“You don’t like public displays of…” I search for the right word. “Romance.”
“I do on Valentine’s Day,” she sniggers. “It’s a new tradition I’m trying out. But also,” pulling back, she studies my eyes and makes my heart kick with the way she stares. And smiles. And gently bounces on her feet. “It’s your birthday. It’s your birthday, Archer! And you didn’t think to say something?”
“Who gives a fuck about my birthday?” I exhale a deep gust of frustration. “Felix is being a dick, Tim’s having a midlife crisis, Fletch won’t leave Mia’s side for more than thirty seconds, Aubree refuses to string more than two words together, and you…”
“And me, what?” Challenging, she steps up to her toes when I glance away. Demanding my attention, she places her hand on my jaw and angles my face down. “And me, what, Archer?”
“You stood in front of a fucking gun,” I grit out. “You could’ve died, Minka. I could’ve lost you. Now you’re bouncing around like it was just another day at the office.”
“Kinda was.” Pushing to the very tips of her toes, she presses a kiss to my jaw. “I got to perform surgery, and you didn’t even get pain relief. Tim and Aubree and Mia and Fletch and everyone else we care about are fine. Felix is a gnat we’re going to have to deal with, but he’s not here now. He’s not an issue for usright now.”
“So w—”
“But it’s yourbirthdayright now! And you didn’t say anything.” She flattens her lips in displeasure. “You’re a Valentine’s Day baby, and people question why you’re a romantic?”
“I’m not a romantic.” I cast my gaze over her head and avoid looking into her eyes.
But what I find, when I look, is Tim pacing the sidewalk fifty yards ahead of us. His head down. His hands in his pockets.
“Why is—”
“You’retotallya romantic. Something I struggle to be.” Stepping to the side again, Minka wraps her arms around my right and continues forward. “Public displays and kissing and holding hands…” She shakes her head. “Roses on Valentine’s Day. It’s all so… Gooey and sappy and weird.”
“So I won’t do those things. Easy.”
“No.” Stunning me, she glances up and catches my gaze as we walk. “I absolutely want you to do those things. I want you to stay the same consistent, unapologetic, uncompromising ass you are. I want you to stop trying to be the martyr,” she grabs my arm tighter when I try to pull away, “and if you release me one more friggin’ time, Archer Malone, if you make me feel unwanted once more, I’m gonna shove a drill bit through your stitches until you scream.”
“Minka—”
“I want to be romanced, Archer. But only by you. Only with you.”
I shake my head and sigh. “I’ve been thinking the last couple days. About us,” I add when she stares. We keep walking. Keep moving. “Tim wasn’t wrong to keep Aubree away. He was never wrong for wanting to protect her.”
“And now that Felix is here and Anne was murdered, you think it’s best if we break up?” She nods to herself and glances toward our destination. “You think it’s best if we back off and take some space? Ya know, to throw Felix off our scent and keep me safe.”
“Well…” Shrugging without thought, I bite down on the shards of pain that ricochet through my veins. “Pretty much, yeah. I wasn’t gonna use those words. But the message remains the same.”
“Hmm. And what words would you have used?”
She’s long past smiling and playfulness. Only a man who truly knows Minka’s heart could hear the venom in her tone.
“I probably would’ve thanked you for the pussy and sent you on your way.”
“Oh, piss me off and make me be the one who breaks us up? Smart.” She brings us to a stop in front of Tim, while twelve feet away, Aubree sits on a low brick wall.
Her eyes are heavy and shadowed, her arms folded across her chest. She’s not speaking to Tim, and Tim’s not speaking to her.
“It’s a very Malone thing to do,” Minka continues. “Piss off the woman you love like some kind of sacrificial act, having absolutely no care at all for the feelings you hurt.” Sneering, she releases my arm with a swing that jolts my bad shoulder, then she turns to Tim. “Did you get the thing I asked for?”
Silent. Haunted. Tim meets Minka’s stare. They stand toe-to-toe for a long minute as a hushed battle wages between them. But Minka is unfailing, fearless, and refuses to back down.
With a sigh, Tim reaches into his coat pocket and takes out a single sheet of folded paper. “You owe me ninety-three bucks.”
Pleased, Minka snatches the sheet and mumbles something under her breath about owing money to the mafia. Then turning back to me, she slaps it to my chest and purses her lips. “I didn’t know today would be your birthday, so I won’t tell a lie and say I planned it this way. But it all works out in the end. The timing is serendipitous, and Tim paid for the whole thing. I don’t intend to ever pay him back, so I hope you enjoy the danger I place myself in as testament to how much I love you.”
“You’re not very funny, you know that?” I hold my gift in my weak hand, and take hers in my right. Tugging the woman closer, I stop only when our chests clash and her sweet breath races into my lungs. “I told you I wanted to break up.”
“You didn’t, actually. You told me I’m good in bed, and hoped that would somehow bother me.” Taking a step back, she nibbles on her bottom lip and studies the paper in my hand. “Aren’t you going to open your present?”