“What?” I asked, confused by her statement.
“Tucker’s afraid you’ll tear off his head, but I told him you’re a big teddy bear.”
While I wouldn’t kill Tucker, I didn’t like being referred to as ateddy bear. I’d never owned one of those stuffed objects—my father believed toys were beneath any child of his—but I’d seen more than a few children dragging them around.
“Teddy bear?” I growled.
“Yes, a teddy bear,” Ellery said. “You may be a little rough on the outside, but you’re soft on the inside.”
I scowled at her, and Callan had the nerve to chuckle. I shot him a look, but the minstrel didn’t hide his amusement.
“I’m the reason we took so long,” Ellery said as she played with the hair at my nape. “We couldn’t leave the money in the road with guards already searching the town.”
“We could have gone another time to deliver it,” I told her.
“No, we couldn’t. There’s going to be a heavy guard presence in all the towns soon.”
“True, but you still shouldn’t have stayed.”
“It worked out, and we could have left at any time.”
“Ellery—”
“I didn’t do anything reckless, Ryker.” When Tucker scoffed, Ellery shot him a look. “And we’re fine, so you can leave Tucker’s head intact… today.”
Tucker glowered at her, and Ellery smiled in return.
“Better you than me,” Tucker muttered as he walked past us.
Ellery frowned at him before shifting her attention back to me. “We did it.”
“We did.”
“It’s time to celebrate.”
She wiggled against me while smiling mischievously. She was trying to distract me.
“I’m not going to forget that easily,” I told her. “You shouldn’t have stayed in that town.”
Ellery sighed. “Wehadto make sure they got the money.”
“Youhadto make sure you stayed safe.”
“And I did.”
“You have to protect yourself first.”
She kissed the tip of my nose as she twirled my hair around her finger. “We’re fine, Ryker. Stop worrying so much.”
“It’s impossible not to worry about you.”
Her smile faded as her fingers stilled on my neck. “I won’t do anything that would put you in danger, and getting caught would do exactly that. I’m not as reckless as I used to be.Trustme.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Shewasa lot less reckless, but… “I can’t lose you.”
“I know.” She rested her forehead against mine. “I can’t lose you either.”
When her lips found mine, I hugged her closer as I let her kiss erase the last of my tension. She pulled away, and my eyes found hers again.
