as he ignored the pain and gave one final pull. It wasn’t until Juliet was over the edge and in his arms that he realized it had come from him.
“Oh, thank God.” He held on tightly. “I thought I lost you.”
“Th-thought you had...t-too.”
She trembled and shook so violently against his body, he felt it deep inside his ribs. As much as he hated letting her go, they needed to get off the ground and somewhere warm as soon as possible.
He stood and helped her do the same. “Come on. Let’s get you to a hospital.”
“D-don’t need a h-hospital.” She pulled him to a stop and looked up at him. “Only n-need...y-you.”
Does she mean that, or is it the cold talking?
A shiver raced down his spine, making him think it was probably the latter.
Mike squeezed her hand and started to walk. “You’re freezing. We need to—”
She pulled on his hand again. This time, the crazy woman grabbed his face, rose to her tiptoes, and pressed her ice-cold lips to his. “L-love you, M-Mike.”
She called me Mike.
His heart swelled to the point he thought it would burst from his chest. The woman had fallen off a cliff, and damn near died and she was frozen from head to toe, yet she’d stopped to tell him she loved him, and she’d called him Mike.
Ignoring how cold his ass was or how weak his right arm felt after the workout he’d put it through, Mike bent down and scooped her into his arms.
“I love you, too, baby.” He kissed her again. “God, I love you so much.”
Juliet opened her mouth to say something else when they heard multiple male voices in the distance. They turned and saw three bulky men walking down the trail toward them. All three were carrying guns.
Mike started to reach for his when one of them held up a hand. “You Bradshaw?”
“Who’s asking?”
“I’m Reid. This is Beckett and that’s Stone.” The men continued advancing. “We do some work for Jason Ryker. He said you could use some backup?”
Relief flooded him because, fuck. He was cold as shit and did not feel like shooting their asses, too.
With Juliet held snuggly in his arms, Mike made his way to the newcomers. “Thanks, but...you’re a little late.”
“Sorry, man,” Reid apologized. “Fucking snow slowed us down.”
“She hurt?” The one named Stone asked. He removed his heavy coat and laid it over Juliet as best he could.
“There a hospital nearby?”
“T-told y-you—”
“You’re getting checked out.” Mike gave her a no-nonsense look.
Rather than argue further, she smiled and laid her head against his chest. Even though her voice was small and muffled, he still heard her soft, “Okay.”
Epilogue
“I still can’t believe she gave your ass a second chance.”
With a smile, Mike selected a few poker chips from the stack in front of him and tossed them in the center of the table. He looked over at Grant. The former SEAL and Alpha Team’s demolitions expert seemed even grumpier than usual.
“Truth?” Mike picked up the card Trevor had dealt him. “I can’t either.”
The men who were still in took a second to look at their cards. A minute later, Mike was pulling the pile of chips in his direction.
“Don’t pay any attention to Hill.” Derek grinned. “He’s just pissed because he hasn’t won a hand all night.”
Grant scowled at the other man. “I’m pissed because you fuckers keep cheating.”
The men around the table all began laughing and talking at once. Glancing at the group of women sitting across the room, Mike grabbed his bottle of beer and stood.
“Deal me out this next round. I need a refill.”
“A refill.” Jake looked down at the half-full bottle in Mike’s hand and gave him a knowing grin. “I know what that’s code for.”
Mike smacked him on the shoulder as he walked past. “Like you’re any better?”
“How do you think I know the code?”
Cringing, Mike turned and hollered at the man from over his shoulder. “That’s my sister you’re talking about, dickhead.”
“What’s your sister?”
Stopping in his tracks, Mike spun his head around and found Olivia standing directly in front of him. “Your husband still hasn’t learned to not talk about your sex life in front of me.”
His sister grinned. “Well, I am an adult, and as you pointed out, he is my husband. So, yeah...we do have sex.”
“Lots of it!” Jake yelled loud enough for everyone to hear.
Groaning, Mike flipped his friend the bird. “Doesn’t mean I want to hear about it.”
“Speaking of hearing about things...” His sister grabbed his arm, bringing