“Hunter, what’s wrong?”
“What?” He glanced down at her. She cupped his cheek gently, running her thumb over his cheek. “I know you’ve been worried about me since Sean took me. But he’s locked away now, awaiting trial. He can’t hurt me. And while I get that you just want to protect me, you can’t be with me all the time.”
“I should have protected you better.”
“What?”
He stared down at her, knowing his fear and horror showed on his face but he couldn’t stop it. “I should have protected you better. I took you to the club, I put you at risk. He should never have been able to get to you and then when he did you had to rescue yourself!”
She moved around until she straddled his lap. “Christ, Hunter, I knew you were blaming yourself, but this is a whole new level, even for you. I should have been perfectly safe in the Twisted Thorn; you had no way of knowing he’d bribed one of the waitresses, that he even knew that we would go there. Hell, he must have been biding his time and waiting, he’s psychotic, deranged. As for me rescuing myself, I thought you’d be proud of me.”
What? Of course he was proud of her. Damn, he was fucking this all up.
“Of course I’m fucking proud of you.” He winced at his harsh tone. “Are you kidding me? It’s the only reason I haven’t gone insane. I know you can kick ass, I know you’re a strong woman. But you’re my woman and I couldn’t live without you. I know I can’t lock you away from the world, but it’s going to take me a while to get over almost losing you.”
“I know. I know letting me go today wasn’t easy. I became a cop because I wanted to help people, not because I liked the danger or the adrenaline rush or anything like that. Truth is, I’m kind of scared as well. Which is why I had to do this without you today. I can’t let fear rule me.” She nibbled at her lip. “But, I also have to tell you that I don’t think this job is for me. I like working with you guys and all, but I’ve been thinking that I’d like to do something else. So I was thinking that maybe I might look at taking some courses, maybe go to college part-time and get my Masters in Psychology.”
Leaning in, he kissed her. “I think that sounds like a great idea,” he said huskily.
She smiled. “I’ll need to save up some money first and it may take me a while to get my degree, but I think I can do it.”
He hugged her tight. “I know you can do it. You can do anything you put your mind to. And don’t worry about money; I’m going to support you in whatever way you need.”
She shook her head. “I’m not going to take your money, Hunter.”
“Well, I don’t really think you have a choice. Once I marry you half of what’s mine will be yours, including my money. Of course, once you start earning the big bucks I’ll be expecting you to support me in the lap of luxury.”
Cady rolled her eyes. “Oh is that right—hey, wait a second what did you just say? Marriage?”
“Yeah, baby, you’re going to marry me.”
“Oh no. Oh, hell no.” She climbed off his lap to glare at him. “You do not just get to say we’re getting married and think that that is going to suffice as a marriage proposal. No way, you’re going to do this properly.”
“Now, Cady—”
“No.” She placed her hands on her naked hips as she glared down at him. “You will do this properly, Hunter Black.”
A knock on the door interrupted them and Cady gasped, blushing bright red as she immediately tried to cover herself.
“Relax, sugar, the door’s locked,” he told her quietly. He gathered up his pants and shirt, putting them on as sh
e quickly scrambled into her clothes.
When they were both dressed he opened the door. Gray stood on the other side. He looked Hunter up and down, a grin flickering on his lips. “When the two of you are finished could you please join us in the conference room.”
Cady groaned behind him as Gray left. He turned to see she had her face covered by her hands. “That was embarrassing.”
“He’s just jealous,” Hunter said. “We’d better get cleaned up.”
***
Cady sat in one of the conference room chairs, waiting for the meeting to begin. As Hunter entered the room, everyone grew quiet, looking toward Gray. He sat back in his chair. Only Tiny, Josh and Jaron were in the room, everyone else was out on jobs.
“I just got a call from the D.A., and I thought you’d all like to know that Malcolm O’Keen’s trial has been set for three months from now.”
“That long?” Tiny said.
“Wheels of justice are slow,” Jaron said.