Page 7 of Night Hawk
“Without fans, the smoke’ll take a while to clear enough to go back inside and not annihilate your lungs,” Griff said.
“I can wait.” Clay looked at Toni. “What about you?”
She nodded, but she looked exhausted. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the snake or the smoke inhalation. They’d both had a jolt of adrenaline, but her body had been raging with it for some time.
Clay looked at Griff. “Glad you arrived when you did.”
“I often put him to work as my assistant.” Sam circled her arm in his and smiled up at him.
“Can’t think of a better boss.” Griff grinned at her.
The two were obviously very happy together. Clay had seen their happiness firsthand when he’d trained at Blackwell. Not only her relationship with Griff, but every member of the Blackwell team had gotten married in the last few years, and Clay had to admit they were poster children for wedded bliss.
Sierra was also happily married, and Clay’s older brothers, Aiden and Brendan, had recently gotten engaged. Clay had thought maybe he’d be getting on the happily-married train, but not so long ago, a woman he’d cared for had cheated on him. So, despite the happiness surrounding him, he wasn’t about to get involved again. Been there, done that, had the cracks in his heart to prove it.
On the other hand, if he were willing to take another shot at that whole relationship thing, Toni would be tops on his list. If he could let go of what had happened to her father on his watch, that was.
She stared at him, the pale moonlight fighting through the drizzle and highlighting her furrowed forehead. She was clearly still troubled.
He looked up to ask Sam if he and Toni could have a moment alone.
“Griff and I’ll wait in his truck,” she said, her gaze going between Clay and Toni.
Griff took a step closer to Sam. “But I—”
“He’ll tell you when it’s safe to go in.” She tugged on Griff’s arm.
“I’ll also notify my department of the fire in case someone reports the smoke,” he called out as Sam dragged him off.
When they were out of earshot, Clay turned his attention to Toni. “You really doing okay, or was that just for everyone else’s benefit?”
“A little more fresh air, and I’ll be fine, but I’m totally embarrassed.” She kept her gaze downward.
“Because of the snake?”
She nodded and looked at him, her eyes tortured.
“I’m guessing you had a bad experience with a rattler once.”
“I…when I was a kid. I almost died.” Her tone was low and raspy from the fire. Sexy as could be.
Gave Clay far too many things to imagine when he needed to remain focused.
Concentrate, man.“From a snake bite?”
“A rattler spooked my mom’s horse. He threw her.” Toni clutched her hands together. “She landed right next to me at the corral fence. Broke her neck and died.”
Not only had she seen her father die in front of her, but her mother too. How horrible was that?
He reached for her hand. Stopped. He didn’t know if she would like it if he touched her. “I’m so sorry.”
She took a deep breath, her chin trembling. “I was paying attention to my mom. Didn’t even notice the snake. It struck me too. And if that wasn’t enough, her horse ran off. Crashed into a fence. Broke his leg. Had to be put down. So I lost my mom and our horse the same day. And if my dad hadn’t found me when he did and got me to the hospital, I would’ve died.” Tears formed in her eyes, but she swiped them away. “I was only ten, and I’ve probably never dealt with that day the way I should’ve.”
“No wonder the snake threw you for a loop.”
She sucked in another breath. “Yeah. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. You can’t stop how your body reacts to something like that.”
