Page 84 of Shielding Aubree

Alara waited until the door closed and then leaned her hip against the bed. "I mean it, Aubree. You take some time to take care of yourself and we'll put together the report after that."

Aubree gave her friend a curious look. "Your boss isn't breathing down your neck?"

Alara shrugged, but Aubree saw the tension in her friend's shoulders. "After pulling me out of Los Alamos only to have the killer make an attempt on your life? There's more than enough egg on faces. Don't get me wrong. We need to put in a report, but I know that we're going to have to put some thinking in on how we're going to explain the lion that turned the killer into tartare."

Aubree covered her mouth with her hand in shock. "Alara?"

The FBI Agent smiled at her. "Honey, I need to keep my mind off of the mess that the mountain lion made of him."

Aubree nodded. "Me, too. I don't like thinking I was responsible for some of that."

"Whoa," Alara shook her head. "You don't have any responsibility for this. The fact that you stumbled on a killer and ended up a target? It's still on him. The fact that I'm nearly convinced that your brother's spirit tore that man to shreds means that I'm either too high strung, or I need a break from coffee."

Alara gave her hand a squeeze. "Seriously, I wish I'd seen it. Hearing Ruben tell it, that mountain lion was your brother's avenging spirit. He has no doubts."

Aubree's eyes widened at that. "Really?"

Alana nodded. "I got to hear the whole retelling from his perspective and while the killing was one of the most interestingparts of the story, you should know that he's head over heels for you."

Aubree blinked at that. "He told you?"

Alana shook her head. "Not in words. It's the way he sounds when he's talking about you. The look on his face. The man loves you."

"And I love him."

A knock at the door turned Aubree's head and a bouquet of flowers made its way through the doorway before Ruben.

"Looks like my cue to leave." Alara stood up and stretched. "I hope it's an age before I have to get back on a plane. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

As she moved toward the door, Aubree saw Ruben gave Alana a one-armed hug.

Aubree called out to her. "How long are you staying in New Mexico?"

Alana stopped just shy of the door. "You should see the report I'm going to have to write. And piecing together the pathology and criminal past of our pile of mincemeat? I'll be here for a bit." She gave Ruben a pointed look. "Make sure she rests. That's an order from the FBI."

Ruben gave her a salute as she left, earning himself a playful single finger salute from Alara.

Aubree sagged back against the pillow and watched him walk across the room to her. "Everything okay?"

He didn't pause for a moment to think. "Everything is fine now that I know you're safe."

Ruben put the flowers in her hand and let out a breath. "I'm probably going to drive you nuts."

She frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

"Knowing that you were missing scared me, baby. I've never been so damn scared."

She shook her head. "You were hurt, more than I was."

He gave her a half smile. "This isn't about that, and you know it. For a few hours I didn't know where you were, and I had to live on faith that I'd see you again. I saw the way your family held each other together and knew that I'd do everything I could to make sure that you came back to them.

"To me, too."

He lifted his free hand and brushed her hair back from her face.

"I love you like crazy, Aubree."

"Well, that's good." Her tears gathered on her lashes. "Because I love you like crazy, too. While I was out there, praying that I could keep his mind distracted until I figured out a way out of the insanity, I kept thinking about what horrible timing this was. Just when I found you, I might lose so much time with you because of an evil man."

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