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I didn’t have any answers, so I spent five minutes just breathing deeply the way Carlton, the undercover yoga lover, had showed me when the nights got longer and quieter, and the gunshots drew closer and louder. The beeping noises sped up and then slowed as I got my breathing under control. Pippa would arrive within the hour to coincide with the time Shelby said I would be discharged if things all went according to plan. I couldn’t wait to see Pippa, though I couldn’t deny my disappointment that my brothers and my father weren’t coming. Stevie, I knew, would have some small celebration planned for the two of us.
But Levi had been suspiciously absent and quiet.
Oh well. I would figure out what, if anything, was going on with us when the time was right. The first thing I wanted, and desperately needed, was the hottest shower I could tolerate.
Forty-five minutes later a knock sounded on my door, and then it opened to reveal the smiling face of my beautiful daughter. “Mom! Oh my god, you’re here! You’re alive.” Stevie rushed over and flung herself on top of me in a melodramatic fashion befitting her age. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
One hand stroked her hair and the other patted her back as a few sobs shook her slender frame. “I’m fine sweetie. I have about ten thousand bug bites, but otherwise, I’m good. I’m home.”
“Good.” Stevie pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Because you were like, totally awesome out there. Your voice barely shook when those jerks with guns were chasing you. So badass.”
“Language,” I admonished automatically and without much heat. “But thank you.” I reached for her my daughter and hugged her again, as tight as I could, because there were so many hours I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to hold her or scold her again. “I missed you, Stevie.”
“I missed you too Mom. But I’m so proud of you. You were so brave, and all the boys at school think you’re a total hottie.” She rolled her eyes, disgust mixed with pride shining in her eyes. “Even Dad was impressed.”
“High praise, I suppose.”
“And best of all? Shannon was so green with envy I thought she might just keel over.”
I couldn’t help it, a laugh bubbled up out of me and I shook my head. I didn’t have any animosity towards Shannon, but I could admit—to myself—that it felt good to have her be the one feeling a hint of jealousy. “How did you get up here?”
“I brought her.” Levi appeared in the doorway like a big sexy lumberjack, complete with days old scruff that added to his rugged air. His expression was tight with a tension I couldn’t quite read, but a moment later his feet were on the move, crossing the room where he scooped me in his arms and held me close for several long moments. “I’m so damn happy to see you, and touch you, and know for myself that you’re all right.”
I laughed at his concern. “Levi, you are a sight for sore eyes.” I squeezed him back and allowed my body to lean into his, let him take some of my weight while I soaked up his scent and his feel. “Thank you,” I whispered in his ear. “Thank you Levi, for giving me the experience of a lifetime.”
“Yeah? You don’t hate me for sending you off to run from government henchmen?”
“Hate you? Never.” That was another thing I’d realized with too much time to think, that my feelings for Levi went much deeper than I allowed myself to admit. Now wasn’t the time to tell him, but soon. “I’m grateful. Truly.”
Levi’s shoulders sank in relief and his honey brown eyes studied me, took in every detail, as if he was cataloguing the difference since he’d seen me last. “I am so proud of you Lacey. You were great out there, calm and cool with dynamite questions. And best of all? You looked hot as hell out in the jungle with a fish in one hand and a knife in the other. Like a country girl fantasy with a dash of Christiane Amanpour.”
His words touched me to my core. Okay, maybe I swooned at bit at his romantic, sweet as sweet tea words. Then again, maybe I was still feeling a bit weak and dehydrated. And then I laughed. “That is the sweetest and the oddest compliment anyone has ever given me.”
“That’s me,” he said with a sultry smile as he leaned in until I could see the threads of gold in his brown eyes. “Sweet and weird.” Levi smacked a kiss against my mouth and we both ignored the gagging sounds Stevie made from the other side of the room. “Now go get out of those sweats, your adoring public is waiting.”
