“Ah,” she said neutrally. “That definitely explains your insistence on all the security upgrades.”
“I think the chance is small, but I can’t discount the possibility. I’d rather be cautious than unprepared. Until and unless we hear from Axel that the trap was sprung and the jerks caught . . .” He shrugged.
“Nothing to do but wait,” she said.
He was silent a minute, then said carefully, “Does that mean you aren’t going to kick my ass to the curb?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “There’s a lot to think about. I know Axel, remember? He came up with the idea, and you were probably half-conscious at the time, juiced up on pain medication—” Considering how weak he’d been when he’d arrived, she could only imagine how serious his condition had still been when Axel cooked up his plan. And then the bastard had put him on the road from wherever to drive here on his first day out of the hospital. Most people would have collapsed before they got halfway here. Morgan had gutted it out, but then, Axel had likely known he would.
“Don’t give me a full pass because I’ve had plenty of time to think about it since I got off the funny flying stuff.”
“I’m not giving you a full pass,” she said testily. “This is serious, so don’t rush me, okay? I need to think about things.” One of those things was how he didn’t try to sidestep the issue or pass blame off on Axel, which would be laughably easy.
“I’d rather you punch me in the nose and get it over with.”
“You don’t get to choose. I’m pissed, but I’m still deciding how to allocate the pissery.”
“Oh, God.” His arms tightened around her. “Serves me right, falling for a reasonable woman. I’d rather you yell and get it over with.”
Bo sat quietly in his embrace, letting his words seep through her. She was cautious enough, suspicious enough, about romantic relationships that her first cynical thought was to wonder if he’d said he was falling for her as . . . manipulation, maybe. He was sharply intelligent, as witnessed by the way he’d so rapidly and correctly assessed Jesse’s character and adjusted his attitude and approach on the fly. He could read people, knew how to say what he needed to say to get what he wanted.
On the other hand, except for the information that he’d omitted at the beginning, as far as she knew, he’d always told her the truth. He hadn’t hidden anything from her, he’d answered all her questions . . . and yesterday he’d risked his own life to protect her and Tricks.
She watched the lake, seeing the ripples that probably signaled small fish coming to the surface, watching the bank reeds sway in the breeze. Tricks nosed around, following one interesting smell to another interesting smell, her extravagant tail swishing happily back and forth. Morgan’s arms were around her, his strength between her and the world. She didn’t know what to think about that because she’d always stood alone, handled things alone—until she’d come to Hamrickville.
She knew there wasn’t anything special about the little town, except maybe the fond blend of admiration and fear in which everyone held the Mean-As-Shit Hobsons, that she could have found friendship and caring in almost any place she chose. Except she hadn’t chosen, being here had been forced on her by her finances, and it was what it was. They were her friends. They were hers to protect.
That line of thought led to her wondering if Morgan thought of her, and them, as his to protect. He’d been there when she needed him. He’d gone above and beyond. For better or worse, he was becoming part of the town. People greeted him with a “Hey, Morg!” as if he’d become one of them. Jesse treated him with respect, and Bo had to admit that weighed big in Morgan’s favor because Jesse was nobody’s fool.
If she was going to sit here and think of reasons why she shouldn’t blame Morgan for the situation, there were several. He treated her with respect; not once had he ever made her feel less than capable. He didn’t second-guess her, he didn’t question her decisions, he made it plain that he considered it her-house-her-rules and he was willing to do whatever he could to help her. He treated her as an equal, which, considering the kind of man he was and what he did, was quite a statement.
And, if she wanted to keep going down this particular road, he was as completely under Tricks’s paw as she was. He’d fought it, but now he made no pretense of being indifferent. Maybe she needed her head examined to base a decision on whether or not someone loved her dog, but Tricks was so important to her that she couldn’t discount it.
On impulse she called Tricks to her. “Tricks! Here, sweetie.” She clapped her hands. “Come get a hug.”
Tricks whirled and came bounding to her, a big smile on her face. The sunshine glinted on her pale gold coat, catching the iridescent threads in the soft fur and making her glow. Enthusiastically she pounced, licking Bo’s face and hands, her tail wagging so hard her entire body was wiggling back and forth. “Pretty girl,” Bo crooned, warding off some of the swipes of Tricks’s tongue while engaging in her own hugging and petting. “You’re such a smart girl. What do you think of Morgan, huh?” She held Tricks’s head still and went eye to eye with her. Tricks stilled, her expression becoming one of intent listening as if she knew Bo was telling her something important.
Bo jerked her thumb at Morgan. “He did something I don’t like, and I can’t decide if I should keep him or not. Mostly it wasn’t his fault.”