Page 55 of Things We Left Behind
I may not have ended up with a hot U.S. marshal boyfriend, but at least I’d gotten a new friend out of the deal.
“How’s the bullet hole?” My question ended in a gasping giggle when he gave me a tight squeeze before setting me on my feet again.
His answer was interrupted by the sound of multiple throats clearing. I glanced around and spotted Lina, Naomi, and even Petula looking as wide-eyed as Taylor Swift’s front row audience.
“Oh, hey, boss,” Nolan said, taking his time releasing me from his embrace.
Shit.
A familiar blaze of heat swept my back from head to heel. It always made me wonder if the man commanded the powers of actual hellfire.
“So how are you doing?” I asked Nolan again, determined not to address the threat behind me.
“All healed up,” he said.
“Don’t listen to him. The big baby was just whining Fridayabout the winter wind making his bullet hole ache,” Lina interjected.
“I’m a hero. Heroes are allowed to whine,” Nolan insisted with a smirk.
“How is the soon-to-be missus? I heard you’re eloping,” I said, ignoring the fact that my back was bathed in flames.
Nolan’s grin showed every tooth in his mouth. “She’s great. We’re great. Heading to St. Croix in a few weeks to make things official…again.”
His happiness was palpable.
I squeezed his arm. “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you two.”
I really was. Everyone around me was falling in love and getting married and starting—or growing—families. It was making me acutely aware of my current single status.
“Ladies.”
The deep rumble of Lucian’s voice vibrated its way up my spine.
I turned slowly and drank in the godlike hotness of Lucifer himself. It was impossible not to. It was like standing in a room with a great work of art and tryingnotto memorize every masterful brushstroke.
Lucian was annoyingly attractive in yet another impeccable dark suit with a crisp Oxford and a gray-and-blue-striped tie. I wanted to grab that tie and yank on it until that perfect facade cracked. His thick dark hair waved away from his face in a too-perfect style that begged for someone to mess it up. He was too perfect. It was unnatural.
He scanned me as he always did. And for once, I wondered what he was seeing. In contrast to his perfectly polished exterior, I was wearing snug, army-green cargo pants and a lightweight violet turtleneck. My hair was in a high ponytail, and my lips were a murderous red.
Was it my imagination, or did his gaze linger a little longer than necessary on my mouth?
Why the hell did I feel so alive when we locked gazes?
Was someone going to say something, or were we just going to stare eyeball flames at each other all day?
“I hope you don’t mind that we’re here,” Naomi said, breaking our staring contest with her polite people-pleasing.
I looked away when she greeted him with a friendly hug. Petula, I noticed, was watching me with a calculating expression.
“Lina told us the good news, and we wanted to come see where she’ll be officially working,” Naomi continued as if it were her job to smooth over the awkwardness that happened whenever Lucian and I had the misfortune of being in a room together.
Lina narrowed her eyes. “I thought you were supposed to be out for the afternoon,” she said to her new, official boss.
“I was,” Lucian said, curtly cutting her off. “My schedule was rearranged due to unforeseen circumstances.” Those deep sterling eyes came back to me.
The man probably had security alert him the moment I stepped in the building. And he’d returned… Why? To make sure I didn’t set his office on fire?
“You’re supposed to alert me to any and all schedule changes when they occur,” Petula reminded him.
