Page 53 of Wrecked With You

He hesitates, then nods. “Fair enough. In that case, you doing okay with that?”

I shrug. “Nothing to be okay with. We got the job done. It was a one-time thing. I was on loan-out by order of Damien Stark. Or hadn’t you heard?” It’s only when I hear the harshness in my voice that I realize just how irritated I am. Damien Stark got me into this. He’s the reason I was on that damn island, and if he’d never tossed my name in the hat, my heart wouldn’t be bruised.

“In other words,” Winston says, “you’re not okay.”

“Dammit, the mission went south. Am I supposed to be doing a celebratory jig?” I finish off my whiskey and pour another. I start to refill his glass, but he puts his hand over it. “Not a good mix with the spearmint.”

“Remind me to never start smoking,” I say dryly, making him laugh.

“I get why you’re frustrated,” he says, clearly not talking about cigarettes. “But the outcome was solid. The Serpent’s dead, just like you wanted. And there won’t be any official blowback.”

“Are you finished?”

“Yeah,” he says.

I come around the island to stand beside him. “Thanks. I’m glad we went through hell together back then.” I manage a crooked smile. “It’s nice to know I’ve got someone here watching out for me.”

“You’ve always been there for me.”

His words are simple, but I can hear the sadness. I almost tell him how sorry I am about everything that went down all those years ago. But I stay silent. He already knows all of that.

“Mostly I’m glad you signed on the dotted line,” he continues. “The SSA’s a good organization. It’s starting to feel like home to me.”

“I’m glad,” I tell him. “Do you want to stay for a while? Hang out and watch a movie or something?”

“Nah. I’m supposed to swing by Leah’s.”

“Mission?”

He shakes his head. “Broken dishwasher. But she promised she’d order pizza for dinner, so I figured it was a fair trade.”

I walk with him to the door, and when he pulls it open, there’s Tony’s Land Rover parked right across the street. With Tony himself sitting behind the wheel.

I force myself to ignore him despite the way my body’s tightening and tiny moths are starting to awaken in my belly. I stretch up to kiss Winston on his scruffy cheek. “Thanks for coming by. Seriously. It means a lot.”

“Want me to bend you over and kiss you properly?”

I grimace. “I forget that the reason you were Sheriff of that podunk county wasn’t just because of that sexy Texas drawl. You’ve got brains, too.”

“So no movie finale kiss? Damn.”

“Funny man.”

He chuckles, apparently agreeing with my assessment. “Listen, do me a favor. I get that you’re pissed at him, but don’t kill him. You can’t imagine the paperwork when you kill a fellow SSA agent.”

“He hasn’t signed on, remember?”

Winston’s grin reaches all the way to his eyes. “In that case, do your worst.”

I shake my head, amused, as he walks to his Ford Pickup. I wave as he drives off, then shift my attention to Tony, silently daring him to say something, get out of the car, anything.

Nothing.

So I go back inside, close my door, and head back to the kitchen to find my phone.

Chapter Nineteen

Tony didn’t know what the hell he was doing.