“No, because I did it for you,” I say, drawing closer until I feel the heat from her breath on my lips.
Two fuck-ups in the same day, Kincaid. What the hell are you doing?
Suddenly, her eyes go sharp as daggers, even as she strains to close the distance between us. “You don’t think I can handle this fight, do you?”
“Not alone,” I murmur.
“Then don’t make me fight it alone.”
I don’t know when protecting her stopped being the job and started being something else.
I should pull back.
I don’t.
That’s when my lips touch hers. Fire and longing. Too much need to safely contain.
But maybe I don’t want to.
I taste beer and defiance and something sweeter.
My gut knots, and I pull back. “Leonora, I need to tell you something…”
She’s flushed. Breathless.
I swallow. “Before this goes any further?—”
And then I smell smoke.
Not from the house.
Chapter
Six
LEONORA
Orange flames flicker in Arlo’s pupils for half a second before I turn.
“No!” My voice sounds far away, hand coming to my mouth to swallow my panic.
Then I run, Arlo’s footfalls close behind.
By the time I reach my great-grandfather’s barn, tears streak my face. I stare up at the ancient structure, unraveling inside. Not because the building had any use. But because it meanseverythingto this land. To me.
The wind shifts, flames doubling back toward us. Heat slams into my face. Then, I hear it in the distance. The sound of the cattle in the north pasture.
Arlo’s eyes scan the perimeter, face rigid and calculated. “Movement near the treeline.” His voice is stone.
My eyes follow his. Then I see it, a lone horse and rider where there should be no one. Our eyes meet across the pasture, and I note the covered face before he disappears into the trees.
“Clyde,” I hiss, shoulders tightening. I’d know the way he rides anywhere.
That’s when the sound of the herd hits me again. Lowing. Agitated. I gasp.
“This isn’t an accident,” Arlo growls.
“Or intimidation,” I stammer.
