Page 14 of Outlaw Ridge: Griff
He didn’t leer. Didn’t smirk. But he looked.
And it lit something in her that had no business stirring tonight.
“Here,” she said, handing him her clothes.
Their fingers brushed as he passed them over. The touch was brief, but her skin hummed in the silence that followed.
He didn’t step back.
“You should rethink helping me,” she said, her voice low. “Whoever did this—set the fire, left that photo—wanted to scare me. It worked. And if you keep standing next to me, they’re going to come for you, too.”
Griff’s eyes locked on hers. “Good,” he said.
No hesitation. No doubt.
Lily didn’t move. Neither did he. For one suspended second, the threat outside the walls didn’t exist. Only this did. And that was somehow more dangerous.
“I’m not good at relationships,” Lily blurted before she could stop herself. The second it left her mouth, she winced. “That’s not… I didn’t mean that like I’m expecting anything.”
Griff didn’t answer right away. His mouth curved, slow and deliberate, into a smile that was all heat and quiet confidence. It hit like a punch, low, solid, no warning.
“Adrenaline junkies aren’t exactly built for relationships either,” he said.
Lily huffed out something close to a laugh, even though her cheeks were warm. “Good,” she muttered. “Glad we’re both emotionally stunted.”
“Just makes communication easier,” he added, straight-faced.
She shook her head, but the edge inside her had softened. Maybe not much, but enough. Enough to stand here, barefoot and half-dressed, and not feel like the world was ending.
The softpingof her phone shattered the moment.
Lily jumped, the sound sharp in the quiet hallway. She glanced down, startled to realize she was still holding her phone. She hadn’t even felt it in her hand. Truth be told, she might’ve forgotten how to breathe with Griff standing that close, his quiet heat and non-relationship presence pulling all the air from the room.
She lifted the phone and looked at the screen. The message came from an unknown number.
And her stomach turned.
It was a photo. At first glance, it was her house. Burning. But when she looked closer, her breath caught.
It washerin the fire.
Her body, twisted in the flames. Her face, frozen mid-scream, half-obscured by smoke. Fake, but only just. The image had been doctored, manipulated, but the effect was brutal. Personal.
Her thumb hovered over the screen, motionless. Then she saw the message below the image. The warning.
Back off now, or the next time, you’ll be in the fire.
----- ? ----
Chapter Four
----- ? ----
Griff stood at the stove, stirring the scrambled eggs with a calm he didn’t feel. The smell of coffee filled the kitchen, the scent strong enough to cut through the smoke that had clung to him from the night before. A long shower hadn’t rid him of that particular scent, and he hoped Lily was having better luck with that than he was.
He’d already taken care of her laundry. It was clean, dry, and folded in a neat stack just outside the guestroom door. She hadn’t opened it yet, but he’d heard the water running in the bathroom.
She was awake. Probably taking some time to process everything. Or rather, trying to.
