Page 25 of Threatened

While they ate, he told her about how Brennan had army crawled the length of the room while Maya had tried to pull herself to standing using an ottoman to steady her. She hadn’t quite been successful, but he expected that she’d perfect her new skill soon enough.

“Wish I’d see that,” Kylie commented as she pushed away the remains of her meal. She slumped back against the couch cushions. “What a day, huh? I guess I should say, what a month.” Her voice was rough with exhaustion and the crying earlier. “First the accident, then rushing home, then the mugging and the break-in, then this. I’ll take a quiet weekend at home any time now.”

“Me too.” He glanced over to the door of the second bedroom where the twins were sleeping. Not a peep had come out of there, which was good because he and Kylie had things they neededto discuss privately, no matter how tired she looked and he felt. Things he wasn’t willing to put off even until the next day. He just had to find the right place to start. “Listen, about you finding your own place. There’s no rush at all. I’ve got plenty of room at the house, and I can clear out the den and make it into a third bedroom, if you want. I never use it anyway, so it’s fine. That way you’ll be close to the kids.”And me, he added silently.

“I don’t want to be any more trouble,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “It’s bad enough I brought all this to your doorstep. That’ll teach me to take all those pictures, huh?”

“Hey, stop blaming yourself. There’s no way you could’ve known Hirohito was some whack-job gangster or that he’d send that goon after you. It wasn’t your fault.” He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “If anything, I should’ve seen this coming. I was a freaking strategist in the SEALs. Staying one step ahead of everyone else was my job.” He was also a protector, but he’d nearly failed at that.

“The blame game goes both ways, you know,” she nudged him with her stockinged foot. “Maybe we should compromise and say neither of us are at fault here. And I appreciate your offer, but I should really get a place of my own, figure some stuff out, get my life back on track again.”

Unable to resist, he reached down and placed his hand over her foot, massaging the arch gently with his thumb. “Does that life include fighting me for custody of the twins?” He had to ask that before he could move the conversation to what he really wanted to discuss.

She watched him for a long moment, her expression unreadable, and his heart sank. He didn’t want to do this again, be at odds with her. He wanted them to be like they were the day before—connected, working together, harmonious. Finally, she sighed and said, “No. What happened today made me realize I’m not ready to raise the twins on my own. They’re better off with you.”

“Hmm. I don’t know about that.” He resumed massaging her foot. “I was thinking—what about if we raised them together?”

Kylie straightened and narrowed her gaze on him. “Please don’t tell me you’re proposing. I don’t think I can take any more drama today.”

Gage laughed. “Not marriage. We don’t know each other that well.”Yet.

“Exactly.” She relaxed against the cushions again.

“But I think the twins would benefit from having both of us around.” He rubbed her ankle, and she gave a small moan he felt straight to his groin. “Plus, I could use an extra set of hands to help me.”

“Babe, the hands you’ve got are pretty spectacular all on their own.” She smiled at him, then sighed. “But I wouldn’t mind being around the twins more.”

His chest squeezed when she didn’t say anything about wanting to spend more time withhim. Right. Yep. That’s exactly why he steered clear of all this emotional crap. It only led to disappointment and heartache. He frowned down at her foot and gently rolled each of her toes between his fingers.

Her soft laugh lilted through the air as she removed her foot from his grasp and scooted closer to him. “Wouldn’t mind being around you more either.”

His pulse stumbled, stopped, kicked into high gear and he glanced sideways at her. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah.” Next thing he knew she was on his lap and kissing him like there was no tomorrow. By the time she pulled away slightly, they were both breathless. “I was so scared earlier. I thought I might never see the twins again, never get to tell you how much I like you, how much I enjoyed our night together.”

He held her close, tucking her head beneath his chin as he rubbed her back. “I was scared too. It felt like what happened with my teammates all over again. I couldn’t lose you too. I had to find you. I wasn’t sure what direction my life was heading in until you showed up, and now I can’t imagine my world without you in it. Even if it’s only as a friend.”

“I’d say we’re a bit more than friends,” she said against his chest, her breath warm through the soft cotton of his T-shirt. “I’d like us to be alotmore than friends.”

“Me too,” he whispered into her hair, savoring her sweet patchouli scent. “Please say you’ll stay. We can get to know each other better, raise the twins, you can redecorate my place again and fix my chi.”

Kylie sat up slightly and kissed him sweetly. “Fix your chi? There’s nothing wrong with your chi, honey. Best. Chi. Ever. And raising the twins will take longer than a few weeks. We’re talking months. Years. Decades.”

“I’m game if you are.” Gage grinned this time, feeling like a huge burden had been lifted off him. He wasn’t alone anymore. He didn’t have to go through this alone. He had Kylie now. “Will you stay?”

She smiled and snuggled back into him. “I will. For as long as you’ll have me.”

14

One year later…

“Hey, sweetheart? Can you grab that plate of burgers from the fridge for me?” Gage called from the backyard of his house. “I don’t want to leave the grill unattended with the twins outside.”

“Sure thing, babe,” Kylie yelled back through the open kitchen window. It was late autumn in Southern California and though it wasn’t much different weather-wise than any other time of the year, the nights did get a bit cooler now. Still plenty warm enough to enjoy being outside.

Things had settled into a nice routine these days. He adjusted the burners on the gas grill then squinted across the yard to where the twins were playing in the sandbox he’d built for them. They were running everywhere now and getting into everything. He and Kylie had baby proofed the house as best they could, but somehow the twins still found plenty of places to get into. That was life with toddlers, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The same was true for the woman in his life.

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