Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
I sat there feeling poleaxed. West had called in a favor to get me out of jail. I couldn’t believe the words that came out of my mouth as I jumped out of the car. “You can’t, West. Why would you—”
“Not out here,” he said, closing my door and guiding me up the steps to his porch, staying close, as if shielding me from view.
I followed him inside, tension building until I wanted to explode with words. The second the door was shut, I did. “You called in a favor to get me out? West, is that going to get you in trouble? You can’t... You never call in favors. You never make exceptions.”
“Avery,” he shot out, cutting me off. “I wasn’t leaving you in there.”
“I didn’t set the fire,” I said.
“I know that,” he shouted, throwing his arms out. “For fuck’s sake, Avery, of course I know that. In a million years you’d never, ever set another brewer’s place on fire—even one who screwed you over.”
His words startled a laugh out of me. “I noticed you didn’t say in a million years you’d never set a fire.”
West raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. “I can think of a few scenarios in which you might be inspired to burn something to the ground. I haven’t forgotten that bonfire of your father’s things. But not like this. I know you didn’t do it.”
“West,” I took a step closer, reaching up to lay a hand on his crossed arms. “Jim found evidence. You didn’t let Ford—”
“I’m not in love with Ford,” he burst out. “Okay? And I wasn’t leaving you sitting in that cell. No fucking way. Understand?”
“What?” I stared up at him, shocked to my core. I hadn’t thought about love, but the idea didn’t make me want to run. I didn’t know what to say about that part. Not yet. But I knew something else. “West,” I said, squeezing his arm, “I don’t want you to sacrifice who you are for me.”
“You want to go back to that cell?” he asked.
“I really don’t.” I couldn’t lie about that.
“Good, because I’m not taking you back. I need you to lie low. If we were really playing this smart, I’d leave you in there so whoever really set that fire thinks they’re in the clear. But that plan involves letting you sit in jail alone, and I’m not doing that. We’ll have to go with Plan B.”
“What’s Plan B?” I asked.
“Plan B is you lie low, and I do everything I can to find whoever set that fire as fast as possible before I have to send you back to jail.”
“What if we can’t find the person responsible?” I asked, my head spinning.
West loved me? He was putting his integrity on the line to keep me out of jail. He had to love me to do that.
“I’ll find them,” West said. “And just to be clear, I’m investigating this one, not you. Got it?”
I let out a breath, dropping my hand from his arm. Stepping back, I shoved my hands in my pockets and forced myself to meet his eyes. “Yeah, I get it. And I’m sorry about the thing the other day. I shouldn’t have kicked you out of my brewery. It was childish. I was just really fucking mad, and I didn’t want to say anything I’d regret, and then I did anyway. I’m sorry. I just—”
“Yeah, I know,” he said. “You’ve had it up to here with people, especially men, telling you what to do and how to do it and acting like you aren’t smart enough to figure out your own life.”
The tension in my shoulders drained away as his words flowed over me, saying exactly what was in my heart. I was pretty sure it was a good thing West thought he loved me, because I definitely loved him back.
“Yeah, basically, but I overreacted. I know you’re not Matthew or my father, or any of these assholes who think I should stay in the kitchen and out of a brewery. I know you just want me to be safe.”
“Avery, I’m always going to want you to be safe. I can’t turn that off. And yeah, I’m probably going to be more cautious about that than you are. I can’t promise that I won’t be bossy or overbearing sometimes. That’s who I am. But I can promise to listen and not treat you like a child. I would just ask you to keep in mind that I love you, and I can’t stand the idea of something happening to you.”
I smiled up at him. “Can I borrow your shower? I smell like the fire.”
“Go for it,” he said with a gentle smile. He dropped his head, brushing his lips across mine.
“I won’t be long,” I said. The prospect of a shower had me half-jogging down the hall. Turning on the hot water, I let steam fill the room. I’d smell like spice and pine trees, but that was a hell of a lot better than smoke and sweat.