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“Well, as a proposal, it sucked. Let’s just go with this.” He covered her hand with his. “I’m in love with you, Hannah. I sure as hell didn’t expect to feel this way.” He waited, but she didn’t say a word. Clearing his throat he tried to back pedal. “Didn’t even mean to bring it up just now.”
More silence and he shifted in the seat, at a loss.
“This is some rare manifestation of PTSD,” she blurted.
He laughed and shook his head. “Nope. I’ve never had a problem with that. Until I looked at that car and realized how close I came to losing you.”
“You’ll get over it.”
Placing his left hand at the top of the steering wheel, he let the evening sunlight glint off of the gold band on his ring finger. “I thought so after Vegas. When Eva announced I had a wife, I thought of it as an interminable mission. Couldn’t wait for the whole thing to be over. Not now. Just give it some thought.”
She was quiet for the rest of the ride until he parked at the truck stop. On the other side of the glass, wedding reception guests were still gathered, waiting for their return.
“If we,ah, did this for real, you’d want me to take a desk job,” she said.
“Says who?”
“Isn’t that how it’s done?”
“In some cases.” He pulled the keys from the ignition and flipped them back and forth across his palm. “In our case, it doesn’t have to be like that. Not unless you want to get out of the field work.”
“Regaining my status as a field agent means I’d be away. From you, from our… home.”
He stifled the smile that threatened when she tripped over the word. If she thought of his place as home already, there was a good chance of success. “But I’d be here—at home—waiting for you.”
“You mean that.”
He nodded. “There’s no pressure. We’ve got all the time in the world.” He’d waited his whole life for a woman like her, he wasn’t going to wreck it by rushing the point now. “Just think about it.” Climbing out of the truck, he came around to help her down from the passenger side.
But she sat there, unmoving, just staring at the building.
“Come on,” he said. “Everyone is eager to give you a hero’s welcome for bagging Tim’s murderer.”
“They know already?”
He grinned. “They might have been tipped off by a reliable source.”
“You.”
“There wasn’t much else for me to do once Wallace took over the accident scene.” He held out his hand, relieved when she took it and hopped down to the ground. His intention had been to take her upstairs and let her clean up first, but the employees were pouring out of the store, surrounding them with applause.
She accepted it all with humility and the same calm presence she’d shown through this whole mess with the cartel.
He took it all in, so proud of her courage and dedication, so grateful for his staff that carried on more like a family. While he understood what Maria meant about a woman’s needs, this place felt like the perfect place to start.
It wasn’t a posh mansion or even a real neighborhood, but it was home.
Hopefully a home that would soon include her, because Bart had the feeling his staff would revolt if he let Hannah get away.
Bart could hardly believe he almost resented catching Gonzales. The capture turned their false wedding reception into a victory party and restored a sense of security and order to the truck stop. His bride looked as relaxed as he’d ever seen her as they said goodbye to the last of their guests and headed up to the apartment.
He’d taken care of all the business details and put out closed signs for the morning, now he wanted to take care of her.
Her hips swayed in a sweet rhythm as she climbed the stairs to the apartment ahead of him. This time when they opened the door, he didn’t give a thought to the bug planted on the hall table.
All of his senses, every level of awareness, zeroed in on the woman who had so quickly become his whole world. He caught her hand, brought it to his lips. “I need you.”
Her eyes wide, she brushed the hair from his forehead. “I need a shower.”
