“Oh honey, babe, oh God,” I heard tears in her voice, “oh my God, I love this for you. I love it. I told you your luck had changed.”
She was right and wrong about that, both in big ways.
She let out a sobbing hiccough.
“Paula, sweetie,” I whispered.
“I love this for you. I love this for you,” she said through her tears.
“And I just love you,” I replied.
Another sobbing hiccough.
I let her do her thing for awhile then I called softly, “Paula, honey, I have to go. I need to call Missy and Teri.”
I heard her pull in a steadying breath then she murmured, “Right.”
“See you soon.”
“Can’t wait.”
“Me either, sweetie,” I said quietly.
“I love you, Kia and I’m so happy for you it isn’t funny.”
“I love you too. Oh, and, let the unit go. Sam says it’s a bad investment in this market. We’ll do some viewings. I know you’ll find me something else.”
“You bet your bippy,” she told me. “And Sam’s right. This market is volatile. Now that it’s not five o’clock in the morning and I’m thinking clearly, ish, after this whole thing with you and Sam, I’m seeing that’s crazy. We’ll get you sorted. Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“All right, later, babe.”
“Later, sweetie.”
We disconnected, I drew in breath, staring at my phone then I jumped when I heard Sam say quietly, “Thank you, baby.”
My eyes flew to the door where he was leaned against the jamb, arms crossed on his chest, one foot crossed at the ankle.
Seriously, he was hot and I suspected he was so hot, I’d never get used to how hot he was.
Which was cool.
“Thank me what?” I asked.
“Your girl asked what I was like in bed, you didn’t tell her. Thank you.”
I blinked. Then I asked, “You were listening?”
“Fuck yeah.”
I felt my brows draw together.
Then I asked, “Why?”
“Mainly because I’ve had women play me in the past, I got burned, they were good, you could be the master and I gotta say I’m pretty fuckin’ pleased to find out you’re not. You’re what I thought you were. You’re just Kia.”
Okay, it kind of sucked he’d eavesdropped but then again I’d been trying to do that to his conversations all morning.
And, he had a point. Once bitten, twice shy. A gazillion times bitten, two gazillion times shy.
“Yes, Sam,” I said quietly, “I’m just Kia.”
He held my eyes, his entire face warm, his eyes both warm and intense and I really liked when he looked at me like that.
Then he said, “Lunch is comin’. More good news, got a buddy who’s got a buddy who’s got a place here. He’s also got skills and hardware. He’s retired so he’s also got time. This means he’s okay with bein’ another pair of eyes, you and I do our thing here, he’ll kit me out and have our back.”
I stared at him.
Then I sought clarification.
“Are you saying he’s going to be our bodyguard?”
Sam nodded once. “That’s what I’m saying.”
“And are you saying that he’s giving you a weapon?”
Sam nodded again, his eyes never leaving me and he repeated, “That’s what I’m saying.”
I went back to staring at him mutely.
Sam, being Sam, felt like being communicative.
“He’s good, he knows what he’s doin’ and between him and me, no one will get at you. We can enjoy the rest of our time here and get you home. In the meantime, I got boys doin’ their thing to see about coverage in Indiana. By the time we touch down in Indianapolis, you’ll be golden.”
Wow. Seriously. He was not wasting any time looking out for me.
I didn’t know what to do with that. The only thing I knew was that it felt really, freaking good.
“Okay,” I whispered.
“I’ll be talking to Barney Oswald too, baby, just so you know.”
“Okay.”
He studied me in a way that it occurred to me that maybe I didn’t quite understand his simple statement.
Sam confirmed my assumption.
“When I say that, I mean, I’ll be talkin’ to him to find out what’s up with his search for this guy and I’ll be talkin’ to him to find out why the fuck he didn’t give you a head’s up.”
“He’s a really good Sheriff, Sam, has been for years because he’s a good guy and he’s protective of his citizens. But he’s known me since I was a little girl, he hunts with my father and I know he figured out what went down with Cooter and me.”
“That might be so but it was a jacked decision.”
“Sam –”
“It was jacked, Kia. I know this because you went off to fuckin’ Europe unprotected. The least he could have done is informed your Dad or your brother so one of them could have talked to you, talked you out of goin’ and assessed where your head was at about whether you should know it all or not. Not to mention, you should have had a security system installed in your house even if you’re sellin’ it.”