Page 38 of Happily Ever Maybe

“I’m on the phone with dispatch right now. They understandwhat they’re walking into,” Kate said, and another moment of pride slid in.

“Let me handle this?” Kane asked, and I raised a brow.

“Because I can’t?”

“No, because I think you should go hug Gus right now.”

I met his gaze. I didn’t see worry for me there, other thanthe normal concern for a teammate being in danger. He didn’t know I waspregnant. But Gus did. Daisy did. And I did.

“Okay,” I said after a moment and then traded places withKane, letting Gus take my hand to help me up. I could have gotten up myself,but based on the look on his face, he needed to do that. Neededto help.

So, I let him.

The adrenaline began to wear off, and I got nauseous again.

Before I could say anything, to figure out if he was angrythat I had taken a risk, or proud because his teammates had taken care ofthemselves and the situation, the authorities came in. We all stood atattention, hands up so they knew we weren’t the threats.

“Tell us what happened,” the cop said as he walked in. Daisybegan, with Kate and me adding in details.

Kingston handed over the security files, as well as anyothers we had from the bombing. After two hours of going through everything,they finally left us alone in the now-empty tattoo shop next door.

The security office would be closed for a couple of days.The authorities needed to look it over again, and Noah and Ford wanted todouble-check that everything was safe, considering a gun had gone off inside.

There was a bullet hole in the ceiling, and that thoughtbrought chills, though I did my best not to think about it.

“Are you okay?” Gus asked, and I nodded, worried what hemight say next.

“I’m fine. Promise. He didn’t hurt me.”

He kept looking at me as if straining to find a bruise orbullet wound. As if I couldn’t take care of myself.

Anger swamped me because I was good at my job. Yes, we hadbeen in danger, but nobody got hurt.

“I’m fine,” I snapped. “I can protect myself. I’ve alwaysbeen able to. I promise. Even after all these changes, I can still do that.”

He narrowed his eyes at me as everybody quieted around us.At this point, I didn’t even care that all my team members could hear me andwere watching this unfold. If Gus and I were going to make this work, then we’dhave to figure it out now.

“I was worried. So fucking worried,”Gus growled.

I threw my hands up in the air. “That’s fine. But stoplooking at me like I’m going to keel over. This isn’t going to work between usif you’re afraid of me being in danger every moment.”

“You were just in danger. There was a literal gunin your face.”

“Yes, and it was scary, but we handled it.” I let out abreath. “I can save myself. You don’t need to risk everything to protect me allthe time.”

“I know that,” he gritted out. “Ididn’t run in to save you, did I? We were formulating a plan when you and Daisytook care of it. I would’ve been in there if you needed me, but you didn’t.”

I tried to sense if there was any hurt in him, anythinghiding below the words, but I couldn’t. “Are you okay with that? That I didn’tneed you?” I asked softly, afraid of the answer.

“Of course, I’m fine with it. Our jobs are dangerous, Jen.”

“I know. And I know I’m going to work in the office for alittle while.” We were walking a dangerous line with this conversation, butthere would be no hiding this pregnancy soon enough. “But, as we just foundout, the office isn’t always safe. So, we’ll have to figure things out, okay?”

“Jen,” he whispered, then took a step forward, brushing myhair back from my face. “I want both of us to be safe. All ofus,” he said, emphasizing the word all.

“I’m scared. I was scared. But I’m reallyafraid that you and I are going to screw this up because you don’t trustthat I can handle myself.”

“You’re an idiot,” he grumbled. I blinked at him as one ofthe guys whistled.