Page 30 of Risk of a Lifetime
He walked over and engulfed her in a gentle hug. “Sugar, you can’t change my career choice any more than I can stop you from trying to help people live a better life. Understand?”
She did understand, and that was part of the problem. Loving someone when you couldn’t accept who they were cut out to be meant making both of you unhappy. As a counselor, she should be able to figure out a solution. Three years ago, she’d done just that with two outcomes to consider—end their relationship or accept the dangerous what-ifs. She chose the one she could live with—she’d kicked him out.
Now that he was back in town, the question was whether she’d be able to make a different choice this time. Because the last few years had been hell without him next to her.
He stepped back. “I know you’ve got me and the law and your dad’s death all whipping around in that pretty, little head of yours. Always has been. You think I’m gonna end up like him, and you’ll end up a widow like your mother. Right?”
She nodded. Truth was the truth.
“Damn it, Marcy. I could walk outside and get hit by a falling tree and be just as dead as being hit by a bullet.”
“That would be different.”
“How? I’d still be dead.”
She shook her head, the answer only a thought away. “Because a tree would be an accident. Being shot would be from the danger of the job. Don’t you understand? Danger walks with you every time you put on a badge. And I don’t want to live with that always on my mind.”
He headed toward the living room, the cords in his neck taut against his skin. “Then why the hell did you even marry me in the first place?”
Chapter Ten
“I still don’t like you going off without me.” JB leaned against the fender of Marcy’s car. He hadn’t been able to stay mad at her. And sooner or later, they’d probably end up in each other’s arms. But at the end of the case, he’d keep his promise. He’d leave.
“Honestly, you act like someone’s out to get me.” She shoved him aside as she tossed a jacket in the backseat. “I was in the wrong places at the wrong times, that’s all.”
Betsy sighed long, heavy, and loud from across the top of the vehicle. “You two gonna argue all day, or are we going shopping?”
“I could drive you girls around. Wait in the truck,” JB said.
“No!” the two women answered in unison.
Marcy opened the driver’s side door and leaned in, taking her time as she searched for something in the console. When she stood, she slid her sunglasses on, nice and easy and slow. “I’m sure you have something better to do than play nursemaid to two women. Get going.”
JB closed the distance to her, leaning downward as she stretched upward.
“Marcy?” His lips were only a whisper away as he brushed her hair behind her ear.
“Uh-huh.”
She closed her eyes and tipped her face up to his. For a moment, she almost looked like the first time he kissed her. Wanting? Yes. Willing? Maybe. Afraid? Probably. He’d been a little scared and unsure himself back then. In fact, he’d made her wait over a week for his kiss. Each day teasing her more and more, just to make sure she didn’t turn him down when he made his move. He’d been young with an ego that needed to stay intact.
She still hadn’t moved away, so he leaned downward.
“Are we shopping or what?” Betsy flung her arms up.
The two of them turned simultaneously in her direction. He’d forgotten Marcy’s sister was even there, and evidently, so had she.
He glanced back at her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to lead you on. I just got carried away with the way I used to send you off for a day of shopping.”
“We both got carried away for a moment. That’s all. Forget it.” She stop-signed him with her hand as she turned back to her sister. “Shopping. We’re going shopping.”
He scrubbed a palm down his face. Damn it, the next time he got half a chance, he’d kiss her. Slow and easy. Hard and fast. Didn’t matter. He’d damn well kiss the hell out of her. Not gonna happen right now, though. And he had no one to blame but himself for that crash and burn.
“Be careful out there on the road. And call if you see anything suspicious.” He planned to be keeping an eye on them from afar, but closer would be better.
She pushed past him. “Almost forgot. I left my phone on the counter, charging.”
The moment she walked out of earshot, he turned to Betsy. “She had any trouble while I’ve been away?”
