Page 121 of The Ranger Gets His Girl

She shook her head and waved her arms, making the blanket shake. "Why do you think? I don't like being taken advantage of. I don't like being lied to. I don't—my own fucking father just tried to traffic me to Mexico, for fucks sake. Either I keep crying or I keep yelling and screaming. Those are my two options right now, so which would you rather have, hot shot?"

Mason chuckled at the nickname and stood, turning the audio recording off on his phone.

"Oh hell no, don't you go laughing at me, mister."

He quirked a brow. "Mister? I think you mean master, don't you?"

The paramedic's gaze shot to them, but Mason ignored him as Lucy stood up and jabbed a finger in his chest.

"No, I don't. I mean mister. I'm furious, and part of it is because I keep finding myself in these kinds of experiences with you."

He arched his brow, teasing her to draw her out of the fearful, lost little girl of just a few moments ago. "But I thought you loved excitement and adventure."

"Oh fucking puhh-lease," she said, cocking a hip and jabbing him in the chest again.

"All I wanted was a nice graduation celebration with my bestie, then bam! FBI raid. Shots fired." She jabbed him in the chest at the end of each sentence.

"Then all I wanted was a nice, relaxing vacation to Hawaii, then bam! Drugged, kidnapped, shots fired again." She jabbed him with each of the last few words.

"And now here I was, trying to reconcile with my father, thinking he'd finally gotten his shit together, and bam! Attempted trafficking and—wouldn't ya know it—more shots fired. And here you are, right in the thick of it."

He crossed his arms to get her to stop poking him. "What's your point, sunshine?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and turned to the paramedic. "I'm done, right? You don't need me anymore?"

He nodded, his eyes wide as he stared between them. She turned and pushed her way past Mason, sitting on the back of the ambulance and then hopping to the ground. He jumped down, turning to grab her arm and help her.

She shook him off and tossed the blanket back into the ambulance. "My point, Novak, is that I'm fucking tired of being caught in the crossfire where your job is concerned."

He narrowed his eyes, "Are you saying you don't like my job? Because you know I won't change it. I fucking love this job, and if you think—"

She waved her arms wide and screamed, "I'm not fucking Amanda."

People stopped and turned to stare at them, so he herded them to the other side of the ambulance facing the parking lot.

"I know you're not Amanda."

"Do you?" she asked shrilly. "Because I'm not so sure you do. I think you see me as a second chance, as a do-over. But I'm no one's second choice, Mason Novak."

"Damn right, you're not. You're my first choice," he said, crossing his arms again.

She waved hers wide. "No, I'm not. Don't you see? You haven't been able to let her go, which is why I didn't say anything about you and me starting something real back in February. You're still grieving her."

His chest felt like waves of lava were pounding him. A lava tsunami threatening to knock him over. He took deep breaths, and she rubbed her temples.

"Mason, I can't compete with a ghost. I just can't," she whispered. He reached for her hands, but she jerked away.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and spread his legs wider.

"You're not competing with a ghost, Luce. There's no competition. Do you know how hard it was to see you go down like that? It about broke me. It was like Amanda all over again but more intense, and I was helpless to stop it or protect you."

She waved her hands wide as lightning rippled overhead. "It's not your job to protect me at all hours of the day, Mason. But it sure would be easier to do if you'd stop getting us into these situations."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and ground out, "I told you. I had nothing to do with any of this. It was all just a series of unfortunate events."

She gasped and reared back, startled. "Is that all I am? An unfortunate event in your life? A nice holiday fuck who might help you catch a bad guy or two by playing the damsel in distress? Fuck that, Mason, and fuck you."

She threw her hands in the air and stomped away, more lightning and now thunder booming.

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