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Shane shook his head. “You’ll get no complaints from me.”
Niall returned his attention to Carly. “I had a hunch—which I didn’t tell him about—and as soon as I got off the plane I headed to his house. I was just in time to see someone walking out, and I—”
“It was you?” Carly caught her breath. “You’re the one who reported the bomb?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know it was a bomb, of course, and I didn’t have time to check it out. But I knew whoever it was had no business being in Shane’s house, so I called Shane to warn him and stayed on the guy’s tail. Followed him right to your town house, which I didn’t know was yours.” He grimaced. “Pissed me off no end when my phone call to nine-one-one didn’t get faster results. The guy was in and out of your town house in five minutes. I followed him back to his truck, and was faced with a dilemma. Continue to follow him? Or go back to meet the first responders at your place and sign the affidavit for a search warrant.” He shrugged. “You know what I decided.”
Overwhelming gratitude surged through her. Not so much for what Niall had done to save her, although that was part of it, but that he’d been instrumental in saving his brother. She took two steps forward, placed her hands on Niall’s arms and kissed his cheek. “I can never thank you enough for saving Shane,” she murmured as she released him and stepped back. “And for saving me.”
The wicked gleam returned to Niall’s eyes, and he tapped his other cheek. “You can try,” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Shane cleared his throat ominously, and Carly couldn’t help but smile. She knew Niall was just teasing—using her to get his brother’s goat. That close bond of brothers only a year apart not unusually also contained a little one-upmanship. A little competition. Okay, maybe a lot of competition, but friendly, not adversarial.
“Let’s sit,” Shane said abruptly. Niall took the recliner, while Shane drew Carly to his side on the couch opposite, and this time she didn’t protest. His brother might be amused at triggering latent jealousy in Shane, but she didn’t want any part of it—she’d never believed that inciting jealousy in a man belonged in a serious relationship.
Serious relationship. That’s what she and Shane had. Forget that they’d only known each other eight days. Eight days? she asked herself suddenly, and counted back, confirming that yes, she’d walked into Shane’s hospital room eight days ago. But the amount of time she’d known him didn’t matter. She knew him. She knew the man he was. The man he tried so hard to be. And he knew the woman she tried to be, too.
Much of the time they’d spent together had been fraught with danger, and practically from the beginning Shane had done his best to protect her—even when he barely knew her—but that wasn’t what drew her to him. Not entirely. It wasn’t just his stellar character, his strong moral compass, although that was part of it, of course. It wasn’t that he was a hot stud who could turn her on faster than a light switch, either—not that she was complaining. And it certainly wasn’t the star quality attached to his being a US senator—although the drive and determination that had pushed him into the role appealed to her. It’s a combination of all those things, she acknowledged. And one thing more. Shane, for all his physical and moral strength, for all his courage, wasn’t invulnerable. Not just to the malady he’d been diagnosed with, but emotionally, as well.
A thought crept into her mind on catlike feet and refused to leave, no matter how she tried to nudge it away. He loves you, Carly. He won’t say it—because you told him you didn’t want his love. But he loves you.
Suddenly the conversation Shane and Niall had been carrying on while she was lost in her thoughts impinged on her consciousness.
“Are you crazy?” Niall was asking. “Or do you think I am? I’m not going to let you do that.”
Shane’s response was low and implacable. “It’s the only way. If Carly’s right, once the pipeline vote is cast I’m off the hook—there’s no need to kill me. But she’ll never be safe...until this guy is locked away.”
