“Are you sure you’ll be okay if we leave?”
“I’m certain.”
Her mother sighed before leaning over and gently hugging her.
Her father stepped forward next and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Call if you need anything.”
“I will.”
When they left the room, she turned to Becket. “Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me.”
He kept saying that, but it wasn’t true. She was thoroughly indebted to this man and thanking him was all she had to give. “Did your brother have any information on the driver of the white van?”
Becket moved forward so that he stood beside the bed, touching her hand. His eyes were so dark they were almost black. “No. But his deputies will speak to everyone they know in Amber Ridge who drives a white van.”
She nodded, more focused on the warmth from Becket’s touch than his words. She met his eyes. “Areyouokay? You jumped off a bridge into freezing-cold water. Did you get checked?”
“I’m fine. I’ve done far worse in—”
“The military, I know. But you’re still human. And you put yourself in danger for me.” Nausea churned in her belly, memories of Charlie once again sending fear through her limbs.
Becket tightened his fingers on her hand. “I’m okay. I know my limits. Can I take you home?”
The thought of her own bed made some of the tension ease from her body. “I would love that.”
“Do you need help changing?”
She glanced at the pile of clothes on the chair. “No, I can do it.”
His brows flickered. “I don’t feel good leaving you to do it alone.”
Her heart squeezed. How was this the same man she’d waged war with over a boundary fence? “I’ll call out if I need help.”
If the crease between his brows was anything to go by, he didn’t like it. “I’ll be right outside that door. If I hear anything I don’t like, I’m coming in.”
She nodded but the second he was gone, she wanted him back. Today, he’d saved her life. And in the process, he’d become more to her. The person she felt safest with. The person she wanted to keep closest. And she had a feeling that wouldn’t be changing for a while.
* * *
Becket’s fingerswere tight around the wheel as he drove. Everything about this day made him cold with dread. And the anger…it was everywhere—in his skin, his bones, his clenched teeth. It made him want to drive the streets and find the fucking van owner and murder him.
They’d run Sky off a bridge, then left her, not caring if she lived or died.
The image of her car tipping into the water replayed over and over in his mind, tormenting him. The memory of her unconscious in her car at the bottom of the reservoir was like a nightmare he couldn’t get out of his head.
She’d come so close to death today. Too fucking close. If he hadn’t been there to jump in after her, there was a chance no one else would have. It was too much of a risk, even for a firefighter.
He shot a glance at the passenger seat. Sky’s head was back, her eyes closed, but she wasn’t asleep. There were deep circles under her eyes, and her skin still hadn’t recovered much of its color.
He pulled into his driveway and turned off the engine.
“You don’t have a car,” he said, almost to himself.
“My parents have a spare I can use. They’re dropping it off tomorrow.”
Hell, he didn’t even want her driving. He wanted her safe with him. “Your house or mine?”
