Turning, she met my gaze, her expression curious, waiting for my response. It took me a moment to remember what she’d said.
“That’s something else.” Right.
“Yeah.” I sounded like a goddamn idiot. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “Yes.” I wracked my brain for something witty or intelligent to add but came up blank. My brain might be employable, but it was worthless in the presence of a beautiful woman.
“Why aren’t you riding with them?” she asked.
Instinct made me want to lie, to feed her some bullshit line about how someone had to stay behind and protect the women and children. But lying was my mom’s thing, and I wanted nothing to do with it. So, I ducked my head and admitted the humiliating truth. “Can’t.”
A question formed on Mila’s lips.
Not wanting to discuss the matter where everyone could hear, I drifted back toward the fire station, gesturing for her to follow. We skirted the common area and stepped into the kitchen. Since breakfast had already been served and put away, the room was empty. Mila watched me expectantly as I led her to one of the commercial-sized refrigerators and offered her a water before grabbing my own. She leaned against a countertop, while I paced the space, trying to figure out how much to tell her.
“I can’t ride long distances,” I finally revealed, hoping she’d accept my answer without digging further.
“Why not?” she asked, shattering all hope she’d accept the short answer.
“Back injury.”
She watched me, clearly waiting for more.
Telling her I was in constant pain would make me sound like a pussy, so I left out that unfortunate detail and focused on the answers that would bring more clarity to the situation. “Sometimes it flares up and it’s… debilitating.” A bit of an understatement, but at least it wasn’t a lie. “If I’m local, I can always pull over to the side of the road and have someone pick me up, but that doesn’t work so well for long rides.”
Since the Dead Presidents left no man behind, if I got stranded along the way, I’d hold them up and make them miss the wedding. They’d invited me to come along, but indulging in my desire to be included wasn’t worth the risk. Besides, even without any flare ups, I had no idea how well I’d do on a 150-mile ride.
“Oh.”
I tried to gauge her reaction, but her expression didn’t reveal shit. She seemed careful to keep her opinions about my condition on lockdown, but at least her eyes didn’t fill with pity.
Still, the whole conversation was hella emasculating. Needing to preserve my goddamn balls, I changed the subject. “Morse told me you might need to go out and get a few things. Said he doesn’t want you going anywhere alone. My schedule is clear, and I’ll be more than happy to take you wherever you need to go.”
She flashed me a shy smile. “Thanks, but I don’t want to be a bother. I’m sure whatever I need to do can wait until Levi gets back.”
“Trust me, I don’t have anything else going on in my life. It’ll give me an excuse to get out of here for a while. I’ll be around the fire station, but let’s exchange numbers so you won’t have any trouble finding me.” There were probably smoother ways to ask for her number, but hell if I knew any.
Nibbling on her bottom lip, she dug through her purse and retrieved her phone. As she stared at the screen, her brows drew together and something that looked a lot like fear flashed in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I got another stupid Bible verse.”
Remembering Morse’s mention of threatening Bible verses, I asked, “Can I see?”
She put on a brave face, but her hands were trembling slightly when she handed me the phone.
“Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith theLord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith theLord.”
“He’s looking for me,” Mila said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Do you need to send it to Morse?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ll message him, but he’s monitoring the account. He’ll see it.”
“Let this asshole fuckin’ find you,” I ground out, hating the way this stupid message made her look so lost and scared. “We got you. If this son-of-a-bitch shows up here, he’ll find nothing but a world of hurt.”
Her gaze met mine and gratitude shone through her eyes. It made my chest swell, but also reminded me I was in no position to make threats. What would I do if she was in danger? How could I help? While in the Navy, I’d earned my nickname by relentlessly filing the proper paperwork to get my fellow servicemen and women the support they needed. Wasp had called me a blood hound enough times that the name stuck. I thrived off getting to the bottom of the red tape and getting the upper brass to do their goddamn jobs. But how could I use that skillset to help Mila?
I couldn’t. The best I could do was to throw myself in front of a bullet. That was okay. I would be Mila’s fucking meat shield before I let this asshole get to her.
