night was the first time I did something like that.” My frown turned into a wince. “Recently.”
“Our decisions are final and not up for discussion.”
“What happened to you wanting our ideas, hmm?”
“Petulance does not constitute an idea.” Lila rolled on while Jamie aimed her murderous gaze in her direction. “As far as Teagan, Cooper has a point, and we’ll be happy to take advantage of his past training. Since you mentioned to me prior to the meeting that Teagan would be staying with you, I assumed we could employ one bodyguard for the both of you.”
Cooper didn’t look my way. “That’s correct.”
“Is that so?” I yanked back my hand and dropped it in my lap. My fingers were still tingling. “Do you recall me saying I could live temporarily on the bus? Assuming it was cool with Lila.”
“It is not cool with Lila, namely because the new bus isn’t ready yet.” Donovan’s cultured voice made me cringe. “Added to that, we’d prefer you stay with Cooper. Lila mentioned a united front earlier. When combined with Cooper’s training, the choice seems clear.” He paused. “Unless you have an objection?”
Everyone was waiting for my answer. Including me. Why was I fighting this? I’d stayed at his place last night. We hung out together all the time. It just made sense.
“You never even asked me before you told Lila I was staying with you.”
“I just figured—”
“You didn’t ask,” I repeated quietly. “That’s really important to me.”
Rather than arguing, he gave me a quick nod. “Yeah. I’m sorry. Would you stay with me? Temporarily,” he added as if he knew that would be a sticking point.
I curled my suddenly shaking hands together in my lap. “Yeah.”
Oz dropped his elbow heavily on the table, breaking the humming moment. “So, do I get Sarah again? She busts my balls, but I think she could drop a dude before I even knew he was there.”
“Yes. Sarah is still your bodyguard, Osmond.” Lila consulted her iPad and continued naming the security for the others.
All the while, Coop stared at me. With my heart beating way too fast, I stared right back.
Everything was changing, whether or not I was ready. I just hoped I still recognized myself as the woman I’d fought to become by the end of it.
Six
This woman was going to kill me. Period.
Her bluebell eyes were still a little shiny from her confession. Everything inside of me wanted to haul her out of her chair and hold her close. Bad ideas were just multiplying like gremlins after midnight in a rainstorm.
Jesus.
My chest still hurt that she could think I would be anything like that jackass Pat. I’d literally die before hurting her.
And yet part of me wanted to shake her right now. To shake sense into her that she was important to every single one of us.
Maybe that made me a monster.
I broke eye contact with her and stood. “We good? I need some air.”
Lila looked up from her iPad. “Yes, check in with your security, please. Cole Riggs is out there waiting for you.” She swiped through something and my phone buzzed in my pocket. “I sent you his details.”
“Thanks.” I knew my voice was far more curt than it should be, but I needed to get out of the room and away from Teagan for a few minutes.
I hated that I needed to keep her safe. Hated that she was afraid of me. Hated that she went through that bullshit with Pat. Hated that she didn’t think she could tell me—tell us.
Fuck.
I swung through the door and found a few similarly dressed security people. A little less camo than Noah, but then again, Noah didn’t bother trying to blend in. Even when we’d been in the same unit, he’d been more interested in getting the job done than interacting with the guys.
He’d been a senior officer, but not in my direct chain of command. He’d always been the one to do the most dangerous ops with very little downtime between jumps. Hell, most of the stuff Noah had been involved in was so classified, he couldn’t talk to us about it anyway.
The Rangers was already an elite force, but sharpshooters like Noah and Quinn Alexander were often used for ops I hadn’t been privy to. Then I’d left.
Noah hadn’t left by choice. Unlike me.
That oil sludge slice of memory didn’t need to come out today. I threw it back in the box it belonged in and headed for the side entrance.
“Dallas.”
I turned and swore.