Page 34 of Taylor’s Warrior

His body shook with low, controlled laughter. “Tell me about it. You’re preaching to the choir here.”

“Does that mean I don’t annoy you anymore?” The need to know outweighed the nerves associated with asking the question.

He remained quiet for a moment or two, then dropped a comment she could identify with only too well. “I’m not sure you ever really did.”

And the least she could do was let him know they had that in common. “You, too, huh? So, what happens now? I mean, I think we both just agreed there’s something going on here.”

“I carry on keeping you safe. Tay, that has to be the priority for the time being. Doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy getting to know one another at the same time, though.”

Encouraging.

“Sounds good,” she agreed. “I’d be interested to know how you define ‘getting to know one another,’ though.”

“Ah. You want to have your wicked way with me.”

He didn’t sound as if he was opposed to the idea. She decided to have a little fun. “Did I say that?” she challenged, just because she could.

“You implied it,” he countered.

“No. You inferred it,” she insisted.

Rhys raised his hands in surrender. “What can I say? I’m a man.”

Now there was an argument she could get behind. “Happy to agree with that statement.”

“Good. And as a man, I would like to add, of course I want to make love to a beautiful woman. And for the avoidance of doubt, that’s you, fy nghariad.”

Taylor’s cheeks flamed. With her face pressed against his shoulder, at least he couldn’t see how much she wanted it.

How much she wanted him.

“For now, though,” he continued, “I believe we need to get back to the original topic of conversation.”

He was right, of course. Taylor felt a flicker of guilt for letting the discussion wander so far away from the initial subject. “Okay. What do we do next?”

“What would you like to do?”

Realistically, it depended on what was feasible; at worst, Rhys could only say no and tell her it was a bad idea. For Taylor, however, it was the only real option. “Talk to Pops. We know where he is now—I need to go see him, find out what’s really going on.”

>>><<<

He should have put a bet on that being her answer. He’d also put money on her not liking the response he was about to give her. Hell, he wasn’t fond of it himself. There was nothing he’d like more than to go and beat the truth out of the man, if that was what it would take. However, his primary objective was to protect her, and now, that meant emotionally as well as physically.

“After I spoke to Nick, I called Wolf. He and his team are still on post-deployment leave, and they’ve offered to go to Vegas to see what they can find out. It means I can keep you safe here⁠—”

Taylor, it appeared, had other ideas. She sat up straight, pulling away from him slightly.

“No. No way. Now that you’ve found him, I can’t stay here. I’ll freely admit there’s a tiny part of me that’s afraid to learn the truth, but I won’t rest until I have this out with him, face to face.”

“No.” Rhys tried to be firm but gentle. “Not until we confirm what’s going on—for all we know, you could end up walking into a trap. I can’t allow that.”

“Allow?”

Her incredulous tone left him in no doubt he’d committed a massive faux pas, at least in her opinion. In his own—not so much. “Yes—allow. Our personal relationship may be changing, but I’m still your protection officer, the threat to you remains extant, and that means I’m still in charge.”

Taylor stiffened. “Oh, really? We’re talking about my father.”

For a split second, he thought the hostile woman he’d first met was going to reappear, then he smiled to himself.