Page 24 of The Lightkeeper

“Still keeping it in mind,” I said, plucking a cracker from the tray of snacks. “Lou mentioned that the inn might be for sale soon?”

“Oh, we’re hoping.” Mom clapped her hands together and then passed me another jar to go with the label Gigi wrote out.

“Who’s the owner again?”

For the next hour, I let the two of them go around on the topic of the old inn. The man who first owned it. What happened to him. What happened to the inn. The mysterious real estate mogul who owns it now. At some point, Frankie returned and added in the rumors that it was haunted.

I didn’t say much, but that was okay. I hadn’t come here totalk. I’d come here to escape. I’d go back to the lighthouse later once it was dark to check on the light. In the off-chance thatChasing Dawnhad anything to do with Aurora, it was better I steer clear of finding her.

“Shit,” I swore when the wind caught my truck door and slammed it shut harder than I’d intended, the rain hitting me like a wet sheet.

These storms were common for March, but damn, if I’d been stuck outside in them too many times for my liking.Her fault.Because I kept having to avoid my own lighthouse.

I jogged toward the house, the windows glowingwith light from inside.Dammit, she’d left the lights on.She’d never left the lights on before. If anything—aside from her specimens taking over the kitchen—Aurora was very careful about making sure she didn’t disturb anything else. But now that she’d been here for three weeks, she was probably getting too comfortable. Either that, or she’d left in a hurry to try and beat the rain.

I kept my head down as I threw open the door with a low curse and quickly shut it behind me as the wind howled. I shook off the water from my jacket, shoved my hood back, and stopped short.

Aurora hadn’t left the lights on by accident; she’d left them on on purpose because she was still here.

And she was looking at my drawings.

While that was the first thing I noticed, it was quickly superseded by everything else about her.

What the…

Her hair was soaked. Her face was bright red. Judging by the puddle of water at her feet… and the trail I could see through the house… her clothes were soaked. But it was the way her teeth chattered that brought the whole picture together—their vibration making her entire body shake.

“Jesus Christ,” I swore and closed the space between us, gripping her shoulders. She blinked up at me, her skin pale and clammy and wet. “What happened, Aurora?”

Chapter Six

Aurora

What happened,Aurora?

I trembled at the angry vibration in his words.

What happened was what always happens… I got too caught up in what I was doing that I didn’t see the danger—the warning signs. The beating rain. The agitated sea. I felt a chill, but even when the wave hit, I wasn’t that cold.

“Tell me what happened,” he repeated, and then I felt his hands cup my face.

Strong fingers. Big palms. I let out a soft whimper; they were so warm. I shivered and placed my hands on top of his. I wanted him to hold the whole of me in his palms, then the cold wouldn’t get to me because it wouldn’t get through him.Nothing got through Kit Kinkade’s shell unless he wanted it to.

He pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “Jesus, you’re burning up.”

I tried to shake my head, but instead my whole body shook.He was wrong. I wasn’t burning up, I was freezing. “No, I’m cold. S-s-so cold.”

“Because you have a fever,” he growled, and then the world started to tip.

Wait. No. It was just me that tipped—sideways as Kit lifted me in his arms.God, he was like a furnace.I pressed my face harder to his chest, wishing the heat of him would seep all the way to my bones and pool warmth and safety into my marrow.

Were all men like this? Hot? Strong? Protective? Or was he a different species of male? Maybe I should’ve paid more attention—studied them a little more before writing off their entire sex in favor of science.

“We have to get you out of these clothes.”

My eyes felt too heavy to open, but my brow creased. Had I heard him right?Maybe I was hallucinating.

“What?” My voice was a distant mumble.

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