by Lisa Childs
“Are you okay?” she anxiously asked him. “Did you lose consciousness?”
Maybe that was why he’d crashed. Maybe he hadn’t fully recovered. Maybe he shouldn’t have been driving yet.
“No,” he said. “I’m fine.” He didn’t look fine, though. In addition to being bloody, his face was flushed and his green eyes bright with anger.
“What happened?” She hadn’t seen any other vehicle, but that didn’t mean that someone hadn’t driven him off the road. She’d come around these curves a lot of times and nearly struck someone who had veered across the line into her lane. Usually because they had been preoccupied with a phone call or a text message.
A muscle twitched in his cheek as he clenched his jaw. He was very angry.
“What happened?” she asked again.
He nearly spit out the words when he replied, “My brakes went out.”
If it had been a mechanical malfunction, she doubted he would be as mad as he was. There was more to the crash than that. But when she pressed him for more details, he only shook his head.
He wasn’t going to share with her what he really thought had happened. Maybe it was because he was mad that she hadn’t been talking to him. Or maybe it was because he didn’t want to scare her.
But it was too late for that.
Serena was terrified because of how she had felt in those moments when she hadn’t known whether or not he had survived the crash. She had been more than upset; she’d been devastated.
Despite his warnings, had she already fallen for Cody Mallehan?
12
EVEN A COUPLE of days later and more than half the country away from her, Cody continued to be haunted by Serena’s face. He paced across the concrete floor of the old airport hangar, but all he could see was how terrified she had looked when she’d peered inside his truck. Her naturally tanned skin had been pale, her dark eyes wide with fear. She’d been worried about him in a way that Cody couldn’t remember anybody else ever having worried about him.
But she was Serena. She cared about everyone. It was just her nature. Even if she had been mad at him, she still cared. She’d even offered to drive him to the airport when he’d told her about his interview.
Had that been to help him out, though? Or because she wanted him gone now?
He couldn’t blame her. But she didn’t know what he suspected—that someone had cut his brakes. She didn’t know his suspicion that the same someone had tampered with his bathtub. He’d told her that he’d accused Stanley of hazing him. But he hadn’t told her what he believed now—that the arsonist was trying to take him out.
Of course he had no proof. So he hadn’t shared this with her, or with anyone else. Yet.
He shouldn’t have left. He should have postponed his interview until he knew what the hell was really going on in Northern Lakes. He shouldn’t have left her alone.
But his truck was old. Maybe the brake line had just rotted out. It was possible. Doubtful given the care he’d always taken with the classic Ford. But possible.
He paced the length of the airport hangar. Metal shelves, filled with parachutes and packs of tools and supplies, lined the walls. This was it: the smoke jumpers’ base in North Cascades, Washington. This was where it had all begun—where smoke jumping had started. He’d been there before, so maybe that was why he wasn’t as excited as he’d been then. He had already built up his hopes once to have them dashed when he’d been deemed not experienced enough to be a jumper.
Mack McRooney was late for their meeting. But that wasn’t why Cody paced. He paced because he was waiting for a call. He took out his phone again and glanced at the screen. He had good enough reception that he couldn’t have missed it.
Impatience churned in his stomach. How long was it taking the mechanic to get to his truck? Sure, it probably wasn’t repairable. He already suspected that much, but that wasn’t the news he waited for. The phone vibrated in his hand, and he nearly dropped it as he hurriedly pressed the button to accept the call. “Yes, what did you find out?”
“That was no accident, man.” The mechanic’s voice shook with the excitement that Cody struggled to feel. “That brake line was sliced clean. Somebody cut it on purpose.”
Cody wasn’t excited. He was pissed. And scared, not for himself, but for Serena. He’d left her alone in the house she never bothered to lock. He needed to get back to Northern Lakes.
“Do you want me to call the police for you?” the mechanic asked.
“I will,” Cody said. He should have at the crash site. Serena had wanted to. But then he’d told her about the interview. Her skin had paled—like it had when she’d walked up to his truck. But she’d agreed that the police might not come out for a single-vehicle accident.
But now he knew it wasn’t an accident at all. Someone had deliberately caused him to crash. “Save the brake line for me,” he told the mechanic.
“That’s about all I can save, man. The truck…”
It was a total loss. Cody was lucky that was all he’d lost. Worse yet, what if Serena had been in the truck with him? He shuddered to think what could have happened to her. What might—if he wasn’t home to protect her.
“I’m gonna try to find a front clip for it, but with how old it is, it’s hard to find parts for…”
“I know,” Cody said. “It’s fine.”
“Hope you had insurance.”
Replacing the truck was the least of his concerns at the moment. “I need to go,” Cody said.
He was no longer alone. Mack McRooney—the bald-headed mountain of a man—had joined him in the airport hangar. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said.
Cody clicked off his phone and slipped it back in his pocket. His hand was shaking slightly—from the confirmation that someone was after him—as he held it out to Mack.
“No need to be nervous,” Mack said. “You and I have been through this before. You already know what I’m going to ask you.” He pointed at Cody’s head. “What the hell happened to you?”
He shook his head. “Nothing I can’t handle.” He was going to damn well find out who’d been causing his little accidents. But he had a sick feeling that he already knew. The arsonist was targeting him now.
With Cody gone, would he come after him another way? Would he come after the woman who…
What was Serena to him? The woman he’d slept with once, but who’d avoided him since? Maybe she would be safe. Maybe the arsonist wouldn’t realize what she meant to Cody—since Cody wasn’t even sure what she meant to him.
Too much…
She meant too much.
*
“SO HAS BRADEN called you?” Fiona asked as she leaned over the island in Serena’s kitchen.
Serena didn’t look up; she focused on the carrots she chopped on the butcher-block cutting board. In high school shop class, she’d made the board for her mother, who’d treasured it like one of the many antiques in the house. “Braden?”
“Braden Zimmer,” Fiona said. “Wyatt’s boss. You two seemed to hit it off the other night. I wish Cody would have let him drive you home.”
She was glad he hadn’t. She had made enough of a fool of herself with Cody. But he hadn’t seemed to mind. He had taken care of her that night. And then the next morning, he’d really taken care of her.
Her skin tingled and heated as she remembered the way he’d touched her, the way he’d kissed her…
She had relived over and over again the sensation of his tongue inside her and then his cock…
She had never had orgasms as powerful as the ones he’d given her. Her body felt hot and achy with need for more. For Cody…
“Yeah,” Fiona said. “Braden should have driven you home.”
“It would have been out of his way,” Serena said.
“I don’t think he would have minded,” Tammy said as she joined them in the kitchen. She’d just finished putting the purple streaks in Mrs. Gulliver’s hair and helping her back to her room. “He seemed
to really like you.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.” Mostly because she didn’t remember anything but Cody. She couldn’t get him out of her mind. She kept thinking about how thoroughly he’d made love to her. And she kept thinking about the other morning when he’d crashed into that tree.
“Trust me,” Fiona said. “Braden likes you. And that’s huge after what he’s been through.”
“What’s that?”
Had he grown up like Cody had—in a series of foster homes, never staying anyplace for long? Her heart ached for Cody’s horrible childhood and his lack of stability. Serena hadn’t had a father, but she’d been lucky to have an amazing mother, grandmother and extended family.
“Braden just survived a particularly nasty divorce,” Fiona said. “His wife—ex-wife—cheated on him, left him for that man and then heartlessly invited him to attend their wedding.”
Tammy cussed. “What a bitch!”
At Tammy’s shrill outburst, Annie lifted her head from her paws. She was sprawled at Serena’s feet—as usual. Drool had pooled onto the hardwood floor beneath her jowls. Serena really hadn’t intended to let the dog into the house. But she’d fallen for Annie like she was afraid she was falling for Cody.
“I wasn’t talking about you,” Tammy told the dog. “You’re not a bitch—at least not like Braden’s ex is.”
“So has he called you?” Fiona persisted.
Serena shook her head. “But then I didn’t give him my number.” At least she didn’t think she had. Parts of that night were particularly fuzzy—like how her bra had wound up on the floor. She remembered taking off Cody’s belt and shirt and her blouse and skirt. But the bra…
“I gave him your number,” Fiona said. “And I told him to call you.”
Irritation made Serena’s voice a little sharp when she replied, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?” Fiona obviously couldn’t see the problem. “He’s a really nice guy.”
“I have another really nice guy who wants to go out with me, too.” Gordon had called; he’d wanted to make certain that turning her down for a loan hadn’t ruined his chances of dating her.
“Cody?” Tammy snorted. “He’s not a nice guy.”
“Yes, he is,” she defended him.
“He’s Cody the Cad,” Tammy said. “You can’t trust a player like him.”
Serena’s stomach lurched as a possibility occurred to her. “Were you two ever involved?”
Tammy laughed. “No way. I know better than to flirt with guys like him.” She narrowed her eyes and studied Serena’s face. “Oh, no…”
“Oh, no, what?” Fiona asked as she looked back and forth between Serena and Tammy. “What happened?”
Serena shook her head. She wasn’t about to share what had happened between her and Cody. It wasn’t anyone else’s business—not even her best friends’. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
“You and Cody—something happened,” Tammy persisted. “You think he’s a nice guy.”
She did. But she wasn’t going to admit that either. “He’s not who I was talking about,” she said. “Gordon Townsend has been calling me.”
“He turned you down for a loan,” Tammy said, as if she needed the reminder.
She was very well aware of that. “Yes, and he feels terrible about it.”
“Terrible enough to reconsider?” Tammy wondered.
She hadn’t thought about that. But maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to talk to him again. She had no other choice but to sell the house. While Cody didn’t think that would be a big deal, it would destroy her. It would be like losing her mother all over again. She could hear her laugh in this kitchen, hear it echoing off the beams of the adjoining hearth room. When Serena sat on the front porch, sometimes the swing would move as if someone was sitting on it—as if Mama was still there. Or Grandma…
She could feel them all inside this house—all the family who’d lived here before her. And even though Courtney had been gone for years, she could feel her in the house, too—could remember playing with her twin at their mama’s feet where Annie was sprawled now.
Would Gordon reconsider and give her a loan?
“I don’t know.” She doubted that he could, since her circumstances hadn’t changed. But maybe he could tell her what she needed to change.
“But he’s the reason you don’t want to go out with Braden?” Fiona persisted.
She didn’t want to go out with Braden because she wasn’t interested. Because he didn’t make her pulse quicken or her skin tingle…
Gordon didn’t do either of those things to her either.
Only Cody did…
“I’m sure he’s great,” Serena replied. “But I have too much going on right now to get involved with anyone.”
“Well, I’m glad you weren’t calling Cody nice,” Tammy said. “I figured you were too smart to fall for his charms.”
Apparently she wasn’t because she truly believed he was a good guy—even though he didn’t want anyone else to know it. Still a little irritated, Serena remarked, “And I figured you would know better than to judge someone by their reputation.”
Tammy’s face flushed. “Hey…”
But Tammy couldn’t deny it. She had a reputation for being a flirt, too. Some people thought she did more than flirt, but they would be wrong. They didn’t know Tammy like Serena did. Not that it would matter if she did.
“I know you’re mostly just talk,” Serena teased her.
Tammy shrugged. “You know me. You don’t know Cody.”
Serena suspected she knew him better than most people did. She knew about his childhood—or lack of one. And she knew what he did for Stanley even though Stanley didn’t know.
“I don’t see his truck out front,” Tammy said. “He must be out with some woman now.”
He was in another state—at a job interview. But since she wasn’t certain if anyone else on his Hotshot team was aware of that, she kept her silence. She was getting used to keeping Cody’s secrets. The only thing she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep was Cody.
He hadn’t moved out yet. But he was leaving. Even if he didn’t get the smoke jumper job, she doubted he would stick around. Moving was all he knew.
And staying was all she knew. But would she be able to continue living in the house where she’d grown up? Or would she have to sell it to satisfy her sister’s lawsuit?
At the moment she was less upset about losing the house than she was at the thought of how close she had come to losing Cody.
If he’d hit that tree a little harder…
He could have been killed. He could have been killed when he’d fallen in the shower, too. Since moving into the boardinghouse, he’d had two really close calls. Was that a coincidence? Or was something else going on?
Was he in danger?
13
CODY WASN’T SURE that coming back to the boardinghouse was a good idea. While he’d been worried about Serena, he had to consider that his very presence might put her in danger.
If the arsonist was fixated on him now…
Brady believed that the arsonist was obsessed with the Huron Hotshots team as a whole. He only set the fires when they were in town; he only set fires that could endanger them.
But what if it wasn’t the whole team he was after? What if it was only Cody?
Then leaving would make everyone—including Serena—safer. But before he could go, he needed to make certain she was all right. So, the minute his small plane had landed in Northern Lakes, he’d borrowed a US Forest Service truck and headed to the boardinghouse. When he’d walked into her kitchen, he had unwittingly walked into a dangerous situation.
While she had looked relieved to see him, her friends had glared at him. If looks could kill…
Fortunately the other women hadn’t stayed long. He watched as their taillights headed down the driveway.
“Did your friends warn you off me again?” Cody asked.
His heart shifted in his chest. But she couldn’t have fallen for him. Since they’d had sex, she’d barely talked to him. “What do you mean?”
“I already slept with you.”
“We didn’t sleep,” he reminded her. But he had an urge to do that—to sleep with her in his arms. Just to keep her safe.
“No,” she agreed. “We didn’t.”
“Did you tell them what happened?”
She arched a dark brow. “Do you think they would have left if I had?”
He chuckled. “Probably not.” He patted Annie’s head as she nudged his legs. “So why were they glaring at me if they didn’t know about us?”
“Because they don’t know you.”
He chuckled again. “They know me. Everyone does.”
She shook her head. “Everyone thinks they do. But they don’t have any idea who you really are.”
Despite the warm night, his blood chilled. “What do you mean?”
She touched his face, running her fingertips along his jaw. “Don’t look so scared,” she said. “I won’t tell anyone the truth.”
“Tell me,” he said. “Tell me what you think you know.”
“I know you’re a good guy,” she said. “Even though you work really hard at keeping that fact from everyone.” She rose up on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.
“What are you doing?” he asked, after her mouth slid away from his.
She stepped back and stared up at him, her eyes wide with feigned innocence—as if she hadn’t just kissed him. “I’m taking Annie for a walk.”
The dog must have somehow understood her because she headed toward the back door.
“I thought that was Stanley’s job,” he said.
“Stanley is bowling with Wyatt and Fiona’s brother Matt. So I promised I’d take her.”
He wasn’t sure if she’d promised Stanley or Annie. But he couldn’t let her go off alone—not when it would be dark soon. Not with an arsonist potentially lurking around the house. He caught the screen door before it shut and followed Serena and the dog out.
“You don’t have to walk with us,” she told him. But a little smile played around her mouth. After that kiss, she knew he would follow her. Hell, he would follow her anywhere.