Chapter 8 #2
Mr. Wilson pauses to flip through some paperwork. “You arrived when the fire was at its most critical point. Just in time to save her. Incredible luck.”
A rock drops into my stomach at his sarcastic remark. I’m not the only one under suspicion. He’s hinting that Lee and I planned it together.
Lee’s stare sharpens. “I showed up because she invited me while we were at the party.”
Mr. Wilson lifts a brow. “If she’d already invited you, what was the purpose of the text she sent you?
” He jumps on it and says it like he’s caught us out on something, an inconsistency.
What does he think is going to happen? That Lee’s going to say, oh that was a message to let me know she was setting a fire and to hurry up? This is so ridiculous.
“She told me where the spare key was so I could let myself in.” He doesn’t mention the picture of me in the tub, but I don’t care if it comes up. It wasn’t even a nude.
“So, you weren’t called urgently,” the marshal clarifies. “You were coming over by mutual agreement.”
“Yes. She didn’t know when I’d get there.”
“Mm hm.”
The dismissive hum pushes Lee past his limit. He slams his hand down on the table, making me jump. “Enough. Are we being charged with something?”
Mr. Wilson seems unbothered as he taps the pen against the notebook. “No. I’m not here to accuse you. My job is to determine the cause. And right now, the cause is undetermined with suspicious elements.”
Suspicious. The word sticks like grit in my throat. “This is because of the home equity loan. It was used for my diner, and I provided all the documentation.”
“That may be, but it was a significant amount. When someone borrows against a paid off property and that property burns shortly after, arson is often the cause.”
That’s it. “I’ve told you everything and so has he. You clearly want to come up with a scenario that makes me responsible. I’m not answering anything else without a lawyer.” Lee gets to his feet when I do.
The marshal rises as well, gathering his notes together. “Your case will remain under active investigation. And the insurance company will be notified of the situation.” He closes his notebook with a soft thud. The sound feels louder than it should.
Air rushes out of me. I’m so screwed. They’re never going to pay my claim.
Lee’s parked beside me in the government center parking lot. Neither of us say anything until we get to our trucks. “I’m sorry,” I blurt. “I’m so sorry they’re dragging you into this.”
He frowns, slides his warm hand over the back of my neck, and gazes down at me.
“None of this is your fault. They’re fishing for a reason to make an accident into a crime.
We aren’t giving them one. If they check your phone records, they’ll see they match our story.
And a candle isn’t a smoking gun. They can’t prove intention because there wasn’t any. ”
“I’m going to get a lawyer just in case.” It’s not like I can spare the money, but I’ll be anxious if I don’t.
He nods, pulling out his truck keys. “Are you headed home?”
What home? “No, I should get back to work.”
We part ways, and I give him a wave as he turns onto the road toward the lumberyard.
I’ve been at the diner since early this morning, and I intended to stay all day, but my mind is scattered after that meeting.
I’m not any help when I keep zoning out, redoing some of the same menial tasks over and over.
When I’ve wiped the same spot for the millionth time, Camille leans on the counter beside me.
“It’s slow as hell and we’re overstaffed tonight. There’s no reason for you to pull an open and close. Take your ass home.”
There’s that word again. With a sigh, I toss the cleaning cloth aside. “I might just do that. How are the new baristas working out?”
“They’re great. I’m sure the Hot Pot is furious that you poached them.”
That puts a smile on my face. Both of my new baristas worked for the Hot Pot in the next county, a small coffee shop that paid next to nothing and often stole their tips.
The girl, Patty, had come into the diner asking about a position, and when I hired her, she asked if I was looking for a second person.
Her friend and coworker, Riley, was also happy to defect.
“They shouldn’t have made them risk their lives to come in during that shutdown storm last winter. That was their last straw.”
“Assholes,” she agrees.
It would be good to get back while there’s still some daylight for a change. After one more check that I’m not needed for anything, I head back to Lee’s. He’s not home, but there’s a hammering in the distance. I wonder if it’s him working on one of the cabins? It doesn’t matter.
I take a quick shower, pull my hair into a ponytail, throw on some sweatpants and a hoodie, then grab my headphones.
The thriller books I recently picked up at the thrift store wait on my nightstand, and I choose a random one before going back outside.
The sunlight is thin and sharp. It does nothing to warm the cool air.
Fall might’ve arrived late but it’s here now.
The massive red maple tree is full of brilliant leaves, which also carpet the ground beneath it. I forgo the deck and lawn chairs in favor of sitting on the ground under it. Leaning back against the trunk, I put some music on, open my book and try to remember how to relax.
My brain won’t let me focus on the words.
My mind keeps wandering back to the meeting today, and to the night of the fire.
Mom’s face drifts in too. She’d be pissed on my behalf if she were here.
God, I wish I could talk to her just once more.
Get her advice and find out how she dealt with the Matheson’s before.
Because I doubt that’s a problem I’ve heard the last of as well. It’s all just so much.
It’s a useless effort to try to read. Instead, I lean my head back to rest against the tree trunk, turn my music up, and watch the scarlet leaves fall around me.
The sun’s cutting rays weaken and fade. The clocks go back tomorrow night for daylight saving, and it’ll be dark even earlier.
It’s a depressing thought to add to the pile.
It’s almost fully dark when Lee’s headlights strike me, and he walks over once he’s out of his truck. “Are you going to spend the night out here since we can’t put the tree in your room?” he teases.
“I thought about it.” I get to my feet, brushing leaves and dirt from my seat.
“I brought some barbecue for dinner,” he says, holding up the bag as we go inside.
“Thanks, but I’m not hungry.”
Nothing I do seems to pull me out of my mood over the next couple of hours. My mind won’t let all the worries rest. After changing into pajama shorts and a tee shirt, I grab some water and intend on going to bed early.
Lee intercepts me in the living room. He catches my wrist and looks me in the eye. “I know you’re struggling. What can I do?” If I let myself think for a second how sweet that is, I’m going to burst into tears, something I’ve narrowly avoided all evening.
“Fuck me until I can’t think.” The flippant response flies out of my mouth without me giving it a second thought.
His inhale is sharp and audible. “Silver…” My name falls out like a warning that I have no intention of heeding.
His hands are already on my hips, tightening, pushing me back into the wall with a thud that sends shivers racing through me.
He dips his head and his low voice rumbles in my ear. “If you didn’t mean it, say so now.”
I didn’t mean to say it, but I absolutely meant it. Instead of replying, I catch his lips with mine in a searing kiss. My fingers fist his shirt as I pull him as close to me as possible.
That’s all it takes. He moves fast once we break the kiss, dropping to his knees in front of me.
My shorts are quickly slid down and tossed aside.
His large palms travel leisurely up my legs, and my breath catches as his hands part my thighs.
It makes me take a staggering sideways step.
He tightens his grip, steadying me, keeping me exactly where he wants me.
And then he buries his face between my legs. With the first sweep of his tongue across my clit, heat floods through me so quickly my knees nearly give out.
“Lee.” His name bursts from my lips, sharp with shock and pleasure.
My hand flies to his hair, gripping instinctively as he works me with a fierce, consuming focus.
He knows exactly what he’s doing, licking and sucking at me until I’m losing my mind.
It’s ecstasy so overwhelming that it’s part torture, and I’m pulling his head closer at the same time that I arch my back, trying to get away. He isn’t going to allow that.
Without stopping his devastating mouth, he grabs my knee and throws it over his shoulder, leaving me standing on one leg. I grasp his other shoulder and hair for dear life. There’s no escape as he sucks my clit steadily while my cries and moans fill the room.
Oh god, I can’t take it. I can’t…
The room blurs. My mind shatters and my body sags under the crushing pleasure. He holds me up, holds me open, holds me together while I break apart under his talented mouth.
Then he stands. I barely register the motion before he delivers a deep, hungry kiss, stripping below the waist at the same time.
Our lips only part long enough to toss aside our shirts, then his hands slide under me in one smooth, powerful movement.
He lifts me off the ground as I wrap myself around him.
He presses me firmly back against the cool surface, his body a solid wall of strength and heat pinning mine. “Hard,” I utter. “Go hard.”
A deep, barely audible growl rattles his chest. The first thrust jerks a sound out of me I’ve never heard myself make.
I’m wet as I can get but it’s been a year since anyone has been inside me, and the sudden invasion is a burst of pleasure and pain.
My fingernails dig into his back as he withdraws and drives in again.
“Fuck, you’re tight.”
I’m burning up inside and out, my heart racing with only one thought beating against my brain. “More, more.” It takes me a second to realize I said it out loud.
“More?” he growls. “You’re going to take every inch.”
Grabbing my hips, he pulls me down as he buries himself completely. Oh, I forgot how much more he had to offer. I’m not going to be able to walk tomorrow but I don’t care. I clutch at him, at his round ass and his broad back as he fucks me hard and fast.
Not satisfied with the wall, he pauses to carry me into his bedroom without pulling out, lays me on the edge of his bed, puts my feet by my ears and continues.
He’s relentless. The punishing, deeply satisfying thrusts never slow or lighten up.
It feels like it goes on forever and still not long enough.
His raw primal expression when our eyes meet undoes me. I cry out, shaking and fisting the bedsheets through another explosive orgasm. When I open my eyes, he’s gazing down at me, hunger still reflected on his face.
“You’re so sexy when you come.” He leans over to deliver a long blistering kiss. I was too out of it to realize whether he’d come but I should know better. He went for hours the other time we were together. When I start to sit up and move back, his chuckle is deep.
He pulls out, rolls me over onto my stomach, and tugs me up the bed. The heat of his body reaches my skin a second before his voice is in my ear. “I’m not even close to done with you.” He bends one of my knees out and slides back inside.
Oh, it’s so much tighter this way. I’m stuffed full of him. He fucks me, his strokes slow, deep and deliberate. I can feel every ridge and vein dragging over swollen, tender flesh and the moan I release is pure pleasure.
I could do this for eternity.
Hours later, we’re both spent and lying on his bed. “Mission accomplished,” I murmur. “I’m too worn out to think. Coming too many times might’ve given me brain damage.”
Lee runs a warm hand down my back from the top of my spine to the curve of my ass. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“We’re both stupid. I didn’t even think about a condom.” By the time I realized it, we’d already been going at it for too long to bother.
“You know I’ve had a vasectomy.”
“And I’m on birth control, but that doesn’t cover everything. I got a screening a few months ago at my gynecologist appointment. I’m all clear, and I haven’t been with anyone since.” I haven’t been with anyone since him, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“I can show you my last results or get retested if that makes you feel better.”
“When were you screened?”
He scratches his beard. “September last year.”
That was over a year ago. I open my mouth to tell him we’ll just both get tested but I don’t get the chance.
“But I haven’t slept with anyone since. Except you.”
What? I roll over and look at him. Doubt must show in my expression. “You haven’t had sex in a year?”
His lips tilt up in a grin. “You don’t believe me?”
“I didn’t say that.”
His expression and tone turn serious. “I don’t make sex a priority because women usually want more than that.” He reaches out and puts a finger under my chin, his eyes landing on mine. “I don’t. I don’t want anything more, with anyone, and I never will.”
“Neither do I. I have enough problems without a man making them worse.” He chuckles as I sit up and scoot off the bed. “That doesn’t mean I’m not up for more brain wiping orgasms if you are.”
“You’re going to have amnesia by the time I’m done.”
After collecting my clothes from the floor, I crawl into bed in the guest room. My body feels limp and relaxed, my mind quiet. Blissful sleep steals me away quickly.