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  “Not without you,” I cried. “Please don’t leave me.”

  He smiled and brushed a hand across my cheek. “I’ll always be with you.”

  His head dropped and the light in his eyes left. He was gone. I cried out into the flames of night and held his head in my hands until the flames overtook us. I would rather die than leave my man behind.

  Shaking my head, I climbed into bed. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic. He was probably fine, and I was letting my imagination run away with me. I’d find out in the morning what happened with him.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Tony

  Monday

  “Did you see your lady love last night?” Storm asked as he walked into the training center.

  “She’s not my lady love. She’s not my anything. It was a one night stand, and honestly, I don’t remember any of it. If it was that good, I would remember, right?”

  “Maybe she fucked you into unconsciousness.”

  “Or maybe it was so bad that I purposely blocked it from my memory.”

  He watched me for a minute, just like he did every time that he thought something was up with me. Couldn’t I just work out without everyone looking at me like I was one step from jumping off the ledge?

  “So, how does she feel about Delaney?”

  “For fuck’s sake. She doesn’t know about Delaney. We fucked. It wasn’t some whirlwind romance or a love connection. It was fucking. That’s it.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, if you don’t remember it, how do you know it wasn’t magical?”

  “Because nothing is that magical, alright? Nobody finds the love of their life in one night.”

  “They could,” he grumbled.

  “But they don’t.”

  “You’re gonna tell her, right?”

  “I’m not planning on seeing her again, so no, I’m not telling her about Delaney.”

  “Well, from what Cap said, she’s not just walking away.”

  “Look,” I said, stopping the bag before it could swing and hit me in the face. “Just because this chick wants to believe that we have some connection, doesn’t mean that we do. And I’m not going to see where it goes or call her to end things. It was a one night stand and she’s going to have to deal with that.”

  He harrumphed and got to work with his own training, but he kept glancing over at me.

  “What the fuck is it now?”

  “Nothing,” he grumbled, but just as I was about to start working out again, he started talking. “It’s just…maybe she’d be good for you. I mean, you’re so stuck in your head about Delaney, maybe you need someone to help you work through those emotions.”

  “If I wanted to work through my emotions, I’d go see Dr. Sunshine.”

  He shrugged. “It’s not a terrible idea. You know Cap’s not going to let you go out in the field until you’re cleared by her.”

  “Why is it that I’m the one that needs the therapy? Coop’s the one that has all this shit to deal with. It was his kid and his girlfriend that had traumatic experiences. I have nothing to do with that shit.”

  “You mean besides the dead girlfriend.”

  I clenched my teeth and did my best not to punch him in the face. “Maybe you should-” A voice cleared and I turned to see Cap standing in the doorway to the training center with a woman that looked a little familiar, but I couldn’t place her.

  “Oh, thank God!” She ran forward, slamming into me like a fucking freight train. I gripped onto her just to make sure we didn’t fall the fuck over. Her arms were wrapped around me so tight, but I didn’t have a fucking clue why. And then I realized that holding her like this, she was thinking that I wanted to hold her.

  “Uh…what are you doing?”

  “My god, Anthony, you have no idea how worried I was all night.”

  “Anthony?” I asked, not sure why anyone would call me that. Nobody here knew me as Anthony.

  “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “Tony. I waited so long for you last night, and when you didn’t show up to dinner, I knew that something had happened.”

  I was confused as hell, but when I saw Cap smirking behind me, it all sank in. Fuck. What the hell was her name again?

  “It’s Molly,” I said, as it hit me suddenly.

  She looked at me strangely, then nodded slowly. “Of course it’s me. Who else would it be?”

  “I mean…uh…it’s Molly everyone.” She beamed up at me. Fuck, I was screwed. “Molly, everyone,” I said as a way of introduction. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, I needed to see that you were alive and well. I mean, I had all kinds of terrible thoughts about you being killed by a samurai or getting killed in a massive shootout as you stood firm in your protection duties. So, like I said, I came here to make sure that you were alright.”

  “Oh, he is,” Storm said, sidling up beside me, a slight grin on his face. “You’re right. We had a job last night and it was pretty dangerous. For a while there, I didn’t think we were going to make it out of there. But this guy,” he cuffed me on the shoulder and squeezed tight. “This guy literally walked through fire to pull me out of a burning building.”

  “You did?” she gasped.

  “He did. And more than that, he went back into the fire to save two small children. He literally carried one out on each hip. He was barely standing by the time he made it out.”

  “No,” she gasped again, covering her mouth with her hand. “That’s terrible.”

  “It is, but he pulled through. The hospital said they didn’t know if he was going to make it. Smoke inhalation and all.”

  “Should you be at work?” she asked worriedly. “I mean, this is just like my dream. I came here and you were stuck under a pile of rubble. It was terrible. And then this man came out and tried to kill me, but you had your gun and shot him. Thank God that didn’t actually happen. But are you sure that you should be working? Is that good for you?”

  I shot a look at Cap over my shoulder, but he was fucking laughing at me.

  “The hospital cleared me. Storm’s making it out to be worse than it actually was.”

  Why the fuck was I going along with this? I should have cleared things up right away, but how the fuck did I walk that back?

  “Aw, he’s just being humble. The fucker really came through for us last night. You have quite the man on your hands.”

  She flung herself back in my arms and I kicked out at Storm, hoping to at least trip the fucker up, but I missed. I pried her arms from around my neck and pushed her back a step.

  “Look, I’m fine. Really. And it was nice of you to stop by and check on me, but as you can see, I’m fine.”

  “I knew you had to be. I was talking to Momma last night, and she and I both agreed that this is the real thing. And you wouldn’t be taken away from me so soon after I found you.”

  “Momma?” I asked, regretting the question as soon as I asked it.

  She nodded with a big-ass grin. “Yep. Momma and Daddy invited us for dinner on Saturday. Dinner’s at six. Can you get the time off?”

  Cap cut in as he walked over, “Of course.” He gripped my shoulder and smiled at Molly. “I would never make him work through a dinner with the in-laws.”

  “Now, just-” but he cut me off, stepping in front of me.

  “It was so nice of you to stop by.”

  “Well, everyone is just so nice. Oh, and I brought you dinner from last night.” She stepped around Cap and handed me a bag of food. “It’s soup and bread. Although, the bread didn’t look quite right, so I just kept baking it. I hope it isn’t too dry.”

  “Uh…”

  “That’s so sweet of you,” Cap said, taking her arm in his like he was some southern gentleman. “Now, how about I give you a tour of the property while Tony finishes up for the day?”

  I was about to jump in, but luckily she solved that issue for me. “Oh, that’s nice of you, but I have to
get to work.” She turned back to me one last time. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  I nodded in my dazed state and stared down at the container in my hands. Storm started laughing as soon as Cap walked her out of the training center.

  “Holy fuck. That woman is even better than I thought. She already has a dinner date planned with her parents for you. And she brought you lunch again. Should we see how this one turned out?”

  “What the fuck is happening?” I whispered.

  “Looks like you got yourself a woman.”

  “But…how?”

  “Well, it started when you stuck your dick in her.”

  He slapped me on the back and guided me out of the training center and over to the break room.

  “What’s that?” Coop asked, grabbing his lunch out of the fridge.

  I stared at the container and held it up, not really sure what to say.

  “Molly stopped by,” Storm supplied.

  “Who’s Molly?” Coop asked.

  “His girlfriend.”

  “Holy shit. She was here?” He ran for the door, but Storm stopped him.

  “She already left with Cap. She had to get to work, but she wanted to bring her boyfriend lunch and check on him. She knew that something happened when he didn’t stop by last night.”

  “She what?” Coop huffed out a laugh. “Holy shit. Is she your stalker now?”

  I slowly looked up from the container and stared at Coop in confusion. “What’s happening?”

  “Well, it seems that you’ve got yourself a woman.”

  “But…I didn’t want a woman.” Then I remembered what Storm had done in the training center and I lost it. I tossed the food on the table and tackled Storm to the floor, punching him in the face as I yelled at him. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

  “What?” he laughed even though I was beating the shit out of him. “She was worried about you.”

  “I could have ended it. Why did you say that shit?” I punched him again, but Coop pulled me off before I could do too much damage.

  “Hang on,” Coop said, yanking me further back. “What did he say?”

  “He fucking told her that I was pulling people out of a burning building last night. That was why I didn’t show up at her place last night. I could have fucking ended it until you said that shit!”

  Coop and Storm started laughing again.

  “Fuck! How am I going to end it now? She told me to come over again tonight.”

  “So, go get laid,” Storm shrugged.

  “She’s fucking crazy! Did you miss the part where she and her mother were discussing me? I don’t even know this woman and she’s already planning shit with her mom.”

  “Her momma,” Storm clarified. “And now you have to go to that.”

  “Only because you made up some stupid story about me saving you from a burning building!”

  “You needed to be saved?” Coop asked.

  Storm shrugged. “I had to take one for the team to make him look good for his woman.”

  “I didn’t need you to make me look good. Shit!” I yelled, kicking out at a chair. “Now I have to go down to her work and break up with her or she’ll show up tomorrow with more fucking food.”

  “You’re not really going to do that, are you?” Coop asked. “That’s kind of harsh.”

  I glared at him, pissed that it was harsh for me to set the lunatic free, but she could manipulate her way into my life and I was just supposed to take it.

  “Hey, I’m just saying, that’s her place of work. How did you like it when she came down here and interrupted you?”

  “That’s exactly the fucking point,” I yelled.

  “Look, just relax. Eat your soup and chill out. You can’t go down there all pissed off. I get that you want to end this, but you don’t want to embarrass the poor girl.”

  “Fine,” I huffed, sitting down at the table as Coop warmed up my food. Storm pulled out the bread and looked at it funny.

  “She made this bread?”

  “That’s what she said.”

  He tapped it on the table and a loud crack reverberated through the table. He walked over to the counter and pulled out a knife, trying to saw through the bread. “Fuck, this thing is like a rock. How long did she bake it?”

  Coop slid the soup in front of me. It looked fucking disgusting, but it was food. I picked up the spoon and tried a bite, only to spit it back out. “That’s disgusting.” I shoved it away and drank down some water to get the taste out.

  “Well, at least you know one thing,” Storm smiled. “When you get married, you’re going to have to hire a cook.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Molly

  “Bruce, Leo, how are you guys today?” I asked, setting down water at their tables.

  “Pretty good, Molly. How’s life treating you?”

  “I can’t complain. What can I get you boys today?”

  Bruce chuckled, his wrinkled face crinkling even more when I called him a boy. It never failed. These guys came in for lunch and I always treated them like they were my pals. They seemed to really like me because they always sat in my section.

  “I’ll have the usual,” Bruce said.

  “Me too.”

  “Of course. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

  They both always ordered the same thing, so I put in their orders and grabbed their drinks from Gus. After dropping them off, I went to the back to grab a quick snack. The lunch rush was pretty much over, so I could grab a bite to eat while I was waiting for their food to be ready.

  “Incoming,” Gus shouted into the kitchen. I looked up and grinned when I saw Jenny rush through the doors. She was a regular here since I was working here, and Gus had come to accept that where I went, she went.

  “I only have fifteen minutes left on my lunch break, so hurry up and tell me what’s happening.”

  “Um…” I thought hard, but apparently it wasn’t fast enough.

  “Did he come over last night?”

  “No.”

  “A call?” she shot off rapid-fire.

  “No, but I saw him today at work.”

  “And?”

  “His boss brought me in. I met one of his teammates. He saved him and two children from a burning building last night-”

  “Valid excuse for not showing.”

  “I dropped off his food.”

  “You’re such a good girlfriend.”

  “And his boss gave him permission to get out of work on Saturday to meet Momma and Daddy.”

  “Eek!” she squealed, jumping up and down. Carlos, the cook, stared at me with a bored expression as he flipped the burgers. He was used to us by now.

  “I know. I covered a lot of territory in a short amount of time.”

  “He saved kids. That is so sweet.”

  “And hot.”

  “Totally hot. Did he like your food?”

  “I didn’t watch him eat it.”

  “Don’t worry. The way to a man’s heart-”

  “Is through his stomach. I know.”

  “So, what’s the next step?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t make any plans with him.”

  “Again?”

  “I know, but everyone was around. It’s not like I could get too personal with him.”

  She glanced at her watch. “We have five minutes before I have to leave. Alright, strategize.”

  I nodded and glanced over at Carlos. I still had a good three minutes until the food was ready. “Okay. Tonight’s the night. When he comes over, I need to put the moves on him.”

  “You already did that. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “But he was drunk. Now he’ll be sober. I don’t have that confidence.”

  “Right. Men like strong women in the bedroom. You need to know what you like and take it.”

  “Okay. How do I do that?”

  “Geez, I don’t have time to go over all this with you.” She pulled out her phone and started scrolling and typi
ng. Then she turned the phone and shoved it in my face. “Read this. I just purchased the first book for you and sent it to your email.”

  “Fifty Shades of Grey?”

  “Trust me. This is what men like. You need to read this and memorize it. I mean, the sex stuff. Skip over everything else. When you’re done, move on to book two.”

  “Are you sure I need this?”

  “I’m sure that I don’t have the time to turn you into a sexually confident woman.” She glanced at her watch again and grabbed the burger that was meant for Bruce right off the plate. “Thanks, Carlos.” She turned to leave and took a huge bite of the burger. “Details,” she shouted around her food. “Tomorrow.”

  I nodded and turned to a scowling Carlos. “What? I didn’t take the burger.”

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  As the afternoon slowed down, I started taking little breaks where I could search through the book for any details that might be pertinent to tonight. I couldn’t believe some of the crap that Ana let Christian do to her. Was this really what men wanted in sex? It didn’t sound appealing at all, but then again, what did I know? I’d had one boyfriend that I was madly in love with until he dumped me for not being expressive enough. So tonight, I needed to make sure that my wants and needs were known to Tony. I wouldn’t hold back or make him think for one minute that I was only partially in this.

  “You’ve had your nose shoved in that phone all day,” Gus said as he restocked the liquor for tonight. My shift would be ending just as the after-work crowd showed up. It was basically dead in here for the next hour. Usually, I would be cleaning up and getting stuff ready for the night shift, but I was too engrossed in the book to put it down.

  “I’m doing research.”

  “For what?”

  “Sex.”

  I heard a bottle crash to the ground and break all over the floor. Looking up, Gus was swearing and trying to move stuff out of the way to get to the broken glass.

  “Here, let me help.”

  “Why the hell are you doing research on sex?”

  “Because I want to make sure that I impress Tony.”

  “Molls, if he doesn’t like you for who you are-”