Heat and Ashes

Aria’s POV

The midday sun beat down like a goddamn punishment as Aria balanced a flimsy grocery bag on one hip, the other hand fumbling through her list.

Mrs. Dorsey—Mason’s sainted fking mother—needed mulch, fertilizer, and a fking miracle for her half-dead rosebushes.

Aria hated this part the most.

Running errands like a goddamn servant, always with a smile stitched to her face like a fucking doll.

She shifted toward the store next door to Mason’s shop, keeping her head down, praying she wouldn’t—

“Hey, babe.”

Shit

Her stomach knotted as she turned slowly.

Mason leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, the fake warmth in his smile making her skin crawl.

At first, he looked every inch the town’s golden boy—greased hair, clean jeans, easy swagger.

But then his gaze dragged down her body—tight shorts, a faded band tee, legs long and tan from working outside.

His smile soured.

“You really gonna walk around town dressed like that?” he said, voice low, condescending. “Not exactly the look for a respectable girl, huh?”

Aria’s jaw tightened.

Breathe, Aria. Breathe, smile, nod, swallow the rage like a good little girl.

But something burned hotter in her gut today.

Maybe it was the hundred stupid errands.

Maybe it was the freedom she could almost taste but hadn’t swallowed yet.

Maybe it was just the way his voice made her skin crawl.

She lifted her chin.

“It’s a hundred degrees, Mason. Excuse me for not dressing like a freaking nun.”

For a second—just a second—surprise flickered across his face.

Then it darkened.

He stepped closer, crowding her space, voice dropping to a poisonous whisper only she could hear.

“You need to remember who’s always been there for you, Aria. Who fking pays your rent when you can’t. Without me, you’d be nothing but a broke little girl in a trashy apartment.”

He smiled like he’d just handed her a fucking gift.

“All I’m doing is trying to help you, baby. You know that, right?”

Her hands shook.

Not from fear.

From rage.

From humiliation.

From the shame she couldn’t claw off her skin fast enough.

You don’t need him. You don’t need anybody.

She shoved past him without a word, fighting the sting behind her eyes.

⸻

Kade’s POV

Kade caught the tail end of that scene as he stepped out of the hardware store, arms loaded with 2x4s for the busted barn back at the ranch.

He stopped dead.

His chest tightened.

His vision tunneled.

Watching Mason lean in, watching Aria stiffen, watching her shrink when she should have been standing tall like the queen she fuckking was.

His hands gripped the wood so hard he felt he could almost snap it in half.

He wanted to beat Mason bloody right there on the damn sidewalk.

But Aria…

Aria wouldn’t thank him for it.

She stormed past him, eyes flashing molten fury, cheeks flushed pink.

Goddamn she was beautiful when she was pissed.

Goddamn he wanted to ruin her life and rebuild it with his bare fucking hands.

“Nice to see you still taking charity, Aria,” Kade drawled as she barreled past.

She skidded to a stop, turning slowly, murder in her pretty brown eyes.

Yeah, that’s it, baby, he thought savagely. Show me that fire. Show me you’re still in there.

“You’re one to talk,” she snapped, planting her fists on her hips.

“Still playing cowboy in a town that left you behind ten years ago?”

Kade dropped the 2x4s into the back of his truck, every movement slow, deliberate.

He stalked toward her, every inch of him coiled danger.

Aria’s mouth parted—whether in fury or fear, he couldn’t tell, couldn’t care.

All he knew was she didn’t back down.

Not until he was close enough that she had to tip her head back to keep glaring at him.

Close enough to see the way her pulse pounded at the hollow of her throat.

“You think that little boy over there owns you, sunshine?” he growled, voice low and lethal.

“He doesn’t even know what the fuck he’s touching.”

Aria’s POV

Indignation consumed Aria as she squared her shoulders and fired off. “No one owns me Kade. No one in this God forsaken shit hole of a town could ever.” Her chest heaved as she spoke. “Now leave me alone I have shit todo and I’m not in the mood for you today.”

Aria stormed down the aisle toward the mulch bags, Mason’s ugly fucking words bouncing around her skull like poison darts.

Without me, you’re nothing.

Fuck him.

Fuck Kade

Fuck them all.

She didn’t notice the heavy boots trailing behind her until a shadow fell over the stacks she was yanking from.

“You gonna lift that yourself, princess?”

That fucking voice—low, mocking, and dripping with disdain—curled around her spine like barbed wire.

Aria stiffened, her hand pausing for a second on the bag.

She didn’t turn around.

“Piss off, Kade.”

He chuckled.

Low, dark.

It slid right between her thighs and pissed her off even more.

“That any way to talk to your fucking neighbor? Thought your mama raised you better.”

She yanked the bag free, nearly falling backward with the weight of it. Anger making her act reckless.

Of course, the damn thing ripped. Dirt spilled across the floor like blood.

“Perfect,” she muttered under her breath.

Kade stepped closer, his boots crunching over the mess.

“Maybe if you weren’t so busy trying to look like a runway model, you could actually do something useful.”

Aria spun around, hair wild, eyes blazing.

“At least I’m not playing cowboy for a living, you arrogant son of a bitch.”

Kade grinned, teeth flashing, and shit, hell it was dangerous.

That smile said he wanted to do bad, bad things to her—and that he’d enjoy every second of it.

“You’re right,” he said lazily. “I’m a hell of a lot better at fucking things up than you’ll ever be.”

Their chests nearly brushed.

Her heart was hammering so hard she thought he could hear it.

Thought maybe he wanted to hear it.

“You don’t know shit about me,” she hissed.

“I know enough.” His voice dropped, the heat of it scalding her skin.

“I know you let that boy own you. I know you let him talk down to you. And I know you hate it.”

Aria’s nails dug into her palms, fury burning her vision.

“You think you know everything, don’t you?” she snapped.

“You don’t know a goddamn thing about what I want.”

Kade leaned down, slow and lethal, until his mouth brushed her ear.

“That’s your problem, baby,” he whispered, voice like whiskey and sin. “You don’t even fucking know what you want.”

Her breath hitched.

She hated him.

She hated how close he was.

She hated how her body trembled under that heavy, heated stare.

And worse…

She hated how her panties stuck to her skin.

She shoved at his chest, furious when he didn’t move an inch.

“I don’t need you,” she spat.

“No,” he agreed, voice all low gravel.

“But you want me.”

Before she could scream at him—or worse, goddamn kiss him—Kade reached down, grabbed the bag of mulch like it weighed nothing, and stalked off toward the front.

Aria stared after him, fuming, confused, aching in places she didn’t even know existed.

⸻

Kade’s POV

He tossed the mulch on the counter so hard the whole register rattled.

“Put it on my tab. Deliver it to Mrs Dorsey place in an hour.”

“Yes sir,” the kid at the counter squeaked.

Kade couldn’t be bothered to care.

Didn’t care that he was acting like a caveman.

Didn’t care that she was gonna scream bloody murder at him later.

All he cared about was the way Aria’s chest heaved when she got mad.

The way her eyes sparked like live wire.

The way she didn’t know she was built to be broken apart and put back together—by him and only him.

He climbed into his truck and peeled out of the lot, heart hammering against his ribs like a war drum.

Soon, princess, he thought savagely.

Soon you’re gonna stop fighting me.

And you’re gonna fucking beg.