Page 26 of Ice Cold Liar

Eb lowered her onto the grass.Henry licked her face, and she put a hand on his head.“I’m okay,” she told him.

“No, you’ve got a fucking death wish,” Eb fumed.“That is not okay.Not in any world.”

She looked up at him.Way up because he was still standing.

That siren shrieked again in the distance.“You called for help.”Had thunder just rumbled, too?

“Not like I’m just going to let you burn.”His hands fisted at his sides.“Next time, don’t you dare runtothe fire.”

“But I put it out, I?—”

“You could have died.Right in front of me.What the fuck?”

“The flames weren’t that big.There was still time.”She felt what could have been a raindrop hit her cheek.

“Oh, right, because you’re some fire expert and you know.You know that there is still time when?—”

“It was nothing like the fire that took my parents.”She hadn’t meant to say those words.She hadn’t.Because she didn’t talk about that time.Not to anyone.So why did she pull Henry closer and tell Eb, “This one was smaller.There was still time to stop it.The flames weren’t rolling up the wall and onto the ceiling.The smoke wasn’t so thick that you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face.The heat didn’t lance your skin and make every single breath hurt.”

He dropped to his knees right in front of her.“Naomi?”

She held Henry tighter.“I didn’t have to get thrown from the second-story window by my dad because it was the only way out.”A brutal toss that had saved her life but broken both her legs.She hadn’t been able to run to the neighbor’s house for help.Her dad had wanted her to get help, but she’d only been able to crawl.To crawl and scream and scream and…

Oh, shit.She’d just said all those words to him.

“Fuck, baby.”He hauled her toward him.Her and Henry because she wasn’t letting go of Henry.And Eb…Eb hugged her.“Baby.”

She shuddered against him.And, over his shoulder, she stared at her darkened house.

No flames erupted.She’d stopped them.

This time.

Another raindrop fell.

And a tear slid down her cheek.

ChapterFive

“The fire’s out, for now.”The firefighter tipped back his helmet as he studied the house.His crew still fanned out.Half inside.Half near the idling firetruck.“Always have a chance of rekindling, so we want to check the scene as thoroughly as we can.”His gaze slid back to Naomi.

A quiet Naomi.A Naomi who wore just that oversized shirt.An oversized shirt wasn’t supposed to be dead sexy.But this was Naomi.Her long legs were bare, the shirt just skimming the tops of her thighs.She didn’t have a bra beneath it.The tight edges of her nipples were clear to see.

Lightning flashed overhead.More raindrops drifted down on them.Just great.What did Eb need now?For Naomi’s t-shirt to get drenched and stick to her like a second skin.

“Ma’am, I am happy to help you in any way you need,” the firefighter told Naomi as he took a step closer to her.

Yeah, Romeo could slow the hell down.Eb yanked off his own shirt and stepped in front of Naomi.He shoved his shirt over her head.Then yanked her arms through the sleeves.He pulled that shirt down as far as it would go?—

“What are you doing?”Naomi asked him as she swatted at his hands.

Covering her up.Keeping those tight nipples away from anyone else’s eyes.“You’re cold.”Thus, the tight nipples.“I’m warming you up.”He tugged the hem of the shirt as far as it would go.There.Mid-thigh.Better than before.Satisfied, he nodded.

She shook her head.“Now you have no shirt.And it’s probably going to full-on rain soon.”

Yeah, he was shirtless, but the firefighter wasn’t ogling him.So, win.He turned back toward the firefighter.What was the guy’s name?Saul?Paul?“How did the fire start?”

“Hard to say.You’ll need the fire investigator out here in order to make a determination like that.But I did note a lot of paint cans and flammables in the den…”

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