Page 12 of Rescuing Macie

Colt smiled bigger now. “No problem. What else?” He actually hoped she’d continue to list her most prized possessions, because the more stuff she moved over to his house, the more comfortable she’d be there. And the more comfortable she was, the less she’d feel inclined to come back to this place. As far as he was concerned, she could move her entire fucking apartment. He had plenty of room for her things. For her.

“Um…” She looked into the bedroom then back at him. “I’m not sure.”

Colt walked up to Macie and put his hands on her shoulders. “Whatever you want to take with you is fine with me. If there’s not enough room in my Wrangler, we can come back tomorrow.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Macie asked, her brows drawn down in confusion.

“Because I like you, Macie Laughlin. You didn’t do anything for this to happen to you tonight. I want to make sure you’re as comfortable as you can be in my house. I know it will be stressful for you, and I want to mitigate that as much as I can.”

“Oh.”

He could tell she was still unsure. So he added, “And because you’re Truck’s sister. And all the men under my command are like brothers to me.”

She nodded, as if that response made more sense than him liking her.

“Go pack,” he ordered gently, turning her around to face the bedroom. “I’ll grab the box from your safe room, which I can’t wait to see, by the way. Then I’ll go and pack up your computer and CDs. You change, and call me when you’re done. I’ll come back and grab your suitcase so you don’t further hurt those hands. Okay?”

“I can carry my suitcase,” she protested.

“Hon, I said I’ve got it. There’ll be plenty of times in the future when I’ll let you carry your own shit, but tonight isn’t one of them. Got it?”

She studied him, but eventually nodded. “Can I ask something else?”

“Of course.”

“Why were you up and with my brother when I called? Did I interrupt something important?”

He had a feeling she’d been worrying about that. “My two teams of soldiers just got back from a mission tonight. We were debriefing.”

Her eyes widened in horror. “I interrupted you working?”

Colt couldn’t have stopped himself if someone had a gun to his head. He leaned down and covered her lips with his own in a brief caress. He rested his forehead on hers and linked his fingers together at the small of her back. He felt his heart jolt when her hands landed on his chest, but she didn’t push him away.

“You didn’t interrupt anything,” he told her. “We were almost done. But even if we weren’t, you’re more important than work. I don’t care what time it is or what you think I’m doing, if you need something, you call. Got it?”

She didn’t answer for a long time, and Colt lifted his head to stare at her. “Got it?” he repeated.

“I can’t promise. I mean, you know how I am. I’ll worry that I’m interrupting you, or that you’ll be annoyed, or that your boss will be annoyed. And that you’ll think I’m being stupid or weak.”

“Macie, I won’t—”

She cut him off. “So I can’t promise to always call, but if it’s a true emergency, as it was tonight, I’ll call.”

Colt wanted to protest. But it was a big deal for her to tell him what she was feeling. What her anxiety made her feel. “Okay, hon. But would you mind if I called you when I needed something?”

“You want to call me?”

“Yeah, Mace. There might be times when I need help with something. But, like you, I don’t want to interrupt you if you’re working or doing something important.”

“You can call me,” she said softly. “I don’t think anything I do is nearly as important as what you do.”

“I’m sure the authors and other people you work for would disagree. I’ve seen some of the websites you designed. That couldn’t have been easy, and I know that you also keep them updated as well. I know that can get crazy, considering how fast some authors write.”

That earned him another small smile.

Forcing himself to step back, he gestured to the bedroom. “Do not carry that suitcase yourself. I’ll be back here in a bit. Okay?”

“Okay. Colt?”