Page 67 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

Jones snorted. “We were on a mission. The job was to clear out the town,” Jones answered, wobbling a little bit himself. “The conditions were…not ideal, but Cash refused to give up. He laid up on that rooftop for two days, waiting for that damn tango to move just enough for him to get a shot.”

“I can’t lay still unless I’m sleeping,” I said in awe.

“It takes training and a hell of a lot of patience. And Cash was the best I’d ever seen. That day, the wind was kicking up, and it seemed like we would never get our chance to take out that fucker. And we were pinned down. See, that asshole Cash was looking at through the scope? He knew where we were too. One wrong move by any of us, and we were staring down a meeting with Jesus. But Cash, he was cool as ever, waiting for that perfect moment. And when he finally fired Sally, he ran through the damn town just to go get that damn HOGs tooth.”

I nodded, vaguely remembering Rae telling me about that. My mind was growing fuzzy the longer we sat here and talked, but I tried desperately to stay awake and listen to every last detail they could give me about Cash.

“So, he was like Maverick,” I whispered.

“Maverick?” Fox snorted. “Let’s not go that far. First, Maverick is a fictional character. Second, Cash has never flown a plane to save his life.”

“But he’s got that no fear thing.”

“Right,” Jones snorted. “Until it comes to doing the one thing he’s been asked to do.”

“I don’t get it,” I frowned. “If you respect him so much, how can you be so hateful toward him?”

“We could ask you the same question,” Fox retorted.

I slumped on the stool, resting my head in my hand. “I just don’t see how this could work. He’s so perfect, and I guess I wanted to poke at any flaw I could.”

“Why are you so worried about him being perfect? Which he’s not, by the way.”

“Because I’m…me. He’s got this distin…distinguished,” I said slowly, “career. He has this big business with all these really cool people. And what have I done? I’ve run away from home, worked menial jobs to pay bills, and I never tried to do anything with my life. And now I’m on the run, and I have to rely on this…amazing muscled man with so many super spy skills to take care of me. When you look at the two of us together, it doesn’t make any sense. And I guess I thought if I found something about him that wasn’t great, it would make me feel better.”

I looked up at Fox, not sure what I would see. He didn’t look like anything, except bored. He actually yawned. “I’m sorry, I nearly fell asleep during the monologue of the pity party you were throwing for yourself.”

“Hey!”

“Seriously, even Jones is second-guessing his anger toward Cash right now.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Jones mumbled. “But you have some serious issues to work out if you think a guy like Cash would care about you not having the perfect job. He puts his faith in people and their actions, not what their profession is. You could be the best lawyer in the United States, but if you’re an asshole, he still won’t like you.”

I sighed heavily, twirling my shot glass in front of me. I was too drunk to think about how to fix this right now. I knew I wanted things to work with Cash, but after what I just did, it was very possible he would never take me back. The fact was, I had fucked up way too much, and now I had to live with the consequences.

I dropped my head to the counter and closed my eyes. I couldn’t think anymore tonight. I just wanted to go to sleep and stop seeing the look of hurt on Cash’s face when I accused him of not being a good man.

22

CASH

I staredout into the fading sun and wished I was alone. However, I had a certain person following me around since the moment I walked away from Eva. Rae knew me better than most, and she was fiercely protective of me. I should be grateful, but at the moment, I just wanted to be left alone.

“How long are you going to stand out here?” I asked, not bothering to look at her.

“Until you get your ass back home.”

“You should be with Eva right now. She needs you.”

“So do you.”

“No, I don’t,” I shook my head. The anger had long since passed, but I didn’t trust myself to go back and talk with Eva. She cut me deep, attacking the very thing I prided myself on. And hearing that someone, a woman I was falling for, didn’t think I was a good man was a bitter pill to swallow.

“Boss, I know you’re like teflon and all that, but everyone needs someone on their side.” I didn’t respond. “What she said wasn’t true. Jones is pissed and was feeding her crap that she can’t possibly understand. And for whatever reason she chose to believe anything he had to say. That’s on her.”

I hung my head, my hands resting on my hips as I considered what she was saying. “What if…”

“She’s not right. Boss, no offense, but you never let anything get you down. You’re the strongest man I know, and a tough leader. If I doubted that for even a second, if I thought you didn’t always put everyone else’s interests first, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

---