The high-pitched tick of water hitting tile filled the house from down the hall. These houses were meant to be shared, which meant the single bathroom had been situated between both bedrooms, mere feet from the living room. He could hear Aslen stripping free of her boots and uniform, knowing the exact moment she stepped beneath the shower’s spray. A moan escaped from underneath the door, and Murray curled his fingers into his palms. All too easily, he imagined what waited on the other side of that thin wood, how her skin would be flushed from the heat, how she’d feel beneath his hands.
What the hell was he doing?
Aslen Woods was not his. Far from it. The way he saw things, she was his to protect, to befriend, to care about, just as she was to any other ranger in her unit. But she wasn’this, no matter how many times he liked to think otherwise. If anything, she was more of a little sister. Nothing more.
Frustration built the longer he was forced to listen to the crash of water coming from the shower. Aslen’s roommate must’ve gone back to headquarters because they’d had the place to themselves since Aslen had shoved through the door and told him to back the hell off.
The entire place was neat and well taken care of, with small mementos of a combination of Aslen’s and Danny’s lives sprinkled throughout. It took every ounce of strained intention to focus on those instead of the images his brain conjured. The blanket she’d crocheted in home economics in high school.The single photo of her family she’d managed to save from the fire that’d killed her parents. The mug he’d gifted her for her sixteenth birthday sitting upside down to dry on the counter that read I Will Probably Spill This. Small moments that made Aslen… Aslen. She’d kept them all. Built a life for herself despite every avalanche of crap thrown her way.
She deserved better than the scraps she’d collected over the years. She deserved the world. To be happy. Free. She couldn’t do any of that tied to him, but the thought of her attaining it with someone else… Fire exploded in his gut. Damn it. He had to get out of here.
Murray shoved to his feet, running one hand through his hair as he practically lunged for the front door. The vise around his ribcage tightened with every step. He’d never thought that promise he’d made back in middle school would need to include him following her here, but he couldn’t hold her hostage to his own emotional needs anymore.
The bathroom door clicked, and there she was, standing in nothing but a towel with all that dark hair plastered to tanned skin he had no business noticing. Air crushed from his lungs at the sight. Hell, she was beautiful. As many times as he’d tried to douse his attraction by losing himself in countless badge bunnies and rangers—though never in the law enforcement division—Murray understood right then it’d all been for nothing. Every cell in his body had somehow tuned into every cell in hers, as though she’d been made specifically for him with that birthmark above her lip, the clearest shade of green in her eyes and the sweet curve of her mouth he imagined fit perfectly against his. What would she sound like when he kissed her? Would it match the moan she’d let escape when she’d gotten in the shower?
Aslen scrunched a second towel into her hair to sop up some of the water dripping over her shoulders. “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be ready to go.”
He’d seen her like this plenty of times. Early in the mornings after he’d dragged her out of her foster mother’s house to stay with him and his family, at the pool every summer where they spent the entire time trying to knock other people over in games of chicken—reigning champions, right here—and that time he’d dumped an entire cooler of Gatorade on her after he’d scored the winning touchdown during homecoming. But the years had changed her. She’d added a few pounds of muscle since college, lost that orphan look that gutted him every time and gained an insurmountable dose of confidence sometime over the past few years. It looked good on her, added a glow he wasn’t sure any cosmetic could achieve, and left a full-blown woman capable of leading any man with a pulse off a cliff with her siren smile in her place.
Aslen straightened. “Are you okay?”
Clearing his throat, Murray mentally kicked himself. This. This was why he’d kept his distance, burying himself in his cases, limiting their interactions as much as possible since she was able to move out of that house. That first time he’d fantasized about her had scared him enough he’d disappeared for two weeks after her college graduation. Since then, he’d kept himself in check through every birthday, holiday and promotion, but her need to celebrate—and be celebrated for—their major life milestones had brought his resistance down brick by brick. They were all they had now, and he would keep showing up for her. Even if it drove him mad. “You need to eat.”
“I’ll just grab one of Danny’s protein shakes before we head to headquarters.” Furrows deepened between her eyebrows a split second before she turned toward her bedroom. In an instant, the invisible thread that connected them pulled taut.
Murray rubbed at his chest where he thought that connection might live, right over his sternum. He called through the door, ensuring he didn’t get anywhere close to the handle. “I’ll make you something.”
“I can feed myself, Murray.” Her voice grazed his senses as though it’d taken on a physical presence. Soothed his climbing heart rate, calmed the animal that wanted nothing more than to tear through that door and claim her as his. “I’ve managed this long.”
“Protein shakes aren’t food, Aslen.” He didn’t wait for a response, rounding into the kitchen. Spotless. Everything in its place with a clear purpose. Nothing extravagant. Purely functional. It was a side effect of her upbringing, having lost her childhood home in an accidental fire that broke out in the middle of the night. Then moving from foster home to foster home before she’d landed in the house next to his at twelve. Actually, he was pretty sure Aslen would have a meltdown if he misplaced a single item, so he’d memorized where everything went the first few times he’d visited.
And replicated her preferred brands and favorite snacks in his own house to make her more comfortable visiting.
She hadn’t visited. In fact, ever since she’d accidentally walked in on him with one of the women from the bar he and his fellow SLPD cops frequented years ago, Aslen had stopped making an effort with him. And within a couple of days after that incident, she’d announced she’d taken a job here in Zion.
It hadn’t made sense at the time, but since then, he’d had nothing but quiet and opportunity to think over the devastated look he’d caught on her face before she’d muttered an apology and fled his house as fast as her legs could carry her.
He’d broken her heart. And she’d tried to escape to the one place she was sure he wouldn’t follow: Zion National Park. Little had she known his need to protect her would far outweigh hisown survival instincts. And losing someone else he cared about to this damn park hadn’t been an option.
Her confronting the impossibility of the two of them together had been for the best. Though he was having a hell of a time reminding himself of that as he’d literally just sat on her couch a couple minutes ago and imagined what her skin might feel like under the shower spray.
But Aslen was off-limits.
Murray made quick work of the last few eggs in the refrigerator, throwing in a handful of mushrooms, spinach and some shavings of shredded cheese he found. He set the omelet on a plate a split second before the sound of her bedroom door opening reached him in the kitchen.
“You didn’t have to cook for me.” She secured her hair into a high ponytail that accentuated her cheekbones and slender shoulders. And highlighted the contorted skin along the right side of her neck. Scars from the fire that’d killed her parents. She’d changed into a clean uniform, the scent of her bodywash driving into his lungs. Vanilla and coconut. Same fragrance he’d caught himself memorizing as a teen when she’d curled into his side on the nights she needed someplace else other than that drunk woman’s house to sleep. He’d never been able to convince Aslen she could take his bed and he’d be fine on the couch. She’d slept like crap the few times he’d tried to give her space. Tossing and turning all night. It wasn’t until he’d slipped beneath the covers beside her she would settle down. “A protein shake would’ve held me over.”
“Sit down and eat.” He added a fork beside her plate on the table and backed away as if she’d turn on him any second. Which had happened on occasion.
Dragging her chair back, Aslen took a seat and dove into the omelet, triggering that ridiculous primal need he had to provide for her. “I can’t imagine why you’re still single.”
Could’ve been that any woman he’d been with over the past twenty years hadn’t come close to the one sitting in front of him. He’d keep that truth to himself until he died. Extracting his phone, he unlocked the screen and handed it over. “One of my rangers sent over a list of all annual passholders and narrowed down our suspect list to those who have used their passes over the last few days.”
“All right. I’ll help you find your arsonist. I’ll let you boss me around and throw around your authority during this investigation like you’ve been trying to do for years.” Aslen’s gaze raked over the screen. Then lifted to him. “But I want something in return.”
Chapter Seven
Something had changed.
