Chapter 10
Cole felt like he’d been hit head on with a ton of bricks and his back hurt like hell.
No way could he explain what just happened, he must have passed out.
He’d been able to hear Maeve’s poetic voice oozing with worry as he felt her hands run all over him, presumably making sure he was okay.
Was he? Things were pretty dark but then he hadn’t yet tried to open his eyes.
The pressure and heat she exuded just from the simple touch of her hand to his chest warmed him throughout his entire body and she smelled like a mix of vanilla bean and cherry blossoms. He didn’t think he wanted to wake from this dream. Oh, but her shop…shit.
He pried open his eyes to the most beautiful sight looking down at him, barely concealing her tears.
“Hey beautiful.”
“Oh, thank God, you’re okay…I was so worried, you hit the ground so hard.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to feel it. Can you help me up?”
Maeve grabbed his hand with both of hers, her little frame pulling as hard as she could.
“Where did those creeps go, did you see?”
“I only saw they disappeared in the dark down the alley so I’m not really sure, I was more worried about you. Are you sure you’re okay? You scraped your elbows, there’s a little blood on them.”
“I’ll be alright, we need to find a fire extinguisher, there’s fire in the kitchen.”
Cole headed toward the back door of Maeve’s shop to see how bad the fire was inside.
“There’s an extinguisher just to the left of the back door next to the cabinet. Please be careful.”
“Hey, good thing I’m a trained firefighter huh?”
“Well yeah but without any gear?”
Cole shrugged his shoulders, dismissing her observation as he peeked in the back door.
Whoever those idiots were, they must not have realized the gas and electric had been shut off after the first fire so they probably couldn’t get anything to light.
He asked Maeve to call 911 while he put out the small fire in the middle of the kitchen floor.
“Looks like they took some trash out of the bin to burn with some gasoline but I’m guessing what exploded was the aerosol cans. Must be why they ran out of here so fast. Do you use cooking spray?”
“Yes I had three or four cans on the storage shelf and a new one I just opened this week above the stove.”
The sounds of the station alarms meant his buddies would be invading the space momentarily, so he and Maeve needed to get out of the way.
“The guys should be here any minute. Let’s stand back out in the alley so they can see us.”
The single truck made its way down the alley, no longer dark with the presence of flashing red. His chief was the first out of the truck, nodding his greeting to Cole and shaking hands with Maeve.
“What the hell happened here?”
His chief was not one for being subtle.
“Sir, we almost caught the guys in the act. Looks like they set a fire in the middle of the kitchen and threw in some aerosol cans right before they took off running. Blew up and planted me right on my ass when I got to the door.”
The chief laughed out loud. Okay, so it was a little funny.
“So, I got the fire out with the extinguisher, it wasn’t burning much. Looks like they’d taken out a bunch of trash from the dumpster and set it on fire.”
“Well, that answers for the awful smell. Thanks Cole, as you know, Mr. Howard will most definitely be in touch again. I didn’t call him yet. I’ll start that headache in a little while.”
The chief went inside and took a quick look around, double checking that nothing else would catch on fire or blow up.
Maeve and Cole both thanked the chief and the engine left, leaving room for the county sheriff to pull in next.
“Sheriff Masters, nice to see you sir.” The older man had been a family friend for years. Cole introduced him to Maeve and gave a rundown on the situation.
“Sounds like we have a repeat arson on our hands. Did either of you get a good look at them?”
“They were wearing all black, including gloves and ski masks so I didn’t see anything or even where they ran to, it’s pretty dark out here with the power out.” Maeve had offered the only information she could.
“It doesn’t surprise me.” The sheriff wrote a few things down in his notebook and handed Maeve a card.
“If you think of anything else just give me a call. I’ll start doing some nosing around and see what I can come up with. Never know, may have left a fingerprint if one of them took off a glove. We’ll board up this door before we leave but I’d probably get someone here to fix it tomorrow morning.”
While the Sheriff’s department took over, Cole and Maeve walked down through the back alley out to the main sidewalk.
“How about I walk you home?” He knew she had to be exhausted after everything they’d been through. It wasn’t like her to be so quiet which made it pretty obvious the whole thing was bothering her.
“Thanks, that’d be great. Will you stay for a while though; I don’t really want to be alone.”
Better words were never spoken. He’d stay as long as she wanted or needed him to, he wasn’t about to question a chance like this one. Besides, he was a little bit worried about who might be on the lookout for her. That and she always had food in her frig.
***
Maeve tried so hard not to open her eyes even though she had been awake since before daylight.
Sleep evaded her most of the night. She’d used the bathroom a couple times and even got a drink more than once which wasn’t something she usually did.
It was beyond her natural control to keep from checking on Cole, which was mainly for peace of mind, but he was out like a light.
At some point he’d kicked the covers off.
He looked so good but begrudgingly, she’d put the covers back over him.
If she kept her eyes closed, maybe she could fall back asleep?
Who was she kidding? Once she was awake, there was no going back to sleep.
Donning her bathrobe, she peaked out her bedroom instantly catching the sweet aroma of her gourmet select beans and blueberry pancakes.
He cooked too. Might have to keep him around awhile.
“Morning sunshine.”
He walked toward her, handing over a steaming mug of coffee. Her cheeks turned rosy with embarrassment at the small gesture of intimacy. No one ever made anything for her before.
“Is that maple bacon I smell?”
“It is. Only the best when I make breakfast.”
“Thank you, Cole. You didn’t have to do that. Did I have all that in my frig?” She couldn’t recall buying the bacon or anything to make the pancakes with. She normally grabbed a bar when she walked out the door or ate at the restaurant except on the weekends.
“No, I ran to the corner store. I’ve been up a while, knocked on your door and even peeked in but you were sleeping pretty sound.”
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I feel like I didn’t sleep well at all.” Maeve pulled out a chair at her kitchen table and sank into it.
“A lot’s happened in the last forty-eight hours. I can see where you’d have a little bit on your mind.” He laid a plate in front of her with two pancakes and a generous amount of bacon, crisp but juicy in all the right places.
“This smells delicious Cole. I’ll never be able to repay you for everything you’ve done for me.”
She hung her head a bit remembering all the times he’d stepped in to save her the last couple of days. What would she have done without him?
“Hey.” Maeve felt Cole’s fingers at her chin, turning her to look up.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else Maeve.” He leaned down, placing a soft but rather electric kiss on her lips. “If you’d let me, I’d like to hang around a whole lot more.”
Before she could stand to meet him face to face, overwhelmed with feelings she hadn’t had in a very long time for a man, he’d knelt down to her level, placing a hand at the nape of her neck.
“You really want to?” Maeve innocently questioned.
Then he laughed, right before he kissed her again, with much more strength and full of purpose.
Hovering at her lips he breathed heavy. “Maeve, you really are an amazing woman. Yes, I definitely want to spend more time with you, as much as you’ll allow.”
This time she kissed him back, her hands roaming over his deliciously unshaven face to his neck where they latched on like a lifeline. At some point, Maeve realized they’d moved away from the table, and she was wrapped in his arms.
“I could stay like this all day, Cole.”
“Oh honey, don’t you dare tempt me. I’d like nothing better than to take that robe off you and drag you back to your room, but we have some things to take care of today. You better eat before I throw caution to the wind and do just that.”
Maeve laughed but kissed him again and sat in front of the breakfast he’d prepared. Hadn’t taken long to finish, they were both hungrier than they realized. Afterward, Maeve went in for a quick shower while Cole cleaned up the kitchen.