Page 76 of Protect Me
“Good. Almost three months out of surgery. I’m still only cleared to work part-time, but that’s better than sitting in my house.”
Dagny’s smile widened. “I’m h-h-happy to hear you’ve rejoined the l-land of the living.” Her tone dropped so only I could hear, and she squeezed my arm gently. “We’ve b-been so worried about you. K-kate, it sounds like, has been a g-good thing in your life.”
“The best,” I instantly replied. The truth of it sank all the way to my chest. Kate wasn’t agood thing in my life.
She was everything.
The thought hit like a meteor right in my chest, leaving my heart gasping in its wake. I shoved it aside to think about later, but knew I’d chew on it for hours. Dahlia twiddled her fingers in a wave. Bastian gave me a quick head jerk in greeting. Sunglasses hid his eyes. I cracked open the sparkling water, then had a tangy sip of grapefruit.
“Where’s Hernandez?” I asked.
“Working t-today, but just f-finishing up his shift, I think,” Dagny murmured. “He c-called when he was headed h-home, said he had to grab a theft r-r-report before he signed off.”
“So,” Dahlia drawled with a white-toothed grin. “How are things, Vik?”
“Don’t ask me like that.”
Innocence crossed her face. “Like what? It’s just a question.”
I shot her a glare.
Her smile widened.
Dahlia posed as a potential ally for me in my attempts to get Kate to trust me in more than a physical sense, but I wasn’t ready to commit to Dahlia as a cohort yet.
I hadn’t seen Kate since last night, when she’d fallen asleep on the couch listening to an audiobook. Recalling her soft, wispy breaths, and the way she turned limp as a noodle, filled me with the same incomprehensible sensation I’d never experienced before. Was it love?
All I could say is that I knew I’d do anything for her. I swallowed a rising heartbeat. That girl affected me in strange ways. Heartburn. Palpitations. If thiswaslove, which I wasn’t ready to commit to yet but couldn’t exactly laugh off as impossible, then love hurt.
“How’s physical therapy?” Bastian asked.
“Good.” I bent the knee, grateful that it felt loose and easy. “Making a lot of progress. Started lifting weights again. Simple, light stuff. I’ve been able to reintegrate gentle yoga poses back in that I’ve missed.”
Bastian nodded.
A few minutes of small talk later, the back door slammed open. Hernandez stepped outside in full sheriff’s deputy kit, complete with taser and earpiece radio. He jerked a head nod to me, Bastian, said hello to Dahlia, then skimmed past everyone and slammed a kiss on Dagny’s lips that would have frightened a lesser woman.
I looked away.
Bloody hell, but my friends were show-offs.
Hernandez smacked Dagny in the butt after he pulled away. “Just had to let you know I’m home,” he said. “I’ll go get changed. How much longer until it’s ready?”
“Thirty m-minutes.”
“Perfect.”
He strode toward me with a quick clap on the shoulder. “Gotta go change inside,” he said. “Come with me. We need to talk.”
An undercurrent in his tone propelled me after him. A cool blast of air conditioning greeted us as we stepped inside, closing the door behind us. Hernandez stood by the table while he ripped off his tactical belt. His brown eyes found mine.
“Thought I should warn you.”
My entire body tensed. “Oh?”
“Your boy, Timothy? He’s suspected on some burglary charges. There’s been someone going around, taking things out of garages, unlocked cars, that kind of thing.”
“How do you know it’s him?”
