He hadn’t known Rose all that long, but he thought he now had a handle on how she operated. At all times, Rose Little was charging forward, eager to protect someone. It made her brave and reckless and earned her the nickname Wildcard. She disregarded herself for the sake of others. It was mostly a commendable trait.
It was also a terrifying one for the people who cared about her.
And James cared.
He had since she had pulled him into the service pit, when she had agreed to pretend to be hurt at the sheriff’s department to make him feel better, after he stood with her in the field behind his house, every second he had spent saving her from the tub the night before, and hours after he had shared a bed with her.
James cared about Rose to the point of distraction.
Something he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
It was and wasn’t surprising.
Rose Little may have been small, but she had more than proven she was absolutely mighty.
And he simply wanted more.
It was a quick epiphany. One that had James nod to himself to confirm he felt the change. Now wasn’t the time to talk about it, though. Instead he kept to his chair and waited for the woman of the hour to plan her next move. Because no matter what it was, James knew he would follow.
She could protect everyone else, because James would protect Rose.
He just didn’t realize then how quickly he was going to have to do so.
* * *
“BETRAYED BY SOMEONEyou trust, a close-corridors fight in a precarious place, something to do with heights, and a high-speed car chase through a bustling city.”
Rose was paraphrasing the last of Payton Abbot’s favorite action hero encounters with as little enthusiasm as possible. She looked up at the giant wall of a man standing pressed up against an actual wall and narrowed her eyes.
“Unless you and the department have other plans, I don’t think I’m going to get betrayed by someone I trust,” she continued. “As for the close combat fight in a ‘precarious’ place—I’m not even sure what that means—and something to do with me being on the edge of a cliff or something, I feel like those could be difficult to mastermind even if Damon outsourced. I’m not even sure we can count the car chase one since we’re not exactly a bustling city. But maybe the city part doesn’t count. Damon seemed okay with changing the whole drowning thing to some random man ruining my bath.”
James had had his eye on the doors to the hospital cafeteria for almost fifteen minutes. Even as he spoke now, he kept his gaze fixed.
“I’m not sure if you’re talking about all of this like it’s nothing as a way to cope or not, but let it be known, I’m not a fan of how casual you’re making this sound.”
Rose had already picked up on that fact. The man might have a calm poker face but his body always gavehim away. He had been tense ever since they had come to the hospital, doubly so when Rose was recognized by one of her friends on the staff. Now she could see the tension clearly in the line of his shoulders and the tightness of his jaw.
That tightness managed to stay there when he added another thought, just as grumbly as the previous one.
“And let it also be known, that no, I will not be the one who betrays you. So you can throw that idea right on out.”
Rose didn’t say it, but she hadn’t even entertained the idea of James betraying her in any sense of the word. An odd thing, considering she hadn’t even known the sound of his voice until a week ago. Now that sound was a comfort. A promise of being there. A calm place in an extremely unorthodox storm.
Also a voice of reason.
Because James was right.
Joking about everything—being so casual talking about how determined someone was to take her life, money and prison time be damned—was the only thing keeping the panic in her down. She had already been stressed with the bomb and the gunmen at the garage but after the man in the bathroom?
Everything had changed.
Church clothes or not, that man had truly scared her by invading a space she’d never imagined would be dangerous. He had overpowered her quickly and had nearly taken her life. All while she had been naked.
That small detail might not have seemed like a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but to Rose, it might have been the worst part.
She had been utterly vulnerable, not a stitch on or no weapon in sight.
If it hadn’t been for James…
