Page 28 of Serve ’N’ Protect

“Are you okay?” Markus asked between deep breaths as he kneeled on the step beside her. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she rocked back and forth, baring her teeth. “Okay, that was a stupid question.” It was obvious that she was in pain.

A choked laugh bubbled up from her throat. “Ya think?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Instinctively, he rubbed her back in slow circles while she frantically rubbed the top of her right leg. Markus looked over his shoulder to watch a car roll slowly past then turn into a driveway just before the bend in the road. Sitting out in the open like this wasn’t the smartest move but… No man—or woman—left behind. He couldn’t abandon Cassidy.

A few more seconds went by before she opened her eyes and blew out a breath. “Damn, that hurt.”

“Looked like it,” he agreed, continuing to rub her back.

“Oh, darn.” She wiped her eyes. “One more thing that has to be repaired.” The broken wood railing had completely separated from the steps and now sat in three pieces on the grass. The rusty metal pole running through the center of the wood had broken clean off. “If you haven’t noticed, my house is kind of an eyesore.”

“Hadn’t noticed,” he lied.

“Thanks for rushing over. Both of you,” she added, pulling Ghost closer and surprising Markus by kissing the top of his dog’s head.

Ghost responded with a series of yips and yaps that sounded a lot like human conversation, making Cassidy laugh through her tears.

“Just being neighborly,” he joked. Admitting that he’d been watching her house and counting the minutes until her family left would sound weird and stalker-ish. “Any chance you broke something?”

“I don’t think so,” she answered with a shake of her head. “Unless you count my pride. Mostly, I fell on my ass, but you know how the song goes. The ass bone is connected to the thigh bone, et cetera, et cetera.”

“Let’s get you inside and get an icepack on you.” As he pushed to his feet, he grabbed the cell phone that must have slipped from her pocket when she’d fallen. He pointed to her cane now lying at the bottom of the steps. “Ghost, cane.”

Ghost walked down the stairs and picked up the cane.

Markus was about to hold out his hand but hesitated. What he really wanted was to pick her up and carry her into the house.

“Don’t even think it,” she said. “You’ll break those stitches wide open again and bleed all over my front porch. Give me a hand.”

He knew she was right, but it went against his gentlemanly inclinations. When her fingers closed around his, they were warm, her skin smooth against his callused hand. “Ready?” Standing up would be a bitch.

“As ever.”

Her face contorted as he gently but firmly pulled her to a standing position. For a moment, she rested her forehead on his chest, blowing out a long breath through her mouth. He clasped her shoulders, feeling the well-developed muscles beneath her shirt. The last thing she needed was another setback, but today’s fall would probably delay their workout session until at least tomorrow.

Ghost had retrieved the cane and come up the steps, perfectly balancing it in his mouth. Markus took it and handed it to Cassidy.

“Thank you, Ghost.” She gave his dog a wan smile then let Markus help her into the house.

The moment he stepped over the threshold he froze. He blinked, then blinked again.

“What?” She looked up at him, but he was too busy taking everything in. “Oh. You must be in awe of my Christmas decorations. I went a little overboard this year.”

“Overboard?” Regaining his wits, he tugged the door shut behind them and helped her to the sofa. “It looks like a Christmas factory exploded in your living room.”

“I know.” With one hand on the cane and the other still firmly gripped in his, she lowered herself down and put her legs on the only strip of the coffee table that wasn’t covered with stacks of documents, file folders, and a laptop. “I didn’t really celebrate Christmas last year, what with the accident and all. This year, the I’m-just-happy-to-be-alive thing took over and I couldn’t stop myself.”

“I can see that.” An enormous Christmas tree sat in one corner, loaded with tiny white lights, silver tinsel, metallic balls of every color in the spectrum, and so many other ornaments it would probably take a week just to repack them. It was a wonder the tree didn’t topple over from all the weight. The scent of pine was overwhelming, coming not only from the tree but from the half dozen or so wreaths hanging on the walls. Slowly, he took in the rest of her decor.

Between the wreaths, more garland hung on every wall, interspersed here and there with big red velvet bows. What little space there was in the two tall bookcases flanking the fireplace had been crammed with elf, reindeer, and Santa figurines. If there was a place to hang a shiny metallic ball, she’d hung them, even from the chandelier.

Markus never decorated his house at Christmas or any other holiday. He couldn’t recall if his mother had decorated the house for him and Kelly when they were kids. The only thing he did remember was that after she died, they never celebrated anything. Not even birthdays. Steven was too fixated on himself to be bothered with irrelevant things that two small children would have loved.

“Ghost, come here, boy.” Cassidy patted the sofa next to her.

Ghost hopped up and made himself at home, curling up next to her and gently laying his big head in her lap. The two of them acted as if they were lifelong pals. Markus had never seen his dog take to someone so quickly before.

“Do you have a gel pack in your freezer?” he asked, already heading into the kitchen. Like John’s house, the floor design here was open concept, so he could already see that the kitchen was similarly decorated for the holidays. He set her phone on the white tile counter then went to the refrigerator.