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He opened his mouth to argue when he spotted Briar. She picked up his phone from the ground and moved to stand beside me. “Looks like your live stream ended.”

He snatched the phone from her hands. “Why am I not surprised to find you here?” I shifted so my body was half between Briar and Mercer. I didn’t want the creep even looking at her let alone close enough to touch.

“Unlike you, I’m allowed to be here,” she snarked.

He set his jaw, and for one long second, I wondered if he was stupid enough to push it.

“This isn’t over,” he finally said before collecting the few items he had and marching off with his tripod under his arm.

I followed him with my eyes as he climbed into an SUV that probably cost more than my house and backed it out toward the main road. I doubted he’d stay away for long.

“I’m going to do a perimeter sweep and check in with my boss.”

Briar nodded, pulling her stack of papers out again.

We went our separate ways for a while. I searched the cemetery for any more signs of Mercer’s plans but came up with nothing. By the time I made my way back toward the far end of the cemetery, a cold breeze had picked up, shaking the trees overhead. I hunched against it, catching the promise of rain or maybe even snow in the air. I just hoped it held off until dawn.

Briar was sitting on the tailgate of the truck when I approached. I ran my eyes over her. She was dressed all in black, as always. Skinny jeans, boots, and a thin jacket, with her arms wrapped around her middle.

Damn, she must be freezing.

I pulled off my flannel and draped it around her shoulders before she could protest.

“It’s been quiet since Mercer left,” I said. “Why don’t we get in the truck so we can warm up?”

She nodded, and the two of us settled into the seats. She pulled my flannel tighter around her shoulders, and some caveman part of me liked the look of her in my clothes.

Being a protective person went with the job, but this didn’t feel like a simple case of duty calls. I didn’t want her in the same way I wanted a paycheck or wanted a job to go smoothly. I was starting to want her in a way I hadn’t wanted anyone in a long time, or maybe ever.

The thought should have had me running.

Instead, it only made me want to get closer.

Chapter Eight

Briar

Iwas pissed off that Mercer had been at the cemetery, but as soon as Jonah put his jacket around my shoulders, something in me settled. His presence had that effect on me. I was used to traipsing around alone in the woods or in the cemetery, dilapidated places, abandoned places, places that most people didn’t go. So the cemetery didn’t make me nervous even when the wind rattled the trees or the shadows were long. Still, it was comforting to have someone else there. Especially, someone I knew had my back and jumped down rabbit holes with me.

Ugh, look at me getting all sentimental in a cemetery.

Besides, it was hot as fuck watching him intimidate Mercer the way he did.

Jonah flicked the key to the on position, and warm air pushed from the vents of the truck. I shivered at the change in temperature. He looked over at me in the dark interior, the dim light sharpening his features.

I held his eyes as he slid his arm over the back of the seat, disturbing the air between us.

“You can sit closer to me if you’re cold,” he said, then paused. “If you want.”

I did want.

Touching him had been on my mind, so I didn’t hesitate to close the distance. I settled under his arm, the heat of his body and the woodsy smell of his cologne swirling around me. It was a smell I’d come to associate with him.

Despite the way things had started between us, arguing in the dark in a cemetery, I wanted to move closer. Now that I had, I didn’t want to move away.

A rumble came from his chest, vibrating against me.

“This has got to be the weirdest security job I’ve ever worked,” he said.