Hot Winter Nights (Heartbreaker Bay #6)(3)

Archer waited until they’d gotten on the elevator before turning to Lucas. “Why are you here?”

“Gee, good to see you too, boss man.”

“Let me rephrase,” Archer said. “How’s your side? You know, where you have a GSW?”

“It’s no longer a gunshot wound. It’s practically just a scratch now. I’m good enough to get back to work.”

“Uh-huh.” Archer looked unimpressed. And . . . still pissed. Lucas had been hoping that he’d gotten himself out of the doghouse by now, but apparently not.

“I didn’t get a report from your doctor clearing you,” Archer said.

Lucas squelched a grimace. His doctor had told him—repeatedly—at least one more week. But he’d be dead of boredom by another week. “We’re having a minor difference in opinion.”

“Shit.” Archer swiped a hand down his face. “You know I can’t put you back on the job until he clears you.”

“If I stay home another day, I’ll lose my shit.”

“It’s only been two weeks since you were shot and nearly bled out before we got you to the hospital,” Archer said. “Way too close of a call.”

“Practically ancient history.”

Archer shook his head. “Not even close. And I told you to abort. Instead, you sent the team out to safety and then you alone hauled ass deeper into the yacht, knowing it was on fire thanks to our asshole perps trying to sink it for the insurance payout.”

“I went deeper because there was still someone on board,” Lucas reminded him. “Their lead suspect’s teenage kid. He’d been holed up and had fallen asleep watching TV. He would’ve died if I’d left him.”

“And instead you almost did.”

Lucas blew out a breath. They’d had this argument in the hospital. They’d had it twice since. He didn’t want to have it again. Especially since he wasn’t sorry he’d disobeyed a direct order. “We saved an innocent. You’d have done the same damn thing. So would any of us.”

Archer looked over at Joe, who’d been silent through this entire exchange.

Joe lifted a shoulder, an admission that yeah, he might’ve done the same thing. And so would Archer, and Lucas damn well knew it.

“Shit,” Archer finally said. “Fine. I’ll unground you, but only for light duty until I hear from your doctor personally that you’re one hundred.”

Lucas didn’t dare smile or pump a fist in triumph. “Deal.”

Archer went from looking pissy to mildly amused. “You don’t know what light duty I’m going to make you do yet.”

“Anything would be better than staying at home,” he said fervently.

“Glad to hear you say that.” Archer jabbed a thumb at the door. “Molly’s going to want to take those elves seriously. She’s been asking to take on a case for months now, but our cases have all been too risky.”

Lucas rubbed his side. Wasn’t that the damn truth. “And?”

“And your ‘light duty’ job is to make sure she turns those elves down,” Archer said. “She’s not ready yet.”

Joe nodded his agreement on that and Lucas let out a mirthless laugh. He understood why Molly’s boss might tell her not to take on a case, but her brother should know better. “Hello, you’ve met her, right?” Lucas asked them. “No one tells Molly what to do.”

“Improvise,” Archer said, unmoved. “And keep in mind, you’re still in hot water with me. So be careful.” He looked at Joe. “Give us a minute.”

Joe looked at Lucas and left the room.

“You’ve got something else to say?” Lucas asked Archer.

“Yeah. Don’t screw this up. And don’t sleep with her either.”

Granted, Lucas had never been all that discriminating when it came to the fairer sex, but this was Molly they were talking about. She was the baby sister of his friend and coworker, which meant she was not on his radar. At least not during the day.

The nights were something else altogether because there’d been more than a few times where she’d starred in his fantasies—his own deep, dark secret since he liked breathing. “I wouldn’t sleep with her.”

Archer looked behind him to make sure Joe had left. “Elle and I saw you at the pub last night, flirting with her.”

This had Lucas’s full attention. “What?”

“Yeah, and what the hell were you thinking? You were lucky Joe was late.”

He’d flirted with Molly? Was he crazy? He’d long ago learned to ignore the undercurrent of electricity between them because he had zero interest in mixing business and pleasure, and even less interest in hurting her.

And he would eventually hurt her.

Not to mention what Joe would do to him after he did. And if Joe failed in this new mission, Archer would happily finish him off, and they’d both have every right. But Lucas wouldn’t go there, ever. His job had come between him and The One a few times now, so he’d shifted his priorities. He still loved women, just not one woman—and he was good with that and who he was.

Except . . . sometimes, like two weeks ago when he’d almost died on the job and had been forced off duty, he knew he was fooling himself. He’d been left feeling far more alone than he liked to admit. He looked at guys like Archer and Joe, both who’d managed to make love work for them just fine, and he wondered what the hell he was doing wrong.