Page 28 of Shadow Burn

He kept cleaning the cut but didn’t answer.

“At me?”

His hand stopped. “Of course not.”

“At him.”

“At him. At whoever sent him. At the owner of this rental for the painted-shut window. At best, it’s illegal. At worst, it’s fatal.”

A small grunt escaped her mouth. “I hated that window before tonight. Now I feel vindicated.”

Her gaze moved past his shoulder toward the kitchen and the hall beyond. He knew exactly where her mind had gone. Back to the bedroom. Back to the crack in the door. Back to the black mask and the gun.

“Katherine.” He waited until her focus returned to him. “Stay here.”

“I am here.”

“Keep your mind here with me.”

She swallowed. “I’m trying.”

“I know.” He folded the washcloth to a clean corner. “The cut is shallow. It’ll sting, but it doesn’t need stitches.”

“Good. I’d rather not have a scar from tonight.”

“If you do, it’ll be small.”

“That’s not as reassuring as you think.”

“Let me put some antiseptic ointment on it and a bandage. That will tip the odds of no scar.”

“As long as I don’t look like Frankenstein’s monster.”

“You’re far too pretty for that.”

She stilled. He did too, the words hanging between them with enough heat, he would have thought the dryer was running. Then he made himself keep working, because meeting her eyes now would only make it worse.

Her citrus scent was still there, mixed now with sweat. He applied the ointment gently, his pulse hammering too hard as he noticed her near-perfect skin. Her eyebrows. Even her nose was perfectly balanced on her face.

The cut didn’t need much of a bandage. He sorted through the variety pack, and finally held up the only two in a reasonable size. “PAW Patrol or Frozen?”

She frowned. “Why do you have character bandages?”

He shrugged. “It’s Garrett’s kit. I have no idea.”

“Does he have kids?”

“Not yet.” He paused. “Maybe Claire, his wife, is dropping hints.”

Katherine chuckled. “Frozen. I like Elsa. My nieces make me watch the movie with them at least once a month.”

“Frozen it is.” He carefully placed it on her cheek and stood back, admiring his work. “In my expert opinion, scar odds are very low.”

Her lips moved in a forced smile. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Now, let’s see that hand.”

Katherine gave it to him slowly, palm up. He grabbed another kitchen chair and sat close to her. He guided her wrist to his knee and leaned over it.