Hell times ten. What was it about this woman? His arms swept around her, wrapping her closer, as if to protect her from the moonlight, from chills and dangers that didnt exist, fromhim. She was a teacher, for heavens sake, not a Lorelei. She gave off more nerves than an untried girl. She wasnt a player.
Hell times ten. What was it about this woman? His arms swept around her, wrapping her closer, as if to protect her from the moonlight, from chills and dangers that didnt exist, fromhim. She was a teacher, for heavens sake, not a Lorelei. She gave off more nerves than an untried girl. She wasnt a player.
Every Southern girl emerged from the womb knowing how to flirt, knowing the danger line, enjoying the sport. Not Lily. She drifted off when he tried to charm her. And now, when he expected her to bolt because he was crossing the danger line, she curled around him as if inviting Armageddon. Hoping for it. Daring him to bring it on.
Hands skimmed down her sides, testing, exploring. Beneath her thin top, he could feel the suppleness of her skin, the warmth. The allure. Her eyes closed against the impossible brightness of moonlight. She sank into his touch, into yet another kiss, not yielding so much as communicating yearning.
Slow, wary of scaring her, rushing her, of doing anything to break this crazy spell, he eased the side of his hand against her breast, heard her responsive intake of breath, felt the heat rush straight to his groin. His arousal was no surprise, but he was hard to the point of pain, hard like a teenage boy who could only think of one thing. Having her.
Dipping deep into that softness and heat.
He brought her closer, achingly close, burning close, his hands sweeping down to her fanny, pressing. Her breasts crushed against his chest, nipples tight, igniting another firestorm of hunger, of awareness, of want.
Responsively, she swayed even more snugly against him, shimmying just a little against his arousal, nestling against it. At that precise second he understood she was saying yes. That he could have her naked, have her in his bed this night. All night.
Even more confounding, he couldnt remember wanting a woman more.
Ever.
That thought was enough to scare a little sense into him-not a lot, but enough. He eased back from a kiss, pressed his forehead to hers, tried to remember how to breathe normally. Since they were still glued hip to hip, possibly, normal breathing was highly unlikely, but maybe he didnt want that much sanity quite yet.
What are we doing here? he murmured, knowing exactly what they were doing. That was the problem-an intense awareness of how right, how damned perfect, she felt in his arms.
You dont know? she whispered back. I could have sworn you started this.
He hadnt. Hed started a kiss, yes. Hed intended to thoroughly enjoy a devastating, thorough, evocative good-night kiss. But she was the one whod brought on the tsunami, not him.
Youve been seducing me, he accused her.
Trust me. It had to be you doing the seducing. I wouldnt know how to begin.
Oh yeah, you do. Her nonsense made him smile. Or maybe it was that hypnotic look in her eyes. He swayed against her, wanting to, needing to torture himself a little longer. Were going to make love arent we, Lily Campbell
Is that a question or a statement?
Oh, its a statement for damned sure. But not tonight. He heard the landline ringing in the house.
So did she. She straightened. You need to answer that.
Yeah, I do. But I want you to know, if it werent for a potential emergency call, Id let it ring until ten months from Tuesday. Its not about wanting to stop this.
Griff. It rang two more times while he tried to explain. Just go. Its all right.
It wasnt remotely all right. He could barely walk straight, and his head was still buzzing. But he always answered the landline phone at night. He only gave the unlisted number to so many people-like his boys. Jason and Steve were in the riskiest situations at the moment.
He grabbed the kitchen extension, prepared forhell, prepared for anything. Hed had to be in the past.
Instead of a boys voice, though, he heard the gruff tone of Cashner Warden, the fire chief. Griff. Got a fire at your shop. The fire trucks on its way, but Im driving in from home as well.
He saw Lily pausing in the doorway, then her expression changed to immediate concern. Shed obviously grasped that something was wrong.
Was anyone in the store? Do you know how bad the fire is?
Not sure of anything yet. Neighbor saw smoke, called nine-one-one. I know you got a sprinkler set up in there, so Im hoping that-well, its foolish to speculate until we know more. Im on my way.
Ill be there. Before Griff could hang up, Cashner got in one more question.
Griff. You happen to know where Lily Campbell is?
Griff frowned. Say what?
Im just asking. If its arson, my first thought would normally be one of those loser kids you take on-but thats not so logical, considering youre the one always bailing em out of trouble. So then I have to say. You know. Its the second fire since shes been in town.
Thats ridiculous, Griff snapped, and hung up.
What? Lily asked. Somethings wrong-
Fire. At my ice-cream place. I have to go.
Of course you do. How can I help?
He couldnt remember the last time anyone had offered to help him. And his first response was to say the male thing-of course not. Yet, even before hed grabbed a light jacket from the hall closet, hed rethought that. Somethings wrong, Lily, he said quietly.
Obviously. A fires a terrible-
Not that. Or not just that. Im not sure if you heard, but the fire last week was at the old mill. The place is deserted these days. Nothing to worry about, as far as damages. Someone just brought in a heap of trash and lit a match to it. But it happened to be
There was a sudden stillness in her face. Yes. Where my dad used to work. Where he lost his job. Thats why, of course, I set that fire.
It was as if shed turned inward, to a place he couldnt see, couldnt be. He heard the joke. He just understood that it wasnt really funny-not to her-and damned if it was for him either. Yeah. First thing the fire chief asked me was whether I knew where you were.
She took in a breath. Wow. So I set this fire, too?
Amazing, isnt it? Really, sugar, I already realized you were amazing. But I had no idea you could be two places at once.
Some women have that kind of magic. She was still joking, even though her face had turned pale.
I dont like this. He couldnt define why adrenaline was shooting so fast through his veins, but every protective instinct was charged on full. Two fires in less than two weeks. Lilys name publically associated with both of them. What was going on?
I cant seem to think straight, he admitted. My first instinct is to suggest you come with me, be with me, so people will see us together. Id think that would prove you arent the fire setter. Unfortunately, the plans full of holes. I could be stuck at the shop for an unknown stretch of hours. Makes no sense to strand you without a car.
This is easy, Griff. Ill drive with you. Id like to help if I can. And if theres nothing I can do, then Ill just walk home to Louellas.
He was about to object. He liked her plan-except for letting her walk home in the dark. Just then, though, they both heard the distant scream of the fire truck.
There was no time to argue about logistics or details. She even beat him to the car.
In every way, Lily wanted to help Griff, to step up and do whatever she could. Shed just kind of forgotten a couple things.
Like that she was petrified of fire.
Like that she tended to have panic attacks anywhere near serious smoke and flames.
The instant Griff turned on Main Street, the chaotic scene flashed in front of them. Griff stiffened as if someone had slapped him-then moved. He pulled the car over, didnt waste time parking it, just cut the engine, tossed Lily the keys, opened the door and took off running.
Lily climbed out quickly, too, but then couldnt seem to move. The fire truck couldnt have been there long, but firemen manned two hoses, both of which were aimed full-force at the ice-cream shop. People clustered as close as they dared, some in their nightclothes, some holding kids and crying. The hoses choked the sharp yellow flames, turning everything into a black, sooty mess. The crowd, held back by yellow tape, screamed when the front window of the shop blew out, raining shattered glass glittering onto the wet pavement.
Griff was still charging under the police barrier toward his store.
Lily struggled to unfreeze. She knew this nightmare, every sharp edge, every petrifying shadow. No one knew about the furious noise of fire unless theyd endured it. No one knew about the choking smoke, the impossible mess, the stink. No one knew how something beautiful and safe and sure could be devastated in mere minutes.
No one knew that you could lose everything that ever mattered to you faster than the snap of two fingers.
She shook herself, forced herself to breathe, to move. This wasnt about her. It was about a whole town-and Griff losing that treasure of an ice-cream parlor. In the distance, she saw both the sheriff and fire chief jog over to reason with him, talk with him. Images nailed in her mind. Griff, fighting to get to his store, scalping a hand through his hair when he was held back. Sheriff Conner shaking his head. The fire chief, Cashner Warden, cocking a foot forward, clearly asking question after question. Griff never took his eyes off the fire.
Lily scanned the crowd, trying to think of something, anything she could do to help. The townspeople all seemed to love Griff. There wasnt a kid or family who didnt stop for his ice cream, barely a woman who didnt take the time to flirt with him. Several kids in the crowd were crying, hands to their mouths, being comforted by moms and dads whose faces looked white in the darkness. Every few moments someone would look at her-including Sheriff Conner.
It hurt to see suspicion in their eyes. They unquestionably thought the fire was caused by arson.
Darn it, so did she.
She spotted two of the boys who worked for Griff-Jason and Steve-and instinctively walked toward them. In such a relentlessly clean-cut town, the boys stood out like weeds in a garden. They were huddled on their own, isolated from the crowd, both wearing tees too thin for the damp night, shoulders hunched.