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And he wouldn’t.
Stepping back into the living area of the houseboat, he quirked his lips at the sight of her sleeping, stretched out on the couch. The second Rowdy stepped inside, she was awake.
Just that quickly she sat up, eyes wide, a hint of fear and pain glowing in the marbled gray depths until she caught sight of John once again.
“Sierra Lucas, Rowdy Mackay,” he introduced the two of them as he carried his half of the luggage to the steps leading to the master suite on the upper level.
“Ma’am. ” Rowdy nodded as he passed her. “Just excuse me, John decided he needed a pack mule this morning. ”
Laughter echoed in the other man’s voice as he followed John and they moved upstairs with the luggage.
Rowdy sat the luggage by the bed and turned to John. In the other man’s eyes Rowdy saw all the demons that had haunted him when he realized Kelly had been hurt while he was away from her.
He saw the torment and knew the agony his friend was feeling.
“Damn, she’s fucking tiny,” Rowdy hissed, anger flaring inside him. “She’s even smaller than Kelly, John. How the hell did she survive an attacker?”
“Sheer stubbornness,” John sighed as he shook his head and placed the items he carried on the floor. “Hell, Rowdy, I haven’t slept since Dad told me about it. The nightmares will haunt me. ”
And they would, Rowdy knew that. There was no way for a man to ever go back once he realized he’d left his woman unprotected, and she had been harmed.
John had marked that woman for his own before he left Boston. A man who had left something important behind just had an air of loss around him. It was an air John no longer possessed. What he possessed instead was the pain of knowledge, the awareness that he hadn’t kept her from harm.
“You sleep better when she’s with you. ” He slept better now that Kelly was in his arms than he had his entire life. “But I saw her eyes, bro. She doesn’t seem as smitten quite yet. ”
John would have his work cut out for him. Rowdy had seen the look she gave John. She was angry. There was a glitter of stubbornness, of pure feminine determination to make this as hard as possible on the other man.
Whatever had happened before John moved to Lake Cumberland, it had to do with this woman. And she wasn’t in the least happy with him over it.
Once he couldn’t see the bruises on the girl’s throat, then Rowdy was certain he would find John’s predicament amusing.
“I’ll get out of here and let you take care of this then. ” Rowdy nodded. “I’ll let the others know what’s going on and we’ll see what we can do to catch the bastard if he’s stupid enough to try to follow her. ”
God help any man that tried to hurt Sierra Lucas where John Walker or one of the Mackays could get hold of him. Nothing but death awaited such stupidity.
As they returned downstairs, Sierra was still sitting on the couch, but watching the stairs warily.
“Later, Rowdy. ” John all but ordered him off the houseboat. He couldn’t bear seeing that fear in her eyes for so much as a second longer.
“Catch you later, John, and remember what I told you. ” Rowdy paused at the glass sliding door. “The family will be around soon. Babies and all. ” With that, he slid open the door, stepped outside, and headed back to the marina.
“What was that all about?” she asked as he moved into the kitchen.
“That means to expect the Mackay horde to descend upon us at any time,” he grunted. “Rowdy’s parents, cousins, their wives and babies. It’s worse than Thanksgiving dinner at the grandparents’ house. ” And she knew exactly what those were like, since she had attended enough of them.
“You didn’t make friends that easily in Boston,” she said softly. “I guess I thought you were playing hermit here in Kentucky as well. ”
“Only when they let me. ” John watched her intently, debating on breakfast or hauling her straight to bed. She looked exhausted. “What time did you get up this morning for the flight?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t sleep well, so I was up in plenty of time. ”
Meaning nightmares had kept her awake.
John’s jaw clenched. Breakfast, then bed.
“Why did you agree to this, John?” she finally asked as he pulled eggs from the fridge. “I’m not your responsibility, you know. ”
Not his responsibility? Fuck that. She belonged to him, she just didn’t know it yet. That made her fully his responsibility whether she wanted to admit it or not.
