All the doubts that drifted up this morning that she was taking something away from Rowan suddenly vanished. “If I’m your redemption, then you’re my savior.”
“Always.” His eyes blazed when he leaned in, calling her forward with a flick of his chin. “Now get over here and kiss me.”
Her lips met his and then there was nothing but him. No worries. No concerns. No old wounds that kept coming up to show their ugly faces. It was just them, the two of them, alongside Rowan’s patience and understanding and her willingness to finally take a chance on something and stay. She reached for his face, and he groaned against her mouth setting off a wildfire in her core.
He threaded his fingers into her hair and deepened the kiss, right as a soft, sweet voice said, “You two really have to stop making out in public. It’s gross.”
Rowan chuckled against Alex’s mouth and leaned away, glancing at his sister. “We are anything but gross.”
Mia’s eyes twinkled. “Ryder told me you both were here.”
“I tell Ryder I want quiet,” Alex said with a smile, “and he sends everyone my way.” Probably because he knew she didn’t want the quiet at all. She hopped off the stool and hugged Mia, who melted into her now. It took a while for Mia to accept that hug without flinching first. Didn’t mean Alex wasn’t going to always try and show her warmth and love.
When Alex leaned away, she noted Mia’s gentle smile. Mia had stayed in San Francisco and rented an apartment in Central Market after her three-week stay at the trauma facility. She was doing better now, thinking about finding a job soon. Slow and steady, she took steps forward to rebuild what Lewis had broken. “What brings you by?” Alex asked.
Mia’s cheeks flushed right down to her chest. “Well, about dinner tonight…”
Rowan exchanged a long look with Alex then frowned at his sister. “What about dinner?” They’d made plans with Mia to come to their place tonight after work.
Mia sheepishly glanced up. “Is it okay if Luke comes too?”
It took Alex an embarrassing amount of time to clue in that Mia was talking about Luke, the guy on Ryder’s team that was assigned to watch over Mia while she stayed in the trauma facility. The guy who also killed Lewis. Pieces of the puzzle suddenly came together. Alex smiled. “Of course, yes, he’s totally welcome.”
“Really?” Mia beamed. “Okay, great. We’ll see you tonight, then.” She hugged Alex quickly again and then gave Rowan a kiss on the cheek before hurrying out the door.
“Wow,” Alex breathed, reaching for her beer again. “Now that I didn’t see coming. Friends, I got, but that definitely seems a little more than just friends.” She took one look at Rowan and then burst out laughing. “You look like you ate a lemon. What’s wrong?”
“She’s not ready for anything like that,” he said with a clenched jaw.
“Apparently, she is ready, so don’t do anything stupid,” Alex retorted, pressing a hand to his thigh and feeling the bulging flexed muscle beneath. “Luke’s a really good guy. I’m sure he’s being incredibly gentle with her.”
Rowan rose.
“I said not to do anything stupid,” Alex called when he took a step forward. “Where are you going?”
“To have a conversation with a certain retired Navy Seal.”
Alex chuckled as he strode off. “Is this the type of stuff I have to look forward to, Hawke?” she called after him.
Rowan paused. Then turned, and all heat in the room seemed to get sucked out and then hit her like a hot flash. She squirmed on the stool when he returned to her. All man. All muscle. All hers. His hands came to her face and then he kissed her. Not just a kiss, but a mind-bending, burning embrace of his mouth against hers that made her need him with a ferocity that she wasn’t expecting and couldn’t control. Only when she moaned against his mouth and greedily latched onto him for more, did he break the kiss. “No, McCoy, that is what you have to look forward to.”
EPILOGUE
One year later
“You know I hate this,” Alex grumbled, hoping both Rowan and Ryder heard her irritation as she climbed the side of the mountain, her ankle twisting against the rocky ground. She smacked the mosquito biting her beneath her ripped jean shorts then got another one on her arm where she’d always have the scar left by Lewis. “Tomorrow, you are buying me better equipment for when I do these remote jobs.” The current case was Alex’s first official job with the CIA that worked in conjunction with Blackwood Security, meaning she got paid. And paid well.
The case had brought them deep into Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park. Rowan, Ryder, and the other four-man team were on the ground, hunting a possible terrorist that had vanished into thin air. Alex still didn’t understand, thinking the location was far from ideal, but who was she to make sense out of criminals. Her biggest concern was the internet service was a bitch out there, and she had to leave the remote cabin she’d been left in to climb up the side of the mountain to get above the trees. “Do you hear me, Ryder?”
“I think everyone can hear you, Alex,” Ryder said, voice amused through the earpiece.
“Good.” She kept her laptop tucked into her arms, panting from the exertion as she weaved her way along the trail until she reached the top. Then she ate back the rest of her complaints. Trees were spread out along the forest floor for as far as the eye could see. She took a seat on the rocky edge, careful not to get too close, and stared out at the larger mountain across the way. The sky was a perfect shade of blue mixed with white fluffy clouds. “I need to get out more often. It’s gorgeous out here.”
Rowan answered through the earpiece, “I second that you need to get out more because that means I’ll get out more.”
She laughed and opened her laptop. A moment later, she sighed. “All right, I’ve got service, who exactly am I looking for?”
“Just me.”