Page 41 of Her Ohio Old Flame

“I could stay like this forever,” she murmured against his skin, before tilting her face to meet his gaze.

Zane’s lips curved into a soft smile before he lowered his head, capturing her mouth in a kiss. It was slow, deliberate, and full of promises. The world around them disappeared.

As she slid up her hands to frame his face, a loud alarm shattered the tranquility. Zane stiffened, sat up straight, and pulled back with a muttered curse. “Sorry baby, it’s the station calling.”

Asha sighed, the intimacy of the moment splintering as he reached for his phone. The glow of the screen lit his face.

“This is Zane.” His tone was clipped, professional, the shift in his demeanor unmistakable.

Asha stayed silent as she tried to make sense of his side of the conversation.

“What? Another one?” His voice sharpened. “Arson?” He rose to his feet, pacing near the fireplace’s edge. “Where this time?”

The person on the other end must have responded because Zane let out a low growl, raking his hair with his free hand. “A fisherman’s lodge? Dammit.”

Asha straightened, her heart picking up pace. She could only imagine what was being said, but the tension radiating off Zane was evident.

“No, it’s too dark to head back now. We’ll be down first thing in the morning.” He paused, his jaw tightening. “Yeah, I know. One time’s an incident, two is coincidental, but three? That’s a damn pattern.”

The firelight flickered across his face, highlighting the strain in his features as he listened. “Got it. I’ll touch base as soon as I’m back.” He ended the call and dropped the phone on the coffee table with a sharp exhalation.

Asha stood and rested her hand on his arm. “What’s going on, Zane?”

He shook his head, his lips pressing into a thin line. “It’s… complicated.”

She stepped closer and kept her voice soft but insistent. “You’re upset. Talk to me. What happened?”

For a moment, he didn’t respond, his gaze fixed on the dark woods beyond their small circle of light. When she figured he wasn’t going to share with her and was prepared to admit to herself that the realization stung, he sighed. His shoulders sagged as he turned to face her.

“Brace yourself, baby,” he warned her, his tone filled with a gravity that made her stomach tighten. “This is going to hurt.”

Asha’s breath hitched as he began to explain, his words unraveling the story of the recent arson cases. The dumpster behind the high school. The car. And now, a fisherman’s lodge.

Her chest tightened with every word, her pulse thundering in her ears. But it was the next part that sent a cold wave of dread washing over her.

“It’s all connected to Mr. MacCready.” Zane’s statement was heavy with disbelief. “Someone’s targeting him. Lou’s trying to piece it all together, but we don’t have much to go on. However,it has to be him. The school where he works, his car, now his lodge. It’s all just… too connected.”

It was as if the ground shifted beneath her, his words pressing down on her chest. She turned away, her hands clutching her belly as a sob built in her throat. The world blurred as tears filled her eyes, spilling over before she could stop them.

Zane wrapped his arms around her from behind, his hold firm but gentle. “Asha?” he murmured. “I’m sorry, baby. I know what he means to you. Hell, to all of us!”

She couldn’t speak, couldn’t form the words. The secrets she’d kept buried for so long threatened to consume her, the walls she’d built around herself crumbling under the weight of her guilt and pain.

Zane held Asha tightly against his chest, trying to provide a solid anchor as her sobs wracked her small frame. She clung to his arms, digging her fingers into his skin as if letting go would shatter her completely. He didn’t speak, didn’t ask questions. He simply held her, his chin resting on her head as the firelight flickered around them, casting long shadows that danced against the cabin’s rustic furniture.

He rocked from side to side in slow, steady motions, hoping to soothe whatever storm raged inside her. Her pain pressed against him like a living thing, and though he didn’t know its source, he felt it as acutely, as if it were his own.

He could only guess what had set her off—maybe the weight of everything they’d been through, maybe compassion for a man they both admired, now inexplicably a target of someone’s rage. Asha had always been empathetic, her heart too big for the world’s cruelties.

“It’s okay, baby,” he soothed. “Let it out. I’m here.”

Her tears didn’t abate, spilling freely as if years of grief and guilt were finally clawing their way to the surface. Zane’s chest ached as he continued to hold her. Her trembling began to subside, but she still didn’t loosen her grip.

When she spoke, her voice was so small, so broken, he almost didn’t catch the words.

“I thought he was trying to help me…”

Zane stiffened, the red-hot fury he’d been suppressing over the arson flaring to life again—this time for a reason he couldn’t yet place. He pulled back just enough to look at her face, scanning her eyes for answers. “Who, Asha? Help you with what?”

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