Page 93 of The Pretenders of Copper County
It was a measure of how much things had changed that I didn’t feel the slightest urge to step away from Reed to go to him… not that Reed wanted me to.
“No fucking way. Chris doesn’t need to go anywhere near Nicky,” he told Danny.
Danny’s eyes narrowed as he glanced between us. “Christoforo, I said come here.”
“You’re not calling the shots right now, Dante,” Reed reminded him.
“And you think you are?” Danny pushed to his feet with some effort and I wondered if his arthritic knees were acting up.
“No,” Reed said. “I think Chris is.”
I glanced up at him in surprise but he was looking steadily at my uncle.
“Chris is my nephew,” Danny said. “My family. He knows he’s safe with me.”
Reed’s body went stiff with anger, his voice arctic cold. “Yeah, I saw how you protected him when you wouldn’t let me take the shot out there.” He nodded at the cabin window. “Nicky could have killed him.”
“He wouldn’t.” Danny set his jaw, a stubborn look I knew well. “Nicky?—”
“Was going to let someone else kill me,” I said, quiet but firm. My hands fisted in the back of Reed’s shirt, locking his big body to mine. “Which is basically the same thing, isn’t it?”
Danny’s mouth snapped shut. “Christoforo, I’m sorry. This is my fault—” He spread his hands pleadingly and took a step in our direction. “Let me explain.”
Reed spun us, positioning himself between me andDanny. “That’s plenty close enough. Say what you need to say, and then I’m calling the police and an ambulance.”
“I don’t need interference from Chris’sbodyguard.” Suddenly Nicky’s gun was in Danny’s hand, aimed right at Reed, with a speed that suggested it wasn’t the first time Danny had held a gun on someone. “And you’re not calling anyone. You’ll leave my nephew with me?—”
“The hell I will.” Reed let go of me, but only so he could tug me behind his back and pull out his own gun. “Put your weapon down. The only reason I haven’t already shot you is because yournephewis the man I love, and he wouldn’t like it. Unless he tells me to go, there’s no way I’m leaving him here with you and that murderous asshole you call a?—”
“This is none of your—” Danny began.
“Stop!” I yelled, stepping around Reed. “Both of you stop it. Put your guns away right flipping…” I froze, blinking. I turned to Reed, staring in absolute shock. “Wait. Did you… did you say you love me?”
Reed’s gaze flicked from me to Danny for a beat, like he was gauging the danger. Then he tucked his gun away, swallowed hard, and focused on me as though Danny and his gun no longer existed. His green eyes heated, and his cheeks went red. He swallowed again, showing an un-Reed-like uncertainty that was almost funny, considering he’d been seconds away from a gunslinger showdown with my uncle and hadn’t shown a hint of fear.
He looked incredibly, wonderfully awkward. The kind of awkward that told me he’d meant every word he’d said.
“Yeah,” he said softly. He reached out one big hand and adjusted my glasses. “I really do, Chris.”
“I see.” I nodded. “That’s… great. But, um…” I was hyperventilating a little, but I couldn’t help it. “Is there any chance this might be, you know, an adrenaline thing? Because I’ve heard adrenaline can make people do all kinds of?—”
“No.” Reed smiled and cupped my jaw with both hands. “Not adrenaline. Not protectiveness, either. And definitely not professional responsibility. I wish I’d told you at a better time. Like this morning, when it finally hit me exactly what I’d been feeling for you. Or a week ago, when you jumped in a lake and I knew nothing in the world, no career or assignment, was more important than having you in my arms. Or… fuck, the first day I met you, when I already knew you were more than a job to me. Iloveyou, Chris.”
I was not going to do anything embarrassing like cry. Not when Reed was saying everything I’d ever wanted to hear from him.
“But… how?” I choked out instead, which was arguably more embarrassing.
“How did I fall in love with you?” He frowned. “How could I not? You’re the most gorgeous, most selfless, most genuinely good man I’ve ever met. I don’t know how anyone could resist you. Just look at how Watt Bartlett can’t keep his moony eyes to himself.”
I didn’t dignify his teasing about Watt by acknowledging it. Especially since Watt didn’t even date men, as far as I knew.
“What about your job?” I demanded. “Reed, I know how much you love it, and I know that’s one of the reasons you don’t want a relationship?—”
“Fuck the job,” he growled. “Because I alreadyhavea relationship, and I’m not giving it up. I don’t know exactly how it’ll work, but I told Janissey today what my top priority is from now on.” He pressed a soft kiss to my lips and then pulled back. “It’s you, just to be clear.This is definitely mepicking you upright now. Permanently.”
“Yeah?” My cheeks went hot. “Well, that’s pretty convenient because I?—”
“Christoforo, he’s lying to you.” Uncle Danny’s voice was like jumping in the deep lake water again, an icy shock that stole my breath and very nearly stole my joy.
