Page 24 of But For You

“Make sure.”

“I will.”

I shivered hard. “I can’t lose you.”

“No,” he whispered.

I untangled myself, moved back onto the coffee table, and picked the folder up again so I wouldn’t sit on it. “So, both you and Rico got out of that situation okay?”

“Yes.” He smiled at me, putting his hand on my knee.

“You should tell me this stuff.”

“I’ll try, but it’s hard. When I get done with a day like that, all I want to do is come home, take a shower, and crawl into bed with you.”

“Naked.” I smiled at him.

“Oh, hell yeah, naked’s the most important part.”

“Okay.” I took a breath. “I freaked because you hadn’t told me.”

“You freaked because you were scared. You can’t be scared if you know how the story ends. You can’t.”

I’d thought he knew me. “You could have died.”

“But I didn’t.”

“But you could have,” I insisted. “Sam, you could have.”

He shook his head. “This is why I don’t tell you when I almost get shot.”

“If I have to find out any more secrets today … oh, no, wait. There’s one more, isn’t there?”

He groaned.

I pointed at the folder. “Go ahead.”

“I’d rather tell you about the Petersons,” he admitted and hooked a hand around the back of my neck so he could haul me close to kiss me again.

But I really needed to talk to him, so I squirmed free, shoving him back.

“What’re you doing?”

“This is serious.”

His eyes met mine, and I held his gaze.

After a minute, he sighed deeply and fell back against the couch.

“Sam?”

“I know. I know this is serious.”

“And?”

“And so I promise to just talk to you and not paw you like some hormonal teenager.” He smiled at me. “I won’t grab you and kiss you stupid.”

“Sam—”