Fighting Temptation [Brac Village 11] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Lynn Hagen Read Free Book Online Page B

around the area. “Very private.” His tone was suspicious, but he didn’t say anything out of the way to Carmine. Maybe Carmine would be suspicious as well if he was going home with someone he just met this morning.
    But then again, Carmine would have already taken care of the problem if someone was after him. In a way, Turi had his hands tied. The people after him were relatives. That had to suck.
    Carmine strode through the front door. He never locked the place. No one was ever out this far. He immediately kicked his shoes off and hung his car keys on the hook by the door. His routine at home was filled with nothing but habits.
    Turi stood in the doorway, glancing inside. Carmine left the man to go in the kitchen and pour some iced tea. He would let Turi move around at his own comfortable pace and get used to the place. Carmine didn’t plan on having the fey there for long. He was going to figure out how to help the guy and then send him back to the Lakelands.
    “Mind if I have a glass?”
    Carmine pointed toward the refrigerator. “Help yourself.” When Turi walked further into the kitchen, Carmine walked out. He settled in his usual chair and grabbed the remote.
    “Do you mind if I make something to eat?”
    Glancing toward the kitchen, Carmine saw Turi standing there. He shrugged. “Go for it.”
    Maybe Turi would make enough for Carmine as well. They had skipped lunch and Carmine was starving. As he channel surfed, he began to smell something cooking. It smelled delicious at first, and then Carmine noticed the aroma had changed.
    Something was burning. Why did it smell like cardboard?
    Jumping from his chair, Carmine hurried into the kitchen to see Turi trying to throw water on the fire that was eating its way from the stove to the countertop. What the fuck? “Don’t use water!”
    He grabbed the fire extinguisher he kept under the cabinet and aimed the nozzle at the fire. Pulling the pin, Carmine doused the flames in white foam. The kitchen was a damn mess now. He was pretty sure the counter was totaled.
    “I’m sorry!” Turi said as he ran back and forth, his hands pulling at his hair. “I didn’t…it shouldn’t have…”
    “The fire’s out,” Carmine said as he set the extinguisher on the floor. “What were you doing?”
    Carmine’s heart dove into his stomach when he noticed quite a few of Turi’s hairs were singed. The left side of his hair looked a bit clumpy. “Were you on fire?”
    Turi held up his index finger and thumb, barely spreading them apart. “Just a little.”
    The man was going to give him a damn coronary. He did not need this shit this late in the evening. Carmine assessed the damage and knew he would be replacing his damn counter. “How did the fire start?”
    Pointing toward the stove, Turi said, “I was trying to cook the can of biscuits.”
    Carmine moved closer, seeing the burnt can on the stove. It wasn’t in a pan and the man hadn’t even taken the biscuits out of the can. The charred piece of doughy cardboard was just sitting there on one of the eyes. He turned back toward Turi. “Do you even know how to cook?”
    “I do,” Turi quickly defended. “I’ve just never used that thing before.”
    The guy was pointing at the stove. Carmine groaned. “Why didn’t you say anything? I would have made them for you. Do you know what could have happened?” What did happen. The man’s hair had caught fire. Carmine shuddered at the thought of Turi hurting himself.
    Crossing his arms over his chest, Turi glared at him. “I would have asked, but you aren’t the easiest person to approach. You seemed quite content at ignoring me and making sure we weren’t in the same room. We don’t have all these modern things in the village.” Turi pointed to the stove and refrigerator.
    Carmine grabbed a towel, unsure of what else to do, and started cleaning up the mess. What he really wanted to do was pull Turi into his arms and tell him that everything was okay. He wanted to