A shockwave of surprise rippled through her. Putting the “sweet ass” comment to the side—for now—Ellie’s attention was more on the fact that the man almost looked…mad. But that couldn’t be right.
Lucky didn’t get mad. He teased. Made jokes. Flirted with damn near every woman he saw. Butmad?
She studied his unwavering stare once more and…damn. Regret and guilt blanketed her as she met his intense stare, knowing the guy had every right to be mad.
What happened wasn’t his fault. She wasn’t even an Eagle’s Nest client for crying out loud. But despite that fact, the confounding man had still dropped everything to make the short road trip with Archer for the sole purpose of keeping her safe.
And afterward, at the hospital, he’d been no more than three feet away from her the entire time she was there.
Way to show the man your appreciation, El. Maybe next time, you can just go straight for a kick in the crotch instead.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted more loudly than intended. “I know you’re only trying to help. And Arch, he uh…” Ellie nervously pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “He told me what you did today. He said…” A knot formed at the base of her throat, but she cleared it and went on. “He said when the shooting started, you ran straight for me without any thoughts to your own safety.”
“Occupational hazard,” he attempted to brush away his heroics as if they were nothing.
But it wasn’t nothing.
Not even close.
“I’m sorry,” she offered again. “I didn’t mean to sound as if I’m ungrateful because I’m not. I’m very thankful you and Archer were there today, regardless of who the shooter was or who they were aiming at.”
“It’s okay, El.”
“No.” Ellie shook her head from side to side. “It’s not. And I really have no excuse for my behavior, other than I guess I’m just—"
“Hurt.” A muscle in Lucky’s square jaw twitched. “Scared.”
“I’m not scared,” she lied to herself as much as him. “I’m pissed.”
The truth was, she was both. She feared the unknowns—all the unanswered questions—even more than the facts as she knew them. But mostly…
Mostly, she was just really, really mad.
This sort of thing was supposed to be over. This wasn’t supposed to happen again.
“It’s okay to be both, you know?” Lucky’s deep voice broke through her thoughts.
As the man’s comment hung in the air, Cassie slid from Archer’s arms and padded across the room. Sitting on the cushion at the far end of the couch, the other woman laid a gentle hand over one of Ellie’s socked feet.
“Let Lucky stay, El. At least for tonight.”
“Look, Cass,” Ellie started. “I understand your concern, but I promise, I’m fi—”
“Please,” the woman begged. “If I know you’re here all alone, I’ll spend the entire night worried that you’re either going to slip into a coma or that monster is going to come after you. I won’t get a wink of sleep, and I know Nat won’t either. Not that it’s about us, but you know what I mean.”
Ellie met her friend’s puppy dog eyes and expelled a relenting sigh. “Really? You’re going to play the friend card on this?”
A slight shrug and a sharp arch of a single brow was Cassie’s only response. Ellie’s gaze flickered to back to Lucky just as his tempting mouth lifted into a smooth, toe-curling grin.
“Don’t worry, counselor.” Another quick wink. “I’m not a picky eater, I clean up after myself, and…most importantly…I’m already housebroken.”
The comment left Cassie snickering and Ellie fighting a roll of her eyes.
Lord, just shoot me now. Oh wait…someone already tried doing that today.
And just like that, her lungs grew tight, and a rush of unshed tears threatened to fall as the horrifying events began scrolling through her mind once more. It wasn’t the first time since it had happened.
It wasn’t even the fifth.