Page 34 of Wizard

“I do,” Mark whispered, his hold on me loosening.

The knife moved about half an inch away from my throat, giving Baylor just enough space to lunge forward and rip me away from Mark. Then he was on him, clenching his wrist so hard that the knife fell to the floor with a dull thud. After kicking it out of the way, Baylor punched Mark in the face. Blood spurted from his nose, but that didn’t stop Baylor from hitting him again. And again. And again.

Ash held me while Kevlar rushed forward to pull Baylor off him. “It’s done. I got him. He’s not gonna hurt your woman ever again.”

“I don’t understand,” Susan whispered. “What just happened?”

“You invited my stalker to our meeting.”

13

WIZARD

Ispun around, and as soon as I spotted Thea, I opened my arms. She ran at me full speed, nearly knocking us both to the ground when her body collided with mine.

“You okay, baby?” I asked, holding her tightly against me.

“I am now,” she said softly.

When I realized she was trying not to cry, my arms tightened around her. “That was a fucked-up situation. Not gonna think less of you for crying.”

“It’s so stupid,” she grumbled, then sniffed and buried her face against my chest.

“Just makes you my damsel in distress,” I teased. “And playing the hero is good for my ego.”

Thea giggled, and I kissed the crown of her head before scooping her into my arms.

“Hey,” Ash said as he walked up beside us. “Nice move, Thea. How’d you know what Wizard was planning?”

She looked at him with a grin. “He mentionedThe Spy’s Return.”

At Ash’s puzzled expression, she explained in more detail. “There’s a scene where the heroine is confronted by the villain.He gets the drop on her, and when the hero shows up, the bad guy is holding a gun to her head.

“She plays along like he’s the one saving her and drops her head back and to the side, ostensibly to look up at him. This moves the barrel so it’s pointing just beyond her and exposes the villain’s head just enough for the hero to take him out. So I relaxed and played along with Mark until Baylor had the perfect opportunity to save me.”

Ash scratched his cheek and shook his head. “You got all that from the title of a book.”

Thea twisted her neck to look up at my face. “We have our own kind of…shorthand,” she mumbled with a sly smile.

“That kinda thing happens when you’re in love,” I drawled to Ash.

Thea gasped and stiffened. Silently, I shouted at myself for being a stupid motherfucker. This was not the time or place for her to hear me tell her that I loved her for the first time.

She stared at me with a stunned expression, and her mouth opened to say something.

I shook my head, then gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Not here.”

Thea pursed her lips together before nodding.

“You got this?” I asked Ash.

He waved me off. “Yeah. We’re good.”

With a muttered, “Thanks,” I rapidly exited the building. When we were settled in the truck and on our way home, Thea cleared her throat.

“Not yet,” I told her gently, giving her thigh a pat before resting my hand there.

When we arrived at the clubhouse, I parked and got out of the vehicle. Thea obediently waited for me to jog around the hood of the truck and open her door.

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