Burning Resolution

by T. M. Cromer

  A streak of black shot by them and out the window.

  “McFatty seems to be safe, now move your ass,” he barked. Smoke had filled the room, and the heat of the flames was at his back.

  Without another word, and he supposed her self-preservation had finally kicked in here, she unceremoniously climbed out the window. He took three extra seconds to admire the white globes before him, then climbed out after her.

  He dragged Erica around to the front yard just as the first fire truck arrived, followed by the same patrolman he’d talked to not once, but twice today. That poor bastard was going to have one hell of a report to write.

  Zack felt, more than saw, her duck behind his back. He supposed she was trying to hide from the gathering crowd. In an effort to preserve her modesty, he removed his jacket, drew it around her, and zipped it up. The teary smile she gave him spoke volumes.

  “I’m sorry about your house, babe,” he said softly.

  She nodded, lips compressed.

  Zack’s heart was heavy for her. How heartbreaking must it be to lose all you owned in one fell swoop? His open arms were all the encouragement she needed. He hugged her tightly to him, offering comfort. In the back of his mind were the terrible questions; what if he hadn’t gotten to her in time? What if she’d charged into the living room to look for that stupid cat? He shuddered to think what might have happened. Those images had him squeezing her tighter.

  The firefighters worked diligently to extinguish the flames as he and Erica stood by helpless and exhausted from the day’s events. For the third time in as many hours, they gave their version as to the personal attack by some sick individual who had it out for them.

  * * *

  Erica sat shell-shocked by the loss of her home. Everything happened so fast, she hadn’t had a chance to process. Zack tried to persuade her to leave the scene, but for her, it was impossible. She did agree to sit in his warm vehicle. However, leaving without McFatty was out of the question on such a chilly night. He was primarily an indoor cat, and it was doubtful he would fare well outside.

  Because she couldn’t take the sight of her blackened house under the continued deluge of water, she studied the interior of Zack’s car. She ran a hand over the buttery soft leather and touched all the various knobs. The white bag from the donut shop caught her eye. Involuntarily, she reached for it. She hadn’t eaten in hours, and she was pretty sure her body had gone into fat storage mode. When next she was in front of a computer, she’d google how quickly that could happen. Her body might be setting a world record here.

  Zack opened the driver’s side door and slid in as she sat torturing herself with sniffing the lemon filled donut. She’d taken a swipe along the side to ascertain the flavor right before he joined her. Now, she sat embarrassed she had no willpower. How innocent could she look with powdered sugar down the front of his jacket?

  “Go ahead. I bought it for you anyway. You left your gym bag in the car. I was going to return it, along with the now cold latte and the donut.”

  Not thinking of consequence, surroundings, or audience, Erica lurched forward and planted a big smacking kiss on his lips.

  “My hero,” she murmured.

  “If I get a response like that for a single donut, I wonder what a dozen would get me.”

  “Laid,” she said without conscious thought.

  His shout of laughter had her blushing. Dammit. When was she going to realize she had to refrain from blurting out whatever popped into her head? Sure, it was great when writing. But in real life, it spelled trouble every time.

  Catching movement as she averted her eyes, Erica stared hard at the bushes to the left of her garage.

  “McFatty!”

  Twisting to open the passenger door, she dislodged the towel covering the lower half of her body. A strangled cry escaped as she smashed the donut bag down over her lap, causing the bag to burst and dump squishy donut filling into her crack.

  “Ohmygod!”

  Mortified, she snuck a peek at Zack’s face. His eyes were locked on the place where her hands worked to shield her lady mound.

  “Two dozen,” he whispered hoarsely. “We’re going to get two dozen, and I’m going to cover you in filling then eat—”

  A knock on the window interrupted his sentence. A godsend. She almost came just thinking about Zack going down on her. Talk about inappropriate timing. That wouldn’t do here and now.

  She scrambled to cover her lap as Zack’s wide shoulders blocked the fireman’s view on the other side of the window.

  “We’re all through here for now. Is there anything your girlfriend needs to get out of the house? It’s pretty unstable, but if she wants to tell me what she needs, I can try to find it. Only a room off the north section of the house is still intact.”

  Leaning over to peer out the driver’s door, she told the men she’d love to be able to get her files from her office. Possibly the first print copies of her books if they survived the fire? The firefighter snorted his amusement as Zack cleared his throat. An inquiring look Zack’s way showed his eyes were fixated on the gaping neckline of her borrowed jacket. Erica sat back and slapped a hand over her chest. Apparently, there wasn’t a part of her anatomy he hadn’t seen at this point, or she hadn’t exposed to the first responders of this town.

  Asking if this day could get any worse would be tempting fate. She remained quiet as Zack informed her he’d be right back with whatever he could salvage.

  Things settled down enough for her to catch snippets of conversations.

  “So she was in the bath when it happened, huh?” Fireman One asked.

  “Yeah. Did you see those legs?” Fireman Two questioned. “God, what I wouldn’t give to have those wrapped around me while I screwed her brains out.”

  Those words had Erica sitting a little straighter and trying to catch a glimpse of Fireman Two. She caught his stare, and the wink he shot her. Okay, ewww! He was old enough to be her father. Face burning, she stared straight ahead, keeping an eye out for Zack. McFatty had long since disappeared. Hopefully, he wouldn’t go far.

  * * *

  Two hours later, McFatty was found and ensconced in a carrier Zack had found in the undamaged portion of Erica’s garage. Crime scene tape encircled her house, and anything remaining reeked of smoke. While the firefighters had told her there was no fire damage to her office, they’d failed to mention the water damage from the high powered hoses. Her laptop, notebooks, and pictures were all ruined.

  When they finally reversed out of the driveway that evening, Erica was at a loss as to where to go. Her parents had moved to Florida the year before, and her bestie Shonda was on vacation out of the country this week, unable to be reached. Not that she could have stayed there anyway. McFatty refused to get along with other animals of any kind. His attacking one or both of her friend’s cats was a distinct probability. He was a real jerk around other animals. Her other friend had disappeared from town a few months prior. No one had heard from her, and they assumed she took off with her son, leaving her husband of seven years.

  “Where to?” Zack asked, to which she burst into tears. “Aww hell. Babe, please don’t.”

  “I’m sorry. I… a hotel should be fine,” she said through her sniffles.

  “A hotel? Don’t you have family in the area?”

  “No.”

  “A friend?” he asked somewhat desperately.

  “No.”

  “Erica, I can’t dump you at a hotel. It wouldn’t feel right.”

  “It’s okay. Really.” She tried to put on an air of strength. Her wobbling chin gave lie to the statement.

  She heard his heartfelt sigh. It turned out Zack was a really great guy. There was a bit of shame she’d thrown him in the category of ‘jock’ all those years ago. A memory came back to her. It was the sigh that had done it.

  “When you asked me to prom all those years ago, you were serious, weren’t you?”

  His hands tightened on the steering wheel. The whites of his
knuckles a clear indication she’d struck a nerve with her question.

  “Yes.”

  “Zack, I had no idea you truly wanted me to go with you.”

  “Really?” He didn’t try to laugh it off as he had back then. “Why not?”

  “Honestly?” At his nod, she confessed, “I thought it was a prank or dare. That I was being set up like the scene from Carrie. I didn’t want to be the butt of a joke.”

  Her heart stuttered in her chest when he reached over to grab her hand and lift it to buss her palm then closed her fingers over the kiss.

  “It bothers me you thought so. I could never have done something so mean to anyone, and especially not to you, Erica.” Zack cleared his throat before continuing. “I had the biggest crush on you in high school.”

  “Shut up! You did not!” The words burst forth before she could contain them. Lord, if she’d only known. How she’d fantasized about being his girlfriend back then. So much so, there were days she found it hard to look him in the eye. Whispered words of love to her pillow still made her blush when she thought of them to this day. It’s a good thing no one knew that little secret of hers. She’d die of embarrassment.

  “Why do you find it so hard to believe?” he posed the question to her.

  His fingers tightened over hers, and as Erica stared at their entwined digits, she asked herself the same thing. She spoke the only answer that came to her, “In what world would someone as gorgeous and popular as you want someone as nerdy as me?”

  She’d waited so long to answer, that she hadn’t realized they’d stopped in front of his stately home. Zack untangled their hands and stretched across the console to look deep into her eyes, one hand resting lightly on the back of her skull to keep her from shying away. Those gorgeous blues held her gaze for a moment before dropping to her lips. The smile, when it came, was slow and sure.

  “In this one,” he whispered, before claiming her lips with his.

  His comment had Erica frozen in place, unable to respond. It didn’t deter him in the least. Zack trailed feather-light kisses along her jaw to her ear and back. As he pulled back, her shock wore off. She surged forward to capture his mouth with her own. Tongues tangled and hands explored. They necked like two teenagers up on Makeout Point, the go-to spot for lovers on the outskirts of their small town.

  A tap at the window had a scream bursting from her throat, which in turn, triggered one from Zack.

  “Jesus, Erica! You almost gave me heart failure,” he croaked as he pressed the button to lower the now steamy pane of glass.

  The smirking officer on the other side knew exactly what he’d interrupted. “Hey, Zack. Heard you were having a bit of trouble tonight and thought I’d do a routine patrol past your place. I see you have everything handled.”

  “Bucky? Bucky Whitmore? Is that you?” Erica couldn’t believe it. He’d been in their science class back in the day and had been voted class clown.

  “Erica Sutton? Holy shit! I didn’t realize you and Zack were an item. It’s good to see… uh…” Bucky trailed off when he registered she was only sporting an oversized jacket and a towel around her waist—one smeared with donut filling. “You were the one whose house burned down?”

  Word spread fast in this town. Between the firefighters and the officers, her appearance must have been quite the joke.

  “Um, yeah,” she tearfully choked out.

  Zack took charge and cut off the line of questioning. “If you don’t mind, Bucky, it’s been a really long day. I’d like to get Erica settled so she can get some rest. I appreciate the routine patrol. Are you on all night? I can whip you up something to eat.”

  “Oh, sure. Sorry. No, I’m good on the food front. If you’d like, I can cruise by a few more times during the night?”

  “That’d be great, man. I appreciate it.”

  The two men shook hands, and Bucky returned to his vehicle. After he’d left, Zack turned back in her direction, giving her a once-over. “You really are a wreck, babe. Let’s get you inside.”

  Chapter Four

  A shower restored some of Erica’s equilibrium. Time to face the world again. Or at least Zack. He’d been kind enough to loan her a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. Coincidentally, it happened to display the logo of their old school. Had he given it to her on purpose, or did it just happen to be the first shirt he grabbed? With a slight shrug, she slipped it over her head.

  The quick survey of her person had her smiling ruefully. Well, at least her breasts were still perky without a bra. Her smile blossomed into a full-blown grin when she remembered Zack cupping them during their embrace in the car. Yeah, fortunately there was nothing for him to complain about in that department. She’d been blessed by the boob fairy. Giving her girls an encouraging pat, she opened the door to find the object of her thoughts standing in front of her.

  “Oh!” she squeaked, hands still on her ladies.

  “Yeah, sorry. I was just about to knock.” He held up the toothbrush, paste, and a comb. “I thought you could use these.”

  “Thanks. You must have read my mind. I was about to come looking for you.”

  Realizing how the statement sounded, she blushed. The rosy tint on her cheeks deepened as she remembered the real train of thought running through her head a few minutes before. Taking his offerings, she ducked back into the bathroom to put the finishing touches on her toiletry routine. It didn’t take long before she was heading back toward his kitchen and the wonderful aromas permeating the air.

  “What are you cooking? It smells divine,” she gushed at the same time her stomach growled.

  “Steak fajitas. Hungry?”

  “God, yes! You couldn’t tell by the monster growl of my stomach?”

  He nodded to the breakfast nook just off the kitchen. “Yeah, I thought it might be another donut craving issue. Have a seat. It’ll be ready in two minutes.”

  Erica chose to ignore the comment disparaging her pastry habit.

  “Can I do anything to help?”

  “Nope. I got it covered.”

  “Damn. Keep this up and I will be on bended knee offering you my heart forever,” she joked.

  “Got to love a woman who appreciates my culinary skills, but you might want to wait on the proposal until you’ve tasted the food.”

  She laughed as she headed to the table. Noting the wine and the layout of the dishes, Erica suspected Zack was going for an intimate, but tasteful, dinner. It warmed her heart he’d gone through so much trouble for her.

  “Shall I pour?” she asked, needing to be helpful. At his nod, she filled the glasses two-thirds full. Going a step further, she placed a warm tortilla on each plate.

  “Do you want to keep McFatty in the carrier, or is it okay to let him loose in the house?”

  Surprised by his thoughtfulness and chagrined she forgot all about her beloved pet, she jumped up. “Ohmygod! I forgot about McFatty!”

  “Erica, it’s okay. You’ve had an insane night. He’s in your bedroom in the far corner. I threw a towel over the carrier, thinking he might feel safer,” he explained. “I went ahead and set up a litter box for him close to the carrier. But since he seems to dislike me, I thought you might want to be the one to free him. I didn’t want to lose a finger.”

  “Zack, I can’t believe all you’re doing for me. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

  He paused in front of her on his way to set the sizzling steak, red peppers, and onions on the table. With a grin, he dropped a kiss on her nose. “Not a problem. This is still pretty hot. It will give you a minute or two to set that vicious beastie of yours free.”

  She wanted to bask in the intimacy of the moment. The meal, the kiss, the level of comfort she had with him, it all spoke to what she wanted in a relationship. It had been the primary reason she bailed on her last boyfriend. There was never any feeling of comfort, or closeness, not to mention the abuse. Thinking about what all this meant, she went to release her feline from his temporary cage.


  * * *

  Zack knew he’d spooked Erica with the few kisses they shared today, but she’d been so sweet staring up at him, wonder bright in her chocolate eyes. What were her previous relationships like if every small thing he did for her brought that kind of gratitude? She had to have dated some real assholes.

  He took a sip of his wine and thought back on the day. Who could be terrorizing her this way? She’d made a serious enemy. Not just her, if he were being honest. The tire on his coupe had been a casualty as well, which meant whoever it was attempting to frighten or harm wasn’t only after Erica.

  “Why so serious?” she asked when she returned to the table.

  Trying to shake off his brooding mood, Zack smiled at her and served up the food. “No reason. I have a lot on my mind. McFatty doing okay?”

  “He’s a bit ticked off at the world right now, but he’ll be fine in an hour or so.”

  “Well, dig in,” he said with a gesture to the food. “After dinner, we can make a list of things you need to replace immediately. Tomorrow I’ll take you shopping.”

  “You don’t have to take me. I can rent a car and run errands,” Erica protested. “I don’t want to take you away from work. Besides, I’m going to need to apartment hunt and I’m sure it will be incredibly boring for you.”

  “Yeah, about that—Erica, I want you to stay here with me. Just until the police find the whack job causing all this trouble. I really don’t like the idea of you being alone right now.”

  “I appreciate the offer. Truly. But I can’t.”

  Irritated and more than a little frustrated, Zack huffed out a breath. “Why?”

  He could tell she hadn’t expected him to push the issue. Could see the wheels turning as she searched for an excuse. It made him want to dig his heels in and insist. Twelve years ago it probably would have worked. However, this Erica was a helluva lot tougher, and seemingly more stubborn, than the girl he knew.

  “It wouldn’t be appropriate for your son to see some strange woman in your house when he gets back. What kind of example would we be setting?” she demanded.