Page 14 of Tate
“I know, babe. But I’ll be okay and back to work in no time. I know we probably need to talk about that kiss…” And now he offered a dangerous, rakish smile, despite his injuries.
That kiss. Her gaze flickered down to his mouth, back to his eyes. No, no,no…
“Tate—”
“Okay, wait. Listen. I need to tell you—thanks for not leaving me. I know I kept yelling at you to run, but…you saved my life. Thank you for staying.”
She might be ill. Because she was going to run. Far and away.
Glo closed her eyes, tears cutting down her cheeks, and of course he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into the well of his chest, pocketing her right next to his beating heart.
Probably in the only place that wasn’t bruised.
Yet.
Tate was never letting Glo out of his arms again.
No, he was going to stay right here, clinging to her, holding her as she quietly fell apart on his chest.
He’d really scared her.
No, he’d scared them both, because everything inside him screamed when Slava slammed his fist into her face, and all Tate could think in that moment waswhat if Slava, after killing him, turned his fists on Glo?
What if he did to her what he’d done to Raquel?
Tate had lost his calm then, the ability to think through the scenario, find the advantage.
The panic had turned him desperate and helpless. He’d tossed the fight over in his head a thousand times on the way to the hospital, as he waited for surgery. Conjured up moves and angles and ways to take Slava down.
None of them included Knox intervening, but yeah, he’d never been so glad to see his brother than when Knox saved his life.
Of course Knox saved his life. Because that’s what Knox did. Showed up.
The guy was such a freakin’ hero.
But it seemed that Tate had gotten the girl anyway, because Glo lifted her head, her eyes reddened, her cheeks wet, and met his gaze.
He searched her face, longing to lean up and kiss her.
Second chances, right here in his arms.
Now she searched his face, as if trying to sort out what had happened. “I’ll be okay, Glo…”
But she was shaking her head, so much pain on her face he could weep— “What is it?”
She leaned away and whisked her hands across her cheeks. “I just…” She sighed then, sadness in her eyes that…
Wait.
No…
“Glo…,” he started, a fist closing in his chest. He reached out for her, but she slid away, out of his reach, and now his breathing started to cut off. “Babe?—”
“I’m going back to Nashville with my mother.”
Oh. He blinked at that. Well, probably that wasn’t a terrible idea, because Senator Jackson had a small militia of security. They could watch the grounds, the events, and Tate would watch Glo.
Well, at least when he was able to get out of the bed. So yeah, he could use a little help maybe.
