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  Alex nodded. “You’re right.”

  “I generally am.” Sean patted him on the back, repeating what he’d said earlier. “She’s going to be fine.”

  * * *

  The first sensation Valri was aware of was pain. Dark, sharp, inescapable pain.

  It had woken her up. Beginning as a distant pain, it grew more pronounced, as well as sharper, as sleep receded away from her on shaky legs.

  Opening her eyes, Valri felt frighteningly disoriented.

  She didn’t recognize the bed, or the room, or the faint baby powder smell.

  What was that?

  It all translated itself into a single message: she didn’t belong here.

  Groggy, unable to focus, Valri still tried to throw off the covers and swing her legs out of bed.

  For all the energy she thought she’d expended, all she really managed to do was move the covers a fraction of an inch away from her.

  The second he saw her trying to move, Alex was on his feet. He stopped the blanket from going anywhere. He did the same with Valri.

  “Hey, hold it, Cavanaugh,” he cautioned her. “You can’t get up.”

  The pain was close to cutting her in half. She couldn’t seem to get away from it.

  “Why not?” Valri challenged a beat before she passed out.

  “That’s why not,” Alex murmured.

  Looking down at her, he very carefully tucked the blanket back around her. Even anesthetized she was still feisty. For the first time since he’d accompanied her to the hospital in the ambulance, Alex began to relax a little.

  She was going to be all right, he thought with a relieved smile. Sean and Andrew had been correct. They’d each said she was going to be fine, and she was.

  Alex settled back in the chair and waited for her to open her eyes again.

  * * *

  “Oh God, I feel as stiff as a board,” Valri groaned, trying desperately to locate a single part of her that didn’t feel as if it had been run over by a moving van. She was conscious and this time she didn’t drift in and out of disorientation.

  She was fully awake.

  She also instantly recognized Alex and felt self-conscious about looking, in her estimation, the worst she had in her whole life.

  “How long was I out?” she asked him.

  “Two,” Alex replied after a beat. There was a lump in his throat the size of a golf ball. He was more relieved than he was ever going to possibly say.

  “Two whole hours? No wonder I feel so stiff. This mattress feels like someone’s trying to plant a rock garden.”

  “Not two hours,” Alex corrected. “You were out for two days.”

  Valri looked at him in disbelief, absolutely stunned. “Two days?” she echoed incredulously. “Are you sure?”

  He could recount every one of those two days in five-minute increments. “Yes, I’m sure. You were out that whole time.”

  “How would you know that?” she asked.

  “Because I sat here that whole time,” he told her, “waiting for you to wake up.”

  Her eyes grew huge. She wasn’t sure if she believed him. Maybe he was just making it up. Who surrendered that much of himself?

  “You sat here for two days?”

  He nodded. “Your family would bring me food when they came to visit. Especially your uncle Andrew.” There was just the slightest curve to his mouth. “That man can sure cook.”

  Valri cut him short, trying to get to the bottom of this story.

  “They were here?” she asked Alex in awed wonder. “Who?” she pressed. When she got stronger, she wanted to thank them all personally. It seemed like the least she could do.

  “Everyone,” Alex told her with finality.

  Valri was still having difficulty absorbing what this all meant. Or maybe she was having difficulty because there was no longer any control.

  “By ‘everyone’ you mean—”

  “I mean everyone. The head nurse in the ER area threatened to have everyone evicted, but since they were also the police, she had no one to call to do the honors. She wasn’t happy about backing off. You would have gotten a kick out of it if you were conscious.” He took her hand and looked at her with deep concern as well as mind-numbing relief. “How do you feel?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment, searching for an adequate description that would do what she felt justice. “Like my body was taken to the science lab and rejected after they’d cut it up into tiny little pieces, so somebody pasted all those tiny pieces together.”

  Alex laughed drily. “Anyone rejecting you should have to have their head examined.”

  She smiled. That was sweet of him. It was also completely unexpected. “You’re just saying that because I was shot—indirectly.”

  “I’m just ‘saying’ it because it’s true,” he contradicted. She was wriggling in the bed, as if she was searching for a comfortable spot and obviously couldn’t find one. “You want me to call the nurse for you?”

  “I thought you wanted me all to yourself,” Valri teased, trying to rise above the pain or at least find a way to endure it until it finally faded.

  “Not when you’re in pain,” he told her seriously. “Then I just want to get you help.”

  She gave him what she hoped was a brave smile. “It’ll pass,” she said, dismissing the subject. She was more interested in the one she raised next. “What happened with Bigelow?”

  “Your collar is presently sitting behind bars, where he’s going to be for a long while. Judge vetoed bail because with his skills, Bigelow can hack into the system, reverse the charges and book himself a flight to Switzerland, all at the same time.”

  He had lost her right from the beginning. “Wait. My collar?” She repeated the phrase he’d used. There had to be some mistake. “You were the one who tackled the guy and cuffed him.”

  “Which would never have happened if you hadn’t tracked him down with your computer voodoo. So I figure the collar is yours. You deserve it. Besides,” he reasoned, “things like that look good on your record when they’re deciding whether or not to make you a permanent detective.”

  Her mouth dropped open. With a grin, Alex put his index finger beneath her chin and raised it, closing her mouth.

  Valri stared at him, stunned. “You did that for me?”

  The shrug was casual as well as dismissive. “Actually, I did that for me. Now that I’ve broken you in as my partner, I really don’t feel like going through all that again with someone new.” He spared another dismissive shrug. “I guess you’re lucky I’m lazy.”

  “Yeah, lucky,” she echoed with a wide smile. “Very lucky.”

  Granted, her whole body still had a postoperative ache to a great extent. But even so, she wanted to blow this Popsicle stand, the sooner the better. She had a feeling that right now, Alex was the best medicine for her. It certainly was worthwhile exploring.

  “Can you get the doctor for me?” she asked him.

  “Sure. I’ll have the nurse page him.” He crossed to the door and asked, “What should I say when she asks why you’re asking for your doctor?”

  “That I want him to discharge me so I can go home.”

  Hearing that, Alex turned around and walked back to her bed. “Not going to happen.”

  That surprised her. “Why?” she asked. “They patched me up, didn’t they?”

  “You were out of it for two days, Cavanaugh,” Alex told her patiently. “They’re going to want to watch you for a while—not that I can blame them.”

  “Brody—” There was a warning note in her voice. She wanted to go home.

  “You’re staying the night. Get used to it.” He sat back down in the chair where he had kept vigil for the past fifty-one hours. “They’ve got a pretty good cable system h
ere,” he told her, picking up the remote control and aiming it at the flat-screen that was on the opposite wall. “They even get the Golden Movie Channel here. Shane’s playing.” He hit the appropriate numbers to make the movie appear on the screen.

  “Shane?” she questioned.

  It was obvious that he was going to have to educate her. “It’s a classic Western. The good guy wins and the bad guy gets his. You’ll love it,” he promised.

  She knew when to accept the inevitable and right now, in addition to acceptance, she knew she had a lot to be grateful for.

  “If you say so,” she said with a sigh.

  Overwhelmed for a moment by what could have been a completely different outcome from the one they were experiencing, Alex leaned over the side railing of the hospital bed and kissed her.

  “Welcome back, partner,” he murmured. “Now, watch the movie.”

  “Yes, sir,” she responded in an obedient, clipped tone.

  “Music to my ears,” he replied, referring to her humble demeanor just before he settled back beside her. Since the movie was already in progress, he treated her to a short narrative of what had happened in the story up to this point.

  Valri hung on to every word, because he was saying them.

  Epilogue

  Alex fell back on her bed, spent and happily amazed. Amazed that the lovemaking between them just kept getting better and better rather than becoming routine or even old hat.

  Every square inch of her bedroom was filled to the brim with the happiness she all but radiated from every party of her.

  Valri had been forced to take the mandatory six weeks to recover from her wound and subsequent surgery and he had come over every night to be with her. Something, he had told her, he wanted to continue even after she went back to work the coming Monday.

  Gathering her into his arms, he looked for a way to initiate the conversation he had been holding off having all during her convalescence.

  “You know,” Valri told him as she curled into his arms, “you don’t have to treat me as if I was going to break any second.”

  He supposed that he had been extra careful around her. But who could blame him?

  “You almost did,” he reminded her. “And it was on my watch.”

  She smiled and shook her head. “Even if you were telepathic—which, by the way, I’m glad you’re not—you wouldn’t have been able to foresee that one of the bullets was going to ricochet and hit me. Odds were pretty much against it,” she told him. “Lighten up, partner. I’ve been cleared for work. I get to come back next Monday.”

  He knew she was cleared—she’d told him enough times—but he was still worried. “You don’t think that’s rushing it a little?”

  She looked at him as if he’d suddenly begun talking in a foreign language.

  “Rushing it? Are you kidding? I’m going stir-crazy—not that I don’t enjoy you coming over every night and reminding me that there’s more to life than just work—but I really do need to get back to doing something useful before I lose my mind.”

  Cradling her in his arms, he kissed the top of her head. “And burning up the sheets every night doesn’t strike you as useful, huh?” he asked, amused.

  “Very thrilling,” she admitted, because she loved the idea of listening for his knock on the door, “but not exactly useful, no.”

  “I see,” he murmured, this time pressing a kiss to the side of her neck.

  She sighed, ready to slip back into the delicious world that they always created whenever they got together like this. “Did you really sit by my bed for two days like you said?”

  The question had come out of nowhere and it took him a moment to focus. “Two days, three hours and twelve minutes to be exact.”

  She laughed and shook her head. How could someone become so dear to her so quickly? But there was no use fighting it. He had and what he just said sealed that position for him. “I had no idea you were so detail oriented.”

  “One of my many hidden talents,” he told her.

  He wanted to make love with her again, but he couldn’t put this off any longer. To keep pushing it aside for one reason or another was to blatantly avoid the issue—and also to go on like this with her for another day. But while it was wonderful, making love with her like this, he caught himself wanting more.

  Something permanent.

  It was as big a surprise to him as it would probably be to Valri, he thought. But he had to take the next step. He needed to take it.

  “As I sat there in your room, I had a lot of time to think.”

  Lying beside him, Valri languidly traced swirls along his chest. “Oh, about what?”

  He wondered if she had a clue that she was really arousing him with those gliding fingertips of hers. He caught her hand in his, closing his fingers around it. Now that they were talking, he needed to get this out, and what she was doing was really interfering with his ability to think coherently.

  “About what it would be like if you never opened your eyes again.”

  “Now there’s a less than happy thought,” Valri commented.

  “Exactly,” he agreed wholeheartedly. His tone grew very serious as he continued. “It made me realize that even though we’ve only been together a short time, I’ve gotten very used to seeing you.”

  “Is this where you break into a Rex Harrison imitation and sing that you’ve grown accustomed to my face?” she asked, trying to keep a straight face.

  “Maybe later—and only if I want to torture you,” he said. “I never thought that marriage, kids, all that average domestic business, was for me. I don’t exactly have a normal family life in my background.”

  “Who does?” she asked with a dismissive shrug.

  “You, for one. Your people believe in protecting and serving.” He paused for just a moment, knowing there was no turning back once this was out. “Mine believe in helping themselves.”

  Sounded like good old Yankee ingenuity to her. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  He wasn’t finished. “To other people’s things.”

  “What?” Valri looked at him, confused. She was certain she hadn’t heard him correctly.

  He took a breath, then told her. “My family is made up of con artists, art forgers and grifters.”

  Was he trying to be funny? “You’re kidding, right?”

  But Alex shook his head. “I only wish I was.”

  “But you’re a police detective,” she stressed, confused.

  “And for that I’m considered to be the black sheep of the family,” he replied. That was all he could bear to say right now, and even that was difficult enough. He searched her face, wondering if he’d lost her for good. “I’ve never told anyone else about my family.”

  “But on your initial application to the police academy—”

  “Parents deceased.” He parroted the words he’d written in. “No siblings.”

  He would have been dismissed immediately if the fact that he’d lied on his application ever came to light, she thought. Right or wrong, Valri made up her mind at that moment that it would never come from her. “And you’re telling me why?”

  “Because I trust you and because I think you should know everything in my past before I ask you.”

  Their eyes met for a timeless moment as silence enveloped the bedroom. And then, smiling, Valri said, “Yes.”

  “Yes?” he echoed uncertainly. “But you don’t even know what I’m going to ask you.”

  She gave him a knowing look. “I have an above-average IQ and I’m fairly certain that you’re going to ask me to marry you. If you’re not,” she allowed gamely, “this is going to turn into a very embarrassing moment for both of us.”

  “Well, then I wouldn’t dream of embarrassing you,” he whispered again
st her cheek.

  She drew her head back just a little so she could look at him. “That’s very considerate of you.”

  “See, I told you. I just get better as time goes on,” he told her. And then his grin softened into a smile. “I love you, you know.”

  Her eyes were shining as she said, “To be honest, I suspected as much, but I wasn’t sure.”

  “Now you are,” he said with finality. He waited a moment, but she remained as quiet as he was. “Isn’t there something you want to say to me?”

  She pretended to think for a moment, then said in all innocence, “I already said ‘yes,’ so no, can’t think of anything offhand.”

  “You’re going to drive me crazy like this for the next forty years, aren’t you?” Alex guessed.

  Her grin all but encompassed her entire face. “Count on it. And if you think you’re getting time off for good behavior, say after forty years, think again. I’m going for the long haul, mister.” She brushed her lips against his, then pulled back, teasing him. “And just for the record, yes, I love you, too. But that’s one of those things that just go without saying.”

  “Not for me. I need to hear it,” he told her.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Valri promised. She was all but glowing as she said, “You do realize this means another Cavanaugh-style wedding, don’t you?”

  “I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I can’t wait,” Alex told her.

  There was just the right amount of enthusiasm in his voice. She knew he was telling the truth.

  “Neither can I,” Valri whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  The time for talking was over.

  * * * * *

  Be sure to pick up Marie’s next romance

  in the CAVANAUGH JUSTICE series,

  on sale in July 2015.

  If you loved this romantic,

  no-thrills-barred story,

  don’t miss more from the Cavanaugh clan:

  CAVANAUGH STRONG

  CAVANAUGH UNDERCOVER

  CAVANAUGH HERO

  MISSION: CAVANAUGH BABY

  Available now from Harlequin Romantic Suspense!