He grinned.“You can buy me a drink, and we’ll call it even.”
“No can do, man.”I checked my watch to see if I could make it into town to run a few errands before picking Audrey up from the office.
“Let me guess.You’ve got a hot date?”he joked.
“It’s Valentine’s Day.Damn right, I do.”
15
The end of my first month at Bad Bear Security crept up on me, the kind of day that left my brain fried and my feet aching in these damn heels.I was double-checking a file when Mack’s familiar shadow fell across my desk.My heart, as usual, did a little happy flip.
“Ready to get out of here?”he asked, his eyes crinkling at the corners the way they did when he was especially pleased with himself.
“God, yes.If I have to answer one more phone call from someone named Tank or Fang—” I grinned, gathering my things.
He waited for me at the elevator, one hand casually stuffed in his pocket, the other resting against the door.I could tell something was different.He looked lighter, almost giddy.Which was so unlike the work Mack I’d grown used to.
“So?”I prompted as we headed down.“You look like a man with a secret, and we don’t do those anymore.Remember?Spill it.”
He shot me a sideways smile as we walked to his truck.“Remember Lisa?”
“How could I forget?”I said, rolling my eyes.“World’s worst assistant.Demon with a taste for other people’s money.No.I don’t remember her at all,” I joked.
He snorted.“Levi and I caught up to her today.We found her hiding in a warehouse on the edge of town.She had a suitcase stuffed with my cash.”
I stopped mid-step.“Wait, seriously?You got your money back?”
He nodded, a grin spreading wide across his face.“Every last dollar.She tried to play us off each other—told me Levi was in on it.She tried like hell to get into our heads.But it didn’t matter what she said.I could smell every lie coming out of her mouth.Sheriff Owen has her now, and she’s not getting out anytime soon.”
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.“That’s…amazing.Are you okay?”
He squeezed my hand.“I am now.And I owe a lot of that to you.”
His words filled me with warmth as we headed home.I was glad he’d gotten his money back and put the riffraff in jail.I know he’d been stressed about it, but now he could move on.
As soon as we got home, I kicked off my heels with a groan and padded barefoot into the kitchen.“I’ll get dinner started,” I called over my shoulder.“Unless you want to try your hand at gourmet takeout again?”
Before I could open the fridge, I heard the front door open and close, then the unmistakable sound of Mack’s heavy stride behind me.I turned, ready with a teasing quip on my lips—only to stop cold.
He was holding a beautiful bouquet—a dozen deep red roses, their petals impossibly perfect against his big, rough hands.
“For you, gorgeous,” he said, suddenly bashful in a way that made my heart happy.“Though I should ask.Will you be my valentine?”His grin turned wicked.“And, ah, would you mind putting those heels back on?”
I laughed, the sound bubbling up from somewhere deep inside of me.“You want me to cook in stilettos?”
“No.I want to fuck you in those stilettos,” he growled, stepping closer to hand me the roses.His eyes flicked over me, hungry and full of promise.“But especially tonight.”
I took the bouquet, holding it to my chest as the scent of the blooms mingled with the clean, woodsy smell of his skin.“The roses are beautiful.Thank you.And yes.I’ll be your Valentine.”
“And the heels?”he grinned.
“Fine.Just for you.”
“Wait right here,” he said
He returned a few moments later with my heels in his hand.I lifted one leg and motioned for him to put the shoe back on my foot.
“I feel like Cinderella,” I joked.
