Fire with Fire (Crash and Burn, Book 3) (A Military Romance) Read Online Free Page B

comfortable on bar stools. Adult alternative music plays soft in the background.
    The top of Xander’s dark hair glows gold under the overhead lights. He glances over at me and offers a friendly smile and wave, and my heart almost explodes from the sudden rush of relief I feel. At least he doesn’t hate me. That’s a good sign, right? “Hey, Lauren! Come on in. Can I get you anything? You thirsty?”
    I shake my head and make my way to the end of the countertop, plopping the folder on top of the bar. “No, I’m good. You have a couple of minutes to talk?” I try to be as subtle as possible as I scope the room. I don’t see Cole. Maybe he isn’t working today. Damn, I should have thought this out better. In my rush to come here, I didn’t consider the fact that he might not be around.
    Xander gives the customer the beer, rings it up to update the man’s receipt, then comes over to me, resting his forearms on the surface. “Sure, I got some time.” He drops his voice down. “By the way, I don’t know if Cole told you yet, but Dad is going to be selling his portion of the business to another buyer.”
    I blink hard. “Whoa, really?” My heart lurches as I realize immediately that Cole never said a word to me. “No, I didn’t know,” I finish lamely. “Has he come home?”
    “He did last weekend.” Xander scratches the back of his neck, and his gaze skitters away then back to me. “So, yeah. Cole’s going to help me out in the meantime until we find a permanent partner.”
    “Sure. That’s fine.” I’m all business as I open the folder, proud that I’m able to keep my face smooth instead of showing the hurt I’m feeling at him not telling me something so big about his father. He must really be pissed at me. Shit. This is going to be way harder than I ever imagined. I swallow and lift my chin. “So, we have all the contractor bids in. I’ve sorted them in my order of preference, but I wanted to get your feedback before I contact them.”
    Xander takes his time scouring the bids, in between answering customer requests, fetching extra napkins, and so on. I settle into a bar stool and just watch him. Growing up, Xander was always a nice guy, a bit more outspoken than Cole was. He didn’t let his mother’s overprotectiveness limit him. No, he always just snuck out and did his own thing. Cole told me more than once how he wanted his brother’s courage.
    But when Cole went off for his last deployment, he didn’t see Xander cry and whisper to his wife that he was scared for his brother. That stuck with me.
    Cole has definitely become the man he wanted to be. He’s a man who has depths and facets I never explored before. And I don’t want to lose that with him. I need Cole in my life, and all I can do is hope I haven’t blown it with him.
    Xander finishes poring over the documents, then nods. “Yeah, I agree with your assessment here. They’re not the most inexpensive, but their reno work looks good, and I’d rather pay for high quality.”
    “Excellent.” I gather the material back up and shove it in the folder, standing. “I’ll contact them today and let them know.”
    “Great. Cole’s back in the office if you can fill him in on the details, too.”
    And just like that, my skin starts to hum all over. He is here. I struggle to breathe past tight lungs. “Oh. Yeah. Sure, okay. I’ll do that.”
    Xander raises a brow at me then leans forward. “What’s happening between you two…none of my business. But he cares about you, Lauren. A lot.” His brown eyes are piercing, and I can see the family resemblance strongly right now in the intensity. “Just…go easy on him, okay? He’s stressed right now, and you know Cole—he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.”
    “I don’t want to hurt him. I care about him, too.” I want to be there to help shoulder some of that weight. Again, my heart lurches at the information I learned about his dad. I need to make things right