Did I love him?
Yes.
And with each passing day, I loved him more.
He kept me warm.
For right now, that was enough.
I finished my finals two weeks before Christmas. Hayes and I spent the holidays together, bouncing back and forth between Portland and Astoria. Some days, I didn’t get to see him until close to midnight. He’d come home, drop his keys in the bowl by the door (yes, I thrifted one for his apartment), shower, and come to me.
My final semester began three days ago, and Professor Ashley had invited all of her project leaders to a dinner in downtown Seattle last weekend. It was the fanciest restaurant I’d ever been to, and just as I started second-guessing bringing my overprotective new boyfriend along, my Superman managed to whisk my anxiety away with his charming smiles and polite conversation. For a good twenty minutes of the evening, I felt like Julia Roberts’ character fromPretty Woman. I only knew which one was the salad fork and I’d lost count of how many courses there were. Hayes, being Hayes, stood firm in his grace and perfection, putting a reassuring hand on my knee under the tablecloth that probably cost more than my couch.
Professor Ashley wanted to treat us before giving us the news. There were five projects she was conducting in total. The group that presented the most compelling business model would have a chance to win the American Creative Business Minds Association Award of the year. She dropped this little detail on us in the middle of the soup course (the third or the fifth?) and I nearly choked on a green onion.
On the way back to Hayes’ apartment, I spent the entire two hours vomiting all my thoughts for the project to Hayes. He listened, but didn’t say much aside from the occasional rebuttal question, just to keep my ideas flowing. When he pulled the Jeep into his spot in the parking garage, he reached over, unbuckled my seat belt, put me in his lap and made me see God with his fingers. Then, as I tried to regain my wits, he righted my dress and thickly said, “You’re the most brilliant woman I’ve ever known. Your ideas are going to change lives, baby. I’m so damn proud of you.”
Snapping back to the present, he waited patiently on the other end of the line as I weaved through students, coffee addicts, and research specialists, my eyes on the huge glass doors just ahead of me.
“I’m hurrying,” I huffed.
“I know you are, beautiful,” he replied. I could practically see him in his office, looking out to the city, dressed in his usual cargo pants and thermal, Gordon’s file in his free hand.
The harsh winter air slapped my face as I opened the door. Thankfully, Seattle had been graced with its first sunny day in three weeks, its light bouncing off the three-day old blanket of snow. My eyes scanned the quad quickly, spotting a quiet spot underneath a sleeping willow tree. A safe haven.
“Okay, hit me with it.” I mentally braced. “Am I going to have to go underground? Spend the rest of my life in witness protection?”
“No.”
My shoulders sagged with relief. “Did they find him, then?”
“Also no.”
My shoulders rose back up as my spine snapped straight again.
Hayes cleared his throat. “The FBI raided another one of his drug warehouses this morning—just after sunrise.”
A sharp whistle sounded to my right. My head snapped in that direction, finding Ash coming toward me.
“And Gordon wasn’t there?” I guessed, eyes on Ash. He looked like a bear in this weather. Unruly brown locks, thick beard, and thicker flannel coat. When he was close, he gave me a small smile and jerked his chin to the phone in question.
“Hayes,” I whispered to him.
He nodded and scanned the quad.
Today was Ash’s day.
Unofficially, I’d been assigned to Red Snake security.
After Thanksgiving, the boys had decided it was the best course of action until Gordon was taken care of. I argued with this, of course. Having Hayes with me was one thing. Hell, even having the boys make their rounds to the bookstore was acceptable, but all this time and energy…going to me? It made me feel uncomfortable, especially knowing how extensive Red Snake’s client list was. Still, none of them would hear my side. Grayson and Carrie didn’t have to say anything. They just stared at me, silently reminding me of everything they’d been through. Dominic didn’t say anything either. He’d just lingered in the corner, watching me with an intensity that had the hairs on my arms rising. Sometimes, I had to admit, the dude scared the living shit out of me. Ash told me he’d never forgive me if I didn’t let them do this, that he wasn’t going to let anyone else get hurt on his watch. I knew he was referring to that woman—the preacher’s wife. He blamed himself, and I didn’t have the strength to argue with the dread in his eyes. Jake threatened to spoil the end of our favorite book series for me, which I argued was impossible. Then he did his usual Jake thing, pushed his glasses up to the top of his head, raised his brows, and shocked the hell out of everyone in the room. “I hacked into the Pentagon in high school because I was bored, then accessed Parliament’srecords on a dare. What makes you think I can’t hack into our favorite author’s computer and find out the ending?”
“Ash with you now?” Hayes asked, pulling me back to the present.
“Yeah, he’s here with me.”
“Good, I need you to brace for what I’m about to tell you.”
Ash looked down at me, and I held his eyes as I said, “Give it to me.”