Page 103 of Regards, Mia

“I’ve got you,” he says.

He guides me into the living room, where I sit down on the stiff couch and stare at the bullet hole in my wall. I might have killed him if Jay hadn’t been here. The thought makes me doubt everything about myself.

“Tea or tequila?” Jay asks, pulling one of my throw blankets around my shoulders.

“Tea.” My stomach is too unstable for liquor. But as he walks away, I have a flash of standing over Eric Mattson, struggling with the temptation to take justice into my own hands. “Tequila,” I call out.

Jay opens cupboards in the kitchen with the ease of someone who knows his way around and comes back a moment later with a bottle of Jose Cuervo and two glasses. He pours us both a healthy shot, and we lift our glasses.

We knock back our shots, never taking our eyes off each other. A shudder passes through me as I swallow.

“I wanted to kill him.”

“Yeah. I don’t blame you.”

I feel a surge of energy, a hyper-awareness about everything in the room. For the first time, I see my home with fresh eyes. It’s completely devoid of personality, and now it has a bullet lodged in the drywall.

“Hell of a night,” Jay says, following my gaze to the scarred wall.

I study his profile. The dark line of his brow, the slope of his nose, and full lips framed by a neat black beard. He’s so gorgeous it’s a shock to look at him. “Why did you come back?”

He shakes his head, and a stray lock of hair falls from the knot at the back of his head. He pushes it away in the slow, patient way of his before meeting my eyes with his intense stare. Our gazes collide, and I feel a jolt to my system, a deep knowing that pulls low in my belly.

“I felt something was off. But then there were too many things that were out of the ordinary. Your light was busted. The wifi was down. You were off.”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“That’s my job.” His voice is a sharp bark, full of guilt. “You didn’t let me do it.”

He sounds angry, but I know it’s just the adrenaline charging through him. I feel it too, and it makes me feel a little wild with excess energy.

All my senses are heightened. I can smell Jay’s scent, like winter wood, and feel the surge of energy that vibrates from his body and cocoons us both. I lean closer, desperate for the heat of his fingers on my chilled skin.

Jay meets me halfway, closing the distance between us with an arm around my shoulders. He pulls me close and I press my face against his chest.

My mind spins as I try to put the pieces together. Everything is a blur. After I sent Jay away and Eric shoved me to the ground, everything happened so fast. I remember stabbing him in the legwith the wine opener, then grappling with him for the gun. I hardly remember punching him, or taking possession of the gun, but I know that’s what must have happened because my right hand hurts like hell.

I turn my face up to Jay’s. “How did you get in here?”

He smooths my hair from my face, a tiny smile curving his lips. “Chelsea.”

“What?”

“She gave me the code to the condo next door. I climbed onto your balcony. You left your door unlocked.”

A laugh vibrates through my chest, and I feel all the emotions I’ve suppressed come spiraling through me.

“What’s so funny?”

“Smoking saved my life,” I say.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“If I hadn’t left the door open when I went out for a cigarette, you wouldn’t have gotten in.”

“I would have found another way.” His body tenses, and I feel the shiver run through him. He drags in a deep breath. “I didn’t save you. You had everything under control but the time I got here. All I did was tie him up.” He kisses the corner of my mouth, then trails a path along my jaw. “I’m so proud of you.” His soft chuckle vibrates against my throat. “But I have to admit, I've never been so turned on in my life. You were like a superhero.”

My heart slams in my chest as he kisses the sensitive spot he’s found just under my jaw. I savor the feel of my pulse quickening, and the desire pooling in my belly. It feels damn good to be alive.

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