Page 5 of Fallen Flame

“You really can’t help yourself,” I sighed.

“Nope.” He grinned. “What are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You like her.”

“I didn’t say that,” I denied.

“You didn’t have to.”

I rubbed a hand across my jaw. “I barely know her.”

“So get to know her.”

“I will.”

Arlo’s eyebrows shot up. “You will?”

“As friends.”

He made the most dramatic gagging sound I’d ever heard. “As friends?” he repeated. “That’s your plan?”

“It’s a good plan.”

“It’s a terrible plan,” Thorn disagreed.

“It keeps things simple.” I shrugged and took a sip of my coffee. It was the only thing that wasn’t interrogating me.

“Lark doesn’t seem like a girl who does simple.”

I couldn’t argue with that. Nothing about her seemed simple. She had a way of making every conversation feel like it could go in six different directions.

One minute she was teasing you, and the next she was completely serious. Then she was laughing again before you had time to figure out which version of her you were talking to.

Which made staying away feel even more important.

I set my empty mug on the bar. “I was given a job.”

Arlo sighed dramatically. “Oh, here we go.”

“I mean it.”

“I know you do.”

“I was tasked with keeping Lark safe.” Neither of them interrupted. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Thorn gave a small nod. “I figured that’s where your head was.”

“It is.”

“I’m still going to make fun of you.”

“I expected nothing less.”

Arlo pushed his empty mug away. “You know...”

I narrowed my eyes. “Whatever you’re about to say...”