Blaze: A Small Town, Nerdy Girl, Opposites Attract, Protector Romance (Ghost Ops Book 1)

Chapter 32

Emma gota text from Blaze around three that said he was headed back to town. She stared at the words on the screen for a long moment. She wanted to respond with words of her own, but she stopped herself. Instead, she did a thumbs up on his text and continued with her paperwork.

Her dad stopped in the door to her makeshift office, and Emma looked up.

“You okay, honey?”

“I pulled a tendon in my arm this morning but otherwise fine.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but it’s not what I meant.”

Emma’s pulse throbbed. “Yes, Daddy. I’m fine.”

Mortified that he knew what Simon had done to her and how he’d systematically undermined her confidence in herself, but fine, nevertheless.

“You know you can talk to me if you need to, right?”

“I do. I’m fine. Really.” She sighed and put her pen down. “I didn’t know what Simon was like when I started dating him. He wasn’t that way at first. I feel like I should have seen it, though. The potential. But I didn’t. And I’m really sorry he broke in and made Mama feel unsafe.”

John Sutton came over and dropped to his knees beside her chair, dragged her into his arms, and held her. Emma put her arms around his neck and told herself not to cry.

“Baby girl, don’t apologize for that. It’s not your fault. Your mother and I are concerned about you. He could have burned the house down, and though we’d be devastated, it’s nothing compared to how we feel about your safety and wellbeing. He threatened you. That Barbie wasn’t a joke.”

“I know. But I’m safe, Daddy. Blaze Connolly’s making sure of it.” She huffed a laugh. “He won’t even let me leave this office until he arrives to escort me upstairs. He also doesn’t let me go anywhere alone, just so you know. He makes sure I’m locked in my apartment safe and sound for the night, and he gets alerts on the cameras he installed. So do I, by the way.”

Her dad squeezed her tight before leaning back to look at her with a watery smile. “I’m glad to hear it, pumpkin. I know your mama drives you a little crazy with her matchmaking, but you couldn’t do better than Blaze. If you were interested, I mean.”

Her heart thumped painfully. “It’s a bit too soon for that, really. I think he’s a good man, though.”

Even if she wasn’t certain what he’d been up to last night.

Her dad nodded. “He is indeed.”

Her phone buzzed on her desk, and she glanced at it.

Blaze: Slight delay. Be there soon as I can.

“I can walk upstairs with you when you’re ready,” her dad said. “If he isn’t here yet.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got to finish this paperwork, and I’m sure he’ll get here soon.”

She didn’t tell her dad that Blaze had an entire routine he did with entering the apartment first and checking for intruders. Not that one could get past the cameras unobserved, but he wasn’t the kind of man to take chances.

“All right then. I’m not leaving yet, just wanted to check with you. Do you think you could bring Blaze to dinner one of these nights now that your mama knows he was your date?”

Emma’s insides quaked at the thought. “Let me ask him when he’s available. But we aren’t really dating, Daddy. He’s a bodyguard. That’s all. Despite the kiss,” she added.

“I’ll impress that fact upon her, but you know your mama. She’s going to hope.”

“She’s always loved her romance novels,” Emma said with a smile.

“Unashamedly.”

Rory did too, but Emma had stopped reading them when she’d headed off to college. Maybe it was time again. She remembered sneaking her mother’s books and sharing them with Rory, but now she wasn’t so sure she’d been sneaking them at all. Mama always left them where she could pick them up and never asked where a book had gone.

Mama didn’t just read romance. She read the classics, biographies, non-fiction, literature, and she’d encouraged Emma to read them too. It’d been a long time since Emma had sat down with a good book that transported her. Maybe she should ask Rory for one of those reverse harem things.

Emma finished her paperwork, closed her computer, and went to see how Brenda was getting on with her inventory. Emma had an excuse ready for the missing bandages, needle, and thread, but Brenda didn’t ask.

“I think I may have used some things without keeping track,” Emma said, unable to let Brenda think she’d miscounted.

Brenda was an older woman who’d worked for her father for at least fifteen years that Emma could remember. She gave Emma a kindly smile.

“You’re the doctor. It’s what you do. Don’t you worry about keeping up with the little things. It’s my job to make sure we have enough and order more when we need it. That’s it, Emma.”

Emma smiled. She’d gotten brave enough to ask Brenda to call her Emma, and the woman hadn’t detoured to her full name since.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“It’s my job, Doctor. You just worry about taking care of people and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Emma leaned against the door frame. “Do you think we could use a new receptionist, Brenda? Would that make things easier around here?”

Brenda stopped what she was doing and gave Emma a look. “Wouldn’t hurt. When Beth left last year, your daddy planned to hire someone else, but then your mama had her heart attack and, honestly, I think he’s had his hands full with life since. I’ve handled it, but we could use someone.”

“What do you think about another doctor and nurse? Down the road, if things go well?”

Brenda smiled big. “Expanding the practice? I think that’s a fine idea. We’re a small town, but there’s development going up everywhere near us, more people moving in all the time. I think folks will drive a few miles to Sutton’s Creek just as easy as they’ll drive to Madison or Huntsville.”

Emma hadn’t known she was going to say such a thing until it popped out, but it felt right. Maybe leaning into her new life and seeing what she could make it was the best thing she could do. If it didn’t work out, it wouldn’t be from lack of trying.

Her phone buzzed with a text.

Blaze: I’m here. Got something to show you.

Emma donned her cool, controlled, not-into-you-at-all face and tapped a reply. Be right out.

She said goodbye to Brenda, then popped her head into her dad’s office to say bye to him. He came around to give her another hug.

“I’m on my way out the door in just a minute, too. If you need anything from me or your mother, we’re a phone call away.”

“I know, Daddy.”

He held her by the shoulders and gave her a serious look. “You don’t have to hide the bad things from us, you know. I’m your father, and if I could get my hands on that man, it wouldn’t be pretty.”

She started to protest, but he shushed her.

“That said, I know it’s best to leave it to the police. But if I had to commit violence to protect you, I wouldn’t hesitate. Neither would your mother.”

Emma couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you. But I’m going to hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Have a good night, sweetheart. Say hello to Blaze. I assume he’s waiting for you?”

She could feel the blush creeping into her cheeks. “He is.”

When she exited the office, Blaze was in the hall. He sat on one of the steps going to the second floor and he held a bundle wrapped in a towel.

Emma had slipped into her mask of indifference before walking out the door, but she could feel it slipping as the bundle moved.

“What’s that?”

Blaze stood to his full height and came over to her. He peeled back one edge of the towel as he dipped forward so she could see what he held.

A little black and white face peered up at her before the bundle mewed.

“Oh my goodness,” she breathed. “Where did you get a kitten?”

“She was in the parking lot at the range, meowing her head off.”

Her heart pinched. “Oh no, did you see any others?”

“Just this one.” His face went hard for a moment. “Somebody probably dumped her off.”

Emma could feel the shields she’d put into place crumbling away. She wanted to stay mad at him, stay detached, but the man made it impossible. He was sweet beneath that hard exterior, kind and caring.

“What are you going to do with her?”

“For now, take her upstairs and put her in the bathroom. Then I’m going to make a run to the pet store and pick up some supplies.”

The kitten mewed again, and Blaze stroked a big finger over her tiny head. “It’s okay, little baby. I’ve got you.”

Emma’s heart melted. “I can watch her while you shop. My apartment is still pretty much empty, and she can run around the living room.”

The corners of his eyes crinkled. “That’d be great. Want to hold her?”

She nodded and he handed over the squirmy bundle. The kitty purred as Emma rubbed under her little chin. “Do you intend to keep her?”

“I don’t know, but I won’t take her to the shelter.”

“There are some rescue foundations in the area that take animals and help them get adopted out. She wouldn’t have to go to the shelter.”

“That’s an idea. Still need to get her some things, though. She’s probably hungry.”

Emma cuddled the little bundle, bouncing a bit like she was holding a baby. She didn’t know why she did it except the kitten was tiny and maybe all babies liked to be bounced.

“I’m sure she is. I don’t have anything in my fridge. You have ham, right? We could try to give her a little bit of that, see if she likes it.”

“Even better, I think I have some shredded chicken. It’s not spicy. I can run in and grab it.”

“That’ll work.”

They went up the stairs and stopped at Blaze’s apartment. She waited in the hallway while he went inside for chicken. He came back with two saucers as well.

“She’ll need water and I think she’s too little for a bowl.”

Emma couldn’t stop the warmth welling up inside. Or the sudden surge of moisture that stung her eyes. She sniffed back the tears and kept her attention focused on the tiny bundle. She’d been angry at Blaze for pushing her away, for yelling at her, but now all she wanted to do was hug him for being so attuned to what a small kitten might need.

He made her wait outside while he did what he called clearing her apartment, which basically meant making sure Simon wasn’t inside. When he returned and held the door for her, she walked in with her bundle. The emptiness of her apartment smacked her as she made her way to the kitchen.

She didn’t have furniture yet, aside from the temporary chairs and table, but Blaze did. He had beds while she had a fold out mattress. The loneliness of her apartment overwhelmed her after spending a few nights in his.

He filled one of the saucers with water and set it on the floor. Emma put the kitty down and loosened the towel. The little thing tottered out on four shaky paws.

Blaze handed her a small container of chicken. “You feed her.”

“She’s so cute,” Emma said, taking the container and opening it. She squatted and held out a little piece of chicken for the kitten, who sniffed and then gobbled it up before meowing plaintively. “Okay, okay. You can have more. But not too much. Don’t want to get sick.”

The kitten had black and white on her face and a couple of black patches on her back. The rest of her was white, or would be once she was clean.

“I wonder what happened to her tail.” Emma touched the kitten’s black tail. It was a stub, but it was bent at the end.

“I don’t think it’s an injury. There’s no wound. Probably a birth defect.”

“Oh thank goodness. I’d hate to think this little baby had been hurt.”

“She’s too friendly for that. Came right to me when I bent down to look under the car.”

Emma’s stomach twisted. “She was under a car?”

“Yeah, but I heard her. I checked carefully for others. The guys helped. There were no cats, no kittens. Just this little thing.”

Emma fed the kitten another bit of chicken then placed her in front of the water. The kitten stuck her face in it, sneezed, then lapped it up as if she hadn’t had water in a long time.

“I’ve never had a kitten before,” she said, stroking the tiny back as the kitten drank.

“You could keep her,” Blaze said. “You aren’t working those crazy shifts anymore.”

Emma felt tears welling in her eyes. “I could, couldn’t I? My parents wouldn’t care.” She thought of Simon, of the doll in the puddle of red paint. “But I can’t risk it. If Simon got in here again, he’d hurt her to spite me.”

She shook her head, whether to shake away the tears or the idea that someone would hurt a kitten, she didn’t know. “Until he’s no longer a threat, I can’t get close to anyone or anything. Especially not something so helpless.”

Blaze hunkered down beside her and stroked the little kitty. She toddled over to him and rubbed against his shoe. “I’ll keep her for you, Sunshine. Until this is over. Though I have to point out I have no intention of allowing him to get inside this apartment.”

“I know.” The kitten bounced over to Emma and she picked her up and cuddled her. She was rewarded with a loud purr. “But I can’t risk it.”

“Then I’m keeping her until you can. Problem solved.”

She sniffed. Why was she so emotional about this? “You would do that for me?”

His smile made her heart ache. “I’d do a lot for you, Emma.”

She dropped her gaze, suddenly feeling confused and frustrated. Just a few hours ago, he’d said that he liked her, but that was it. So why did he keep showing up for her? Rocking her emotions with the gift of a kitten? Telling her he’d do a lot for her?

That sentence was charged with meaning, though maybe it was just her. Maybe she was the one hearing things that weren’t there.

“Thank you.”

Because what else could she say?

Their eyes locked and held. She thought he was going to say something more, but he rocked back on his heels and stood.

“I’ll head to the pet store. Be back as soon as I can. You know the drill.”

She got to her feet, too. “Lock the door, don’t open it for anyone.”

“Right.”

He walked out the door and turned to wait for her to close it. She lingered in the opening, one hand filled with a tiny kitten and the door in the other. Their eyes stayed locked together.

“I know you’re a good man, no matter what you and Chance were up to last night. I appreciate your protection and your friendship more than you know, and I’m sorry if I was too pushy about things you’d rather keep personal.”

Emotion crossed his face before he beat it back. But his voice was rough when he spoke.

“You make me want to share everything with you, Emma.”

“Then why don’t you?”

He closed his eyes a beat before they speared into her again. “Lock the door, Sunshine. Let me go get kitten food and supplies so we can make that baby happy.”

Emma swallowed the knot in her throat and did what he told her.