Page 65 of A Shot at Love
“Thirty seconds, give or take.”
“You got the drop on me pretty quickly, then. Good job.”
Gemma couldn’t tell if Ky was pleased by the compliment or not. The unreadable expression on his face never wavered.
Cop face, again.
“He found your weapons stash, too,” she said, a little pride singing through the words.
“Okay, so now I’m impressed. And a little ticked off. I thought that room was well hidden.”
“I’m going to assume all those weapons are licensed and registered.”
Gemma’s head whipped around to glare at him. Why was he acting like such an asshole?
Rick’s response was to shrug good naturedly and smirk. “Free country. You can assume anything you want. How’d you find it?”
“The dimensions in the pantry seemed off.”
Bannerman nodded. “Good eye. I added it when I got the place a few years ago. Seemed like a good space to hide a room.” His eyes went to half-mast. “I may have to reconsider that, now.”
When Ky didn’t respond, Gemma jumped in, uneasy with all the testosterone floating around the room. “You said you brought supplies?”
The men glared at one another for a moment, then Bannerman nodded and turned back to her.
“In the trunk of the car. I told Kandy I only stocked emergency rations here, so she sent some stuff. Josh did, too. I’ll go get it all.”
“I’ll help,” Gemma said.
“Hang on a sec.” Ky reached out and grabbed her arm.
Bannerman looked between them.
“Go ahead. I’ll be right there,” she told him.
Just a simple touch from Ky had her breath catching. The memory of what they’d been doing when the alarm sounded jumped back to her.
“You didn’t stay out of sight like I told you to,” Ky said, his mouth flat, nostrils flaring, when they were alone.
Gemma glanced down at his hand and then back up at him.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t,” she said, tugging her arm away. She might as well have been trying to pull it through hardened concrete. He didn’t let go. “You could have killed Rick if I’d stayed up there and then where we would be?”
Ky shook his head, took a deep breath, and Gemma could see for the first time he wasn’t as much pissed off as he was furious.
“You didn’t know that it was Bannerman—”
“Yes I did.”
His eyes narrowed. “How?”
Gemma bit her bottom lip. “I-I opened the bedroom door when I heard the fighting. I could make out Rick’s face from the light coming through the front door.”
“You opened the door and looked out?”
“Y-Yes.”
“After I specifically ordered you to lock it and stay out of sight?”
Her back shot up straight at his tone and word choice.
“Yes, I did. Why are you so angry at me?”
Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you disobey me? Why, after all we’ve gone through the past few days, would you disregard what I said, knowing we were potentially under attack again?”
“But we weren’t. I—”
“Why, Gemma?”
She stared at him with her mouth wide open, the response dead on her lips. It was the first time he’d ever spoken her name aloud and the sound of it across his lips made her knees shake.
He took a step closer and wound his free hand around her other arm, pulling her square to him. “Answer me,” he whispered.
His eyes had turned to twin daggers, piercing straight through her.
“B-because I thought you were in trouble. I heard…the fighting…I was…worried.”
“About?”
Gemma’s lips slammed together.
He gave her a tiny shake. “About what?”
“You, damn it! I was worried about you!”
Ky stared down at her. From the way his brows lifted and his eyes widened, she knew hearing her statement had surprised him as much as it had her to declare it.
Gemma licked her suddenly parched lips. “We’re all alone here. You have no backup. No one to cover you. No one to fight with you. Damn it! I wanted to make sure you were okay. I wanted to help.” She squirmed against his grip, realizing her voice had a slightly hysterical pitch to it. “Now let me go.”
