“You don’t have to carry me.” Tabitha laced her fingers behind Garret’s neck. Her words might have been in protest, but the rest of her gladly let him lift her from his vehicle.

“The doctor said you should stay off that leg for a day or two.” He hip-checked the truck door, adjusting her body in his arms. His keys dangled from his finger.

She glanced down the street. A couple neighbors stood in a driveway while their children played in the yard. “People are staring.”

“I noticed. Those two are busybodies. I wouldn’t be surprised if they either show up at my door in thirty minutes pretending to need something that can’t wait until their husbands get home so they can try to figure out what’s going on.”

“I’m sure they can see my bandaged leg.”

“Probably, but all they are focused on is the fact that my hand is dangerously close to your ass.” He winked as he stepped onto the front stoop. “We should really give them something to talk about.”

A slow burn tickled her lips. She blinked a few times, trying to break from his mesmerizing gaze. He held her eyes captive like a cobra preparing to strike.

“Kiss me. I dare you,” he whispered, tilting his head.

“We’ll be the talk of the neighborhood.” She filled her lungs with a deep breath. The thumping of her heart echoed in her ears.

“I’m carrying you into my house. They’re probably already thinking we’ve run off and gotten married.”

“You did not just say that?” She bit down on her fingernail.

He groaned. “It’s so sexy when you do that,” he said with his mouth only an inch away.

In a daring move, she plucked her finger out of her mouth and palmed his cheek as she brushed her lips over his softly. It could barely be considered a kiss, but it sent blood rushing to those things that made her a woman.

“Can you unlock the door?” He rattled the keys. “So I can kiss you properly in private.”

“You started this,” she said with a laugh as she pushed the key into the door. “Suddenly shy?”

He laughed. “Something like that.”

Once inside, he kicked the door closed and then quickly sat down on the sofa. His tongue darted into her mouth, swirling around hers, finding erogenous zones she didn’t know existed.

He tugged his hand from her leg. A sharp pain shot up from her thigh to her brain. She tried to swallow her painful groan.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he whispered as he gently placed her on the sofa, tucking one of the pillows behind her back. Then another one under her knee. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It wasn’t you. It just hurts when I move it.”

“Then don’t move it. I’ll go get you some ice.”

She hated to admit it, but she sure as hell could get used to this kind of treatment. She tilted her head and watched as his narrow hips swayed, and his tight ass twitched under his jeans with every step. She let out an audible sigh. When you looked up the definition of hot fireman in the dictionary, you’d find out that Garret Peirce would be the first example.

The only example.

“Are you hungry?” he asked as he strolled back into the living room, handing her an ice pack.

Placing it over her wound, she cringed. “I could eat something.” She bit down on her fingernail. She knew walking would be painful and problematic. The realization that she would be dependent on Garret for help twisted her gut. It was one thing to enjoy the idea of being waited on, but an entirely different thing to need it.

And she didn’t want Garret to feel obligated.

“I don’t want you going to any trouble and really, you should have taken me home. I’ll need to get myself set up in there, so I can take care of myself.” The words tumbled out of her mouth. Her hands shook. Someone had killed her brother and now she believed without a doubt that the same person was after her.

Being alone wasn’t an option.

“You’re staying with me,” he said with an authoritative and protective tone.

She arched a brow, her stomach doing a little roll as excitement lurched to every cell. But she had to stifle her desire and set some ground rules. At least for now. “I don’t appreciate being told what to do like that.”

“I don’t think you should be alone,” he said with a tight jaw.

“I don’t either, but I’m not your responsibility, and you can’t be with me twenty-four seven.”

“My boss is getting coverage for my overnight shifts. The only thing I can’t miss are my fitness tests and mandatory training, but both can be pushed to the last round and when I can’t be with you, I can arrange to have one of my buddies—”

“Wow, in less than an hour, you’ve got this all figured out.” She didn’t know if she should be flattered or insulted.

Scared or excited.

Enraged or delighted.

He nodded. “You could have been killed today.” He sat on the edge of the sofa. His strong hands cupped the sides of her face. “And I don’t believe for one second your car had some mechanical malfunction, so until we know what happened and the culprit is behind bars, you’re not ever to be alone.”

She couldn’t decide if she should kiss him to death for caring or smack him for being such a Neanderthal. The entire situation took her on a rollercoaster she’d rather not be on, and she liked the exhilarating ride. “Trust me, I understand that, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Just don’t tell me in that—”

“I’m sorry. I sounded like an asshole, and I could have worded all that differently, but I’m worried—”

She covered his mouth with the palm of her hand. “I’m scared. My brother is dead, and someone may have tried to kill me. I’m a proud woman. Fiercely independent. I’ve never needed a protector. That said, I’m not too stupid to live. I have no intention of being alone. I just don’t like you telling me in that tone. Like I’m a child and not your girlfriend.”

Shit.

Did that just come out of her mouth?

He cleared his throat. “First, I never meant to treat you like a child. When Becca came running into the conference room and told me your car had blown up, so many things went through my mind. I have never felt so hopeless before.” He kissed her temple.

“And second?” she asked, wondering if she really wanted an answer.

“I like the idea of you being my girlfriend, for the record.” He winked.

God, he was so adorable when he flirted.

Her cheeks heated. “I didn’t mean to jump us from one night to relationship status. I mean, I’ve been kind of a bitch to you since my brother died, and we really don’t know each other. Probably should take things slow.”

“You sure know how to cover a lot of ground in one sentence.” He scratched the side of his face. “Yes. Slow. I like slow. And you weren’t a bitch. I should have listened, and I didn’t.”

“I wouldn’t have listened to me,” she said, palming his cheek. There was so much she didn’t know about him and so much she wanted to share. He had the kind of heart she knew she could love. The kind of man she wanted to love. “I know I didn’t have anything to go on the night I came over here begging for your help.”

He pressed his finger against her lips. “That’s not the point. And you do now.”

She adjusted her throbbing thigh, groaning.

“I’ll let you rest while I make us some food.”

“Wait.” She tugged at his arm before he could stand and walk away. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

Where to start? She had so many questions, both personal and professional. “Is it possible to make it look like a car explosion was an accident?”

“Truth?” He lowered his chin and arched a brow.

“Yes.” She wanted nothing but the truth from Garret, even if it was something she didn’t want to hear.

“Cars don’t usually burst into flames like they do in the movies. Not even when they catch fire, so for yours to explode like that, well, something had to have made that happen. I got a text from Becca that said they have taken the car to forensics, so they are definitely looking for something.”

“Like a bomb?”

“Exactly.”

“Jesus,” she muttered, swallowing the thick lump of fear that had formed in her throat. Her hands trembled. “So, we know then my car was tampered with while I was in that house.”

He nodded. “Mind you, we have no proof of anything yet. But between the fact that Julia doesn’t exist, and your car randomly exploding, which isn’t really possible, Rusty is working on the idea that this is a potential attempted homi—”

“Please don’t finish that statement.” She shuddered at the thought of joining her brother in the afterlife. Steve had more than his share of hard knocks in his lifetime. He’d struggled in high school. Dropped out of college twice.

And yeah, he had done drugs.

But it had been three years and while there had been times Tabitha didn’t trust that her brother was pulling it together.

This hadn’t been one of those times.

“We’re going to figure this out, and whoever did this to you, and your brother, are going to pay.”