Page 48 of Protect and Serve

“I thought I was clear. I told you if she was feeling better, all bets were off. I was very clear about that.”

“But…” He’d never heard Cody sputter.

“Listen, Cody. I like you. I respect you. I consider you a friend. But you need to back the fuck off.” For some reason, his ire was rising. Or maybe more than one reason. He was tired of her brothers’ bullshit. He wanted nothing more than to be with Claire…without their interference.

“Back off? Back off? She’s my baby sister.”

“She’s a grown woman. And a damn fine one at that.”

Snarls ensued. A threat or two. Or more.

Charlie ignored them. “You may as well accept the fact that Claire and I are together.”

“You just met!”

“It doesn’t matter. We both have real feelings for each other. And by God, nothing is going to keep me from her. Not your threats, your indignation or your midnight phone calls. Do you understand?”

“But…”

“I’m serious, Cody. I care for your sister and I intend to be with her in any way she’ll have me. Understood?”

“But…”

“Understood?” Something in his tone must have filtered through his friend’s outrage because, after a long silence, he muttered, “All right.”

“Thank you.” Hardly any sarcasm at all.

“But you’d better be gentle with her. You’d better not hurt her, or I’ll gut you like a fish.”

“Understood. Now, Cody?”

“What?”

“Hang up the phone. And don’t call back.”

“You’d better not hurt her—”

Enough. Charlie ended the call and tossed the cell phone onto the chair. He turned back to Claire with a frown. “Your brothers—”

“Did you mean what you said?” she asked, her eyes wide, shining.

Oh crap. What had he said? He’d been in something of a rage. He sent her a crooked smile. “Which part?”

“That you want to be with me?”

He lifted his hands, encompassing the thoroughly rumpled bed. “I should think that was obvious.”

“Any way I will have you?”

Ah. He suddenly knew what she was driving at. He came back to the bed and sat beside her, pulled her up into his arms and kissed her, gently. “I did mean that.”

“This has all happened very quickly,” she said in a detached tone that made his gut go cold.

“Yes. It has. But then, I’ve been in love with you forever.”

“In…love…?” To his great satisfaction, she warmed. Had she turned away, a part of him would have died.

“Yes. Granted, it was a crush back then, and little more. But now that I know you better, now that we’ve had time to reconnect, I…” He scraped back his hair and sighed. “I just really do.”