All I Want(74)

He wrapped his hand around hers holding the soda can and brought it up to her lips.

She took a long sip, and then as the sugar eased into her system, she sighed. “Okay, so adrenaline rushes tend to make me cranky.”

“Understandable,” he said with only a very small lip twitch. “But you need to understand something, too. When it comes to your safety, I’m never going to take a chance.”

She opened her mouth, but he shook his head. “Never, Zoe.”

Saying anything more to that would be like talking to a brick wall. “I don’t know who in their right mind would want a relationship with you,” she grumbled.

Except she did know who. Dammit. She wanted a relationship with him.

She’d told him he wasn’t The One, that he didn’t have her basic requirements. But she’d just watched him handle a volatile, violent, dangerous situation without blinking. He’d have done anything to keep her safe, including stepping in front of a gun, no questions asked. He’d put his life before hers.

And right then and there she mentally rewrote her requirements in a man, and those requirements all added up to Parker James.

Too bad he wasn’t available.

She drew in a deep breath and she realized she was thinking clearly again.

“Better?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

He didn’t smile but his eyes did, with a light that said he was proud of her. Still, there was a grim set to his features as he rose.

“You’re going to figure out how to stop him now, right?” she asked. “Find out where Devon is flying him to and have him followed and arrested?”

“No.”

“But—”

“No,” he said implacably.

She heard all sorts of things in his voice and had no idea what any of it meant. “Parker, I am not going to be the reason you don’t do your job.”

Nothing.

“Dammit, Parker, say something.”

He didn’t, and in the next minute the lobby was filled with cops, including Kel.

She was given a blanket and hot tea, and tucked into a corner like a damn victim. And then asked a million questions by the police.

And by Kel.

And then a million more by others whom she guessed were FBI and ATF, and a few more alphabet agencies she didn’t know.

But not Parker.

She was seen by medics who fretted about shock, but she wasn’t in shock. She was in the damn dark. She refused to go to the hospital and was reluctantly cleared at the scene.

Parker was the one to collect her, reappearing after too long a time where she hadn’t been able to see him in the chaos. He ushered her out to her car and into the passenger seat.

“I can drive.”

“I know,” he said, but he got behind the wheel.

“Let me guess,” she murmured. “You’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I’ve got this. I’ve got you.”

And on that, she was going to have to trust him because she was suddenly so exhausted she couldn’t lift her own head.

Zoe opened her eyes and gasped in horror. Once again she was in the airport’s bathroom, panic flowing through her veins instead of blood. She watched in slow motion as Parker stepped in front of her so that Carver’s gun bumped him in the chest.

Parker’s gun had vanished. He had no protection at all—not that she could tell by the way he stood there still as night and deadly calm, like maybe he faced down maniacs on a daily basis.

Not Zoe. Her skin felt too tight for her body. She was both sweating and shaking. And her heart thundered against her ribs so hard she was sure they’d shatter before this was over.

“Drop the gun,” Parker said.

Carver laughed maniacally and emptied his clip into Parker’s chest.

Zoe screamed as he crumpled to the floor.

“Zoe.”

She jerked awake to the feel of Parker undoing her seat belt. They were parked in front of her house and he was outside the car, crouched at her side. “Easy,” he said. “Just me.”

Breathing like a lunatic, she’d have fallen right out of the seat if not for Parker. “You’re safe,” he said softly, his hands on her thighs.

Because he had her. And no one had ever made her feel so good. She let out a shaky breath and shoved her fingers through her hair. “I’m awake now.”

He nodded and rose to his feet, holding out a hand for hers. Night had fallen and so had the temperature. He wrapped her in his sweatshirt and led her to the house. Inside, he took her straight through the living room to the kitchen, where he sat her at the table.

“I have questions,” she said.

“I know.” He let Oreo out the back kitchen door to do his business and then fed the kittens, who were wild and unruly and climbing up her legs. He pulled them free, set them on the floor with a few of their toys, and put water on the stove to boil.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Making you tea.”

“I don’t want tea,” she said. “I want answers.”

When the tea was ready he set a hot mug in front of her and leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. Clearly not exactly open to talking, but he hadn’t refused her, either.

She’d take it. “At the airport,” she said, “Kel told me you’d done the right thing, which was a lot harder than the easy thing, and that it was going to cost you, which wasn’t the right thing.”