“So keep spoiling me and fix this. ”
“I am fixing it. ” His expression assured her that it wasn’t going to be fixed her way. “Get ready for that meeting, because you’re not missing it. You have an hour and then you’re walking out of here, under your steam or mine, take your pick. ”
Her eyes narrowed on him. “That marriage license didn’t make you my boss, Mac. ”
“No, in this situation that marriage license makes me more than your boss, Keiley. And you will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Do you understand me?”
“This meeting has nothing to do with safety. ”
“Do you understand me?” His voice hardened, as did his expression.
She could argue all she wanted, but Keiley knew in that instant that if she wasn’t ready to go in an hour, Mac wouldn’t be above carrying her out of the house kicking and screaming.
“You’re impossible,” she snapped. “When this is over, we’re having a talk about this sudden inclination to give orders, Mac. ”
“As long as you wait until it’s over. ” His eyes gleamed with sudden male appreciation and approval. “I’ll be waiting down here for you. ” Mac turned to Jethro then. “The director will want to talk to you before we leave, so don’t delay up there to avoid it. ”
In other words, no sex. Keiley rolled her eyes and gave both men a cool, firm look.
“He’ll be available,” she promised her husband.
Keiley stared back at Jethro’s suddenly closed expression and ached at what he had told her earlier. The boy that had been tossed out like so much garbage, shuffled through the system, and ignored until Mac befriended him.
“Come on darlin’, let’s get you ready for that meeting. ” Jethro held his hand out to her as Mac watched his friend in concern.
And Keiley understood that concern. Jethro’s face was pale, his gaze too bright, too unsettled.
“He needs to rest, Mac,” she told her husband fiercely. “He was shot. ”
“I was nicked and I’m fine. ” Jethro’s voice became graveled, darker. “You’re going to that meeting Keiley. Mac’s right, this is the best way to deal with this small-town bullshit. Face them and tell them to fuck off before they have a chance to blindside you. ”
She stared at him in surprise as his jaw suddenly clenched and he gave his head a brief, hard shake.
“Let’s do this, Kei. Then when we get home, I’ll rest. I promise. ” He was making an obvious effort to restrain his impatience and his anger.
Keiley glanced at Mac, seeing the heaviness in his gaze, the worry as he watched his friend.
Damn him, he deserved to worry. By bringing Jethro into this relationship as he had he was awakening demons that the other man had obviously forced into hiding.
“You’re damned right you’ll rest,” she muttered as she took his hand and let him lead her from the kitchen. “Or I’ll knock you out. ”
He didn’t answer. Instead, his hand moved from hers, allowing it to settle in the middle of her back as they moved up the stairs. She could feel the heaviness of his emotions, a weariness that had her glancing at him nervously.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he blew out roughly as they entered the bedroom.
“I never imagined you would hurt me, Jethro,” she sighed. “But you’re hurt—”
His head lifted, his gaze spearing into her, silencing her. She could see so much more now that they were no longer with Mac. Arrogance, definitely. There were no two men more arrogant than Jethro and Mac could be. But she saw more. Years of loneliness, of aching dissatisfaction.
He reached out and touched her cheek gently, his calloused fingertips stroking her flesh almost in regret.
“I wish I knew how to show you what I feel,” he whispered then. “How to touch you so you know how deeply you touch me, Kei. How to know the right words to make you understand the gift you give me. ”
Her lips parted in surprise. “Jethro—”
He laid his fingers against her lips.
“From the moment I saw you, suddenly I wasn’t a ragged five-year-old anymore. I didn’t feel the disassociation I had to force on myself to endure living with strangers, all the while knowing there were those who shared my blood, who my parents trusted to watch over me if anything happened to me. The ice that had grown inside me over the years melted the night I met you, and I haven’t known what to do with the emotions you made me feel. ”