Page 27 of Mountain Security

Beau didn’t even blink until she’d gone through the doors. Then he seemed to give a small sigh before turning back to her.

“One of us can drive you home,” he said.

“That’s okay. I’ll wait for Alex.” It wasn’t that she didn’t believe the doctor, but she still wanted to see him with her own eyes.

A few minutes later, two more men arrived. Their height and the breadth of their shoulders, together with the twin worried expressions, told Yvette they must be Alex’s other team members.

Lorenz made the introductions. “Yvette, these are Hugo and Tristan.”

She committed the names to memory. Hugo looked badass, while Tristan looked … like a wild kid, all grown up.

Both men were looking at her curiously, and Yvette realized she must look a sight. She’d changed back into her trainers, but was still wearing the ski suit. The turquoise outfit, which had seemed soà proposthat morning, looked garish in the waiting room’s yellow lighting.

Trying not to feel self-conscious, Yvette shook hands with the men.

She soon forgot her discomfort, as the two newcomers started asking questions about the incident. It was clear they cared about Alex a lot.

“I’ll be damned,” Tristan said. “And he just dove in?”

“To be precise, he jumped in,” Yvette said.

The men laughed, as if that was the funniest thing they’d heard all day.

The door opened again. Yvette looked up, expecting to see the doctor again, but it was Alex. Though his face was still pale, his lips no longer held the same bluish-purplish tinge, and he walked with his usual loose grace.

Somebody had given him a pair of scrubs and a ridiculous pair of slippers to wear, which she hoped were warm, at least.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Yvette stood up quickly and walked towards him, stopping when she was a few body lengths away. “Are you okay?”

Alex bridged the distance between them and wrapped her in his arms. Yvette tensed, surprised. She wasn’t a big hugger, and hadn’t expected a hug at this very exact moment. Then her body relaxed, melting into his embrace.

“I’ve wanted to do this all day,” he whispered in her ear. Moments later he released her, but kept his hands on her shoulders, as if worried she might turn away and run.

Yvette turned to look at the rest of the men, who were all conspicuously staring somewhere else.

Great actors, they’re not.

Eventually, Alex released her.

“I’m fine,” he said. “Are you okay? I’m sorry you’ve been here all this time.” He looked almost accusingly at Beau, who returned the look with a raised eyebrow.

“We offered to take her home,” he said.

“They did. They also offered me lots of coffee. I wanted to stay and check that you were okay.”

Alex’s cobalt eyes darkened with something that looked to her a lot like desire. Her shoulders tingled where his hands had touched her.

“Come on, Romeo. Let’s get you home,” Ry said. “I promised Valentina that I’d keep an eye on you tonight.”

Say it.

Ask him to come home with you.

Yvette was almost certain he would say yes.

And she wanted to take him back to her place.

She wanted it so badly.

---