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Because she was so damn perfect. She was also possibly the most exasperating woman ever, but fucking perfect nonetheless. For him.
Tears fell unchecked from his eyes. The only image in his mind was her. His beautiful, exasperating, perfect Roxie.
She had to be all right. She had to.
Seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. Slowly, the firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he noticed growing activity on the side of the building.
Quinn and a couple of his deputies went to join the commotion. It took all of Joe’s willpower to stay where he was. The last thing he wanted to do was get in the way.
But then a pair of firemen rounded the building. One carried a bundle in his arms.
Joe was moving toward the ambulance before his brain made the connection.
Roxie.
He could only watch in horror as they loaded her limp body onto a stretcher. She was covered in soot, and her auburn hair was matted against her head.
Quinn appeared at his side and put an arm around his shoulders. “They’re taking her to the hospital. They may airlift her over to Seattle, depending on how bad she is.”
Nodding, Joe opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t find his voice. He cleared his throat and tried again. “She’s alive. That’s what matters.”
Quinn gestured toward the ambulance and the medics prepping Roxie for transport. “You going with?”
“You better believe it, man. Holy shit.”
When they reached the back of the ambulance, Joe blew out a breath and turned to give his friend a hard hug—without the usual manly slap on the back. They’d both come so close to losing her tonight. Roxie was their best friend, their third Amigo and Musketeer. But to Joe, she was also much more. She was everything. “I’m not letting her out of my sight. Fucking ever.”
“I hear you.” Quinn ran his hands through his hair and left them atop his head. “I can’t imagine how you feel right now. I’m about torn in two because that’sRoxie. I know you love her the way I love Alex, and... Holy shit, brother.”
“It feels like shit being so damn helpless.” Nodding to the medic, Joe stepped into the back of the ambulance. While he waited for the okay to sit down next to her, he turned back to Quinn. “But I’d rather be helpless next to her than helpless and not knowing where she is. That’s for damn sure.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
Roxie blinked open her eyes. Then she quickly closed them. The hammering in her head was unlike anything she’d experienced before. It was like the worst hangover. Ever. Only amplified a thousand times over.
She couldn’t help the groan that escaped, but she immediately regretted not trying harder to prevent it. That one little noise from the back of her throat had set off a blaze of fire in her lungs and brought tears to her eyes. Apparently, on top of achieving the worst hangover ever, she’d also managed to smoke five entire cartons of cigarettes in one sitting.
Holy freaking crap.
If she could, she would have curled into fetal position and whimpered. But whimpering would hurt her throat too much. Hell, everything hurt too much right now.
“Morning, sunshine.”
For a brief moment, those two little words wiped all her pain away. Just poof—it was gone.
She felt Joe take her hand in his. When the pain returned, it was still god-awful... but somehow, it was also a little more bearable.
Roxie peeked open her eyes and there he was. There were dark circles under his bloodshot blues, and his hair stood on end as if he’d been running his hands through it. His clothes were rumpled. Hell,hewas rumpled. And he was still gorgeous.
Tears sprang to her eyes. She’d never been happier to see anyone.
“Hey,” she croaked.
He held out a cup and bent the straw toward her. “Drink.”
She did as she’d been told, and the water was a cool balm to her raging throat. With his free hand, Joe wiped away a tear that had escaped. When he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, she flinched. The throbbing in her head returned in earnest.
“Sorry, baby, didn’t mean to touch that spot.”
