Page 62 of Wild Fires

Gracie just sat there staring at the box I held out to her.

“I hope you like cheeseburgers and fries.”

When she still didn't take it, I jiggled it in front of her until she did.

“Tell Gia thanks.”

I sat down at my desk instead of beside her.

No staring, no touching, I reminded myself.

We ate in uncomfortable silence. I could still feel the sexual tension buzzing between us. It would be so easy to just walk around and pull her into my arms and then lay her down on my desk and have my way with her.

Instead, I pushed all those thoughts away and got up to clear my whiteboard to begin our task at hand.

Once working, my nerves settled some. I could handle this.

We really did work well together.

By the time Clarence called we had all the fires categorized and had begun brainstorming connections. Vance was at the top of the list of suspects, but that still wasn't sitting well with me. We were missing something; I just couldn't quite put my finger on it.

“I guess that's it for today,” I said, once we were off the phone with him. “This was good. Let's sleep on it and maybe reconvene in a few days if nothing new happens and we can compare notes and update our suspect list.”

“Okay. I'll check on any insurance claims that were filed on the house and revisit the sites with fresh eyes after this,” she said.

I hated the idea of her going back to the scenes of these crimes without me, but I knew this was for the best.

“Okay,” I muttered.

“You’re really okay with that?”

“Of course,” I lied.

“You're a horrible liar, Ryan.”

I already knew that. Everyone knew that about me.

“And why the hell won't you even look at me? I didn't do anything wrong. I was just doing my job.”

“That wasn't just you doing your job, Gracie. You ran into a fire without proper gear on. That was reckless. As far as I'm concerned you should be suspended for it.”

Maybe it was a mistake, but I did look at her. She was pissed but looked more hurt by my words. This tugged at my chest wanting to make it okay, but there was nothing okay about what I'd witnessed. I felt so much that it scared the shit out of me. I shook my head.

“It doesn’t matter. I don't want to fight about it. I just can’t do this.”

“But why?” she asked. Her eyes begged me for answers.

I shook my head once more and turned to leave even though it was my office and she should be the one leaving. I just had to get out of there. I hesitated at the door.

“Because I love you too much to ever watch you go through that again. It would kill me. I've never considered myself weak, but I'm not strong enough for this.”

Gracie

Chapter 18

I sat there completely stunned as he walked away and left me alone in his office.

Not sure how long I stayed there, Jennifer eventually wandered in. We were technically cousins, but we weren't close. She was a few years older than me. I remembered looking up to her as a kid. Those had been good times. But after my parents died, I just sort of fell through the cracks. That's when I learned that I had to take care of myself. I couldn’t rely on anyone else to do it.