I opened my mouth to say something I’d surely regret when Reid pulled me aside as Heath left the room to cool down.
Reid tried to calm me like one would a feral cat with his soothing touch. He explained, “This is just as hard on Heath and me as it was on you.” He almost seemed to growl at me. “Heath sees himself as one of your protectors and he can’t safeguard you when you’re not with us. You’re bound and determined to get your freedom back and I get it, I really do. But think about where that puts us. We get to sit back and hope that nothing happens to you while you’re away from us. Do you understand how that feels? To be completely and utterly vulnerable to the whims of a psychopath that has a vendetta against the woman we—”
I sucked in a harsh breath and my heart squeezed as he paused, looking away from me for a moment. He clenched his jaw before continuing “We care about you too much to have anything happen to you.” He smiled softly at me before caressing my cheek lovingly.
Feeling lower than dirt, I dejectedly looked down the hallway where Heath had disappeared. I’d been so busy wrapped up in my own emotions, I hadn’t even stopped to think about how this might be affecting their feelings. For two men who needed to be in control, to have none in this situation would be a hard pill to swallow.
I grabbed Reid’s hand and led him to the bedroom to find Heath sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. The sight of him in obvious distress nearly had me undone.
I forced my way onto his lap. When he looked up at me, I could see all the unspoken words and emotions rolling around in those emerald eyes.
Grabbing Reid’s hand, I pulled him until he caressed my back with his front.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I grazed my lips against Heath’s. “I understand where you’re coming from and I’m sorry,” I said again as emotion clogged my throat. “I’ll give it one more day before I go back to work, but I can’t give that part of myself up permanently. I need to be able to have some independence in my life otherwise I’ll start to feel trapped all over again.”
Heath’s eyes sparkled with relief. The joy I saw in both of them was more than enough reason for me to stay home that day. It wasn’t long after and we were all tangled together finding our bliss.
We spent the rest of the day in bed enjoying each other. Only leaving our room to use the restroom and grab food. We made love multiple times with intervals of napping, touching, laughing, and talking in hushed tones.
Going back to reality came all too early the next day. Heath had driven me to work like usual. He waved at the police cruiser in the parking lot on his way past. After parking, he walked me to my desk. Before he left, he pulled me to him and gave me one of those fight-for-your-life kisses. The type of kisses that made me a little dumb when I finally came up for air.
He made me promise that I would call him if I needed anything today. “Are you sure you don’t need me to bring you lunch?” Heath asked, obviously looking for an excuse to come back and see me.
A warm smile came over my lips at his attempt. I shook my head and told him I would eat with Jill today. I wanted to find out if she had gotten into a certain cop’s pants yet.
He gave me a playful grin before kissing me one last time. When he pulled away, he had a look in his eyes like he wanted to say more but he refrained. He left with the promise to see me later tonight.
I didn’t realize Sam was standing in her doorway as I watched Heath leave. I nearly jumped out of my skin when she greeted me with a cheery, “Good morning!” She raised her eyebrows and her head tilted toward me. She had certainly seen Heath’s and my intimate goodbye.
Clutching my chest, I nodded at her and returned the sentiment. She grinned at me. “I have to say I’m quite jealous of you, Kate, you have one fine piece of man there. And the way he looks at you.” She fanned herself for emphasis.
I couldn’t keep the smile from my lips as I felt my cheeks flush. I didn’t fill her in that my other man was just as hot as this one. I cleared my throat before I spoke.
“Thank you for giving me time off. It really helped a lot,” I admitted.
She waved me off like it was nothing. “Well, if you’re ready to get this day started, grab your tablet and come on in when you’re ready,” she said with a smile as she turned, walking back into her office. I shook my head to clear the remainder of the lust trapped there. Grabbing my tablet I followed her, ready to take on the day.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Oh, I love you so much!” Jill exclaimed as I walked into her office carrying takeout bags from our favorite Mexican place. She was holding her arms out in a give-me motion as I laughed and handed her the food. “You have no idea how much I’ve been craving their queso. I am so glad they deliver.” She squealed as she opened her box.
I giggled and couldn’t help myself. “You wouldn’t happen to be craving this food because of a certain Latino’s attention, would you?” I said with a wiggle of my brows.
I think out of all the years I have known Jill Brookes, I had never seen her blush. Not even when she got her period in history class and bled through her pants. When one of the boys in class started laughing at her, she simply turned around, punched him in the nose, and said, “Now we are both bleeding, you dickhead?” No way would she blush and get embarrassed by something so silly.
That changed today, as she flushed bright red before she choked on her bite of quesadilla.
I sucked in a startled breath as I stood up and patted her back as she coughed and sputtered. She put her fork down as she cleared her throat, giving me a self-deprecating smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “You do realize that I was there the night you guys were basically fucking against the wall in the bar, right?” I laughed as she reddened even further.
“You saw that, did you?” she asked with an embarrassed smile.
It was so fun to tease her. I had never seen Jill as flustered as she was right then. “So, are you going to give me all of the dirty details or not?” I asked with a secret smile.
Jill looked down at her food while she ate a few bites. When I thought she wasn’t going to tell me anything, she finally broke.
“That man is so annoying! He doesn’t back down to me like most people do and I don’t know how to take it. He’s so goddamn stubborn. I was in the middle of ripping him a new one, and then he just kissed me. Can you believe the nerve?”