Page 88 of Help Wanted

He leaned down and kissed her. “Thank you. You look beautiful and you smell amazing. I’d say I’m sorry no one gets to see you but me, but screw them. I want you all for myself.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the compliment.

“Pizza and wine are perfect.” It wasn’t about the where or the what she was eating as much as the who she was eating it with. She didn’t know much about Brady, and she was looking forward to hearing his story.

He did the honor of opening the wine, while she got plates down for the pizza.

“So, you said you had a bad week?”

“Yeah. I was in jail.” The cork popped and he sniffed it, not with any real skill, just as if it was the thing a person did when they pulled the cork from a bottle of wine.

She laughed, expecting it to be a joke, but he went on.

“Just for a few hours. The charges got dropped, but I’ll need to testify if the slime ball doesn’t plead guilty.”

“You’re serious? You were in jail?”

He filled her glass almost to the top, not realizing he was supposed to have stopped at the widest point of the glass.

“Yes.” He twisted the cap from a bottle of beer and took a long sip.

“Why?”

“A junkie tried to rob the company I work for. He had a gun pointed to Kenley’s head when I walked in.” He shook his head and took another drink. “I lost it, Mick. Kenley is the office manager. She doesn’t look anything like you, but for a split second I saw you in danger instead of her and everything went red rage. I don’t know how long I was out of touch. When I came back everyone was still breathing, though the guy was only making gurgling sounds.”

She gasped and reached out to put her hand on his arm. His knuckles were covered with cuts and bruises. She could only imagine what the man looked like. Not that she had much sympathy.

“Kenley got sick and I called 911. When the cops showed up they found me holding her, and the other guy bleeding and unconscious. I guess it looked bad, so they took me in.”

“I can’t believe a hero showed up at my door with pizza.”

He grinned and shook his head. “I’m not a hero.”

“All heroes say that.” She stood on her tiptoes so she could kiss his cheek. “I knew you were a great guy when I saw how much you cared about your brother, but now it’s confirmed.” He let out a sigh, but gave up arguing. “Did you stop to help any old ladies across the street?”

“No. Sorry.”

“Well, there’s always next time.”

“Eat your pizza before it gets cold,” he ordered, slipping back into that scary façade for a moment. But it no longer had the same level of intimidation she remembered from their showdown before.

She complied easily, eating her pizza and sipping her wine as he went on.

“My boss, Zane, has it bad for Kenley. He flew back to take care of her. It was a classy move. I hope it pays off.”

“I would definitely be touched if someone jumped on a plane to come to my aid.”

“I would be there in a second if you needed me,” he said, his grin downplaying the intensity of his statement. She didn’t doubt him.

“How is Kenley?”

He shook his head. “She says she’s fine, which is bullshit. I know because when I got my foot blown off in Iraq, I said I was fine too.” She swallowed a sip of wine, hoping it covered her surprise.

She’d noticed he had a limp, but she didn’t realize he’d lost his foot.

“You weren’t fine?” Her voice betrayed her fake calm.

“Not even a little bit. I ended up breaking down, falling into a deep depression. I was hoarding my pain meds so I could end it all. The only thing that saved me was Hunter.”