Burned by Desire (Highland County Heroes Book 2)

by Lily LaVae

  She tipped her head back and he helped her lay down, then back up so he could wash her hair. It was thick and curlier than he’d expected. She moaned with pleasure when he rubbed her scalp, her mouth perfectly relaxed. He told himself she was just like any other patient he’d cared for, but it wasn’t true. She made his blood run hot, and he couldn’t put it out.

  With slow, tender care he washed each of her feet and worked his way up her legs.

  “You’d better stop there, Gage. If you wash me there, I’ll jump out of this tub and we’ll both get wet.” Her eyes burned as she stared up at him.

  He had purposely avoided answering her question, because it couldn’t be answered just then. He needed time. His body wanted her, yes, but if he said that, she would jump to conclusions, then be hurt when he said no. For now, it had to be enough that he’d taken care of her and wanted to continue to work with her.

  He grabbed a towel from the rack. “Time to get out.”

  She stood and the water dripped down her glorious body. His own wanted the pleasure she so readily offered, but he would not take advantage. He would never allow her to think it was acceptable to force anything or that tit-for-tat was required.

  Gage took her hand and helped her out onto the rug, then toweled her off. He helped her into her panties and then her clothes.

  It was late and she didn’t retch anymore as she walked next to him to her room. Melody sat on the bed and hung her head. “I hate that you hate me enough to not want me. I thought we could at least have that.”

  He helped her lay down on her pillow and made her bed around her, then sat next to her, tucking her in. “You won’t remember that I’ve said this, so that makes it safe to say. I don’t hate you. I can see you’ve got yourself convinced that I do, because you’ve mentioned it a few times now, but it’s just not true. You really aren’t half bad.”

  “Can not half bad turn to all good?” Her sleepy eyes pled with him.

  He didn’t want to, it was too intimate after bathing her and putting her there in that big fluffy bed built for two, but his hand seemed to move of its own will to her face and traced the soft curve of her cheek. “We’ll have to see.” He bent down and kissed her forehead, then left before he did exactly what he shouldn’t do and slide right into that bed next to her.

  Chapter 16

  Melody’s head still pounded, but Melva had asked her to get a few pictures at a local late-season softball game. So she tucked a bottle of water and headache medicine in her purse, grabbed her phone, and headed for the bathroom to quickly brush her hair.

  There was still a slight odor in the bathroom that made her stomach protest from the night before and she growled at it.

  “How could you be so stupid?”

  She cradled her head and then ran her fingers through her hair. She rarely washed it more than twice during the week, but it was clean when she woke, wearing clothes she wouldn’t normally sleep in. She had a vague idea that Gage had been there, and a check of her phone had proved he had, though she didn’t remember Livy taking her phone to send the text, nor could she remember just when Livy left.

  Never again. Even the thought of the sickly-sweet alcohol made her stomach pitch again and she hadn’t been able to eat anything but crackers yet that morning. Her phone buzzed in her hand and she almost dropped it.

  Gage: Did you make it through the night?

  She laughed slightly and sat on the toilet seat.

  Melody: Yeah, I’m alive. Headed to work. By the way, thanks.

  There was nothing she could do to change what had happened the night before or make it any less embarrassing. Apparently, either Gage or Livy had given her a bath and put her to bed at some point after she’d gotten sick all over the bathroom. What she may have said or admitted to embarrassed her more than either of those things. What if, in her inebriated state, she’d told Gage about the professor? He’d think she really would sleep with anyone.

  Her phone buzzed again.

  Gage: Not a problem. Glad to hear you’re feeling better. Drink water today.

  She swung around and laughed at the water bottle she’d been tentatively sipping all morning. “No worries about that, Gage. Somewhere in the fog of last night, that message made it through.”

  She’d avoided the living room all morning, but had to go through it to leave. On the table, sat the four bottles. Three were completely empty and one still had about a third in it. That one sat on the other end of the table, where Livy had been. She’d practically accused Livy of being a lush, then had proceeded to get completely sauced. What a mess she’d made, of everything.

  Her car was parked outside, but her eyes were still sensitive to bright light to see well enough to drive, and the ball field wasn’t that far. Nothing was that far away in Santinas. The walk would do her some good, clear her mind, maybe even give her time to think about just what had happened the night before. Not knowing was both strange and scary.

  When she reached the park, the ambulance was parked off to the back at the ready and her skin tingled to awareness. Gage would be there. He had to be, she could feel it. A quick search of the stands and she found his black uniform easily among all the other light-colored shirts in the crowd.

  He’d already noticed her, and their eyes met. His smile curved over his lips and he tilted his head in invitation. She took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. She wasn’t achy like she’d been after following him to his truck. He hadn’t taken advantage of her weakened state. Though, she knew, deeply knew, that he wouldn’t. Without even considering it too much. Others would, but not Gage.

  She slid into the seat next to him and adjusted her sunglasses. He took his time as he studied her, until she was holding back an embarrassed giggle-smile. Dang she wanted to straddle him right there and make those lips do what they’d done to her before, but she had to remember to take it easy, slow. This was Gage, and he was too serious for playing on the job.

  “I didn’t expect to see you out this morning.” He swung his attention back to the game.

  “I wasn’t planning to be here. Thanks for leaving my phone next to the bed. I would’ve missed my boss’s message if you hadn’t.” She’d expected conversation to be awkward with all they’d been through, but she felt nothing holding them back like she had in the past. It may have never been there to begin with. Maybe she had imagined how he would treat her, then made it so.

  “I wasn’t sure what else to do. I knew I was going to text you this morning and wait for your answer. If you hadn’t answered, I would’ve gone over quick to check on you after the game.”

  She laughed, wanting to flirt with him and thank him again. His help was the mark of a true friend. “You could still come over and check on me, if you want.”

  He chuckled, but didn’t say more. To finish her assignment, she took out her phone and got a few pictures. Only one would be used anyway and she didn’t really care about the game.

  “Alexander suggested that you and I work together on the arson investigation, so we should meet and talk about the case later.” He didn’t look at her, instead kept his eyes focused on the game.

  She smiled and moved her phone out of the way. “We could do that, but you said I was to direct all my questions to Special Agent Hernandez, is that no longer the case?” She laughed as he rolled his eyes.

  Before he could say anything in response, she went on. “I know we got off on the wrong foot, and then probably made it worse as we went, but can we call a truce for now?”

  His eyebrows rose slightly and a hint of a smile covered his lips. “I think that’s a good plan. We can meet for lunch after the game. I have to stay near my radio, but I’ll stay as long as I can.”

  She nodded, lifted her phone to take more pictures, then thought better of it. “I wasn’t ready to admit that part of our start was my fault until last night. You could’ve taken advantage of me and I wouldn’t have remembered.” She gulped back the bile in her throat at her own past. “You wouldn’t have be
en the first.”

  He reached over and rested a protective hand over her knee. “I know. You told me. You never have to worry about anything like that from me.”

  She shoved her bag on her shoulder and slipped her phone inside then stood. He was in uniform, there as an EMT, not to see her. Just being there was distracting him from his work and it was time to show him she could be completely professional. “I’m going to go and drink more water. I’ll meet you at The Boot later, say at five?”

  His gaze coursed up her body, landing finally on her face. “Five is good, but I can’t stay long.”

  “That’s okay. I’m sure we’ll manage to work around your schedule. We have this far.” She walked slowly along the fence around the field and felt his eyes on her as she left. She’d never welcomed stares until then.

  The Boot was all but empty and Melody pushed her fries around on her plate, waiting for Gage. He wouldn’t stand her up, so he had to have had an emergency. She checked her phone again as the door opened and he walked in, still in his black uniform. He had on a white tee underneath, just visible at the collar of his shirt and the way his uniform fit left her squirming in her seat.

  He slipped his sunglasses into his chest pocket and sat down across from her. “I can’t order more than a drink, in case I get called. I’ve been thinking about something all day and I wanted to get your take on it.”

  Melody’s brain kicked into gear. Getting her opinion was a good start. She grabbed a notebook and pen from her purse. “Lay out your plan.” She pushed the fries out of the way, her hips didn’t need them anyway.

  Gage grabbed one of them and slid it into his mouth, chewing slowly. Once he finished, he motioned for a server to come over. “Just a minute. I want to make sure that no one comes over here while we’re talking.”

  Once he’d ordered and the server had brought his drink, he leaned onto the table. The movement created an intimacy as if they were in a bubble and no one else could hear them, nor were they welcome.

  “I have to keep what’s actually going on under wraps. If I don’t tell you, then you can’t accidentally slip facts in. We are keeping things quiet, known only to the investigators, on purpose. Not only will it prevent any fire bug from thinking they need to try some of that, it will keep our suspect from changing tactics if he’s getting away with it.”

  She itched to know what was really going on, but by pushing him for information before, she’d gotten the opposite. “Fine, as long as I get the exclusive true story when it finally comes out.”

  “You will. First, we know approximately what started the fire. And we do want it to get out that the fire was started on purpose. Since the arsonist used roughly the same plan for both fires, we think he isn’t all that smart, and not fire-savvy.”

  She wrote down a few things, waiting for him to get to the meat of what he wanted her to say, but would not add anything until he was finished. It was Journalism 101, before they were taught to push for all the answers.

  “I refuse to put blame on anyone because then our guy will think he’s gotten away with it. That won’t make him make mistakes, it will just make him start more fires.”

  She tapped her paper with her pen. “I’m not much help. Since I know nothing, I can’t even offer opposite options.”

  “I’m still working on trust. Right now, it’s hard sitting here working with you. It was easier to talk to you when we set work aside. When we’re talking shop, I keep waiting for you to bare your claws.”

  She set down the pen and looked him straight in the eye. “I get it. You put a lot on the line by sitting here with me. Anyone who sees us together and read that article is going to be curious. You probably don’t even think you can trust me when I said I didn’t write it. I hope that by working together, you can see that I can work with you.”

  “Let’s just get this done with, and we’ll figure out the future when it gets here.” He took a long drink and glanced at his cell phone. “I think our best bet is to poke a little fun at this guy. Not enough to make him do something huge, but enough to make him make a mistake.”

  “So, you tell me what that is and I’ll do my best to add as much snark as I can get away with.”

  “Don’t get too cocky,” he said. “That first fire we almost lost their son. This would be a much different investigation if that had happened. I don’t want that kind of test to be the one I fail.”

  Whether it was because he’d helped her the night before in ways she could feel, even if she couldn’t remember, or because she felt the need to be closer to him, she had to dispel the notion of failure from him. “You won’t fail and I won’t piss this asshole off enough to do anything stupid.”

  “Good. Then we’re in agreement. I think the planning and the device are the keys. Let’s focus on the sloppiness of the scene, say that investigators are confident they will have him soon. Play up the elementary nature of the source, just some kerosene. That’s only partially true, but if he wants to correct it, he’d better get in contact with someone. When he does, we’ll be ready.”

  She wrote it all down, then rested her hand on the table near enough that he could reach for her if he chose to. “Now, what do we do about the fact that this is a small town and my contact information is all over the newspaper website?” While she loved the idea of being a part of the investigation and she hoped that by calling the arsonist stupid or juvenile it would make him mad enough to come forward, she didn’t want some DemaCrane thug hunting her down.

  “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Make it sound like the poking is coming from me and Special Agent Hernandez. We can handle ourselves.”

  She shivered as perspiration dripped down her back. Danger hadn’t been on her mind that morning, but in a few days when she submitted that story, danger would need to be on her mind morning, noon, and night.

  Chapter 17

  Though Melody didn’t want to bring Melva in on the secret, she had to in order to get the story to go through. Melva didn’t believe for a moment that the person who had started those fires was stupid or simple. Since she thought it was useless to look for the arsonist when it was so obvious to Melva that DemaCrane was behind it, luring them to make a mistake was stupid.

  “I can’t believe you’ve been taken in by that firefighter,” the older woman railed at her. “Just because he’s working with the ATF, you think he knows what he’s doing now all of a sudden? I’m sure he doesn’t. He’s stalling because he knows nothing. Skip over him, go above his head. He’s just going to convince you to hold off on asking the real questions that need to be asked and that he should be answering. If he knew the answers.”

  Melody bit her tongue. If Melva took over the story, she couldn’t help Gage anymore. Melva would never agree to work with him now that she was convinced he wasn’t fit for his job.

  “He told me once they find the guy responsible, we’ll get the exclusive. How often has our little paper ever gotten one of those?” At least she could try to stroke Melva’s ego.

  Melva glared down at Melody, sitting in her desk. “You must not think that much of your paper. Remember, if you don’t bring the stories, you won’t have a job. I’ll determine at the end of this month whether you’ve got a position or not. Ten days. I’m not so sure we need you.”

  Melva had walked away and Melody had hit submit. That was two days ago and the Sunday paper should’ve hit doorsteps bright and early. Though Gage had reassured her, Melody still couldn’t sleep, worried the nutcase starting all those fires would come after her. In agreeing to help, she’d put a target on her back.

  At 4:24 AM Melody’s phone buzzed with an unknown number.

  Unknown Caller: What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch? I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but it’s a lie. You better take all that back.

  She saved the phone number and looked it up online. Nothing. No history, no connections. Not even a cell carrier listed. It had to be a burner number.

  Melody:
I print the facts. If you have more information, you need to contact the police or fire department.

  She waited, chewing her nail. Great. This was exactly what she’d been terrified would happen. What if this guy found out where she lived? Though it was way too early in the morning for anyone to be awake, she called Gage’s number and hoped he would pick up.

  “This had better be an emergency.” His voice was deep, sleepy, a little slower than usual.

  “I’m so sorry for waking you, but…the guy…he texted me. I told him he needed to go to you, but I’m worried.”

  She heard him roll over in bed, the mattress squeaking slightly under him. “Melody, don’t worry. This guy doesn’t do anything that puts him in danger. Everything he’s done is remote. I would bet he’s as far away from those fires as he can be when he starts them. I don’t think he will do more than text you. It’s just not his M.O. I’m sorry you’re scared, but thank you for doing it anyway. You did your job. You’re already getting him angry, just like we planned.”

  The more he spoke, the more his voice became its normal, sexy self. “I’m just worried about what he’ll do with that anger. Will he call you, or set another fire?”

  “He knows we’re on to him. He probably contacted you because he’s mad that we didn’t think he was the smarter criminal. He went to you because he’s worried he can’t prove me wrong. He’s offended. Let him be. The lab is working right now, I hope in the next few days, we’ll have more to go on.”

  “If he keeps sending me these texts, what should I do?” Just hearing Gage’s voice worked to calm her down, even though she was tense, waiting for her phone to buzz right in her hand with another text.

  “Keep all of them and give them to Hernandez.” Gage didn’t even hesitate.

  She’d hoped Gage would want them, that he would want to rush right over and see her. It had been three days since they’d seen each other and she was feeling antsy without him.