Page 43 of Burning Rivalry

Though now that I knew she was safe, unburned, and receiving treatment, other thoughts managed to work their way into my overheated mind. Questions. How? Why?

“It was me,” she rasped, squeezing my hand tight. “Had to be.”

She was certain. I was not. I was certain of other things, such as knowing it was now close to eight o’clock on the East Coast. The morning shows would be starting, and soon the word would start to spread. America’s Best Baker had nearly burned to death in a fire.

“It doesn’t matter,” I insisted, ignoring the way she groaned. “We’ll work it all out. For now, I’ll take you home with me once you’re cleared for release. In the meantime, I have a few phone calls to make. Word is going to get out. I’ll need to help manage the press.”

Leaning down, I kissed her forehead again, then made the impulsive move of lifting the oxygen mask to press a quick, fervent kiss against her mouth. “Rest. Breathe. I’ll be right back.”

In the few minutes since I had found Claudia, I’d received three phone calls and a half-dozen texts. One of them was from Sienna Black, as it turned out.

Sienna: Call ASAP. Need to put a story together.

There wasn’t much of a story to be told. “Claudia is fine, unharmed except for smoke inhalation.” Saying the words reminded me how much worse this could have gone. “It’s too soon to tell the level of damage that was done. I haven’t been out there yet, but I’m sure I’ll get a full report.”

“Please, give her my best wishes,” Sienna urged. “I’ll take care of things on this end.” At least I had that out of the way by the time I ended the call, then immediately sent out a group text so my friends would know I had things under control. They were all early risers, like me, and would surely get word quickly.

Another text, this time to my family so they wouldn’t worry.

Sebastian: Everything okay. Claudia fine. We’ll get through this. I’ll keep you posted.

Finally, I called Felix, who, until now, I had only texted on my way out to the car. Never in my life had I gotten a call like that, one of those middle-of-the-night heartstoppers…

“We’re sorry, Mr. Kennedy, but there’s a fire at your new restaurant. Crews are there now, fighting the blaze. A woman was taken from the scene. She managed to get herself out. She had her purse with her. It’s Claudia Granger.”

Of course, she had managed to get herself out. She wasn’t a quitter. My heart swelled with pride, and it was the reminder of how brave she must have been that stiffened my spine and confirmed my resolve by the time Felix answered, sounding groggy.

“I hate to wake you up this way…” I told him, “… but I need you to head out to the new location.”

Drawing a breath, I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall to my back. Reality was beginning to seep in now that adrenaline was wearing off. There was no hope of making our opening this close to the scheduled date. “It’s looking like everything went up in smoke.”

And I had a sick, sinking feeling I knew who was behind it.

With that in mind, I made eye contact with one of the cops lingering by the ambulance bay after noticing the way he kept glancing toward me. “Sebastian Kennedy,” I said as I approached. “It was my restaurant that burned. What can I do to help with the investigation?”

“You need to keep your head propped up. Remember what the doctor said.” Sliding another pillow under her head, I ignored the way she crumbled. After three days of looking after her, I was starting to believe the woman was determined to do the opposite of everything I suggested. “Maybe I should tell you to lie flat on your back, then you would do what you’re supposed to do to defy me.”

“Very funny. Here I am, laughing,” she muttered, doing anything but. Even now, driven half crazy by her stubbornness, I had to chuckle. She was feeling grumpy, which meant she was alive and getting healthier all the time. I’d been instructed to keep an eye on her for three or four days after the fire and look for any signs of deeper issues, pneumonia being the biggest culprit. So far, her biggest problem was her inability to listen to reason. Not even multiple calls from Hadley could convince her.

Hadley wasn’t the only one calling, either. More than once, I’d noticed a call coming in from someone she’d named Cheating Asshole. It didn’t take a genius to know who that meant. The balls on that cheating asshole. At least she was smart enough to send him straight to voicemail.

I climbed into bed with her now, prepared to sleep lightly again while I listened to make sure she was breathing well. Anyone witnessing this would tell me I was losing my mind, but they didn’t understand. They hadn’t seen her lying there, helpless, caked with soot, and unable to breathe without an oxygen mask. They wouldn’t understand the guilt of knowing she was like that because of something they had gotten her roped into, even unintentionally. There was no reason for the place to go up in smoke like it had without some sort of interference. I found it hard to believe any other theory while waiting for a full Fire Incident Report from the fire marshal. I’d been assured multiple times they were working as fast as they could, but it wasn’t fast enough for me.

Between looking after Claudia and dealing with endless phone calls, requests for interviews, virtual meetings surrounding our plans going forward, I was damn near exhausted. Not so exhausted that my heart didn’t warm when Claudia snuggled up against me, fitting her body to mine the way she was so good at doing.

I had almost lost this. Her. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. It kept popping up like a familiar refrain, haunting me. She could have died if she had given up and stopped fighting to get outside. She could have burned, could have succumbed to the smoke. But no, she had fought, and I was holding her. I was holding the woman I was starting to believe I might love.

Sad that it took a fucking fire to make everything so clear. I had never known fear like the fear that had nearly crippled me when I got that call. The entirety of my soul cried out in agony at the idea of losing her forever.

I pressed my lips to the top of her head, and she groaned softly, wiggling against me. “Careful there,” I teased, stroking her back. “You don’t want to awaken the sleeping giant.” It was getting a little tougher every day to be close to her like this and not do anything about it, but she needed to recover. That was the ultimate priority. My dick and his needs could wait.

Or so I told myself before she wiggled again, this time very deliberately brushing against my dick through my underwear.

“Maybe that’s what I wanted to do,” she whispered, running her hand over my bare abs. “I inhaled a little smoke. I didn’t die.” She was joking, of course, and she made a good point.

But it wasn’t a joke to me. “I just want to take care of you.”

“And that is so sweet of you.” Her fingers traveled lower, testing my very soul once they brushed against my thickening dick. “But I know what I need. And I need this. Please, don’t treat me like I’m going to break,” she begged, nuzzling my neck, stroking me through the cotton between us. The T-shirt I’d given her to wear shifted up when she draped her leg over my thigh, exposing creamy skin which my hands ached to touch.