“Benjamin Reed, you better tell the truth right now.”
“I didn’t mean to,” he says in a small voice. “I didn’t know it would do that.”
“Thatwhatwould dowhat?” his mom demands, and I hold my hand up to her in a silent request to let me get the information from him.
“Did you maybe put some tin foil in with your bowl?”
“Momma always covers my food when she microwaves it,” he pleads, eyes swimming with tears. “I thought that’s what you were supposed to do.”
“It’s okay, buddy,” I say soothingly. “You didn’t know better. I bet you’ll never do it again though, right?”
He shakes his head furiously, burying his head into his mom’s legs and bursting into tears.
“It happens all the time, ma’am,” I say to the woman, who looks equal parts exasperated and empathetic. “Just let him know next time to cover his stuff with a paper towel or a tupperware lid.”
“You got it,” she says, patting the still sobbing boy on the head. “Thank you for your help.”
“Your kitchen will need a remodel, and you should probably hire some cleaners for the smoke smell, but the rest of the house is completely fine,” I explain. “Best case scenario, given the circumstances.”
We finish up what we need to, then head back to the station. I’m completely drained–apparently my time away has lowered my stamina. Removing my helmet, I wipe the sweat from my brow and heave a sigh.
“Damn, old man,” Tyler says with a grin. “You’re out of shape. Before you know it, you’ll have a gut to match the chief’s.”
“Shut up,” I say, shoving him. “I’ve just been out of practice. I’ll be back to running circles around you in no time.”
“Doubt it,” he chuckles. I glance down at my watch, choking when I see the time. I promised Abby I’d be home by six, and it’s currently five forty. “Shit,” I mutter under my breath.
“Everything okay?” Tyler asks.
“Yeah, I’m just going to have to haul ass to get home the second we get back,” I mumble. “You think you can manage the shift change without me?”
“I do it all the time,” he shrugs. “Who knows, maybe I’ll stage a coup and take your job.”
Shaking my head, I roll my eyes and him, tapping my foot anxiously until we pull up to the station. Jumping from the engine before it’s even stopped moving, I race inside, snatching my bag and my keys and hastily yelling a goodbye before peeling out of the parking lot.
I have sixteen minutes to make a twenty minute drive, but I’ll be damned if I break my word to Abby. My hands white-knuckle the wheel, and I silently plead with the universe for green lights and unmonitored stop signs.
Fuck traffic laws–I’ve got someone waiting on me.
Chapter 13
Abby
Fourteen Weeks
“Itold you, my lady,” a handsome masked stranger murmurs in a sultry voice, stepping in closely until my back is pressed to the wall in the darkened hallway. “I will always come back for you.”
With those words, his mouth crashes onto mine, and there’s no sensing where he ends and I begin–there’s only lips and tongue and teeth and heavy, needy breaths as he ravages my mouth. His hips press into mine, the friction deliciously satisfying even through the layers of my skirts.
“Wait,” I say breathlessly. “I want to see your face. Please.”
He doesn’t say anything, but doesn’t stop me when I reach for his mask, my fingers finding the edge of the delicate fabric and pushing it up over his head. To my surprise, it’s not a stranger at all–I don’t know how I missed it before. I should have recognized the fierce, stormy gray eyes that I’ve looked into a thousand times.
“Oh,” I gasp. “It’s you.”
“It’s me,” he says, his words muffled through the slow kisses he trails up my neck. “Does that change your mind?”
“No,” I whisper, cheeks heating with both shame and desire. “Is that wicked of me?”
