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Billy stood about twenty feet away from where Shayna was crouched taking pictures. So in her element. So fucking beautiful even though he could see the head wound and the bandage on her arm from here.
Suddenly, she looked right at him, then she did an almost comical double take.
Billy couldn’t stand the distance between them for one more second. Not the physical distance that kept her from his arms. Nor the emotional distance that prevented her from knowing exactly how he felt.
Why was Billy here?
Shayna rose as he started toward her and met him half way at the corner of the triage area.
At first she was wary, given how they’d left things earlier in the day. But he looked so different to her. His eyes were bright and sharp and his expression was all masculine determination. He hadn’t done much to clean up the cuts on his face but even they appeared less severe when the rest of his demeanor was so vital.
He came right up to her, his eyes absolutely burning. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’ll be fine. Just a few cuts and bumps.”
“And a foreign object in your arm?” he asked, in a tone so full of concern.
She looked down at her bandaged right forearm. It was starting to throb, but still it seemed a minor thing compared to what the people who lived here were going through. Last she’d heard, there were thirty-four injuries and four missing people. “Well, yeah.”
He peered around at the chaos. “I know you’re working. And I know it’s important. And I know this story is going to be huge for you and I’m so fucking proud. I’ll wait for you here until you’re ready to go, and then I’ll come to the hospital with you.”
Every bit of what he’d just said hit her right in the chest. The respect. The acknowledgement. The pride. “Billy, you don’t have to do that. Really.”
“Yes, I do. Because I fucking love you.”
Shayna’s equilibrium completely checked out.
It’d happened once or twice before since the blast had knocked her off her feet, but usually just when she got up too fast. Not when she was standing perfectly still. “What?” she managed.
He gently took her into his arms. “I love you. And I don’t want you to move out. I was a complete asshole because I thought I was too late and I was kicking myself for denying what I felt when I’ve known for a while that I felt it. I’m so damn sorry for all of it, too.”
Wait. Was Billy Parrish truly telling her he loved her? When she’d thought he didn’t want her around at all? What was even happening?
Cautiously, she placed the hand of her good arm on his hip and peered into his eyes. “Billy, I hit my head on the street when the building exploded. I’ve got a kinda big knot and maybe a wee concussion, so I’m going to need you to repeat what you just said so I can be sure I heard what I think I heard.”
He smiled. “If you think you heard me tell you that I love you, then you heard right.”
Just beyond Billy’s arm, Mo was smiling and nodding. “You heard him, Shayna.”
She blinked, stunned and completely overwhelmed.
“Am I too late, Shay? Have I ruined everything by taking the long fucking route to get here? Because if you really want to be just friends, I’ll do that for you, too. Anything for you.” Billy gently tucked a curl behind her ear.
Finally, Shayna let herself believe. “You really love me?”
He nodded, and the look on his handsome face was so fucking earnest. Even with the cuts and bruises and three-day growth of scruff he was the sexiest man she’d ever seen. “I really do.” And damn if him saying that didn’t make him ever hotter.
Shayna swallowed around the knot of emotion suddenly in her throat. “God, Billy, I love you, too. I love you so much that it’s been hard to breathe for holding it in.”
“Aw, Jesus,” he said, pulling her closer, which didn’t quite work because her camera still hung on her neck between them.
They both laughed as she tried to hang it over her shoulder instead, but he had to help her because of her injury. And then she was in his arms and his mouth was claiming hers and she held and kissed and claimed him right back.
“You’re shaking,” she said when they pulled back from the kiss.
Billy leaned his forehead on hers. “I, uh, I really hate fire.” His gaze flicked nervously towards the blaze.
Shayna held him tighter even though it made her arm ache more. “Yet you still came here for me.”
