Page 89 of Tasting Fire
“I wouldn’t,” she said. “I want my space to think in.”
If Cash had his way, he’d stow her in an extra bunk at the station and lock her inside. Yeah, that would go over like a charm. But the thought of someone coming after her made his blood feel as if someone had shoved popsicles in his veins. “Keep your phone nearby, don’t leave your apartment for any reason, and don’t open the door for anyone but me.”
“Seriously?” She stared him down.
“Just hang out here. No public appearances or deliveries.”
“I’m reminding myself that you’re doing this out of concern and not some macho manly egomania.”
They pulled up in front of her building, and Emmy reached for the door handle, but Cash clicked the locks before she could pull it. “You’re not going up alone.”
She pointed toward the newly replaced glass, reminding him of how scared and pissed he felt the night the brick had almost hit them. Had almost hit Emmy. “Grif and his staff are in there.”
“Which means there’s all the more reason for you to keep your door locked and stay inside your apartment.”
“He’s your cousin!”
“Yeah. But the rest of those people aren’t.”
He popped the locks and Emmy shot out of the truck. He was right on her heels as she flew through the Murchison building’s front door, not giving anyone on the first floor a passing glance.
“Don’t go inside your apartment without me,” Cash called out to her.
Grif glanced up at Cash, giving him a what-the-fucking-fuck look as Emmy stomped up the stairs.
“Long story,” Cash told him.
“When it involves a woman, it usually is,” Grif returned. “Whatever you did to piss her off, just apologize for it. Your life will be much better.”
“What if I’m not wrong?”
“Even if you’re not wrong about this, you are about something. Just suck it up and say you’re sorry. Take this advice from a man who lives with three women.”
“Can you keep an eye on her?”
Grif’s smug expression went sharp. “Why? What’s going on?”
Yeah, he should’ve known that his Steele Shark cousin would home in on something Cash didn’t want to talk about right now. “Some folks aren’t too happy with Emmy currently. Someone wrote a crappy op-ed article about her in theSteele Ridge Newsand there was some kind of protest outside St. E’s emergency room today. If I hadn’t been there, I think someone might’ve gone so far as to hurt her.”
“Steele Ridge people?”
“At least some of them.”
“Son of a bitch,” Grif muttered and ran a hand over what was probably a two-hundred-dollar haircut. “This town is a nice place. At least it’s supposed to be.”
“It is,” Cash assured him. “But sometimes people act out when they’re scared.”
Grif shot a look toward the stairs. “Why can’t you look after her?”
“Caught half a shift at the station. I’ll be back here in the morning.”
“Consider me on duty, then.”
