Page 30 of Fast Justice

She must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, she opened her eyes to see the walls of the room ablaze with orange and pink. Sunset.

She checked her phone, but no one had called or texted. No update on her brother, then. Her stomach growled. She glanced at the door, hesitating. Missing meals wouldn’t kill her; she missed meals all the time when she was working. Except right now she could really use some company and wasn’t going to hide in here all night simply to avoid Malcolm.

Pushing up, she went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth with the spare toothbrush she found in the drawer. When she opened the guestroom door a few minutes later, the muted sounds of the TV came from the living room.

Malcolm looked up when she came around the corner. He was sprawled on the couch still in his jeans and T-shirt that stretched across the defined muscles in his chest and shoulders, a decorative cushion beneath his head. He sat up, running his gaze over her in assessment. “Get some sleep?”

“Yes.”

He got to his feet and walked into the kitchen. “My teammate Logan dropped by with a suitcase for you a little while ago. His girlfriend Taylor went to your place with him and packed it for you. She’s an organizational wizard, so I’m sure you’ve got everything you need in there.”

She followed him, took the bag he wheeled toward her. “Thank you. That was thoughtful of them.”

“Welcome. You hungry now?”

“Have you eaten?”

“No. Grilled cheese and tomato soup okay?”

“Sure. I can make it, though.” He’d done enough by bringing her back here, and she didn’t want him going to any more trouble.

He shot her an annoyed look. “I got it. Go sit and watch something. I’ll bring it out in a few minutes.”

There was no point in arguing, so she took the chair beside the sofa and grabbed the remote. The first thing she flipped to was a newscast detailing the explosion. She quickly changed the channel, but the image made her relive everything all over again. Thankfully she found a romcom, watched it while Malcolm moved around the kitchen, though she couldn’t pay much attention to the thin plot when she had so much else on her mind.

Malcolm came in a few minutes later with a plated sandwich and a steaming bowl of soup and set it down on the coffee table in front of her. “Soup’s hot.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, avoiding looking at him as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She waited until he sat down with his own meal before starting.

They ate in silence, the movie the only sound in the room, and soon the growing tension began to grate on her nerves. If she apologized for hurting him when she ended things, would it help, or make things worse?

“Hear anything else from your family?” he finally asked her.

“No. Anything on your end?”

He shook his head, helping himself to the last half of his sandwich. “It’s good that he came to on his own so soon. And he’s got a lot of support to help him through the recovery.”

“I’d like to see him again tomorrow. If it’s not too much trouble,” she added.

“Of course not. I’ll take you over in the morning.”

She let out a relieved breath. “Thank you.”

He nodded but didn’t look up.

She stared at him from beneath her lashes, her whole chest aching.I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.

She held the words back, sensing they would be yet another mistake where he was concerned. But Kevin’s parting words at the office kept coming back to her, haunting her with their truth and multiple meanings about her and Malcolm.

There are no do-overs.

Yeah. Wasn’t that the damn truth. And a helluva bitter pill to swallow.

Chapter Ten

In the darkness of his bedroom, the glowing blue numbers of the digital alarm clock read 2:18 a.m. when Malcolm rolled over in bed to check it. Rowan was up. Her door had opened a few seconds ago. She’d tried to be quiet, but he was a light sleeper, something he’d picked up during his Navy days, because many times during a mission, his life had depended on it.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed into the darkness. What the hell was he supposed to do with her? She’d been unusually quiet ever since the hospital, almost…deflated. At first he’d thought it was shock and worry about Kevin, maybe fear for her safety. But during that awkward dinner earlier he’d realized the way she’d closed up was at least partially because of him. He’d purposely been shutting her out, so that was his fault.

---