Relentless (Colorado Crimes Book 5)

Chapter 7

Noah crossed his arms. "I know that, but it doesn't mean you just run into danger for the sake of running into danger."

"You don't make my decisions for me. And besides, I wasn't running into danger." Natalie replied.

It was true, he didn't make decisions for her. He had only known her for about a week. But then again, he had grown very fond of her in a week. His gaze swept over her and landed on her left arm. "What did you do?" A patch of skin on her upper left arm was burned off, and raw skin took its place. It looked like a second degree burn. 

Natalie looked down at her arm and quickly covered it up, "Nothing."

Noah reached for her right arm and tried to pull it off her left, "That's not nothing."

"I said it's nothing." She jumped away.

Noah tried again and took her wrist, moving it from her arm. "Natalie-"

"Let go of me!" Natalie backed away and yanked her wrist from his grasp, her eyes wide.

Noah stiffened and took a step back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like that, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Natalie took a deep breath. "I know, just don't do that again without permission."

"Okay. Can I please look at your arm?"

Natalie paused. "Fine." She finally said.

Noah waited until she moved her hand away to look closer at her arm. He gently touched the raw skin and saw her flinch. He felt her eyes on him, watching him, scanning him. "What happened?"

"I got into a fight with a burning bush. The bush won."

Noah had to bite his tongue to stop himself from smiling. "I see."

Natalie flinched again when he touched the burn, "Stop doing that. It hurts."

"There's a good first aid kit back at the station, I can help you if we go there."

"There's an ambulance here too, I'm sure with all the knowledge they have, they can figure out how to handle a minor burn." She deadpanned.

Noah sighed. "I know, but do you want to deal with their endless questions then give a statement?"

"No."

"Then come with me."

"Noah seriously-"

"No buts. Just come."

Natalie followed him to his black SUV and climbed into the passenger seat, being mindful of her arm. Noah started the car and drove away, trusting his firefighters to save the now smoky half of his home.

~~~~~

When they reached the station, a few more cars were in it, including the chief's and some other volunteers. "The kitchen should be empty." Noah told her.

"Well who would dare enter your territory?" Natalie teased. She followed him down the halls of the station and into the magnificent kitchen. The appliances were all black and the countertops were sleek granite. No wonder Noah liked it here.

Noah opened the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a huge first aid kit. "This is better than what the paramedics have, I guarantee it."

Natalie eyed the thing, "Yeah probably." Her right hand moved back to its spot, covering her burn. The thing felt like it was on fire. She leaned against the kitchen island for support.

Noah pulled out a soft towel from the kit and dampened it with water. "I'm going to clean it out quickly."

She may be a PI, but she had a very low pain tolerance. And of course, she had to suck it up so Noah didn't think she was a wuss. "Okay."