Page 131 of The Twilight Theft

“Has anyone ever told you this floor’s way too cold?” She put her hands on the counter and hopped up, settling in to watch me work. Her knee was almost at full strength.

“You did.” I winked at her. “Thursday night.”

She blew a raspberry in return. “Didn’t think you were listening.”

We’d spent most of the last two days together. An EMT had bandaged my arm where the bullet grazed me, and I’d forced her to ice that damn knee. There had been meetings with her team, statements for the police, and some furious words I heard more than saw from Evelyn Reynolds. I’d asked about the letter Noah mentioned, but no one was talking.

Craig, Liana, Vanessa, and Wyatt were all in custody, but somehow, Noah and Enzo had evaded the police. The huma bird statue was shipped back to its owner without the beak.

“Were you tempted at all?” I pulled a bowl and flour from a lower cabinet, then eggs and milk from the fridge.

Jayce snorted a laugh. “You were with me when I totally gave in.”

“I didn’t mean the shower.” I continued pulling ingredients and tools, centering myself in the process of cooking for my woman. “The whole thing about the phoenix. Your leg, Tanner’s leg…”

“Meh.” She shrugged one shoulder. “They’re lunatics.”

“Can you grab the cinnamon?” I raised my chin toward the cabinet behind her. “What if there’s some truth to the story? Some ancient medicine lost to time?”

Her gaze unfocused for a moment, then she shifted out of the way of the upper door. “For how much you love cooking, this is an awfully small kitchen.”

Message received. She didn’t want to discuss it. Which meant shehadbeen tempted. It was a seductive concept—the end of suffering. If Fenix was as altruistic as Noah and Liana sounded, they wouldn’t have been operating in the shadows. Enzo wouldn’t have been so quick to pull the gun or to fire at us.

Think about that after Jayce is gone. You don’t have much time before she has to leave.

“The kitchen’s big enough for now.” I cracked fresh eggs into the bowl. The plan had been to save money for a house and a family. So long as it was just me, I didn’t need more space. “I thought maybe we could go to the spy museum after we eat. It’s interesting, if you’ve never been.”

“That might be fun.” She opened the cabinet and retrieved the cinnamon. “As long as you drop me off at the airport by three.”

I whisked the eggs, incorporating cinnamon and nutmeg. “What if I didn’t?”

“You said that already.” She offered the tall bottle of vanilla, full of Madagascar beans and unflavored vodka. “And I told you I have to go home today.”

I rested the whisk against the side of the bowl and moved closer to her, settling between her legs. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the Harrington job and how everything went down.”

She placed the bottle on the counter, gaze darting side to side—searching for an escape from the conversation.

“It finally dawned on me around three this morning that what I wanted that night was to protect you, maybe even from yourself.” I used my knuckles to turn her face to me. “But I see now you’re completely capable of taking care of yourself all on your own.”

Not just capable of taking care of herself, but taking care of me. Of running blocks through a town in the middle of the night, to warn me I was in danger. Throwing herself into the fray to protect me.

When had I ever had that? Sure, my parents had loved me, but they hid such a big truth my entire life. Vanessa cared about herself, not me.

Fuck, if Alex had someone who looked out for him the way Jayce looked out for me Saturday night, maybe he’d still be alive.

“I’m actually not. I’m reckless, like you said.” Her gaze fell, and I nudged her chin. “That’s what my team’s for. To protect me from myself.”

I pressed my lips to hers. “I want to be part of that team, Jayce.”

She nodded slowly. “I can talk to Evelyn, but—”

“Not the Reynolds team.” I chuckled and kissed her temple. She didn’t understand. “I want to be on the Jayce team. The team that spends every day with you, learning all your idiosyncrasies—”

“There’s a lot of those.” She squirreled up her face, still trying to avoid my honesty.

“I know. And I want to learn everything. I want to cook for you, bake for you, and make love to you every day. I want to make sure your feet are warm, your leg doesn’t hurt, and your heart never aches.”

No matter how uncomfortable it was, this was my only chance to tell her everything. My mental locker was straining at the hinges. Some part of me dreamed of being free of it. The part that could have died Saturday night if a reckless thief hadn’t come to my rescue.

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