my self-control was so lacking I needed miles and a time zone between us. But there it was; I was in over my head.
“As I said, I had the time so I took a drive. Hopefully, it bears fruit and we get a match.”
“Well, shit. Appreciate you takin’ the time.”
I gave Ethan a lift of my chin then glanced down at my ringing phone.
Shiloh.
I held a finger up to Ethan indicating I needed a moment and answered.
“Everything good?”
“No,” she snapped in my ear. “Uncool threatening to call my brothers.”
I couldn’t help the smile that pulled at my lips.
“Seems it worked and I got a call.”
“Un. Cool.”
“Babe, maybe I didn’t make myself clear. I’ve got no intention of being cool. You didn’t want me doing what I had to do to get a response you should’ve picked up my calls or returned a text.”
There was a pissed-off sigh on her end before she launched in, “I do not need this shit right now.”
“Yeah, I heard things have been busy, something about planets in retrograde making the crazies come out. Wanna know who I didn’t hear that from? You.”
“Luke—”
“You set the board, Shiloh. I’m just playing your game. I gave you five days to come to terms with what’s gonna happen. Your time’s up. I’ll be at your house after work. You’re not there, I’ll hunt your ass down.”
“You show at my house, Luke, you’ll find me armed and pissed off.”
“Baby, now you’re turning me on.”
“I’m being serious.”
She probably was.
“Friends don’t shoot friends. But since you gave me the heads up I’ll come kitted out ready for a showdown.”
There was another loud huff.
“I don’t want this.”
“Baby, if I believed that I’d back off. But you’re lying. You know it and I know it. I’ll see you around six. Be safe.”
I disconnected before she could levy any further threats and tossed my phone on my desk. When I looked up Ethan was staring at me with narrowed eyes. He had another few years before his grimace would be as effective as his father, Lenox’s, but it was damn near close.
“Was that Shiloh Kent?”
“Yep.”
Ethan let out a long low whistle and shook his head.
“Brother, do not go there.”
“I’ve heard about her brothers and met River the other day when I was at her place. I don’t need another warning about them.”
I wasn’t worried about her brothers, her brothers were worried about her. River stated plain he knew something was up with her and asked if I was the reason she’d been withdrawn. I’d spent years answering to men and women who outranked me, years having my every decision questioned and scrutinized after a mission. Something I no longer had to do and vowed not to have to do again. Therefore, I wasn’t pleased to have to explain myself to River, yet I’d done it out of respect for Shiloh. But I wouldn’t be doing it two more times with Echo and Phoenix.
“That’s good because I wasn’t talking about her brothers, though just to say, Echo’s more than a tad overprotective and takes the meaning of brother to an extreme. I was talking about her. The woman’s got it all—funny, smart, tough, easy on the eyes. But under all that, she is made of stone. You know what her nickname is around the station?”
“Sunny?”
Ethan pinched his lips together and shook his head. “No. Killer Frost. No one gets close to Sunny Kent. Sweet and warm as long as you keep your distance. You get even a millimeter into her space and she’ll ice you out and do it nastily.”
Yep. That sounded about right.
“She already tried that shit with me. Turned up the bitch and attempted to freeze me out. Problem with that is, even as she was doing it she admitted she was doing it on purpose to keep me clear. Now you tell me; that sound like a bitch out to do damage or a woman who has yet to find a man who can withstand the blast and prove he’s worth going through the pain she knows she’ll endure before she can give the sweet and warm. Now, I suppose she’s got more of Killer Frost bottled up and she can rachet that shit up if need be so I’m prepared for a cold chill when I show up at her place tonight.”
Ethan did a slow blink. Then with a glare that clearly communicated he cared about Shiloh, he asked, “And you think you’re the right man for the job?”