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But Beau was watching the fire. He seemed locked in place.
It was a beautiful show. Some people didn’t get that. They didn’t understand just how spellbinding the flames could be. They twisted and they danced, and they consumed.
And if you don’t stay out of my way, then next time, it will consume you. But Beau wasn’t the one he wanted. The man should consider himself lucky to get this warning.
Avalon Trahan was the target. The flames had been hungry for her—they’d wanted her for years. Beau should have let her burn the first time.
Or the second.
The third time will be the charm. Wasn’t that the old saying? The third time would definitely be his lucky charm.
The flames danced, and they burned, and they destroyed.
Chapter Ten
His hand curled around the door to her bedroom. He turned the knob and soundlessly pushed open the door.
Avalon lay sprawled in the king-sized bed. The suite had a separate bedroom for her. She was safe there. Protected.
He needed her protected.
So many hours had passed since the blaze at his bar. Beau had watched the firefighters try to salvage LeBlanc’s. The smoke had turned to dark black as it drifted in the air. He’d been told to leave the scene. Over and over.
He hadn’t left. He’d watched the fire.
Now he watched her.
Small, delicate. Her body nestled beneath the covers. Her hair fanned out over the white pillowcase. He’d only wanted to watch over her. After her parents died, she’d been alone. Unprotected. Too vulnerable. Beau had wanted her to be safe.
He’d never intended to actually enter her life or talk to her. He’d just wanted to know she was protected.
Yeah, he got that he had a problem. More like an obsession.
But he wouldn’t have approached her. He would have stayed in the shadows. And, once he’d unmasked the arsonist who’d tried to kill her back in New Orleans, once she’d been free of the past…once the bastard was in the ground…Beau would finally have ended his watch.
Plans had changed. Everything had changed.
She’d come into his bar. She’d kissed him.
And then a fire had destroyed the life he’d been building.
“Are you going to stand in the shadows much longer or are you going to walk toward the bed?” Her voice drifted from the bed and had him jerking. “Just curious. Trying to decide if I should go back to sleep or if you’re about to kiss me like you can’t live without me.”
Light spilled in behind him, enough light so that she could see his outline easily. He narrowed his eyes and realized that?—
Avalon is staring straight at me.
“I was…” He stopped. His voice had come out too gruff. Deep. Growly. And what exactly had he been doing? I was just thinking that I’d kill to keep you safe. No hesitation. And that I do want you more than I want my next breath. Nope. Couldn’t say shit that would freak her out too much. “I just…just was checking on you.”
“Because that’s what you do. You check on me.”
He didn’t speak.
“Apparently, a lot.”
Guilty.
“It’s like that Chinese proverb, isn’t it?” Her voice drifted to him. “You saved my life, so now you think you’re responsible for it—for me.”
