I dropped the ragIwas using to scrub the fridge and stomped to the door.Mytemper made it further than my body did.Thefoam edge of my two-dollar flip-flops caught on a nail sticking out of the hardwood floor and sent me careening to the ground.
I shrieked as my palms smacked the floor, catching my fall.Theelectric saw outside cut off and heavy footsteps thundered up the, apparently structurally sound, stairs.
“Roar!”Jackshouted as he barreled inside and dropped to his knees. “Shit.Areyou alright?”
Strong hands manipulated my limbs untilIwas sitting on my ass.Bloodtrickled down from my knee, staining my calf crimson.
“What else is hurt?” he asked as he smoothed those hands over my arms and legs.Iwas so shocked by his instant concern and response thatIforgot how to speak.
Jack leaned forward, cradling my head with his hands and smoothing his fingers over my forehead and skull.
The soft cotton of his t-shirt tickled my nose.Hesmelled like diesel, sawdust, and the sea.Jack’schest brushed against my cheek as he smoothed his hand down the back of my head.Thecloseness nearly lulled me into a trance.
All too soon, he leaned back and took me in from a distance.
Suddenly,Icouldn’t remember whatIhad been so up in arms about.Iblamed the masculine pheromones.Theyhad been working their evil on women for centuries, making them forget the wrongs and annoying habits of the male species.
“Do you have a first-aid kit?”
I blinked out of the primal haze. “What?”
Jack cupped the back of my knee, inspecting the gash. “Antiseptic?Bandages?Anything?”Heturned and assessed the nail and splintering floorboard. “Youup to date on your tetanus shots?”
“Surprisingly, yes.”
Jack lifted a thick eyebrow as he fought off a smile. “Soyou’re accident-prone, huh?”
I flipped him the bird.
He chuckled and stood. “Sittight.I’llbe right back.”
As soon asJackjogged down the stairs,Ilet out a heaving breath, flopped back on the floor, and stared up at the ceiling.
What the hell hadIgotten myself into?
WhenIopened my eyes again,Jackwas kneeling beside me and opening a first-aid kit.
“That was fast,”Igroaned asIelbowed my way up.
“I keep one in my truck,” he said as he pawed through its contents.
A snort slipped free. “Whothe hell are you?”
The smile that slipped across his mouth was sweet and devilish. “I’mprepared.”
“You’re such a boy scout.Letme guess”—Ihissed as he wiped the cut with antiseptic—“you’re also the beloved golden boy firefighter who rescues kittens from trees.”
“Last catIsaved out of a tree was this twenty-year-old asshole tomcat who clawed through my gloves and sliced up my hands.”Jackgently cupped my knee and smoothed a bandage over the cut. “ButMittenswas still a lot nicer than my new neighbor, whoI’vebeen desperately trying to get to know, but she’s about as prickly as he was whenIpulled him out of that cedar tree.”Heopened his palms and showed me the scratch scars. “Shejust doesn’t leave marks.”
My mouth popped open. “Didyou just compare me to a geriatric cat with a fear of heights?”
Jack stood and offered his hand. “Ifthe claws fit, pretty girl.”
My cheeks were scorching as he pulled me up to my feet.Jackrambled on about checking the rest of the floor for nails that may have popped up with temperature shifts from the house sitting vacant, but that wasn’t what grabbed my attention.
“That’s weird,”Imumbled asIlooked at the floorboard where the nail poked through.Thewood slat was burned at the corner, but only in one spot.Iglanced around and inspected the rest of the floor but, apart from age, most of the pieces were unharmed.
It couldn’t have actually been from a house fire.Whatkind of fire only burns the corner of one piece of wood in the middle of the floor?
