Kody stepped up behind me, his gentle fingertips tracing the lines of my seat belt. "I almost lost you again today, babe." His whisper was rough, and his gaze met mine in the mirror, swimming with fear. Fear for me. "I thought it was bad last time, after you got stabbed. This was worse. So much freaking worse."
My smile was watery as I tried to reassure him. "It's just a bruise," I replied. "In a week, it'll be totally gone."
He shook his head. "MK, that was a well-coordinated attack. They had vans ready to intercept me, making sure I couldn't get to you. That guy had his gun pointed at your head, babe. If I'd been even a second slower—"
"But you weren't." I cut him off firmly, spinning around to face him and looping my arms around his neck, ignoring how it pulled on the bruises. "You were there exactly when I needed you, Kody. The only reason I'm standing here right now and not on a tray in the morgue? You."
Holy crap. That hadn't fully sunk in until now. I’d very nearly died today.
He started to argue, and I cut his words short with my lips against his. He held me carefully, conscious of my bruising, but he didn't pull away. He kissed me back gently, his lips pouring adoration into me until a warm glow cracked through the stifling guilt inside me.
"You kicked ass today, Kody," I whispered when we broke apart. "You saved both me and Bree. Focus on the positives. We're alive."
He gave me a small nod. "You'd be wise to do the same, babe. Focus on the positives, okay?"
I swallowed heavily, feeling like a giant hypocrite, but nodded back. We started to leave the restroom, but just as he opened the door, I tugged him back for a second.
"What's up?" he asked, a worried set to his eyes.
I bit my lip, mentally kicking my own damaged ass. "Nothing. Just..."
Holy fuck, just say it, MK. Tell him you love him!
"Nothing," I mumbled again, chickening out. "Let's go."
He gave me a quizzical look but continued out of the restroom anyway while I mentally berated myself.
Epic feelings fail.
Archer was right outside the door, leaning against the wall opposite with his huge arms folded over his chest and a scowl set in his features.
"Everything okay?" he asked when we stepped out. His gaze ran over me, scrutinizing.
"Yep," Kody replied as he brought our linked hands to his lips and kissed my fingers. "I'm going to duck out to the coffee shop around the corner, grab us all some better coffees. You guys want anything else?"
Both Archer and I shook our heads, so Kody released my hand and left me there while he headed for the exit.
"Are you okay?" Archer asked, his question more pointed and deliberate this time. Caring.
I started to tell him I'm fine, but that was a straight up lie. I shook my head instead, feeling fresh tears well up and cursing myself for being such a weepy mess. Archer just reached out, folded me into his embrace, and held me tight as I sobbed into his chest.
"Come on," he murmured in my ear, "let's get some fresh air, okay?" He kept one arm wrapped around me, and my arms stayed locked around his waist as we made our way outside and into the cool evening air. Archer took me past the parked ambulances and across to the grassy lawn facing the main entrance, where there was a park bench.
He sat down there, then pulled me gently into his lap before burying his face in my hair with a deep inhale.
"I think," he whispered in a husky voice, his lips brushing my ear, "that loving you is giving me wrinkles and gray hair."
I scoffed a laugh at that, then swallowed heavily as girly butterflies erupted in my stomach. It was a sickening sensation when I was already so full of guilt and fear.
Archer's lips found the sensitive patch of skin behind my ear, and he laid a soft kiss there, his breathing loud. Still, I made no move to pull away. In fact, I found it calming, so I just leaned into his touch further.
He seemed to sense my inability to make words happen, and it didn't bother him. Apparently he had enough to say for both of us.
"Bree getting hurt was not your fault, Kate, you need to know that," he said in a soft, emphatic whisper. "You need to accept that because if we're going to find whoever is responsible, then I need you full of that incredible fire, not drowning in guilt. You're so damn strong, Princess, and we will make someone pay. That I promise you." He pressed another kiss behind my ear, and I let out a sigh.
He was right. He was always fucking right.
"I know," I replied in a small voice. "But it's not so easy to let go of that feeling of responsibility. Bree's collateral damage here. She did nothing to deserve this, and what if—" Panic was starting to get the better of me again, and I swallowed my words, cutting them off. The world didn't turn on what-ifs. Quite the opposite. If I wallowed in fear of what might have been, we would get utterly nowhere.
"Bree is going to be okay," Archer reassured me in his low, calm voice as his hand stroked gently down my back. "Her baby is going to be okay. The best thing you can do for her now is to keep surviving. She loves you, Kate. She wouldn't want you blaming yourself for this, not when it's not your fault."
I nodded. Even if I didn't fully believe that statement, I knew he was right about Bree. She'd be horrified if she saw me crying and self-pitying.
I drew a deep breath, counting to five in my head and forcing the toxic guilt and fear out of my mind. Or as much as I could on my own.
"I need a distraction," I confessed to Archer in a small voice. "Help me take my mind off everything so I can refocus on what's important. I need to concentrate on the positives, right?"
He hummed a sound that might have been agreement, kissing my neck again... harder this time and with a teasing scrape of teeth. "Distraction, you say?"
I groaned. "Of course that's where your mind went."
His lips curved against my neck, and his breath fanned my skin with a silent chuckle, even as his hand found the waistband of my jeans and popped the top button open. "Say no and walk away now, Kate. I won't be offended."
I rolled my eyes. "No? You'll just make me beg next time as punishment."
His fingers dragged my zipper down, opening the front of my jeans right there on the park bench in front of the hospital.
"You love to beg," he countered, nipping my neck with his teeth playfully. "You especially like it when I smack your ass in punishment or when I shove you to your knees and fill your throat with my hard cock."
His hand slipped into the front of my jeans, his fingers working their way underneath my panties when I made no move to stop him.
I groaned, my hips rolling against his touch before I remembered where we were. How public we were.
"Archer," I protested weakly. Really weakly. "Anyone could see us. If my stalker—"
"If Scott were watching right now, I think he'd probably snap and show his hand, don't you? We have guys out all over the city looking for him. They'll catch him, I have every confidence. It's just a matter of days, not weeks." His fingertip dipped inside my pussy, and I shuddered. "Besides, it's dark out here. No one is watching, Princess. Just let me take your mind off things for a moment."