“Um. Yes.” The hesitation in her voice made him cautious.
He opened the door slowly, revealing a stunningly beautiful, half-naked Lucky in front of him. She was still in her bra and panties, the plain white cotton just as sexy on her as lace.
She’d managed to get the rest of her clothes off without his help. The sling lay discarded on the double vanity, along with her knee brace and the used wrap and bandage from her thigh. She was currently pulling the bandage off her chest, her gaze darting to him and away as her cheeks flamed pink with embarrassment.
“Want some help?” He tried to put her at ease by seeming nonchalant about her near nakedness and all her scars on display.
“Do you know where the ointment is that we brought home from the hospital?”
Thathomein her sentence did all kinds of things to his head and heart. It made him hope that she really felt like this could be home. Here. With him. “It’s on the dresser. I’ll get it.” It only took half a minute to grab it from the other room and return.
She turned away from him. “I can’t reach the one on my back.”
He set the ointment and new bandages and gauze on the counter and carefully pulled the tape on all four sides of the large square covering. The stitches were still intact and the wound looked good. “No signs of infection on this one. Turn and let me see your chest.”
She turned with a shy grin. “So you’re a boob man?”
He met her gaze, even though her spectacular breasts were right there. “I’m a Lucky man. I like everything about you.” He brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “Thank you for tonight. It meant a lot to have you here with my cousin and best friend. I know it’s unconventional to have a female best friend.”
“But she wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Lucky didn’t show an ounce of jealousy. “You told me. And I like her—them—a lot. I’ve never seen a couple so in love.”
“They’re the real deal. Nothing can tear them apart. Not after how hard they fought to be together.”
“I believe that. It’s been a long time since I made new friends. I’m usually too quiet and standoffish to try.”
“I get that. I spent way too long pushing everyone away after I returned home. Lyric helped me break that habit.”
Her head tilted as she studied him. “Were you ready for it?”
“I’d done a lot of therapy by then to address my PTSD.” He put it out there, so she’d know he wasn’t whole. Probably never would be again. But he wasn’t as broken as he used to be. He’d mended the pieces he could put back together. “What I hadn’t done was open myself up to others. Not even my family. I don’t know what it was about her. Maybe her direct, take-no-excuses way she came at me did it. But her kindness and joywas infectious. I couldn’t be brash with her. Mason deserved to be happy after all he’d been through being undercover with the FBI and away from his family. She was good for him and I didn’t want to mess that up for him in any way.”
“You love him like a brother.” Sadness filled her eyes, like she was thinking of the brother she’d lost.
He couldn’t imagine losing either of his brothers or cousins. They were so close.
And now Lucky was alone.
Whoever did that to her and claimed it was to protect her didn’t understand Lucky and the depths she’d gone to protect Danny. Killing him for no reason made all she’d sacrificed and suffered meaningless.
“I think of Mason and Nick as brothers. We’ve been close since we were kids. I’d do anything for them. I know they’d do anything for me. I’m ashamed I pushed them away so long when all they wanted to do was help.”
“You needed time. They understood that.”
“I knew they would and that’s why it made it worse, because I counted on the fact that no matter how much of an asshole I was, they’d never stop trying, and I felt worse for lashing out every time they held a hand out to reach me.”
“Sometimes we hurt the ones closest to us because we want them to feel our pain. To understand. I’m sure you’ve made it up to them.”
“I try. Mom says I don’t have to do anything but be happy. That’s all they want for me.”
“That’s got to feel really nice, to know no matter what, they have your back.”
He tipped his forehead to hers. “I know you don’t know what that’s like, but you have it now. I won’t let anything happen to you. I want you to be happy. I’ll do everything I can to make you feel that way.”
She cupped his cheek and brushed her thumb against his skin. “Why?”
He stood tall and stared down at her. “Because I care about you. You know that, right?”
“I’m standing here half naked, trying not to be completely self-conscious in front of the second guy to see me naked, wondering what this is between us.”
