Alex hoisted the saddle to his shoulder. “One of the hands got fired.”
“Really?” She considered, but couldn’t imagine why that meant eyes on her. Unless… “Jim?”
“Damn, you’re good,” Alex said, backing away from her. “That’s all I’m telling you. Talk to Tucker.”
“Thanks for the help,” she called after him.
“Any time.”
A moment later, her phone buzzed with a message.
Tucker: You got time for an Operation Prove It meeting?
Ginny: After I groom Prancer, sure.
Tucker: Meet you in the secret hideout.
The exchange made her smile and increased her curiosity. Having big strong Tucker message her to meet him at the hideout was rather hysterical.
Only when she rounded the corner to their out-of-the-way gathering spot, adrenaline rushed in and drowned all lingering amusement. “What happened to your face?”
He raised a sheepish gaze. “Good to see you too.”
She dropped to the bale beside him and softly stroked the corner of his eye. “Tucker.”
He covered her hand with his and lowered their joined fingers to his thigh. “Operation report—things came to a head today with one lone dissenter. He’s been dealt with. My uncle was the one to start the process, but I will admit I finished it. Jim Allen will not be bothering you or anyone else in the future.”
Shit. “That sounds scarier and more final than I think you intended. He’s still breathing, yes?”
Tucker snorted softly. “Luke made sure of that. I wasn’t as concerned.”
Ginny sat in silence, gathering her thoughts while she examined the man before her. He was rigid with tension.
Why now, when he’d obviously done what he’d thought was necessary?
“I don’t like fighting,” she said, the words sharper than intended.
“I know.” He didn’t defend himself or offer excuses. Just sat there with eyes full of sadness. As if waiting for her to…what? Chastise him? Break up with him?
As if.
She sighed hugely. “How do I tell you that I worry you might get hurt without implying you can’t take care of yourself? Or that you can’t take care of me, because neither of those are true.”
Tucker paused. The furrow between his brows deepened. “You don’t like it when I fight because I might get hurt? That’s your concern?”
She made a face. “Dude, I’ve seen you after tussling with Luke. It’s not always been pretty, although I expect that’s currently more luck on my brother’s part than skill. Don’t tell him I said that.”
His confusion seemed to grow instead of lessening. “My parents said fighting was a clear sign of a low intellect and a morally bankrupt individual.”
“Fuck off.” The words escaped before she could stop them. “Them, not you. Did they really say that to your face?”
He dipped his chin, refusing to meet her eyes. “The summer I was fourteen I went home with bruises, and got the mother of all lectures. They nearly stopped letting me come back. It took Ashton and your father persistently calling to make my summers continue.”
“That is so much bullshit, and cruel, and one hundred percent wrong.” Ginny was ready to go to war on his behalf. “It’s a good thing I don’t know where they live.”
She might reconsider her no fighting rule if it meant getting to kick their butts.
“I don’t understand,” Tucker said softly.
“I’m a really good shot. I wonder if they’d consider a backside full of buckshot a more civilized way to deal with asses.” She glared into the distance, sending nasty thoughts on the airwaves to his unbelievably dense parents. Then she shook her head to refocus and looked him straight in the eye. “Back to the topic at hand. With the way you’ve beefed up? Promise me that you won’t actually throw a punch at my brother. Luke’s profile can’t take his nose being broken. Then again, if you really fought, I bet you’d still hold back for old time’s sake, and then he’d mess up your pretty face, and I don’t want that either.” She threw her hands in the air dramatically. “See what dilemmas your fighting causes me?”
The next second, she was airborne, landing in his lap.
He cupped her face in both his hands and took a long, deep breath. “You’re amazing.”
It was impossible to resist. “I know.”
His lips twitched. “You really aren’t mad?”
She considered her words. “Your parents were wrong. Not only about the fighting, but about a lot of things. The way they were never there for you when you were growing up, the way they discarded you. It’s all wrong. You know that, right?”
Tucker dipped his head slowly.
“Why did telling me this scare you so much?” she whispered. “Why?”
He swallowed hard. Her confident and powerful man, uneasy as if this was life and death to him. “I’ve said it before. You’re one of the smartest people I know. What if…” He stalled. Looked away from her as if he didn’t want her to see how much he hurt inside. “What if I don’t deserve to be with you?”
In that moment, Ginny well and truly hated his parents. “The only thing you don’t deserve are the jerks who were your biological donors,” she said bluntly. “Did my mom and dad ever make you feel as if you were lacking?”
Tucker didn’t even pause. Just shook his head instantly in denial.
“Of course not. In fact, you’re far less annoying than any of my brothers, which means you were probably my parents’ favourite.”
A soft snort escaped him.
“Promise me that you’ll duck faster if this situation ever comes up again.” She said the words softly, but with everything in her. “You have to do what you think is right, even if I don’t like it. I understand. I still get to worry, okay?”
The instant her final word escaped, his mouth was on hers and she was being kissed senseless. He groaned, though, and not in a good way, when he finally let her breathe and rested his forehead against hers. “My lip hurts.”
So stinking amusing. “Sorry, but kind of my point.”
He snorted. “Okay. I promise not to permanently damage your brother in the future. You have to promise not to shoot or poison my parents at any time in the future, because it would simply be a waste of energy. And finally, I promise to be careful and only use my powers for good.”
Ginny snickered. “You are a superhero. I knew it.”
He hummed as he stroked his hands down her back, settling on her hips and dragging her forward into full contact with some very interesting body parts. “You’re a goddess. Make magic with me?”
Sex in the barn when she was pretty damn sure at least half the hands knew where they were, and what they were doing?
There was more than one way for her man to prove he knew how to take care of her, she supposed. Although she did her best to keep her moans and shouts to a minimum.
The next three or four days flew past as Tucker got busy again and Ginny dove full on into research and planning for her new venture. But even checking out recipes and designing product delivery systems for her herbal concoctions only occupied so many hours.