Bullets & Bonfires

A chill tingles down my spine.

“Miss?”

“Huh?” I turn and find the barista holding out a fistful of change.

“Thanks,” I mumble, tossing it in the tip jar. “I’ll be right back.”

Darting into the mall, my gaze scans everything. I’ve only made it a few stores away from Starbucks when I spot my prey. Chad’s brother, Chris, cowering behind a rack of clearance sneakers.

I’m so done with this shit.

I march right into the store. “Are you following me, Chris?”

His face turns red as soon as he makes eye contact. “No. I’m following the order. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“What order?”

“Oh.” He flashes a smug smile way too similar to his brother’s for my comfort and I back up a few steps. “Your boyfriend didn’t tell you? Yeah, he had me served at my parents’. So, thanks for that.”

I’m beyond tired of people blaming me when their shitty actions get them into trouble. “Maybe you should have thought of that before sending me all those emails and leaving me nasty voicemails.”

His gaze darts away. “I’m sorry, okay? He’s my brother. I was upset. He’s never been in trouble before.”

“That’s because your parents always cleaned up his messes.”

He grinds his teeth and doesn’t respond.

“Just leave me alone, Chris,” I snap. Courage gone, I turn and run back to Starbucks. Grabbing the coffees, I hurry back to the salon.

“Were they packed?” Aubrey asks, accepting the plastic cup dripping with cold sweat.

I nod and hand a coffee to Celia and sit so I can sip my own.

When it’s my turn, I tell Celia to go nuts. “Okay, not too nuts, I may be going on some job interviews soon.”

She sifts through my long, thick hair. “A lot of my clients would kill for this.”

“It grows back, right?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“I like your spunk, Bree. So, if you’re feeling brave, I think you could totally pull off a long, inverted bob that’s shorter in the back with longer layers in front.”

“How short?”

A quick grin says she’d expected that question.

“Skimming your shoulders. A little higher in the back.” She touches a spot below my neck.

“Do it.”

With every snip, chunks of my hair tumble to the floor like all the bad years of my life falling away.

When it’s finished and styled, Celia hands me a mirror and I admire her work. “I love it.” Totally worth it. I admire the long, sleek layers that seem to make my round face look thinner and more mature.

“That came out beautiful, Bree,” Aubrey says.

Feeling a little silly, I hold out my phone and take a quick selfie, then send it to Liam.

While we’re ringing out, he replies:

Wow.

My girlfriend is hot.

Can’t wait to see you later.

I guess Liam likes it.

“Is that the boyfriend?” Aubrey asks. “The one who’s friends with Sully?”

“Yes.” I suppress my laughter.

“Does he have any hot cop friends?”

I’m laughing so hard as we step outside, I almost stumble, catching myself on Aubrey’s shoulder. She laughs with me for a second or two. “I’m serious. Don’t hold out on me.”

“Probably. I’ve met Sully’s brother.”

“Ooo, is he as hot as Sully?”

My shoulders lift. “I guess. In a smooth-guy, player sort of way.”

“No thanks. Had enough of those.”

“His friend Keegan is a fire fighter, but he’s too old for you.”

“I like older men. At least they know what they’re doing and have their shit together. Usually,” she adds. She glances over, big brown eyes, full of mischief. “You only have eyes for your man, huh? I can tell.”

“Pretty much,” I confirm.

I almost don’t want to drop her off at her house.

“Thank you so much, Bree. This was fun.” She hesitates before sliding out of my car. “If you want to hang out, call me.”

“I will.”

There’s no sign of Liam when I return home. It makes me dread going back to school. We’ll probably never see each other.

Kimber does her subdued version of a happy-doggy-dance at the door, her nub wagging so hard her whole rear end sways. After loving on her for a few minutes, I take her outside for a short walk around the back yard, then feed her a light dinner.

Still no sign of Liam.

Why am I obsessing over this? I think Liam made it clear this is more than a few rounds of hot sex. If it’s meant to be, distance won’t come between us.

Still full from lunch, I end up in front of the bathroom mirror playing with my new haircut. Staring at my reflection isn’t as horrifying as it was when I first came home.

My phone buzzes, and I pull it out of my pocket.

LIAM: I miss you like crazy.

Wow. Five simple words do a number on me.

A few minutes later, I receive a follow-up from him.

Send me another pic.

I step out onto the porch for the natural lighting and snap a picture, sending it off to Liam.

He writes back. Just made my night 1000x better.

As I turn to go inside, something on the hood of my car catches my attention. Heart hammering, I push inside the house, locking the door. Kimber senses my anxiety and tries to nudge me over to the couch.

“No, girl.”

I clip on her leash for the second time and take her out the back door. We circle around the house, and in the driveway she puts her nose to the ground like she’s caught a scent. Once or twice she lifts her head to growl.

When we reach my car, a line of fur on her back stands straight up. She lets out a few deep barks, scaring the shit out of me. “Easy, girl.”

The command dies in my throat as my gaze lands on my car.

Someone left four pink carnations on the windshield.

I hate carnations.

Especially pink ones.

Just like the ones Chad gave me for our anniversary every year.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

All afternoon, I wait for Keegan’s call to see how Brianna did in the self-defense class. My phone finally rings as Brady and I are headed to interview Mr. Davis’s mother.

“How’d she do?” I say into the phone.

“Whatever happened to hello?”

“Don’t be a dick.”

I should know better. Telling Keegan not to be a dick means he’ll jerk me around for a few minutes before telling me what I want to know.

“I’m working,” I prod, hoping he’ll hurry up.

“Well, first, you’re welcome.”

“For what?”

“Sounds like you took my advice and finally pulled your head out of your ass since she’s calling you her boyfriend.”

“I…” I stop and roll the title around. Realize I like it a hell of a lot. Love that Bree’s already comfortable describing our relationship to people.

“That’s good.”

“Second, Kimber’s surgery has been pushed back.”

“Fuck. How come?”

“The surgeon wants to take another look at her records and maybe do an MRI.”

“All right. Just let me know when.”

“I’ll take her. You two are already doing enough to help me out.”

“It’s really fine. Bree loves her and I feel better knowing she’s there when I’m working late.” Like tonight. I have the feeling there’s a long night ahead of me.

We talk for a few more minutes about the dog before Keegan finally shares the information I’m waiting for.

“Bree did well today. I didn’t take it easy on her. She was nervous at first, but when she finally worked herself free of one of the holds on her own, she was pretty happy.”

“Good.” That’s why I wanted Keegan to work with he

r. I trust him not to do anything inappropriate and I’m way too soft when it comes to her. One blink of her big blue eyes and I’d let her win every damn time. Besides, I sure as fuck didn’t want to play the role of attacker with her. Keegan’s detached enough to work with her and friendly enough not to freak her the fuck out.

A deep sigh comes over the line and I realize he’s not done with his assessment. “One of the holds seemed to bother her—”

“Which one?”