"Thanks," Jason said. Knox didn't miss Jason's expression when he looked at Tayla. The guy was hopelessly in love. He couldn't blame him. Tayla was a perfect match for his best friend. Knox was impressed with how well she handled all thedrama and danger on Isadora when they first met a couple of months ago. Jason hadn't mentioned it yet, but Knox was sure they'd be engaged soon. He was happy for both of them. And a little jealous.
The grouping of chairs included three tiny tables—likely only meant to hold drinks. Allie and Tayla scooted the miniature tables together and arranged the pizza, cookies, fruit, and drinks as best they could on the cramped space.
Knox grabbed another slice of pizza and a bottle of lemonade. He watched the sea breeze dance with Allie's hair while she joked with Jason and Tayla about something. His frustration eased a fraction.
"You two couldn't convince Rowan to join us?" Jason asked.
Tayla shook her head. "Nope. He said you gave him the evening off, so he planned to meet friends online to play some kind of video game." Her mouth quirked up. "He seemed very excited about it."
"No doubt," Knox said. "That sounds about right."
The conversation drifted into an easy flow about the white sand, clear water, and pelicans. A couple of monkeys emerged from the trees, about twenty feet from their chairs. Knox suggested they toss some pepperoni to the curious visitors. The rest of the group vetoed that idea. Strongly.
He picked three pepperonis off his slice and acted like he was going to toss them to the monkeys anyway—mainly just to aggravate Allie, who was going on and on about how tourists shouldn't feed the wildlife. She was right, of course. But he wanted to mess with her. Just because.
They were all paying so much attention to the wary monkeys and Knox's feigned threats to feed them 'people food,' that they barely noticed the moped whizzing by on the sidewalk behind them.
But when the rider tossed a small cylinder toward them, Knox saw the danger. And time froze.
"Down!"
Knox's shout was Allie's only warning before he jerked her out of her chair, pulled her fifteen feet across the sand, tugged her to the ground, and rolled on top of her.
She lay underneath him, her head under his chest, gasping for breath, adrenaline spiking, for two seconds before she heard the explosion.
The blast vibrated the air, the ground, and everything inside her. Underneath Knox's muscular form, her body tried to recoil. But movement was impossible.
His arms squeezed around her. She felt his breath on her face.
The explosion was deafening. Now, her ears were ringing. Knox rolled off her and cupped her face. He was saying something. His voice sounded distant, like he was under water.
The worry in his eyes pinched her heart. He obviously needed to know she was okay, so she nodded. But so much adrenaline coursed through her, she really wasn't sure. Was she hurt? Was he? Where were Jason and Tayla? What on earth just happened?
Knox's eyes scanned her body, head to toe. He looked concerned about her leg. She sat up, but it was still difficult to understand what he was saying. She looked around and saw Jason helping Tayla to her feet. They'd been further from the blast.Thank you, God. This could've been so much worse. Thank you for protecting us.
Slowly, she stood and surveyed the damage. The chair she'd been sitting in had become shrapnel—impaling the trunks of three palm trees.
The sight knocked the wind out of her. Again.Okay, that's disturbing.If Knox hadn't . . .
She looked at him and knew he was thinking the same thing. She nearly died.
He pulled her against him and held tight, tucking his head into her neck. For a moment, she thought he was trying to comfort her—and she appreciated that—but after a few seconds, she knew he was hanging on because he was scared. He'd almost lost her. And he needed to feel her in his arms.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, perfectly willing to stand there as long as he wanted. Oh yes, as long as he wanted.
As her brain started functioning again, she realized her perspective had shifted—on several things. Whether it was an epiphany, or she just got the sense knocked into her, the world looked different.
"You guys okay?" Jason's voice. Her ears were still ringing, but she could understand his words.
Knox stepped back and looked her up and down again. "Your leg. We need to get it cleaned."
"What?" She looked down. Her right pant leg had two tears with a hint of blood on the fringes. If her pants were a darker color, instead of pale blue, she wouldn't have noticed the blood. She didn't feel any pain. Just two small scratches, but yeah, she needed to get cleaned up.
"Are you okay?" she asked Knox.
He nodded. "Fine."
Staff from the Mandeville and some of Alec Drakos's security guards came running.
