He liked that thought. “You want to watch one now?”
Because he’d watch whatever made her happy.
“That’s okay. Let’s find something we both like.”
In the end, they settled on Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. Neo watched it with increasing amusement as the main character navigated the Special Ops world. It wasn’t that the show was bad or that the actor wasn’t good. He was good, and Neo enjoyed that part. But some of the stuff that went on….
Neo shook his head. Those guys were practicing some very bad operational security at different points of the show.
“Is that what you do?” Kayla asked at one point when the hero had single-handedly taken down a terrorist.
“Not entirely, but it can get dicey sometimes. I have a team, though. We don’t typically go it alone.”
She was looking at him with wide eyes. “That’s good. But how do you do it?”
“Depends on the situation.”
She shook her head. “No. How do you face that kind of thing and not get scared? I’d be paralyzed with fear.”
“It’s not that we aren’t sensible enough to fear for our lives,” he said, thinking how best to phrase it. “But we don’t stop to think about it. Our training kicks in and we do what we’ve practiced thousands of times before.”
She toyed with the edge of her knit top and didn’t look at him. “I could almost wish you were an accountant or something.”
“If I were an accountant, I’d be pretty useless against the Kings of Doom MC.”
She looked at him, her eyes shining. “I suppose so.”
“And that’s not what you want, right?”
“No.”
He reached for her hand, wrapped it in his. She didn’t try to pull away. “Maybe we should turn it off, huh?”
“Okay.”
He exited the show and set the channel to one of her decorating shows. “We’ve still got some things to decide, beautiful,” he said as somebody on the television swung a sledge hammer at a wall.
“I know.” She sighed. “I just—I don’t know what else to say yet. It’s happening fast, which is what I wanted. But there’s still so much to think about. We can apply for a license Monday, and we can get married as soon as we have it, so this week. And now I’ve got to convince Bailey I’m madly in love and this is the right thing to do.”
“Or you could tell her we’re doing it for your protection. It wouldn’t be the first time someone on the team got married to protect his wife. Camel will understand that logic, believe me. And he’ll convince her.”
She shook her head. “No, I can’t. It’s four weeks to her wedding. I won’t spoil her plans or her big day.”
“Okay, beautiful. We’ll do it your way. I won’t lie to my team, though. If they need to know the truth, I have to tell them.”
“I know.” She kept toying with the shirt and he let go of her hand and stood.
She tipped her head back to gaze up at him, a question in her eyes.
“It’s been two hours. I should probably get going.” He held out a hand. She took it and he lifted her to her feet. “Walk me to the door.”
The apartment was small so it was only a couple of steps away. He slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her in close. She came freely, putting her hands on his chest and resting them there. She was small, but she fitted against him in all the right places. It’d been a long time since he’d held her, and he’d missed it.
“Are you going to kiss me goodnight?” she asked.
“Do you want me to?”
“I think it’d be nice.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Nice? The last time we kissed, things got a little out of control. It was a lot more than nice.”
Her skin colored and she dropped her gaze. He tipped her chin up with this fingers, forcing her to look at him. “Now’s not the time, but I think we’re going to have to talk about that too. Don’t you?”
She nodded.
“Goodnight, Kayla,” he murmured.
Her eyes closed before he dropped his head toward hers. He studied her for a second. She was more innocent than she should be considering what she’d been through, but he knew she was damaged as well. That she trusted him enough to close her eyes and wait for his kiss moved him more than he could say.
Why had she run out on him after their night together? He intended to find out now that he planned to marry her.
He kissed her softly, a press of his lips to hers, and then lifted his mouth away. She opened her eyes, gazing up at him with a question in them. He kissed her forehead and let her go.
“Thanks for a nice evening.”
“Will you text me when you get home?”
“Sure. Night, Kayla.”
“Night, Zach.”
Neo got in the car, started the engine, and put it in reverse. When he backed onto the street and shifted into drive, a figure appeared in front of him, cross-armed, spread-legged, and glaring.
“Fuck,” he groaned. Just what he needed right now.
Neo rolled down the window as the figure stalked forward.
“Hey, Camel. What’s up?”
Chapter Five
There was a knock on the door that connected the in-law apartment to the hall leading to Bailey and Camel’s. Kayla sighed as she went over and opened it up. Bailey stood there with a concerned look on her face. She was holding a baby monitor, but Kayla was certain the look had nothing to do with Ana and everything to do with Kayla’s visitor.
“Hey, Bale. Do you want me to come get Ana?”
Bailey still frowned. “No, she’s completely passed out. No need to wake her.”
“Do you want some wine?” Kayla asked as she stepped back to let Bailey in. Bailey didn’t drink often, but Kayla asked anyway.
“No, I’m good.” Bailey walked inside, taking in the couch, Kayla’s glass, Zach’s empty water bottle, before she turned to face Kayla again. “Was that Zach here with you?”
Kayla folded her arms. “You know it was.”
She thought she still heard the rumble of Zach’s car outside. She went over to peer out the window. Sure enough, his car was idling beside the curb and he was standing next to it, talking to someone.
Not someone. Alexei.
She dropped the curtain and turned, anger flaring deep. “Y’all know it’s none of your business, right?”
Bailey’s eyebrows climbed her forehead. Kayla cursed inwardly as she watched the play of emotions on her sister’s face—disbelief, defensiveness, protectiveness, and anger—before Bailey got control of herself.
For heaven’s sake, why had she gone all defensive like that? She wanted Bailey to be happy, not upset.
Stress, that’s what it was.
“We’re concerned about you. That’s all,” Bailey said more than a touch defensively.
Kayla waved a hand. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s been a long day and I’m tired.”
Bailey looked wary. “Is everything okay? You and Zach seemed to be interested in each other once before, but then nothing happened. I worry about you.”
Kayla impulsively gave her sister a hug. Bailey smelled like vanilla and chocolate chip cookies. She’d been baking again, practicing her newfound cooking skills. When they’d been kids, the only thing Bailey knew how to cook was macaroni and cheese, and ramen. That was more than Kayla had known. They’d subsisted on those things quite often.