Page 84 of My Vigilante Valentine

“Hand-to-hand combat? Going up against a gun or a knife? Yeah. Clearly.” He raised an eyebrow. “But there’s more to this gig than that, and you can’t tell me you don’t know that because I see you at Wilde Brew on your laptop all the time, and you’re not doing anythingphysicallydangerous.”

I dipped my chin, giving him that.

“The point is, she can handle herself in a lot of ways that might surprise you. She loves new things, and she throws her all into everything she sets her mind to. Maybe that’shersuperpower. And yeah, maybe she needs to stay in the van for now. But don’t underestimate her just because you want to protect her.”

The words hit home in a way I wasn’t expecting.

Sure, he was right—on many levels. And yes, I had been underestimating her. Not because I thought she was weak but because the thought of her getting hurt made some primal part of me want to attack anyone or anything attached to that.

But the biggest take-home from this conversation?

Not only was I looking forward to discovering all of the ways Luna was as amazing as her cousin said she was, but it turned out… he wasn’t so bad himself.

Guess she wasn’t the only one I’d been underestimating.

“I hear you,” I said, letting his familiar fondness for using a metric ton of words give me another reason to be nice. “And… thanks.”

Chris nodded, apparently satisfied. “You’re welcome. Anytime. Now go catch up with her before she decides to start the mission without us.”

I smiled, because yeah, that sounded exactly like something she’d do.

When I got downstairs, Luna was waiting by my truck. And the sight of her standing there under the streetlights?

It made my heart do something entirely obnoxious in my chest.

“Everything okay?” she asked as I approached.

Instead of answering, I wrapped my arms around her middle, lifting her off her feet as I pulled her close.

And then, I simply kissed her.

She made a surprised sound against my lips before melting into me, her hands fisting in my hood when they slipped around my neck.

My head spun from the feel of her pressed against me, warm and soft and perfect.

It was a feeling I could get used to.

Or, maybe I already had.

Like a man fully giving in to an addiction, I set her on her feet, then backed her up against my truck. One hand slid into her hair while the other gripped her hip, and she gasped.

I took advantage, deepening the kiss until she whimpered, and that one sound shot straight through me—center-mass—and I knew I was done for.

I loved her.

I wasin lovewith her.

I just had no idea what I was supposed to do with that.

When we came up for air, she blinked up at me with dazed eyes, her lips swollen and cheeks flushed.

And…Wait. There were no words. I could tell she was trying to find some, scouring the recesses of her mind so she could form some teasing remark or rambling confession.

But when she closed her mouth with an audible snap, it appeared she’d come up empty.

I blinked.

I’d done that. I’d made Luna Wilde—the woman who always had a joke at the ready—speechless.

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