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“We know you are. Your friend Talia told us you’d come through everything intact,” his mother affirmed. “But if you think we were going to stay away while you recuperate, you can just think again.”
His father cleared his throat this time. “You should have told us you’d had the ruptured aneurysm,” his father grumbled. “We would have been here sooner, then maybe…” He trailed off.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have been kidnapped?” Fleet put in, his voice coming out stronger after drinking. Fleet shook his head. “I don’t think your presence would have helped. Talia was here until visiting hours were over that night. They managed to get to me after that. It would have been the same with you.”
“Well, we’re here now, and we’re ready to do anything we can to help you out until you’re on your feet,” Jim stated.
“Thanks, Pops. I appreciate it.”
“We can’t wait to meet your Talia, either,” his mother added impishly. “She sounds amazing; a very strong woman.”
Fleet snorted. “That’s putting it mildly. Talia is bossy. Period. And…” His countenance fell as he remembered his previous resolve. “I’m not sure she’s going to be in my life much longer because of some…differences.”
His mother scoffed. “That’s not what Talia told us.” She narrowed her eyes. “And she didn’t sound conflicted at all, sweetheart.” Her tone became more pointed. “Do you like this woman?”
“Well, yes. Of course.” Fleet couldn’t lie. Talia was everything he’d ever wanted in a partner. She was beautiful, smart, had a killer body and a curiosity toward life that couldn’t be quenched.Andshe made his heart thump in his chest in a way no other woman ever had. Not even Bitsy, who so very long ago he’d imagined he was going to marry.
Wow. Marriage and Talia. Fleet’s breath caught painfully in his throat at that thought because… It’s what he wanted. Anything else didn’t seem like it would be enough. And wasn’t that just jaw-dropping? They hadn’t done anything more than kiss, but he already knew he wanted her in his life…
Goddamnhislife. Why did things—meddlers—always make things difficult? Why couldn’t people mind their own business and let others follow their own paths?
“But what you don’t know,” Fleet continued, swallowing down a lump in his throat that had arisen, thinking of cutting Talia from his existence, “is that she’s white.” He scrambled to get the words out. “And I’m pretty certain whoever buried me in the woods is sending a message that it’s not acceptable, me and her, and that I need to back off.”
He met his parents’ worried eyes. “You have to understand. At this point in my life, I don’t care about myself, but after what happened with Bitsy, I can’t let Talia get hurt.”
There was a bark of laughter from the door that startled Fleet. He looked up.
“Did you just say, ‘let Talia get hurt’?” Kyle Sothard, in full uniform, stood at the door, consumed with mirth.
Of course, that was a normal state for the man. Fleet didn’t think he’d ever heard anything come out of Kyle’s mouth that wasn’t a pun, a joke, or a quip. He was ultimately likeable, but often times annoying as hell.
“If she heard you say that,” Kyle went on, “she’d kick your…tushy.” He turned to Fleet’s parents with a grin. “You’ll meet the woman after she’s finished with her shift later today, and if you want your son to keep all his appendages, you need to disabuse him of trying to ‘take care of his little woman’.” He raised a brow, in turn, at Fleet. “Did I neglect to tell you that during our first sparring session for SWAT, Talia had meandmy brother Spence on our backs in under ten seconds? And not in a good way.” Kyle winked. “I hate to burst your little protective, macho bubble, Fleet, my man, but if you like her as much as I think you do, you need to go for it.”
“Easy for you to say,” Fleet grumbled.
“Yeah, it is,” Kyle agreed jovially. “I just did, didn’t I?” He beamed and once again addressed Fleet’s parents. “Permission to swear?” he asked cheekily.
“Permission granted.” His mother’s dimple appeared, a twin to Fleet’s. It was clear she’d been charmed by the handsome, gregarious man, regardless of her life-long suspicion of law enforcers.
He targeted Fleet again. “Fuck the loser who took you. Mason is on this, Fleet. He and the team are turning over every leaf… Get it?” He grinned widely. “Leaf? Because you were buried in them?”
Fleet groaned, but couldn’t help his own lip-twitch.Yup.Nothing was sacred where Kyle was concerned.
Kyle continued confidently. “They’ll find who did this. But in the meantime, if you think Talia’s going to back off, your brains are in your ass. The woman wants your sorry, cranially-challenged self, Frankenstein stitches and all, so get used to it.”
Fleet pursed his lips. “Well, hell, Kyle. Just give me your honest opinion. Don’t hold anything back.”
“I never do,” Kyle laughed. “Now I need to go station my handsome mug in the hallway so the nurses have something good to look at. If you need anything at all, just yodel.” He turned smartly in his polished black shoes and strode confidently back out the door, closing it behind him.
“I like that young man,” Lodine Eggers sighed. “He’s adorable.”
“Yeah. Adorable.” Fleet would have rolled his eyes if he didn’t think it would hurt. “You understand a serious word never comes out of his mouth. Right?”
Jim Eggers shook his head. “I think he was damned serious telling you that your Talia can handle whatever is thrown her way. He might have made it sound like a joke, but I’m sure it wasn’t.”
Fleet thought about that for two seconds, and had to agree. “You’re right. I just… I’m not sure if I can go through another episode like I did in high school,” he told his parents honestly. “That just about sucked me dry of all my hopes and ambitions. I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover fully.” Hell, he absolutely hadn’t.
“But look where you ended up?” His mother sat down on the bed next to his hip, sending a hand forward to cradle his cheek. “You did so well in college, then you discovered what you wanted to do. After you graduated, you built your own, successful business, sweetheart. That doesn’t say ‘defeated’ to me. That says you’re a man who goes after what he wants regardless of the setbacks. So I only have one question. Do you want Talia?”
