oh shit," she pinches the bridge of her nose, "she'd kill me if she knew I was here—"

"I won't say a word."

"I think she's running away to L.A. because her home life is shit, and she's trying to find some connection with her mother who died so long ago, and she feels it through the music.

I don't think she wants that life, but I can't tell her.

She has to figure it out. And I can tell she likes it here, and she likes you. I mean, she really seems to like you."

I shift back in my worn office chair and take everything in.

Am I wrong to hope Renée might not go to L.A.

? I decide to fish for more information.

The last thing I want to do is start something with a woman who is destined for bigger things.

It happened before with Sadie when she left Owl Creek to live her dream working in fashion, and I don't want to go through that heartache again.

I'd bought a ring and was ready to propose the night Sadie dropped the bomb on me.

"Go on."

"Her family…well, it's rough. She's been taking care of her dad for years with no help from her brothers, and they take advantage of her. Being here with you has been good for her. She's starting to see that there's something else possible. Please don't hurt her, okay?"

"I still don't understand how you think I would hurt her."

"By asking her to give something she isn't ready to give. If you ask her to stay, she would be tempted, for a while at least. But then she'll always think about the life she didn't have. Let her come to it on her own."

"That's wise of you, Zoe."

"Thanks. I have a PhD in Wrangler."

"Huh?"

"Wrangler is my nickname for Renée."

"I call her Wildfire."

"Wow. That's… don't take this the wrong way, but that is sexy. You do like her, don't you?"

I shift in my chair. I should be having this conversation with Renée, not her friend. But here I am, and I can't deny it.

"I do."

She nods like we've just finished a business deal, stands up, and marches out the door, tossing a "see you later" before she disappears.

I'm so royally fucked.