Wilde at Heart (Wilde Security, #3)(69)

He craned his neck to see her face. She was still sound asleep, completely relaxed. She looked fragile and, although he knew she was anything but, a fierce protectiveness heated his blood.

He’d keep her safe.

Which meant he had to see who that text was from. Hopefully Greer finally coming back from wherever he’d ghosted off to.

Reece stretched for the phone on the nightstand, doing his best not to disturb Shelby, and rubbed his eyes with one hand before pulling the phone close to his nose. Damn, even though he’d worn glasses since he was five, he still hated not being able to see like a normal person. Maybe Vaughn had a point about getting laser surgery to fix his eyesight.

He rubbed his eyes again and squinted. Yeah, not Greer. Cam.

Have news about fires. Get to WS office asap.

And time to go back to work. For once, he’d rather not. His bed was warm and comfortable, especially with his woman curled up beside him. He lingered a few minutes longer, playing with a strand of her hair as he convinced himself he had to get up, then finally kissed her forehead and slid out of bed.

She stirred and lifted her head, blinking up at him with sleepy eyes. He loved seeing her like this, all soft and sexy, cozy in his bed.

“Are you leaving?” she asked, her voice throaty with sleep.

“Just for a bit.” He leaned over and kissed her again. “Go back to sleep.”

She reached for his hand and pulled him to a stop. “Reece…”

The note of vulnerability in her voice cut through him, and he sat down on the edge of the mattress, stroked his thumb lightly across the back of her hand. “Everything will be fine, okay? Don’t worry about my companies. I can fix this.”

“It’s not that. I…” Hugging the pillow to her chest, she sat up. “You’re right. We’re good together and I’m not ready for it to end either.”

He couldn’t have stopped his grin even if he wanted to. “Are you saying you want to make a go of it?”

“I love—” She stopped. Drew a breath. “I love being here with you.”

Not exactly what he wanted to hear, but it was a start. He pushed her hair back from her face, kissed her forehead. “I love having you here.”

“You might not after I tell you—God, I don’t even know where to start, but we need to talk.”

His phone buzzed again with an incoming text, and he lifted her hand to his lips before he stood. “How about over dinner?”

She hesitated. Nodded. “Promise you won’t hate me.”

“Shelby.” Ignoring his phone, he leaned over again, placing his hands on the mattress on either side of her body. He met her gaze, held it. “Nothing could make me hate you. I love you, and I don’t say those words lightly. Whatever it is that has you so anxious, we’ll figure it out. We’ll make it work. We’ll make us work.”

The worry in her eyes softened as she reached up to touch his cheek. He leaned into the caress and sincerely thought about climbing back into bed with her. But his phone sounded again, and she yawned.

He gave her another quick kiss and straightened. “I can tell you’re still exhausted. Go back to sleep. I should be home for dinner, but I’ll call if I’m going to be late. I love you.”

“Okay.” She rolled over onto her belly and hugged his pillow to her head. Within moments, her breathing evened out, and she was asleep again, a small smile tugging at her lips. Sam the Cat, sensing an opportunity, jumped up into his vacated spot, kneaded the bedspread, and curled up next to Shelby, purring like a motor.

“Paws off. She’s mine.” But he rubbed the cat’s head anyway, because he was actually going to miss the furry beast when Jude and Libby’s lease was up this summer and Sam returned to them. “Keep an eye on her for me.”

Sam blinked as if he understood and scooted his body closer to her side.

Reece made sure she was covered and strode to his closet. Started to pick out his usual—dress shirt, suit, tie—but stopped short. Jesus, he was an uptight bastard. He didn’t need a tie to go meet his brother. Instead, he grabbed a dark gray sweater. He didn’t even own a pair of jeans, and how ridiculous was that? The closest his closet came to the casual staple of men’s clothing was a pair of chinos.

He really needed to fix that. Among so many other things.

Reece pulled into Wilde Security’s parking lot, saw all of his brothers’ vehicles—minus Greer’s—in front of the office, and his gut clenched. What were they all doing here? This was supposed to have been a private matter between him and Cam. There was absolutely no need to get Jude and Vaughn involved. And, shit, was that Eva’s car?

There went his good mood. He had a few things to say to Eva, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

He stalked to the door, unsurprised to find them all waiting right on the other side with Cam at the center of their semicircle. All of them were grim-faced, even Jude.

All right, then. If this was some kind of gauntlet he had to run before he got the information he needed, so be it.

“Care to tell me what this is about?” he asked the group as casually as he could manage.

Cam was the first to speak. “This is an intervention. We’re worried about you.”

Disbelief roared through him, and he stared at each of his brothers in turn. The disturbing hollowness in Vaughn’s eyes since Lark disappeared was even more pronounced. Cam looked exhausted and frazzled, probably stressed out from a mix of worrying about his twin’s increasing emotional distance and his wife’s emotional health. Even Jude was a bit haggard. Apparently baby-making was exhausting work.