My lungs burned as I coughed.
“Mitch, are you sure you’re okay?” Travis asked, looking at me with a concerned expression.
“Just breathed a little smoke. I’ll be fine.”
Before I knew it, an oxygen mask was being pushed on my face. I took it only because my lungs felt like they were on fire. I glanced to Corina talking to Tripp and Captain Smith, the fire chief.
“Damn shame about the house,” Lane said. His voice was like nails down a chalkboard.
With a yank, I took the oxygen mask off. “Yeah, well, it can be fixed. Looks like it’s mostly the top floor.”
He stared at the house. I couldn’t shake the feeling I got. “Why in the fuck are you smiling?” I asked.
Looking my way, he shrugged. “I didn’t realize I was. Maybe I’m happy that Corina was with me tonight and not home when the fire broke out.”
My blood boiled as I tossed the oxygen mask down. As I walked past him, I made sure to bump his shoulder…hard. “Asshole.”
“What was that, Parker?”
“You heard me,” I replied with a smile of my own.
As I approached her, I heard Corina ask, “Where am I supposed to live now? I have nothing. All of my clothes, everything I owned was on the second story of that house.”
My heart ached for her.
“Can you stay with friends?” the Captain asked.
Corina’s body slumped.
“You can stay with me if you want,” Lane said. A part of me wanted to grab him by the T-shirt and knock the hell out of him. He didn’t even know Corina that well, and he was asking her to move in with him.
Tripp stepped in front of Lane. “I’d say you could stay with me, but honestly, Corina, it wouldn’t look right. Especially with me running for mayor soon.”
She nodded and held onto Milo tighter. “You could stay with my parents,” I suggested.
Clearing his throat, Tripp added, “Our folks love Corina, but they did mention how happy they were that the house would soon be empty.”
My head pulled back as I gave Tripp a what-in-the-hell look. I knew for a fact they would love to have Corina at the house.
“Oh,” Corina said with tears building in her eyes.
Tripp cleared his throat. “I think it’s best if you stay with Mitchell.”
“Mitchell?”
“Me?”
Corina and I had spoken at the same time.
“It makes sense,” Tripp said. “You have three bedrooms, Mitch, and you’re only a few blocks from Corina’s place. When they start fixing it back up, she’ll want to be close by.” The way Tripp looked at me, I knew exactly what he was doing.
“It would probably be the most convenient, Corina,” I added.
Her eyes dashed back and forth between Tripp and me.
“Well, I live close by too.” Lane added.
Corina turned to him. “Lane, I hardly know you. It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to live together.”
He frowned. “But it would with you and Mitchell?”
She chewed on her bottom lip. It looked like she was actually thinking about this asshole’s proposition.
I went to speak, but Tripp beat me to it. “Seriously, Lewis, how long have you been gone? You want the kindergarten teacher and the first grade teacher living together? Mitchell’s a cop and has earned respect in the community. Plus, he’s Corina’s friend. People won’t think twice that he’s offered her a place to stay.”
Corina looked at Milo, then back up at me. “I guess it makes the most sense to stay with Mitchell. I mean, Lane you said you were in a small, one-bedroom place.”
When I glanced over to Lane, he looked furious.
Finally, he grinned. “Hey, I’m renting out a place at the old Riley house. You could look at getting something there.”
Tripp nodded. “Oh, yeah, I heard they converted it into a bed and breakfast. Shame they don’t take pets,” he said, nodding at Milo in Corina’s arms. Lane’s face dropped; he knew what was happening too.
With a clap of hands, Tripp added, “Well, that settles it. No way you two can stay in a one-room together without the cat. Tongues would be wagging, and I’m sure you wouldn’t want that for Corina.”
“No, not at all. Staying with Mitchell until she can make other arrangements is probably for the best.”
I wanted to laugh. Other arrangements? I don’t think so.
One quick glance to Corina showed her eyes bouncing back and forth amongst the three of us. I was a bit surprised she didn’t speak up. After all, we were basically deciding where she would live, and she wasn’t uttering a word.
I reached for Milo. “I had them call the Oak Springs shelter. They brought a cage for Milo.”
Corina handed me the cat, still not saying a word as she watched a young lady open the cage for me. After slipping Milo in, I asked, “Kim, would you mind taking Milo to Doc Harris? I’m sure Corina will want to make sure he’s okay.”
The girl who worked at the shelter nodded. “Of course. I’m sure Doc ‘ll want him to stay the night. You can pick ‘im up in the mornin’, if you want.”
Tripp let out a chuckle as Corina stared at Kim with an open mouth. The girl’s Texas accent was heavy as hell and even hard for me to understand.
“Thanks, Kim. Either Corina or I’ll be by to pick him up.”
She took the crate and started talking to Milo. Corina looked worried now, on top of being scared. She still didn’t say a damn thing about the living arrangements, which gave me hope that maybe she secretly wanted to stay with me. “Will he be okay, Mitch?” she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
Lane wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “He’ll be fine, Corina.”
Taking me by the arm, Tripp guided me away. “Listen, I know what you’re thinking. I’m thinking it, too; he’s a slimy fucker. But what you need to concentrate on is helping her through this.”
“Did you say Mom and Dad wouldn’t want her at the house because you wanted her to stay with me? Why would you do that?”
He grinned. “As bad as this shit is, it’s almost a blessing in disguise, Mitch. This is your second chance with her. You’d better not fuck it up.”
Looking past Tripp’s shoulder, I couldn’t help the tug at the corners of my mouth when Corina stepped out of Lane’s hold. She glanced over her shoulder and looked at me. For about five seconds she stared into my eyes, and I knew Tripp was right.
This was my second chance. No way in hell was I letting Lane Loser Lewis steal the only woman I’d ever cared about.
No way in hell.
I stumbled into the kitchen, then stopped on a dime when I saw her.
My dick instantly went hard while I scanned Corina’s body. She was dressed in one of my old T-shirts and a pair of shorts she had pulled to the side and tied a hairband around to keep them up.
Sexy. As. Fuck.
Getting my head out of my ass, I spoke. “Hey, I figured you’d be exhausted.”
Corina stood in front of my coffee maker, waiting for it to dispense its liquid gold. “I can’t sleep.”
She turned around and looked me over. I had on a pair of sweats. And that was it.
I wanted to smile as she took in every inch of my body. She lingered a little long on my chest before snapping her eyes to mine. “Are you going to make it a habit to walk around half-naked?”
I shrugged. “What? Normally I walk in here butt ass naked. So, compared to my normal attire, this is a one-hundred-percent improvement.”
Her eye twitched, and I could tell she was holding back a smart-ass reply.
“Are you going to let Milo live here or is that why you had that girl take him away?”
I narrowed my eyes as I made my way over to the coffee. Corina stepped away. It was almost like she was scared to let me breathe on her.
“Of course he’s welcome here, Corina. And I didn’t let Kim take him away. She took him to Doc Harris. We can head over there now and get him, if you want.”
She let out a sharp laugh. “We? So, what are we now, Mitch? Best friends? Buddies?”
I took out a coffee mug, filled it to the brim, and handed it to her. “The way I see it, Corina, we’re roommates. If you’d rather go shack up with your new friend, have at it.”
Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth and shut it just as quickly. My phone rang.
“This is Mitch.”
“Mitchell, it’s Dr. Harris.”
“Doc Harris, how is Milo?”
Corina reached for the phone, but I pushed her hand away.
“He’s doing great,” Doc Harris said. “Sitting on the front desk flirting with all the women.”
I laughed. “Smart cat.”
“Must have learned that from you.”
“Not this time, Doc. Corina, Milo’s mom, and I will be heading down soon to come get him.”
Corina stopped trying to take the phone from my hands and took a step back. She turned and sat down at the bar.
“Sounds good, Mitchell,” Doc Harris said. “Shame about the young lady’s house. Chief said something was suspicious about the fire this morning at the café.”
That comment pulled my eyes off of Corina. “What?”
“Don’t be saying anything to anyone. I wasn’t supposed to repeat that.”
My hand went to the back of my neck where I tried to rub the instant tension away. Turning my back to Corina, I asked, “What makes him think that?”
“I’m not sure. You’ll have to talk to him about it. He said he was gonna give you a call about it.”
A knot formed in my stomach at the idea of someone setting Corina’s house on fire. My mind drifted back to Lane standing there, smiling at the burning house.
“Right. Thanks, Doc. We’ll see you in a bit.”
“I’ll have the girls put some things together for the young lady. I’m sure she won’t have anything for the cat.”
I turned and looked at Corina. “That’s awfully nice of ya, Doc. We are sure lucky to have you.”
“Well, the plan is to retire soon, but I won’t leave Oak Springs until I have a replacement I feel worthy of the town.”
My brows lifted. “You’re retiring? The town will sure miss you.”
He laughed. “I’m not leaving Oak Springs anytime soon. You’ll still see me around, and I’m sure I’ll come in and help out the new vet.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Better get going. See ya soon.”
“Sounds good, Mitchell.”
The line went dead, and I was about to say something when my doorbell rang.
“Mitchell?” Blue eyes locked with mine before a pissed-off look washed over Corina’s face. “Who is that?”
“Before you go accusing me, it’s Amelia. She has a key.” Her face relaxed. “She brought you some stuff. I called her last night and was hoping she’d be here before you woke up.”
“Oh, that was really nice of you.” Her eyes drifted away, like she felt guilty about whatever she’d just been thinking.
“Any decent person would have done it.”
Amelia walked into the kitchen, a huge smile on her face. I couldn’t get over how my sister practically glowed.
“Hey,” I said, pulling her into a hug. “You look beautiful. Do you know that?”
Drawing back, Amelia looked up at me. “I do?”
“Yes,” I said as I tapped her nose. “You look good in love.”
She blushed. “Thank you, Mitchell. Wade makes me the happiest I’ve ever been.” Spinning on her heels, Amelia faced Corina. “Waylynn and I raided our closets and have bags of clothes for Mitchell to bring up. I stopped at the store and got you some shampoo, a toothbrush, and some deodorant. I hope I got the right kind. I tried to think of everything you’d need right now.”
Tears filled Corina’s eyes. She buried her face in her hands and lost it crying.
Amelia shot me a dirty look. “What did you do to her, Mitchell Parker?”
My mouth dropped open. “What? I didn’t do anything!”
Corina dropped her hands to her lap. “He…he’s been…w-wonderful. It’s just me. I don’t know what to do. I lost everything. Pictures, memories. Everything I owned is…gone.”
Amelia hit me on the chest and motioned for me to go over to her. I pointed to myself with a ‘Who? Me?’ look, and she nodded.
Looks like Amelia was in on the plan for me to win Corina over.
I motioned I had no shirt on, and she gave me the stink eye. Making my way over to her, I lifted her off the stool and pulled her into my arms. She melted against my body. It took every ounce of willpower I had to keep my dick from going hard.
“All that is replaceable, Corina,” I said. “I know it hurts to lose all of it, but on the bright side, you saved Milo. And you can really make that house amazing with the insurance money!”
Amelia’s eyes widened before she slowly shook her head in disappointment. Corina pulled back and looked up at me. It killed me to see her crying. Using my thumbs, I wiped her tears away.
“Please, don’t cry,” I whispered.
Something moved across her face as she stared at me. “You saved Milo. You ran into the house to save him. Why would you do that?”
My heart was pounding. I wanted to tell her I did it for her. That there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. Instead, I said, “Instinct. Guess it comes with my job.”
I could practically feel Amelia’s eyes burning a hole in me.
“Oh,” Corina whispered.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Recover!
I shrugged. “Plus, it was Milo. He was yours, and I know how much you love him.”
“So really what you’re saying is, you did it for Corina?” Amelia asked in an annoyed tone of voice.
We turned and stared at Amelia. Now it was my turn with the daggers.