Page 84 of The Ranger Gets His Girl

Mason's heart raced as the kid ran straight for him. Dodging through tourists and never taking his eyes off the teen, he turned and clotheslined him.

The kid and the bag fell to the ground. Mason dropped and twisted him onto his stomach, pulling his hands behind his back.

"Mason?" Lucy asked as she stopped near them. A crowd formed a surprised circle around them.

Mason nodded to the contents of her bag strewn on the sidewalk. "Grab your stuff, then call the cops."

Lucy sidestepped around them and knelt, pulling her stuff back into her bag. She held it to her chest as someone helped her to her feet. Mason stood up, the boy's arms pulled tight behind his back, and saw it was a police officer.

The police officer waved the crowd away. "Nothing to see here, folks. Enjoy your morning. Now, what's happened?"

Lucy opened her mouth to explain but Mason beat her to it. He filled the officer in, and Lucy waved the bag as proof. A few bystanders corroborated the events. The police officer took their information, made the formal arrest, and marched the kid back toward the station.

Mason turned his head and pulled her into his arms. She gasped at the hug, but he just pressed their bodies flush from knee to chest. For the first time that day, he relaxed. He nuzzled into her neck.

"What were you thinking? Did we not talk about your disappearing act?"

She leaned back to look at him, but he couldn't make out her expression behind her giant sunglasses. "Wha—what do you mean?"

Her hands clenched his shirt at his waist, and he tightened his grip on hers. He was practically vibrating with energy, shifting from foot to foot as the crowd surged around them. He looked around, placed a hand on her lower back, and hustled her to the line for a smoothie street vendor.

He forced himself to release her and rubbed his temples with a sigh, "I can't protect you if you keep disappearing."

She blushed and shook her head, a frown line marring her forehead.

"I don't need protecting," her voice was huffy.

He groaned and linked their fingers, rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand. "Lucy, don't you get it? I was worried about you. You can't just run off like that."

His chest ached, but he couldn't hold these feelings in anymore. The worry threatened to consume him. The line moved, and he tugged her along, not releasing her hand.

He pursed his lips. "It's my job to protect you, even if I'm not doing that great a job of it."

She frowned, and he wanted to see her eyes. "I think you're doing fine," she said softly.

He snorted and pulled her in for another hug, his breath a sigh. She pushed back on his chest and looked up at him.

She looked at him, hiding behind her sunglasses. Her cheeks flushed as she rubbed his chest. "Mason? You are a great Ranger, a great friend, a great protector, a great master."

He met her gaze, and they both grinned before she continued.

"All's well that ends well, right? I'm alive, and relatively happy and healthy. That's all that matters right now."

He put his hand on top of hers and frowned. "Yeah."

His voice was gruff, and he ran a nervous hand through his hair. That cowlick fell down on his forehead, and she reached up to push it back with a smile.

But he felt the weight of his words settle on his shoulders like a boulder. She was lucky to be alive.

Memories of Amanda and Lucy in the hospital sent a pain of guilt through him, making his stomach churn. He couldn't let anything happen to her, but he couldn't develop a relationship with her. If she would've died too, he never would've forgiven himself. As it was, he couldn't forgive himself for Amanda.

He had to step back. He couldn't let her see how much he cared. She'd just called him a great friend, so he had to treat her as one. Just a friend. If he treated her as something more, it would make it that much harder to let her go when they returned from this little vacation.

He cleared his throat, stepping back and dropping his hand. "I mean, your grandmother would have my hide if something else happened to you."

She scowled and crossed her arms. "I'm not a child, Mason."

He put his hands on his hips and faced her. "I never said you were, but you sure are acting like one right now."

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