Chapter 12
The smell of burning bacon pulled me from a deep sleep but it was the smoke alarm going off that had me jumping out of bed.
An empty bed.
Where the fuck was Bridget and how the fuck had I slept through her getting up?
I went to the door, threw it open, jogged down the short hallway, and stopped dead when Bridget and Easton came into view.
“Fan faster,” Easton instructed.
“I’m trying! And if you drop me I swear to all things holy I will castrate you,” Bridget said from her place on Easton’s shoulders, waving a magazine nowhere near the smoke alarm on the vaulted ceiling.
“You weigh like a buck oh five. I’ve carried rucksacks that weigh more than you. Just fan, woman.”
Bridget stopped fanning long enough to smack Easton on the top of the head with the magazine.
“You’re bossy.”
“You haven’t seen bossy, Birdie.”
“Ugh. Don’t call me that. I hate that nickname. And trust me, I’ve seen bossy.”
No, she thought she’d seen bossy but she hadn’t seen anything yet.
“Is there a reason the two of you are trying to burn down the house?” I cut in.
Bridget’s head snapped to the side.
“Morning,” she chirped and smiled. “The two of us aren’t doing anything. Easton was supposed to be cooking the bacon while I made the eggs but he got distracted by his phone. The eggs are perfectly cooked and fluffy. Hope you like your bacon charred.”
I didn’t like my bacon charred. But I did like the bright smile she was beaming my way.
“Way to throw a guy under the bus.”
“Anytime, friend,” she teased and the smoke alarm stopped blaring.
“You can let her down now.”
Easton sidestepped until he was facing me. What he didn’t do was squat down to let Bridget get off his shoulders.
“You’re grumpy in the morning,” he noted.
This wasn’t entirely true. Most mornings I woke up content—not happy, not excited to see what the day would bring, not raring to get up, looking forward to something special.
I just woke up. But that morning after carrying Bridget to bed, sleeping with her cuddled on my chest, looking forward to waking, excited to open my eyes and feel her pressed against me, only to wake up with her not there, I was a little grumpy.
Since Easton was right, I circled back to something Bridget said.
“The distraction on your phone wouldn’t happen to have been an email from Garrett, would it?”
“Negative. It was an email from Kira and Cooper with honeymoon pictures. And you’re welcome, I emailed her back but didn’t mention Bridget.”
That was a relief.
I glanced up at Bridget to see her smile had faded and hurt had crept in.
Dammit .
“Can you please get my woman off your shoulders?”
“Damn, brother, all you’re missing is an animal-skin skirt, a club, and a bone in your hair and you’d fit our ancestral profile. Would you like to bang your chest to round out the sketch?”
Fuck it .
I wasn’t in the mood to joke.
I walked the ten feet it took to get to Easton and lifted my arms.
Bridget fell forward. I caught her, and put her on her feet. It momentarily helped lift my spirits when on the way down her foot caught under Easton’s chin and she clipped him.
“Damn, woman,” he complained.
“You ruined the bacon so I’m not sorry,” she griped. “Burning the bacon should hold a stiffer penalty than a little tap to the chin.”
“Tap? You nearly took out a tooth.”
Exaggeration much ?
“We’ll be right back,” I told Easton and tagged Bridget’s hand.
When we made it to the bedroom, I tugged her inside, shut the door, and had my lips over hers. She opened, my tongue slid in, and she groaned.
Beautiful.
Before the kiss could turn into something I couldn’t deliver on, I pulled back.
“Good morning, baby.”
“Good morning,” she breathed.
“Now that that’s out of the way, do me a favor, yeah?”
“What’s that?”
That came out breathy, too.
From a kiss.
“Don’t leave our bed without me knowing.”
Bridget blinked before she said, “But you needed to rest. You drove all day yesterday. Sure, we had a couple hour-long breaks at the first safe house but most of the day you were behind the wheel.”
It was my turn to blink at her. When was the last time someone cared if I rested? And when was the last time someone did something for me simply out of consideration for my well-being?
“I slept most of the drive last night,” she needlessly reminded me.
“Then you carried me into bed.” Again, I didn’t need the reminder, but obviously she had a point to make so I didn’t interrupt her.
“You took care of me; I was returning the gesture. But even if you didn’t carry me in I still would’ve let you sleep in. I get to take care of you, too.”
I wanted to argue and tell her it was my job to take care of her, but fuck me, it felt good to have her want to take care of me.
“Okay, I see your point.”
I was rewarded with a beautiful smile.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
I wasn’t but I’d eat anything she put in front of me if she smiled at me like that again.
“Yes.”
“Good. Anything we need to talk about? I’m afraid to leave Easton in the kitchen too long. He doesn’t know how to cook.”
“Baby, Easton’s an excellent cook.”
Bridget’s eyes narrowed and her forehead creased.
“You mean he lied to me?”
“Lied would be an overstatement,” I defended my brother. “But, yes, he was fucking with you. He can cook.”
“Bastard,” she mumbled.
I didn’t tell her that Easton fucking with her meant he liked her. If he didn’t he would’ve been polite and nothing more. No teasing, no fucking around, nothing but bland courtesy.
“One more thing to talk about before we go back out. Kira.” I watched as Bridget blanketed her expression.
“I’m happy that Easton didn’t tell her what’s going on.
There’s a reason none of us are saying anything to her.
If she knew you were in trouble she’d pack her and Cooper’s bags and rush home.
I’m talking same-day flight. She deserves this time away.
She and Coop need it. There’s never any downtime.
It’s one case after the next. I love her like an annoying little sister, we all do.
One day I’ll tell you the whole story, but her brother’s murder was part of why my decision to fake my death was so easy.
There was shady shit going on, not for the greater good, but for greed.
I didn’t personally know her then and I didn’t know Finn, her brother.
I just knew a good man had died. There were other reasons besides.
Zane being framed for reporting bad intel was another reason.
Garrett taking off and leaving his GB team because he thought his actions got Finn murdered, that’s another.
There was a series of events that were all connected.
Layla was our team leader. Kira ran all of our intel and gave us our missions.
She did this for ten years hiding in the shadows.
She had no life. No friends beyond Layla.
No verbal communication with me or the guys.
I want her to have this time. I want it more than I want her help and she’s fantastic at her job.
She and Garrett together are dynamite. With her help, we’d have everything we need to get you safe in half the time it’s gonna take Garrett.
I know it’s selfish, but there it is, Bridget.
I adore that woman and she’s finally found her happy and I want her to just enjoy it. ”
Throughout my long-winded rambling Bridget stared at me with those beautiful eyes that held sympathy for a woman she didn’t know.
“I don’t care if she could end this tomorrow for me, I don’t want her to come home early.”
I felt relief sweep through me.
“Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?”
“Because if we called her in, she might very well be able to end this for you tomorrow. She wouldn’t sleep until she found the man who attacked you. She’d stop at nothing to make you safe.”
“So she can do that after her honeymoon. In the meantime I have you and Easton to keep me safe and Garrett seems to be pretty on the ball.”
That made me smile.
“Yeah, baby, Garrett’s pretty on the ball,” I repeated her understatement.
“I just thought maybe…”
When she didn’t finish I filled the silence.
“You thought wrong. I told you last night you’d meet everyone and you will.”
She nodded her understanding then went on to explain, “It’s just that with everything going on I have these moments of doubt. Or not doubt, it’s more like moments when I’m afraid we’ll slip back into the way it was before and I don’t want that.”
“Before? When I fell in love with a woman who I knew would be taken away from me and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it?
Or before when you were so tempting I had to wait for you to go to sleep so I could take a shower and jack off?
Or before when I was counting down the days until my heart was torn from my chest?
Yeah, Bridget, I never want to slip back there. ”
“You love me,” she wheezed.
“Fuck yeah. And your mom was right. When you give your heart to that once-in-a-lifetime, all-consuming love there’s no taking it back so I knew I was facing a lifetime of pain and resentment.”
“I thought you didn’t like me.” She smiled.
“Again, I thought I was facing a lifetime of pain without you. Makes a man a little grumpy knowing he can’t have what he wants.”
“I fell in love with you when you sat on the couch with me and listened to me talk about my grandma. And I knew you were listening to every word. I knew you likely didn’t give a flip about what I was talking about but you were willing to give me your time and attention and do both in a way that made me feel seen. ”
When she was done I closed my eyes to memorize the sensation flowing over me.
The emotion was far from peaceful. It was violent as it invaded my chest, expanding my lungs, burning her admission into my soul.
“That and you never treated me like I was helpless.”
My eyes snapped open to take her in.
No, Bridget wasn’t helpless.
She never had been. She had simply been powerless to make her own decisions.
“I win,” I told her.
“What?”
“I win. I fell in love with you the first time you argued with me about getting a Slurpee on the way to your deposition.”
“That was the first day I met you.”
“I know. That’s why I win. You didn’t tell me about your grandma until I’d been guarding you for three weeks.
I remember the conversation and I did give a flip .
The reason you felt seen is because you were.
I saw you then and I see you now. I see the woman who gave up her life to do the right thing.
I see the woman who, through all that, never once gave in to what was happening.
You got pissed, you argued, you fought for everything you wanted knowing you weren’t going to get it but that didn’t stop you. ”
What I failed to tell her was she’d been stronger than I’d been.
I’d given her up without a fight.
I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“You know what sucks?”
I knew a lot of things that sucked.
But I still asked, “What sucks?”
“Easton being in the other room and me not being able to jump you to show you how excited I am that you love me.”
That was damn near on top of the list of things that sucked.
Finding her attacker so we could be home in my bed and I could show her exactly how I felt about her loving me back was high on the list of things that didn’t suck.
“Yeah, honey, that sucks.”
“Can I at least kiss you before we get breakfast?”
“No.”
“No?”
“If you kiss me, I’ll kiss you back. But it won’t be your pretty mouth I’m kissing and I won’t stop until you come on my tongue and I have you pinned to the bed with my dick inside of you.
As you pointed out, Easton’s awake and in the kitchen, meaning he’d hear you screaming for me.
So, no, you can’t kiss me. But I’ll kiss you later in the shower when I know he can’t hear you come for me. ”
Her lips parted and her cheeks blushed pink.
“Now I really, really want to kiss you.”
Fuck . We needed to get out of the bedroom before I stopped caring about Easton hearing.
“Breakfast, woman.”
The pink still tinged her cheeks but her eyes narrowed when she said, “How about you order me around when we’re not in bed only when you’re wearing animal skin, carrying a club, and have a bone in your hair.
Wait, no, not even then. I might love your whole caveman, bossy, domination in bed but not so much when you’re not playing between my legs. ”
Damn, she was cute.
“How about when I’m playing with your tits? Do you like it then?”
She nodded as the pink deepened.
“And what about when my cock’s in your mouth and I order you to finger yourself? Do you like it then?”
I didn’t need her to nod. The rise and fall of her chest along with her breath coming out in short choppy breaths said it all.
I stepped closer and lowered my mouth to her ear, making sure I brushed my lips over her cheek before I whispered, “I hear you, Bridget.” She shivered and I continued.
“What you need to hear is, I will never disrespect you in any way. Not in bed, not outside of it. Now, with that said, I will never wear animal skin or carry a club. And you’ll never find anything in my hair.
But you wanna role-play, I’ll happily oblige as long as that includes me eating your cunt until you can’t breathe and you’re making those sexy sounds you make when you’re swallowing my dick.
” That got me another shiver and I knew she was onboard.
“Glad you like the idea, Bridget. Now let’s go get breakfast.”
I’d barely been touching her but suddenly she was leaning into me.
“Wait.”
I waited.
“I just want to say…” she fizzled out. I felt her take a deep breath and on an exhale she said, “I love you, Theo.”
I told her I wanted to eat her cunt until she couldn’t breathe and essentially I wanted to hear her choke on my dick and she tells me she loves me.
Christ .
“I love you, Bridget.”
It wasn’t until we were in the kitchen plating up the food it hit me—she’d called me Theo. Not that she’d ever called me anything else. And she’d hilariously declared I didn’t look like an Aaron. But she’d said, ‘I love you, Theo .’ No one, not even my mother had said those words.
Theo was all hers.
And he always would be.