Page 8 of Lone Star Christmas Mission

“I’m glad you kept that picture,” she said, surprising him.

In the past, when they’d touched on, well, the past, she’d shut it quickly down. Maybe this was the fatigue talking.

“I kept my copy of the picture, too. But…” She stopped, turned to face him.

And there it was. She was shutting down the godawful memories.

“Thank you for saving me,” Kayla said, and then added a muttered, “again. You do know that Alvin sent you that text to get you to my place so he could kill both of us?”

Cash nodded. Yeah, he’d known that, but the man couldn’t have issued any threat that would have stopped him from trying to rescue her. But as it turned out, she’d already rescued herself.

Which brought him to the blood.

It was still on her hands and in her hair. And Cash was about to show her the guestroom so she could shower, but she walkedtoward the corner of the living room and frowned when she spotted the undecorated tree and the boxes of ornaments on the floor.

“I haven’t gotten around to decorating,” he murmured, and he likely wouldn’t now that it was Christmas Eve. Especially not, too, with Harvin’s threat looming over them.

But it was more than that. And he confessed that to Kayla.

“Except when I was away on deployment, every year I get a tree and drag out that box of lights and ornaments, but I managed to finish it.”

She nodded. “It was the same for me until a couple of years ago. It didn’t feel right putting up stuff when Kira wasn’t around to enjoy it. Plus, my folks weren’t around either.”

Yeah, that was it, along with just the sight of the decorations triggering the bad memories. For Kayla, it was probably a double hit since her parents had died in a car crash around the holidays when she’d been twenty-four.

Cash totally understood. His parents were gone, too. First, his mom from cancer the year he’d finished high school. His dad had pretty much checked out of life after that and had passed away from a heart attack when Cash had been on his first deployment. Without parents or siblings around, the holidays could be tough, even without the addition of the crap nightmare Virgil had given them.

“But after more therapy, I realized that the tree could be like a tribute to Kira,” Kayla went on. “She loved Christmas.”

She had indeed, and Kira had been even more excited about going to that party than even Cash had been.

“Well, at least you have that decoration up.” She pointed to a cheesy-looking Santa in a hula skirt, shorts, and flip-flops holding up two bottles of tequila.

Cash smiled. “A gift from one of my co-workers. Jericho. He, uh, has a strange sense of humor.”

Kayla attempted a smile, too. It didn’t come close to looking genuine, and it really stood no chance whatsoever of forming once she glanced down at her bloody hands.

“This way,” he insisted, motioning for her to follow him to the hall. He led her to the guestroom and pointed at the ensuite bathroom. “The shower’s in there.”

Kayla nodded and glanced at the bathroom. Then, the bed. “I don’t want to sleep alone,” she blurted.

The tremble in her voice got to him. So did that haunted look in her eyes. Hell. That bastard Alvin and his spawn had spun her back twenty years to that nightmare she’d barely survived.

Cash swallowed hard. “You won’t be alone.” He pointed to a chair in the corner. “I’ll be there.”

“That doesn’t look very comfortable,” she remarked.

It wouldn’t be, but Cash wasn’t expecting to get much sleep anyway. “I’ll be fine,” he assured her. That was true about the sleeping arrangements, but everything else was in the shitstorm mode.

Including his feelings for Kayla.

It was damn hard to be around her and not touch or want her. In fact, the not wanting was impossible. But he’d keep his distance, somehow.

Kayla didn’t, though.

On a heavy sigh, she went to him and pulled him into her arms. Her body landed against his, and she didn’t jump back as if he’d scalded her.

Cash listened for any changes in her breathing. Any signs that she was about to have a panic attack. Thank God there weren’t any. She just stood there, holding him while he held her.

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