“Get some rest, sweetie,” Jill called over her shoulder before Wolf could shove her out the door. “We’ll check in on you tomorrow.”
“Oh, wait!” Chrissy called, and every head turned back to her. “Judy, thereissomething you can do for me. I don’t know where my phone is, so would you mind calling your nephew and asking him if he’ll take out the diving group I have scheduled to go to Sambos Reef tomorrow morning at eight?”
Wolf remembered a one-time meeting with a blond-headed kid by the name of Tommy who’d filled in for Winston on a dive. He’d bet dollars to donuts that’s who Chrissy was talking about.
“He should have keys to the shop and the boat,” Chrissy continued, ever the kick-ass businesswoman even when she was lying in a hospital bed, recovering from a bullet wound. “And all the equipment is ready to go.”
“He’ll be there.” Judy winked. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“Thank you. I’d hate to have seen what would’ve happened to my Yelp rating had no one showed up for tomorrow’s dive. Keyboard warriors are absolutely brutal.” Chrissy blew out a breath as if she’d discharged the last of her responsibilities and a giant weight had lifted from her shoulders.
“Okie, dokie.” Wolf clapped his hands again. “Now that that’s taken care of, good night, everyone.”
Jill eyed him askance, like she wanted to say something. But then she thought better of it and shooed the group out of the room.
The second they were in the hall, Wolf shut the door behind them, barely refraining from dusting off his hands and letting loose with a “Good riddance.”
Turning back to Chrissy, he found her tentatively trying to find a more comfortable position for her wounded shoulder. Her hair was a mess. Mascara smudged her lower lids. And there was scrape on her cheek from who knew what.
She’d never looked more beautiful.
She was beaten but not broken, had been brave without a hint of bravado.
In short, she was everything he’d never known he wanted. Everything he should have been a whole hell of a lot more careful with. And everything he’d give his left arm and two inches of his dick to get another shot at.
“We should let you get some rest.” Romeo stood from the love seat, offering Mia a hand up. The strawberry blonde seemed to hesitate, but eventually let him pull her to her feet.
Was it Wolf’s imagination or did Romeo hold on to Mia’s fingers a second or two longer than was strictly necessary? If the blush staining Mia’s cheeks was anything to go by, the answer to that question was a resoundingyes.
He loved Romeo like a brother, but the man had never made any bones about his goal of Hugh Hefnering his way through life, romancing as many members of the XX persuasion as humanly possible before dying in a smoking jacket at the ripe old age of ninety-one.
Not that Romeo was a hound dog or anything. The guy was one-hundred-percent honest with every woman he met. He told them straight up what he was and wasn’t after, and when they walked away? Well, they always did it with a smile.
But Mia was different.
She was softer. Gentler. She struck Wolf as the kind of woman Romeo could hurt even if he tried his best not to.
Then again, maybe Romeo was exactly the kind of man Mia needed. Maybe some time spent with the High King of Having a Good Time would help her poke her head out of her introverted shell.
“Y’all go on,” he told them. “I’m stayin’ here tonight.”
“Wolf.” Chrissy frowned. “You don’t have to do that. The police officer outside will—”
“I’m stayin’.” They were only two words. Twosmallwords at that. But they held a whole lot of meaning.
“Suit yourself.” She waved a hand, but he thought he saw a flicker of relief in her eyes.
He’d spent his fair share of time in hospital rooms. He knew exactly how isolating they could be. How cold and lonely.
Following Mia and Romeo to the door, he waved goodbye and then flicked off the light switch as soon as the door closed behind them. Not to be too autocratic and domineering, but Chrissy needed sleep. Then, stepping to the love seat, he girded himself to spend a sleepless night on the piss poor excuse for furniture.
Back when he’d been a SEAL, he could pass out on anything. The hard, rocky ground of a cave in the Hindu Kush?No problem.The cold, steel floor in the back of a thundering transport plane?Hello, Sandman.But he’d gotten soft since becoming a civilian. He was used to his comfy featherbed back at the beach house and—
“Wolf?” Chrissy’s voice was husky as it searched him out in the darkness. He would swear it came equipped with gentle fingers that brushed against his ears.
“Yeah, darlin?”
“You don’t have to fold yourself onto that love seat. You can sleep up here with me. You know…” Her voice sounded hesitant. “If you don’t think it’d be too weird.”
