Page 19 of No Going Back

She nodded. “Hawley yelled to me that he would burn the place if I didn’t come out. Probably expected me to emerge. I didn’t until I could hear the fire roaring and the smoke was thick. They’d stacked the pub’s furniture, spread gasoline, and torched each pile. I ran up the stairs, hoping to grab some stuff, but they’d started fires on each floor. I kept running up, and then when I got to the roof door, I texted you.”

She blew out a breath. “Remember when we were young and stupid and thought we could fly?”

Oh hell. “You didn’t. They removed the balconies on the building across the street for safety reasons. That’s an extra three or four feet added to an already difficult jump.”

She shrugged. “It was that, die in a fire, or give myself up to Prince. And neither of those options was acceptable.”

No kidding. “My God, Branna. You could have died.”

“That’s exactly what I was trying to prevent.”

His stomach roiled. She could have been killed in all three scenarios. He dropped his fork and ran his hands through his hair. She could have died, and he might never have known what had happened.

Branna put her hand on his arm. “Easy. I’m fine. Thanks to you.”

Here she was, trying to comfort him. This woman. Unable to do anything else, Sean turned on his stool and wrapped her in his arms.

* * *

Branna hugged Sean and felt his body tremble beneath hers. She hadn’t expected him to react like this, and while she didn’t like causing him stress; it warmed her heart to know someone would have truly cared if she had died.

Her eyes filled, and she swallowed hard to keep herself in control. “I’m okay.”

Sean chuckled softly. “You definitely are. Sorry about that. It just hit me how real it all is. I might never have known what happened. I don’t know how I would have lived with that. Thank you for texting me. For trusting me to help you.”

“I’ve always known I could count on you, Sean. You and Charlie were so good to me. Even when I was a pesky tag-along.”

He laughed and sat back but kept his hands on her arms. “You were tough to get rid of.”

She grinned. “I was, but I don’t think you two tried all that hard.”

His returning grin had her insides fluttering. This man was everything a good man should be. Add in the sexy-as-sin body, and it was no wonder she’d had a crush on him forever.

Something in Sean’s gaze changed, and Branna wondered how much of what she felt for him showed in her eyes.

His gaze flicked to her mouth and back up. She found herself doing the same while leaning in. Heat flared in Sean’s eyes, and all her girlie parts started to cheer. Kiss him!

Sean started to lean back. “We probably shouldn’t.”

To hell with that. “I think we probably should.”

His eyebrows shot up, and he grinned before he contained it again. “You’ve been through a lot, Branna. I’m not taking advantage of that. Your emotions have to be zipping around like ping-pong balls. Let’s give it a few days.”

If she hadn’t seen the answering desire in his eyes, she would have backed down and agreed. But this was Sean. The boy she’d liked more than anyone. The strong, powerful soldier she’d lusted after. The man with the gentle soul who’d always protected her. And if his feelings matched even a tiny bit of hers, she wasn’t giving up her chance.

Instead of backing away, she leaned forward again. “My emotions are a mess, but not about this. You have to know I’ve always been attracted to you, Sean. I doubt I hid my crush all that well when I was a kid.”

He laughed and tapped her nose. “You most certainly did not.”

That made her smile. “Those feelings haven’t changed, Sean. Not once.”

Heat flared in his eyes again. “Good to know.”

“Kiss me, Sean.”

He studied her seriously for a long moment, and she let him look, let him see that she was steady enough to make this decision.

When she saw his face soften, Branna smiled and closed the distance.