Page 48 of Burn With Me

“The case files you had sent over. The guy arrived a little before you did to drop them off. I started unboxing them in the dining room. Unless, of course, there is something else you’d rather be doing?” He leaned his hip against the counter, the sexual innuendo not lost on me.

I suddenly felt naked in my little sundress as his eyes roamed over my body as surely as if his hands had. I lifted my chin and placed my hands on my hips as I stared him down.“Nothing else I want to do that I can think of.” I tried for sweet and innocent as I smiled back.

“All right, then.” He turned and began dishing out the Thai food, and I couldn’t tell if I was more annoyed at his comment or the fact he gave up so easily. Asher held out a massive plate that I would never eat. Taking it I waited to see if he would say anymore.

“The dining room is that way,” he said.

I took the plate from his hand, and our fingers grazed as I accepted the plate. The brief touch sent a shock of pleasure racing through my body. Asher’s eyes locked with mine as he licked his fingers to remove some of the sweet sticky sauce he’d gotten on himself. I swallowed hard as each one of those digits came out of his mouth wet.

“Did you want more?” he asked when I didn’t move.

I tore my eyes away from his and looked at the plate that was shaking slightly in my unsteady hold. Not trusting my voice, I shook my head no and exited the room as fast as I could in the way he’d pointed.

I sat the plate on the massive wooden table that looked like it had been carved right out of the center of a tree. Asher had piled the suspected arson files in one pile and confirmed arson cases in another. It would take some time to get through all of these, but we needed to find a link. Whomever this person was, they were smart and careful and had done it many times prior. No one woke up one day and was this great at setting fires without practice.

Looking up from the table, I took the moment I was alone to admire Asher’s home. It was simple, but he had great taste. There wasn’t much in the way of trinkets or photographs, but the combination of leather and wood was masculine and sexy. What he did have for decoration all seemed to revolve around boats and marine life. He had a picture framed on the wall of a tiger shark, and I walked closer to read the little plate. My eyes grew wide as I read the date, time, and location of the photo.

“Did you take this photo of the tiger shark?” I called out.

“Yeah. I’ve gone on a few of the tours where they feed them. It is a hell of an experience,” Asher called back.

“Damn, now I’m jealous. That is on my bucket list.”

“Really?”

I looked over my shoulder as he leaned to the side to look out of the doorway. “Yeah, why? Do I not look like the type of girl that would want to feed the sharks?”

“More like, I don’t know many that would do it, period, male or female. Most are terrified of what’s in the water and what they cannot see coming,” he said before disappearing again.

Wandering back to the table, I stared at the large stacks and was suddenly happy to have another pair of eyes on these cases. “Thanks for helping me with all this,” I said.

“No worries,” Asher said, right behind me. I jumped and looked over my shoulder. “This guy needs to be stopped.”

His eyes were trained on the piles, but he looked like he was thinking about something miles away. The moment our eyes met, the look washed away, and only the sexy grin remained.

Okay…the grin was there, but his eyes were hard, unreadable.

“Are we sure it’s just one guy?” I said to him, wanting to change the topic, and then ate a mouthful of the spicy noodles.

“The fires we’ve looked at so far don’t fit the M.O. of multiple arsonists, and it doesn’t work with your theory of how the person is gaining access to the buildings.”

“How are you doing? I mean, after finding Britnay and all. I meant to ask you yesterday, but I was so focused on Kim that I forgot. I’m sorry.”

“Like I said, we weren’t close as you’d expect. I feel terrible about what happened to her, and yes, I feel partially responsible and can’t help thinking that if I hadn’t called it off with her, she might still be alive. But I didn’t want anything more than our arrangement, and she did. I never met her family, and she never met mine. I met a couple of her friends a few times, but that’s it.”

I stared at him and wanted to ask many questions, but before I opened my mouth, I decided I didn’t want to know the answers. There were some things you were better off leaving alone. I took another mouthful of food and then crossed my arms over my chest.

“I hate that I feel like I’m second-guessing myself,” I said, changing the topic.

“How about this? You take that pile, and I will take this one. We should create a ‘possible suspect’ pile and a ‘definitely not our guy’ pile from the two stacks. We will take it from there, but Vi, don’t second guess your instincts. They’ve been spot on so far,” Asher said.

He looked away as I looked over at him, but I couldn’t help being affected by the compliment. It wasn’t one of his typical—teasing comments. He seemed genuine with his praise, and I liked that.

Why did the fact that he thought I was smart turn me on so freaking much?

That was what I really wanted to know as I watched his mouth chew his meal. Shaking it off, I grabbed my pile and began to read.

“You thirsty?” Asher asked, pulling me out of my reading. I was on the twentieth folder, and I hadn’t found any similarities to this arsonist so far. I looked up as Asher walked in with two glasses and two bottles of wine.