Page 61 of Falling Fast

“You’re all banged up and your feet are probably a mess. So I’m carrying you to the nearest ambulance to get you checked over. Don’t bother arguing.”

Embarrassed, but secretly liking that he would do this for her, she looped her arms around his neck and looked toward the road. Her brother was staring at them intently. Had he seen Jamie kiss her? She didn’t care.

Tipping her head back to look up at Jamie, she savored the feel of his arms around her. “When this whole mess is over, I want some quality alone time with you.” Once the physical needs they’d denied for too long were taken care of, they were going to talk about their future.

Jamie shifted her in his arms and kept walking toward the mass of flashing lights clogging the road. “That’s a promise, Trouble. You couldn’t keep me away tonight if you tried.”

Chapter Sixteen

Jamie scrubbed the spare T-shirt Logan had given him over his face, then stripped off the ruined tux shirt and slid the soft cotton over his head. “I feel better already.”

“You don’t look better,” Logan remarked, leaning against the back of the van he and the others had arrived in. Easton and Taylor were with Charlie while she got checked out by the paramedics.

A familiar whumping noise approached overhead. Jamie glanced up in time to see the Blackhawk’s silhouette appear over a line of trees on the distant ridge.

“That’ll be Hamilton and the rest of the boys,” Logan said.

The helo circled once, then came in for a landing on the edge of the farmer’s field. Its wheels touched down and the engines began the shutdown mode. The side door slid open and their team leader jumped out first, then the other five members of FAST Bravo, all kitted up and in tac gear.

“Now that’s a sight for sore eyes,” Jamie said to Logan.

“Wish they’d shown up an hour ago, though.”

“For real.”

Jamie walked over and met Hamilton on the road. “Thanks for coming,” he said with a wry grin.

Hamilton shook his hand and clapped him on the shoulder. “Good to see you. Just sorry we didn’t get here faster.”

FAST hadn’t been part of this operation beyond him, Easton and Logan being involved in various ways. That Hamilton and the others had all hopped a helo and flown up here to save his ass in the first place meant the world to Jamie. “It’s okay. Turned out well in the end.”

Hamilton nodded, shook Logan’s hand and glanced around. “How’s Charlie?”

“Good. No serious injuries. Easton and Taylor are with her now.”

His team leader’s dark gray eyes crinkled as he half-smiled. “That Colebrook warrior blood is damn strong stuff.”

It sure as hell was.

“You need anything?”

“Nah, I’m good.” Just anxious to get all the statements, debriefings and meetings over with as fast as possible so I can get back to NYC and spend the rest of the night with Charlie. He smiled at the rest of his teammates as they came up to him, received man-hugs and back claps from the guys.

“Man, leave it to you to get into the shit on your own,” Kai said, shaking his head at him as the others gathered around them. “You okay, brother?”

“Yeah. Hell of a day, though.”

He cracked a crooked grin. “Beer and a steak dinner on me once we get back to Virginia.”

Being offered a meal by the team’s big guy—and cheapest guy—was the highest form of compliment. “Deal.”

Hamilton stood off to the left, talking with another member of the taskforce. When they both turned toward him, Jamie knew the socializing was over. He inwardly groaned, shot a quick look over at the ambulance where Charlie was still with the paramedics.

She was sitting on the gurney in the back, a blanket around her shoulders as she spoke to them. Even covered in concrete residue, his heart beat faster at the sight of her. Her strength and bravery amazed him. She was absolutely the woman he wanted at his side for the rest of his life.

Whether or not she wanted that place was another story. One he needed to get the answer to as soon as possible, because there was no way he could keep his distance from her after this. Not with everything they’d been through together. If he had to let her go after tonight, it would shred him.

“Rodriguez.”

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