Page 44 of Tempt My Heart

"Of course I did. I will always come when you call, Alison."

Her body shuddered as she let her guard down and Christopher held her up, cradling her to his chest and pushing his fingers through her hair before he reached out to close her front door behind them and lock it.

"Everything's okay," he murmured, "you're safe."

"I'm sorry I called you," she mumbled, comforted by his heartbeat beneath her ear. "I shouldn't have put you at risk too."

He gently eased her away from him and cupped her jaw, his deep brown eyes peering at her with concern. "What do you mean?"

She opened her mouth to explain but then her phone rang and a strange sense that something was wrong made her rush to get it.

"Freya?" she said as she answered. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay, but Ali, I just got a call from Caleb." No.No.She'd just spoken to her mom and she'd been fine. "They got a call from your mom's neighbor, June? Your mom's place... Well, it's on fire. He said you hung up on your mom before she could tell you."

On fire. Onfire?She had been silent for too long because Freya prompted her, the worry in her voice translating fine over the phone.

"Ali? I'm sorry. But they're both fine, apparently they were out of town."

"I know," she said, voice cracking, so she cleared her throat and repeated herself. "Thanks for letting me know, Frey."

"Of course. Are you going to be okay? Do you need me to come home?"

Ali glanced back to find Christopher sitting on their couch, watching her. "It's fine, Christopher's here with me."

She hung up after promising Freya she'd call if she needed her and then flopped onto the couch next to her boss.

"Someone set my mom's house on fire," she said and Christopher breathed a curse. "She's fine, she was away for the weekend. But I need to get her out of here, somewhere safe."

"And what about you?"

She followed the direction of his gaze and picked up the knife from the floor, dropping it onto the fuzzy table-chair. "I'll be okay."

He pushed a hand through his hair and it was then that she noticed what he was wearing.

"Were you asleep when I called?"

A blush colored his cheeks as he glanced down at the pajama pants and mismatched shoes on his feet. "No, I was just relaxing. I, um, tried to get here as fast as I could—it's just lucky there's not much traffic at this time coming into the city."

"Well, thank you for coming," she said and felt like she should probably let him go back to his evening even as she desperately wanted him to stay. And not just because Jared had scared her shitless.

No, she couldn't get the kiss they'd shared the night before out of her head, like it was haunting her.

"Ali..."

She couldn't meet his eyes and when she heard him sigh, she figured he was leaving. A soft touch to her shoulder made her head jerk up in surprise. "It's okay to ask for help sometimes, you know. It's okay to need it."

There was a lump in her throat that wouldn't fade no matter how much she swallowed, so she nodded slightly and he moved closer. He smelled like wood smoke and the outdoors, and she couldn't help but relax slightly.

Two fingers tilted her chin up and her heart caught in her throat as his lips brushed hers lightly, sending a shockwave through her system.

"Come home with me," he murmured against her mouth, and she didn't know what she'd been expecting him to say but it hadn't been that. "I don't like the thought of you being here by yourself. The wedding's not that far away now, so why don't you come and stay with me until this is all figured out? I promise I'll keep you safe."

His face was open and earnest and his thumb was stroking tiny circles into her palm that made all her muscles feel like goo.

"I'm scared," she admitted and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I know. This.. whathedid tonight changes things."

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