Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
My brows furrow. "Good to know, but the question isn't about the fire."
Judging by that look, maybe I should be asking about the fire again. Fuck. What does she know that I don't? More importantly…what doesn't she want me to know? It's definitely something.
Who is she trying to protect? The men her neighbor saw? Her brother?
Jesus Christ. She said he was at football practice last night, but she was also worried as fuck that we might have found his body in that house. If he had no reason to be there, she would have had no reason to be worried about it. Whether he set the fire or not, I don't know. But I think she thinks he did. And she's scared as hell that I'm going to find out.
Fuck me. Why would she be worried that he set the house on fire? What isn't she telling me?
"Oh," she whispers.
I hesitate for a moment before deciding not to push yet. I need her trust. Otherwise, I'm never getting her secrets, and I'm more convinced than ever that she's got secrets. Big goddamn secrets. "Did I do something to make you dislike me, baby?"
"What?" She seems genuinely startled by the question. "I never said that I don't like you."
"You didn't have to say it. You're jumpy as hell. You're cranky. And I think you'd rather be back in that bathroom than spend a few days with me in your space."
"F-few days?" she squeaks, eyes wide. "I thought this was just for today!"
"Nope."
She deflates like a popped balloon. And how the fuck that's equal parts adorable and painful, I don't fucking know, but here we are. Spending a few days with her is appealing as hell to me. To her, it's the equivalent of…well, whatever the fuck torture is to a girl like her. Stupid-hot firefighters, apparently.
"That's what I'm talking about." I haul us into a sitting position before carefully sliding out from beneath her and rising to my feet. "I'm the last motherfucker you want in your space."
She stares up at me, her expression rife with guilt. But she doesn't deny it.
I sigh and turn to head for the bathroom. I need to call Dillon. We've got work to do. A whole helluva lot of it, apparently.
"You make me nervous," she blurts when I'm halfway across the room. "I've never…"
"Never what?" I ask without turning around.
"Never spent time around men." She huffs. "I mean, I've spent time around men. Obviously, I've spent time around men. Just never ones who were nice to me."
I glance over my shoulder at her, anger slicing through me. "Your exes didn't treat you well?"
"I…well, no…I…" She fidgets restlessly, her cheeks pink. "Um, there are no exes."
Fuck. Is she–?
"Nina, I need you to be real clear here," I rumble, my hands in fists and my feet firmly planted. "Are you saying that you never dated anyone before me?"
"B-before you?" Her eyes are so wide they're in danger of popping out.
"Answer the question," I growl.
"I've never dated."
"You're a virgin."
She nods miserably, avoiding my gaze.
Jesus Christ. I just dry fucked a virgin on the couch. And I want to do it again right now. My cock is literally begging to do it again right now, actually.
No wonder I make her nervous. She's never done any of this before, and I'm already well on my way to planning our wedding. I'm fantasizing about how many kids we'll have and she's…what? Probably freaking the fuck out.
I stride back to her and lean down, brushing my lips across hers in a soft kiss. "Thank you for telling me, baby."
"I…you're welcome?"
I chuckle quietly at the confusion in her voice. "I'm going to try really hard to take things slow with you," I murmur. "You're gorgeous and you've got my goddamn heart beating out of my chest, but I'm going to try anyway. I don't want to fuck it up."
She stares at me for a long moment, vulnerability in her eyes again. "Why do you care, Emmett? I'm just a girl you pulled out of a fire."
"No, you aren't." I shake my head, my voice firm. "I'm pretty fucking certain you're my future. So I need you to get on the same page, Red."
"Your f-future?"
"Yeah, my future." I tip her head back, running my thumb along her bottom lip. "I wasn't even supposed to be at work last night, but something told me that I needed to go to that fire. And there you were, calling out for me like a siren in the flames."
Her brows furrow. "I didn't call out for you."
"Yeah, you did. How do you think I found you, Nina?"
In this line of work, it's impossible not to believe in something. I've seen people survive what should have killed them, and watched others succumb to things they should have walked away from without a scratch. You can't cheat death, but fate is the thing holding all the cards.