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SEVENTEEN
Chandler felt like his lungs were made of broken shards of glass, jabbing his rib cage and chest wall with each ragged breath. It wasn’t from the smoke—the EMTs had checked him out and told him he was okay. No, the pain he was feeling came from how close he’d just come to losing Eden for good.
Even as he gave his statement to a police detective, all he could think about was Eden. They’d almost died tonight and all he wanted to do now was assure himself that she was okay.
“Did you see or hear anything suspicious before the fire, Mr. Ruthven?” the detective asked, jotting notes down in his little notebook, old-school style. “Any weird smells or anything?”
“No. But I was working in the back of the salon, helping Eden clean up so we could get out of there once she took care of one final customer. All I could smell were the cleaning products.” He straightened slightly and peered over the detective’s head at the charred remains of the salon. The place was toast. Eden would have to rebuild and start over again, which broke Chandler’s heart. He knew how much the salon meant to her and how hard she’d worked to make it successful. It also galvanized his determination to find the bastard responsible for this and make them pay. “The layout of the place would make it difficult to see if someone had set the fire near the front entrance because of the L shape. That’s why I’d installed security cameras up there, just in case. The cameras are toast now, but their footage is backed up to the cloud. I haven’t had a chance to review it yet, but I’ll keep you posted.”
“Hmm,” the detective said, still writing in his notebook. “Okay. Well, I think you’ve answered all my questions for now.” He finished his notes, then handed Chandler a business card with his contact info on it. “The fire department arson team will complete their investigation and let us know what they find out. We’ll be in touch with Ms. Dawson afterward. Tell her I’m sorry for the loss of her business. And please, give me a call once you’ve looked over the camera footage—or if you remember anything else you think might be important.”
“I will. Thanks, detective,” Chandler said. Then he walked back over to the ambulance where Eden was sitting on the tailgate, apparently done giving her statement as well. She had a thin blanket wrapped around her and looked about as harried as he felt. He leaned his hips against the rig beside her, aware of his crispy hair and the scent of smoke permeating everything on him. More than anything, he was concerned about her, though. He’d been through much worse in the SEALs, but civilians weren’t used to this kind of crap. “You all right?”
She tugged the blanket tighter around her and stared straight ahead at the ruins of her business. “No. But I will be.”
He admired Eden for so many reasons. Her grit, her independence, her fighting spirit. But the thing he admired most about her was how she never, ever gave up. Without thinking, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and planted a kiss atop her head. “I’ll be here for you, Eden. I’ll help you in any way I can.”
Instead of pulling away from him, which he half expected, she rested her head on his chest, near his heart. “Thanks, Chandler. That means a lot.”
They sat there for a while, watching as the firefighters and police worked to secure the scene and put out any last hot spots in the building. Finally, when things started to clear out, he sighed. “We should head home. Get cleaned up. Then figure out where we go from here.”
“Agreed.”
Neither said much on the way back to Chandler’s house, each lost in their thoughts. Despite everything, an underlying buzz of adrenaline still rushed through his bloodstream, leaving him jittering and hyperaware. A normal response, he knew, from life and death experiences. Same thing happened on the battlefield with people who’d survived intense combat. It’s like all their senses went on high alert, their own mortality making them super aware of each tiny second passing by.
He pulled into his driveway and cut the engine. Eden waited in the car as he walked the perimeter of his property and did a quick, thorough check to make sure the location was secure. Luckily, he found nothing out of place.
“Why don’t you go ahead and take a shower while I start something for dinner?” Chandler said, heading for the kitchen. “I know you’re probably not hungry, but we need to eat something. It’ll help you feel better.”
She nodded and walked down the hall without a word, looking about as sad and forlorn a figure as Chandler had ever seen. He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms again and promise her everything would be okay, even if he had no clue how to keep that promise. Instead, he turned to the fridge and tried to figure out what to make for dinner. He needed to take a shower himself too, so he pulled out eggs and veggies for omelets before going into the master bathroom for a fast scrub down. Once he was clean, he padded barefoot back into the kitchen to make dinner.
Eden joined him a short time later, her eyes far too wide and scared in her pale face. She took a seat at the breakfast bar, pink flannel pj’s tucked around her, and waited as he dished up their omelets and toast.
By the time they’d finished, Chandler was more worried about Eden than anything. She’d not said more than two words since they’d left the salon. He cleared their dishes and carried them to the sink, frowning. “Are you sure you’re okay, Eden? I know it’s been a lot to deal with tonight, but sometimes it helps to share what you’re feeling.”
When she still hadn’t said anything by the time he had the kitchen clean, he went back to his seat and perched on the edge of his stool, facing her. He wouldn’t force Eden to do anything she didn’t want to, but he also didn’t want her to bury all the emotions of the day down deep and have them fester.
Slowly, he reached out and took her chilled hands in his.
“I just…” she finally said, frowning down at their joined hands, like she just now realized he was there. “I just keep seeing it, you know? The fire. Everything I’d worked so hard for going up in smoke.”
“Shit. Eden, I’m so sorry,” he said, for lack of anything better. “I meant what I said. I’ll help in any way I can. As soon as you get the green light from the fire department, we’ll go back there and see if there’s anything we can salvage. You can call your insurance company and get them working on that end of things and—”
“But…” the word cracked on a sob and his heart broke for her. “It’s gone. It’s all gone.”
Chandler tugged her closer and just held her as she cried, her tears soaking the front of his T-shirt. They stayed like that for a while, rocking back and forth, emotions raw, until finally Eden pulled back slightly to look up at him. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, blinking down at her. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her look more beautiful. Her intoxicating mix of strength and vulnerability drew him like a moth to a candle. His hold on her tightened just slightly, bringing her closer. “You don’t owe me anything, Eden. We’re in this together. Until the end.”
“Until the end,” she whispered, reaching up to cup his cheek, tracing her thumb over his jaw and making him shiver. Chandler was mesmerized, pure and simple. He couldn’t have moved if he’d wanted to, completely under the spell of this incredible woman. When she leaned in, closed the gap between them, and kissed him, he stopped thinking completely.
Time slowed as he pulled her off her stool and into his lap, her heat against his hardness driving him nearly insane with desire. Eden, it seemed, couldn’t get enough of him either, writhing against him, her hands all over him, touching and tracing and teasing.
Somehow, he managed to stand up with her in his arms and make it down the hall to his bedroom without breaking their kiss. After all the waiting and denying themselves, patience went out the window. Their clothes came off in a frenzy of tugs and pulls, until they were both naked, skin to skin, soul to soul. It was better than any fantasy Chandler had ever had. Every touch, every lick, every soft sound she made drove the need inside him higher until he was nothing but a ball of sensation. The case, the worries, the stress of tonight all melted away until there was just this moment, this woman.
Chandler stretched out beside Eden and kissed his way down her body, stopping to pay homage to her breasts before moving between her legs and making love to her with his lips and tongue until she cried out his name as she came, her fingers in his hair and her taste on his lips. She returned the favor, going down on him, the feeling of her hot velvet mouth engulfing him nearly driving him over the edge, until he pulled her away, panting.
“I want to be inside you, Eden, when I come,” he said, pulling her up to kiss her sweetly. “I want to feel you climax around me.”
