A chill ran up her spine. She wished she could shake the feeling that after all the bad she’d suffered, there was still more pain to come.
“Hey now, sweetheart, what’s all this? Everything is fine.” Rory rubbed his hands up and down her back, soothing her.
“It’s nothing. I’m just so lucky to have you, is all.”
“I’m pretty sure all the luck is on my side. Let’s hope it doesn’t run out. I’d hate for you to figure out you can do a hell of a lot better.”
He teased, but under the joking she sensed a trace of unease in him. Maybe they both needed to be reassured everything was fine between the both of them. They were both dealing with uncertainty and the newness of their relationship. Not to mention the overwhelming connection and pull between them. Something she’d never experienced and didn’t want to lose.
“I can’t do better.” She leaned back and looked him in the eye. “I already have the best.”
His hands contracted on her hips. He held her tight, staring down at her. The intensity in his eyes stunned her, but she fell into the depths and saw that her words touched him deeply.
Rory didn’t speak. He didn’t have the words to tell her what she’d said meant everything to him. He never needed anyone in his life to make him feel whole. He missed his parents. The knot of pain lived inside him. He’d gotten used to it. He felt their absence all the time. Somehow Sadie had become such a part of him that if he lost her, he’d spend the rest of his life feeling like a piece of him was missing or dead. Even the thought made his gut tighten and his heart squeeze painfully. Without her, it might stop altogether.
He bent his knees, drew his hands up her back, wrapped his arms around her, hugged her close, and picked her right up off her feet. Her toes banged against his shins. Her arms wrapped tight around his head. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled, filling himself up with her sweet scent and the way she made him feel.
“Rory, someone is coming down the driveway.”
He gently set her back on her feet, cupped her face, and stared down into her worried blue eyes. “I’ll never let anything bad happen to you again.” He pressed his forehead to hers, then gave her a quick kiss to seal that promise.
“Miss Higgins?” the man asked, stepping out of his white Ford truck.
“Need to change that soon,” Rory said under his breath.
“What?” Sadie asked, turning back from walking down the steps to greet the stranger walking their way.
“Nothing,” Rory mumbled, waiting for the nerves to hit. Nothing. Not even a second thought. Just a sense that everything was right. The same feeling he got every time he looked at her.
He didn’t like the look of the man approaching her. In a few long strides, Rory was off the porch and at her side, his arm banded around her back, his hand firm on her hip. He’d never been a possessive man, but with her, all bets were off.
“Who are you?” Rory hadn’t meant the question to sound so much like a demand.
Sadie’s head snapped toward him. The guy caught Rory’s eye, then dipped his gaze to Rory’s hand on Sadie’s hip. Good. He got the message. Mine. Hands off.
“Agent Cooke.” Sadie somehow knew the guy’s name. Did she know him?
Cooke’s eyes narrowed on Sadie. “How did you know?”
“You look just like your brother Trigger.”
“Either he told you, or you’re more observant than the average person.”
“Observant. Especially when someone puts a gun to my head and goes by Trigger.”
“Most people would freak out and blunder all the details.”
“I’m not most people. Your brother made it clear in his own way he had no intention of hurting me despite how he made it look.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, so tell me why he’d do that when you’re both after my brother.”
“Observant and smart.” Cooke shook his head, looked off in the distance, lost in thought.
“What do you want?” Rory asked, hoping to get some information and some good news—like Connor and his cohorts would be behind bars immediately.
“The same thing you want. This to be over.”
“Trigger needs to get out from under cover,” Sadie said, her words soft and full of understanding. “You’re worried about him.”
“Let’s hope you’re not too damn smart for your own good.”
“Watch it,” Rory warned, stepping in front of Sadie and staring down the asshole.
“She figured everything out. She says one word to her brother and mine is dead.”
“I won’t do that.”