Page 79 of My Favorite Hero

“Deep breath, Pixie. Let me do the work.” I paused. “And shut your eyes.”

She gasped as I lifted her, hoisting her to my torso. “Hold on.” I held her tight to my chest.

“Coming down!” I yelled.

I descended a little slower than I’d gone up, trying not to jostle her. Her legs were wrapped around me tightly, her arms almost strangling my neck. I felt her tremors, and without a thought, I kissed the top of her head. “I have you,” I promised.

I didn’t breathe again until my feet touched the ground.

I kneeled down, sitting her on the grass.

“Good job,” Mark said. “Well executed.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, my attention on Casey. I stroked her hair in comfort. Her shaking was subsiding, which was a good sign.

“You need me anymore?”

I stood and shook his hand. “No. Thanks—I appreciate your help.”

He grinned. “You had it handled even without me.”

He bent down. “Take care, Casey. Stay out of trouble—or at least try. Keep your feet on the ground.”

Chuckling, he left, and I kneeled again in front of Casey. “Hey,” I called, lifting her chin. “You’re okay.”

She sighed—a long, shuddering sound that made me want to take her in my arms and hold her. But I resisted.

“What the hell made you go up the tree, Casey?” I asked. A thought occurred to me, and I rose to my feet, peering up into the tree. “Did Barney get out and get stuck?” I narrowed my gaze, looking for the brown-and-gray striped cat, prepared to climb up the ladder again.

“No,” she murmured.

“Then why the hell—” I stopped as the breeze went through the branches, and a sound I knew all too well now rang out. I stepped back, peering upward, investigating, hoping I wasn’t right.

But I saw them.

And instantly, I was furious again.

“You climbed up the fucking tree to hang your wind chimes in it?” I demanded.

“I remembered Lou and me doing it and thought it would be nice,” she said lamely.

“Nice? Nice? You risked your life to hang some fucking wind chimes?” I snarled, pacing and running a hand through my hair. “After I told you specifically you could hang one set? One? What part of that didn’t you understand?” I demanded, warming to my subject. “If I hadn’t been around, a call would have gone out and the squad would have had to come and get you out of the damn tree—wasting time and money on an unneeded rescue. What the fuck were you thinking?”

She scrambled to her feet, glaring. “You said one set on the house. You didn’t mention the tree.”

I closed the distance between us. “Because I didn’t think you’d put them in the fucking tree, Casey.”

“I thought they’d be⁠—”

I cut her off. “I know. Nice. They’ll look nice in the garbage once I get them down.”

She slammed her hands on her hips. “No.”

“My house. My rules.”

“You are such a bastard, throwing that line out when it suits you.”

“I’ll be a bastard every time you do something that puts you in danger.”