She lets out a breath that could be a laugh if it wasn’t edged with nerves. “Comforting.”
“I’m not here to comfort you,” I say, and my voice comes out lower than I mean it to. “I’m here to keep you safe.”
Her throat works as she swallows.
“Okay,” she says, like it costs her something. “Okay. Fine.”
She steps inside.
The door shuts behind her with a soft click that sounds too final. Her eyes sweep the cabin fast, taking inventory—kitchen, couch, hallway, the stacked firewood by the stove. It’s what people do when they’re looking for exits and weapons and threats.
Ellie’s always been good at reading a room. She’s better now.
Her gaze lands on me again, and the air shifts. Something invisible pulses between us, tight and hot, like a wire drawn too taut. She feels it too. I see it in the way her shoulders stiffen, like she wants to step back but refuses to.
“Jesus,” she mutters, then clamps her mouth shut.
“What?” I ask, though I already know.
She waves a hand between us like she’s swatting smoke. “Nothing. It’s just… you.”
I arch a brow.
She huffs. “You’re…Wyatt.You’re Wade’s?—”
“Best friend,” I finish, because she can’t seem to get the words out without choking on them. “Yeah.”
Her cheeks flush, and I don’t miss the way her eyes flick to my mouth like she’s thinking something she doesn’t want to admit.
That’s fine. I can think enough for both of us.
“I shouldn’t be here,” she says, voice tight.
“Yet here you are.”
“I didn’t know it was you,” she snaps, and that’s the panic talking now, turning into anger because it’s easier to hold. “Your stupid ad didn’t say ‘Wyatt Cooper, local firefighter, the one man in town I absolutely should not?—’”
“Should not what?” I cut in, calm.
Her lips part. Her eyes flare.
Then she shuts her mouth like she’s bitten her tongue.
Good girl.
She glares at me for even thinking that thought.
I fold my arms, letting the silence stretch. Letting her squirm. Ellie’s strong, but she hates not being in control, and right now she walked into my cabin off a listing she shouldn’t have answered.
She’s not in control.
She clears her throat. “Why did you post it?”
I shrug like it’s nothing, like this wasn’t a choice I made with my teeth clenched and my instincts screaming. “Because I needed to.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you get for now.”
