“No,” Josh corrected. “What I love is doing a good job, catching the bad guy, protecting people. There are other ways of doing that outside of the Bureau,” he told her.
He could see she was about to protest again and he placed a finger against her lips, keeping her quiet until he could finish telling Leonor why he’d made this decision.
“If I remain with the Bureau, they more or less own me.” It was just the way things were and until now, it hadn’t mattered to him. But now it did. “They own my time whether or not I’m on the clock. I was thinking of starting up my own security firm,” he told her. “That way, I’m my own boss, master of my own destiny.” He saw her smiling. “What?”
Master of his own destiny, she thought, amused. “Sounds like you don’t know the first thing about being married.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he countered. “I know that the first thing is to find someone you love more than anything in the world, and hell, I’ve already got that covered.”
“Wait, back up,” she instructed, his words replaying themselves belatedly in her head. “Say that again.”
“I’ve already got that covered?” he said, asking if that was what she meant.
“No, the other part.”
“That I know the first thing?” Josh asked her innocently.
Now she knew that he was toying with her. “The part between that and the other part.”
It was hard keeping a straight face, but Josh managed it somehow. “Oh, you mean the part where I said that I’ve already found someone I love more than anything in the world?”
Finally! “Yes,” she told him with a wide smile. “That part.”
“I found someone I love more than anything in the world,” he repeated obligingly.
There went her heart again, she thought, feeling it starting to pound. “You do?”
“I did, I have and I do.” He paused as if to review the words he’d just said. “I think that covers everything,” he told her.
Leonor looked up at him, her eyes saying things that she hadn’t told him out loud yet. “Not yet,” she prompted, waiting for him to “seal” the deal.
“Oh, how could I forget?” he murmured.
Lowering the guard railing on the side closest to him, Josh sat on the very edge of the hospital bed and gingerly gathered her into his arms, bringing her just close enough to him to kiss her.
He couldn’t kiss her with the ardor he was feeling—she was still attached to a myriad of monitors and IVs—but he felt he still managed to sufficiently convey just what was waiting for her once she recovered.
Releasing Leonor—he was afraid that if he didn’t, he might just give in to the demands created by the rush of desire surging through his veins—he murmured, “Anything else?”
Suspended just on the brink of the wondrous passions she’d already shared with him in her bed before all this had happened, Leonor took in a deep breath. “One more thing,” she told him.
“What?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Yes?” he repeated, not sure exactly what she was telling him.
“Yes,” Leonor repeated again.
“Okay,” he said, drawing out the word slowly as he watched her face for a further clue.
It was obvious that he wasn’t following her, Leonor thought. He was trying so hard not to be pushy, he’d lost the thread. She found it for him by spelling out her meaning.
“Yes I will marry you.”
A heady feeling of sheer joy swept over him. “You’re sure?”
Her smile spread, encompassing him. “Very, very sure.”
He pushed it a little further, just to be certain. “Even though I lied to you?”
She laughed. “Are you trying to talk me out of marrying you?”
“No, no, of course not,” he said quickly.
“Then shut up and kiss me again,” she ordered, humor shining in her eyes. “And this time kiss me like I’m your future wife, not a Vestal Virgin.”
She knew that he wanted to, he thought, but he was trying to be cautious for her sake.
“I don’t want to risk one of those IVs coming loose,” he pointed out.
“We’re in a hospital, Josh. If one of them comes loose, somebody will come to reattach me. That’s what they’re supposed to do. Now kiss me, Special Agent Howard, and remind me why I just said yes.” Her smile turned sexy. “Think of it as upholding the honor of the Bureau.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Josh took her into his arms again and kissed her with all the love that was brimming in his heart.
The honor of the Bureau was upheld just fine.
Epilogue
“You haven’t changed your mind?” Leonor asked hesitantly.
Her question was directed to Josh. More than a week had passed since she’d been shot by the hit man her nephew had hired to kill her. More than a week since she had been inside her own home.
It felt almost strange now, crossing the threshold, entering her living room after having been in the hospital for all that time.
Forgoing the wheelchair that Josh had rented to help her get around, she’d declared that she wanted to walk into her house on her own two feet. They wound up compromising by leaving the wheelchair in his trunk, but he insisted that she at least allow him to hold on to her arm and help her into the house.
Her question, coming right after he’d closed the door behind them, caught Josh off guard.
“Changed my mind about what?” he asked as he guided her toward the sofa.
He wanted to take her straight to bed, but he knew Leonor would balk at that since she’d spent so much time in bed during her convalescence.
Leonor slowly sank down onto the sofa. The cushion felt welcoming beneath her. “About leaving the FBI and starting up your own security firm.”
“I already put in my papers,” he told her with a casual air.
Josh sat down next to her, thinking how good it was to have her back in this setting. How good it felt to have her anywhere after coming so close to losing her because of a stone-cold killer and the sociopath who had hired him.
“And they’re okay with that?” she questioned. He was a good agent; would they just let him go like that?
“Well, they tried to talk me out of it by offering me a promotion, but I turned them down, saying that my mind was made up.”
She didn’t want him looking at her in a year or two and regretting what he’d impulsively done just because he thought that she’d wanted him to give up everything for her.
“Are you sure you’re not going to be sorry you did this?” she pressed.
“Not a chance,” he told her. “I know the way the Bureau works. They move their agents around the country like chess pieces, sending them where they’ll be most effective at the time. You have a life in Austin and you want to stay close to your family. And I want to stay with you, so if my choice is between you and the Bureau, the choice is simple. I choose you.” He brushed his lips against her temple and made her a promise. “You won’t be sorry.”
She grinned, “Not a chance. Unless, of course, you just keep kissing my temple.”
He found her endearing. “There’s time enough for the other stuff later. I want you well.”
She took a breath as she turned her face up to him. “I’m well.”
“Weller, then,” he amended. “Oh, I almost forgot. I have another ‘wedding present’ for you.”
She glanced around, expecting to see something tangible. “What is it?”
He loved the way her eyes lit up like that. It made him think of the little girl she must have once been, anticipating Christmas or her birthday. Livia, he’d heard, had been a great one for showmanship as long as there was a photographer around.
Leonor nodded. “Yes?”
He knew this would make her happy. She’d lost track of one of her younger brothers and that had worried her a great deal. “Well, I found River.”
Her eyes widened and she asked excitedly, “He’s alive?”
“He’s alive,” Josh confirmed. “Turns out he was injured in the line of duty—”
She immediately thought the worst. “How serious was it?”
Josh hadn’t wanted to give her too many details yet, but since she’d asked, he couldn’t very well ignore her question or lie to her. But he could soften the information a little.
“Serious enough, but he definitely will survive. As a matter of fact, he’s due to be discharged from the rehab facility he was sent to soon.”
Leonor was overjoyed at the news. “This has to be the best medicine ever,” she told Josh.
Reaching out, she touched his face and ran her hand along his cheek. This one piece of information, this one effort on his part to find out what had happened to her brother—as well as his decision to remain in Austin because this was where her life was and because it was close to her family—told her that she had really, really lucked out. She’d found someone who knew just what was important to her.
This was a man she knew she could spend the rest of her life with.
“I love you,” she whispered just before she leaned in and pressed her lips against his.
After a moment, Josh drew his head back. When she looked at him quizzically, he asked, “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
“I’m sure that if I have to wait any longer, I’m liable to go up in smoke.”
“Certainly can’t have that. Oh, and I love you, too,” he told her teasingly.
“Glad we got that out of the way,” she murmured against his mouth.
There was no more talking—about anything—for a long while.
* * * * *
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THE TEXAN’S RETURN by Karen Whiddon
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The Texan’s Return
by Karen Whiddon
Chapter 1
The sharp sound of someone knocking on her front door made Hailey Green narrow her eyes. She’d posted a No Soliciting sign years ago, but every once in a while, a very persistent salesperson would pretend not to see it. She supposed they felt somewhat entitled after walking all the way up her long, winding drive.
Still... She put down the whisk, wiped her hands on the front of her faded jeans, and marched to answer the knock. Prepared speech all ready, she flung the door open. And stared, the words dying on her lips. Her heart flip-flopped in her chest, like a caught catfish on the end of a trotline.
Him. Mac Morrison.
“What...” Stunned, she took a step back, in disbelief, in defense, or a combination of both. Once, her younger self had dreamt of this moment. That dream, like all the others, had faded. Every time his face drifted into her thoughts, she’d chased the image away, telling herself after so many years, she had no idea what kind of man Mac had become.
Now she knew. She let her gaze drink him in, too shocked even to attempt to hide her reaction. After a decade away, he was no longer a boy, but a man. And oh, what a man.
He’d filled out, his body finally catching up to his height. Time had hardened the craggy perfection of his face and given him a masculine virility that his younger self had only had a hint of. He’d gotten muscular, too, his bare arms powerful, his broad shoulders filling out his black T-shirt. He wore his thick, dark hair longer, shaggier, but this also just enhanced his appeal. Only the warmth in his gray eyes as he gazed at her hadn’t changed.
“Hi,” he said, his easy smile and husky voice making her catch her breath. “How’ve you been? It’s been a long time, but you still look the same. Even down to the earrings. I’m glad to see you kept them.”
Purely on reflex, she brought her hand up to her ears. The tiny diamond ear studs he’d given her for her sixteenth birthday were in place, just as they always were. She took them off every night and put them on every single morning. They were the only piece of jewelry she wore.
She could have slammed the door and locked it, turned and run down the hall to the bathroom so she could retch up the remains of breakfast. She could have, probably should have, but instead she couldn’t make herself move. One devilish quirk of a smile and all the memories, wants and desires came rushing back as if they were yesterday rather than almost a decade ago.
Mouth dry, she struggled to find the words to make a response. Instead, to her absolute horror, her eyes filled with tears. She would not cry, not in front of him.
“What...” she tried again. “What are you doing here? After all this time.” The harshness of her tone spoke more of her pain rather than anger.
“What, no friendly welcome?” Mockery and regret combined to darken his eyes to slate. “I thought at least that you’d want to catch up with an old friend.”
Friends. They’d been that, once. And more. Much, much more. Not only best friends, but lovers and soul mates. She’d loved him, with all the fervor of a teenage girl. And he’d loved her back, or so she’d believed. Though when he and his family had moved away, under the cloud of shame caused by what Mac’s father had done, he hadn’t even said goodbye. Hailey had never heard from him again.
Not that she’d wanted to. That was what she’d told herself to mitigate the hurt. After all, there’d only been so many things she could grieve at seventeen. Her sister’s murder had been difficult enough. Once upon a time, Hailey had beli
eved in true love, happily-ever-after and fairy tales. That was Before, with a capital B. Before everything had changed and she’d learned monsters really did exist.
“Hailey?” He cocked his head, clearly waiting for her to respond.
The sound of her name on his lips sent a shiver up her spine. Words. She needed to answer him. So she said the first thing that came to mind. “I thought you moved far away. Another state? Up north somewhere.”
“No. Mother and I settled in Huntsville, to be near my dad.”
She couldn’t suppress a shudder.
He continued on as if he hadn’t noticed. “My mother passed away three years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, meaning it. Then, because she had to ask, she did. “And your father?” Holding herself stiffly, she waited for him to say the words that, even now, might set her free.
Swallowing, Mac looked away for the first time since he’d arrived. “He’s been ill. Pancreatic cancer. It’s terminal.”
Heaven help her, she wouldn’t allow herself to feel pity. His father deserved none, that was for sure. Crossing her arms, she settled for a nod. “What are you doing here, Mac?” This time, she softened her tone. “Nothing good can come of dredging up old memories.”
Finally, he appeared uncomfortable. Shifting his weight from foot to foot—sturdy black motorcycle boots, she noticed—he sighed. “I’m home, Hailey. My father and I both. We’ve moved back into the old place on Front Street.”
“They let him out?” Shocked, she didn’t have time to think of the impact her words might have on him. He winced, and she scaled back her outrage, just a little bit. “I’ve been notified every time he’s come up for parole,” she informed him, her voice firm but softer. “I’d know if they were going to release that man.”
“That man is my father.” He rolled one shoulder in that shrug she remembered. “He’s sick, Hailey. Very ill,” he told her, his tone matter-of-fact since he definitely knew he couldn’t ask for her sympathy. “He’s dying, actually. His one wish was to come home and spend his final days in the house he built with his own hands. He needed someone to take care of him when hospice isn’t there, so I came with him.”
Colton Undercover Page 21