Chase Me (Paris Nights Book 2)(59)

Pretty much his entire being reared up in rebellion at the idea of slow patience to get what he wanted. There might have been more than one reason he’d done so lousy at sniper training.

Vi just kept staring at him.

Oh. He probably shouldn’t have mentioned… “You forgot I’d be deployed again somewhere else, didn’t you? I knew that civilian thing would come back to bite me in the butt. I know I should have warned you before you fell crazy in love with me and all, but you don’t have a security clearance, and I guess I was thinking that you seem to have a pretty full life and could probably handle it, when I was away.”

“Of course I could handle it!” Vi said indignantly. “I can handle anything!”

His face softened into a smile. “Damn, I love you.”

She flushed from her chin right up to her hairline. It was astonishing and fascinating. He’d told her multiple times that he loved her. Now she blushed?

What did that mean, exactly? That it had never even occurred to her until this last time that he might be telling the truth?

“I’m supposed to be here five more months,” he said. “Of course, now I’m wounded, so I’d normally be shipped home, but I told them I wanted to stay with you. Next tour, maybe I could put in for something longer term with SOCEUR. Something that would at least put me in Europe more. Not to complain or anything, but I am getting really, really sick of the Middle East.”

Vi’s eyes were so large and intense. They made him feel like he needed to keep floundering to stay afloat.

“That’s if I stay in,” he said. “I might not forever. You know, long-term, and—”

“Don’t get out on my account,” Vi said firmly. “Don’t you ever do less than you want to do on my account. And I won’t do less than I want to do on yours.”

She warmed his whole middle. “I love you.” He just liked saying it. It made him feel whole.

And her flush deepened.

Hunh. “Is this the first time you’ve actually listened to me when I’ve said that?” He felt rather indignant.

“It’s the blood loss,” she said. “It’s weakening my brain.”

How she almost made him laugh about the fact that she had nearly gotten killed he did not know. His brothers in arms managed that kind of humor all the time, but somehow he hadn’t expected it here. “You are so damn perfect for me,” he said. “I’m sorry if I’m not perfect for you.”

She shrugged. Awkwardly, careful of her wound. “Well, I’ve only known you a couple of weeks. Even I can’t get a man in shape that fast.”

Hey. He narrowed his eyes at her.

She gave a little smug smile that showed those dimples.

“I know you think the last thing you need in your life is a cocky, arrogant man who thinks he is the shit,” Chase began.

Her dimples deepened. Such an odd, beautiful look on her pale face, surrounded by limp hair. The beauty of courage, of life. “But you really are the shit. So I might have to make an exception.”

He blinked a second. “You really think so?”

“Yeah.” Even with the dimples, she looked tired. Of course. When her dimples faded, there was a little hint of sadness, or maybe an awareness of the existence of sadness, that she hadn’t had before. But there was a softness around her mouth, a curve of…well, it kind of looked like love. “Yeah, I really do. I was thinking about it, once I got them to stop drugging me so I could think. How you keep so much laughter in a world where a lot of men would go dark, and how you’re still such a damn good guy, too. You sew up my leather jacket. You try to say you’re sorry. You know that being a hero is more than facing bullets. In fact, I think you take the facing bullets part for granted, and you work harder on the other stuff. The cuddles.”

Now he was starting to blush. He rubbed the back of his head, overcome and afraid he would stutter or something if he even tried to open his mouth. “You’re the one who got wounded,” he finally managed.

“You did, too,” she pointed out.

Oh, yeah.

“You forgot?”

“Only for a second,” he said hurriedly.

“Chase.” She rested her splinted hand on his chest and closed her eyes a moment. As if she was overwhelmed.

“When I said I was the shit, I really only meant I was a badass,” he confided in a whisper.

A little smile curled her mouth while her eyes stayed closed. “I’m sure you are,” she said soothingly. “I mean I’m the one who has to beat terrorists up with pots while you have a gun, but you’re not too bad.”

That was a little bit of a sore point with him right that second, actually. It had taken years off his life when he came out of that office to realize what was happening. Still, she had been magnificent. “God, Vi.”

“Lina’s squirmy cousin. Do you know I once had to push him down the stairs in their building when I was a teenager?”

“He’s the same kind of guy who would throw acid in a little girl’s face for going to school in some other part of the world and pretend it was for God, when it was really because he had a putrid soul.”

“Is Lina going to have a hard time? Be questioned?”

“She’ll certainly be questioned, but since she was clearly fighting him and her own parents had several times reached out to the police about their worries about him, I don’t think she’ll have to deal with any suspicion. Just an attempt to find out as much as they can. You should ask Elias and Brandon. I help gather intel on missions, but I’m not an analyst.”