Wildfire by Mina Khan Page B

out of
her.
    Silence on his end. “How?”
    “That’s not important.”
    “Wait, were you at my place the night of the fire? Did you
have something to do with that?”
    Keep breathing. She’d gone to Rob’s house that night
intending to reveal her biggest secret. Her dragon had definitely come out,
just not according to plan. “Oh, I know about the fire too,” Lynn said. “As for
the cause, what did the fire department say?”
    “Spontaneous combustion.”
    Thank you, guardian angel . “Well, there you have it.
Goodbye.”
    “Wait babe, she came onto me.”
    “And you couldn’t say no because...”
    “We can’t cancel the wedding.” A string of muttered oaths
followed. “I haven’t told Mother or anyone else in the family.”
    “What? I broke up with you four months ago!”
    “I know,” he said. “I thought you’d have calmed down by
now.”
    Lynn pinched the bridge of her nose and counted to ten. “I’m
calm and I’m still not marrying you.”
    “Come on, Lynn! How will I ever live this down?”
    “I don’t care. I can’t marry you because you obviously don’t
love me.”
    “I do love you.” His voice dropped to a throaty, sexy
whisper reminding her of too many shared intimate moments.
    Hot tears pushed at the edges of her eyes.
    “I-I got scared and I made a mistake.” He paused. “Please
baby, let me make it up to you.”
    “I’m sorry Rob, this isn’t something you can kiss and make
better.” Lynn cut the phone off and shoved it back into its charger.
    “OK, chica, spill the beans.”
    Lynn groaned and turned. “I think I need wine and something
unhealthy for that.”
    Jen’s dark eyes focused on her. Without a word, she turned
and dove under her kitchen sink. She pulled out a package of Extra-HOT Cheetos
and put them on the table, uncorked the wine and filled the two glasses.
“Emergency supplies are here. Now, talk.”
    Lynn talked and sipped. The entire story —about how she’d
caught Rob and their wedding planner boinking, turned dragon and then fried
Cyndi’s Miata— spilled out.
    Jen listened, tight-lipped and nodding. At the end, she
cleared her throat. “I always thought your relationship happened a bit too
fast.You should have broiled Cyn’s bare
ass!”
    Sighing, Lynn took a large gulp of wine and stared at the
purpling sky. Flame orange clouds streaked the darkness, just like the dragon
that churned inside her. “No, I should have just walked away. Instead I lost
control. Just like I did with Dave.”
    Jen set down her glass, walked around the kitchen table and
pulled her into a hug. “Sweetie, they both deserved it. Especially Dave. He
tried to rape me!” She shuddered. “I’m damn glad you were there.”
    “Me too.” Lynn pushed her face into her friend’s shoulder, breathing
in her warm, calming scent. Jen had found out about her dragon that night. “But
there were two of us, we could have handled him without me turning into… into
that beast.”
    “You were scared.” Jen patted her back. “Damn, I was so
scared that I froze. Your turning dragon pushed me to act.”
    An image of Jen swinging the shovel flashed through Lynn’s
mind, followed by Dave dropping like the sack of shit he’d been. A small giggle
escaped her. “And when you act, boy do you act.”
    Jen gently pushed Lynn away and looked into her eyes. “Yes,
we all do what we need to do.”
    Lynn fought back tears. “There’s more.” She closed her eyes
and talked fast. “After the Rob and Cyn thing, after losing control, I had
another breakdown.”
    “Oh, that explains the MIA for the last few months.” Jen’s
head drooped. “I’d already moved. I wasn’t there for you.”
    Lynn grimaced. “You can’t always be taking care of me.
Anyway, Doctor Mom came to the rescue again, even though I never told her the
whole story.”
    “I think the dragon side of your mom came out when your
grandmother died,” Jen said. “She hardly let anyone near you.” She cleared her
throat.