Leigh squeezed his hand, tears glistening in her eyes. “You never let go of me, Jake. Even when you were unconscious, you refused to let go. Rick had to pry your hand off me.”
Jake wasn’t sure why that embarrassed him. Maybe because Rick was standing there, and he’d never been very good at showing his emotions, par ticularly when it came to the woman he loved more than his own life. “Yeah, well, I didn’t want Monteith stealing my woman.”
“All bets are off until you get your ass out of that bed, Vanderpol.” Rick moved his eyebrows like Groucho Marx.
Leigh punched Rick good-naturedly in the shoulder.
“How’s Madrid?” Jake asked.
“He’s in the room next door,” Rick said. “Nasty bullet wound in his abdomen. Had to have surgery, and it was dicey for a while. But he’s going to be okay.”
Jake grimaced. “Damn armor-piercing bullets are a bitch.”
“Don’t feel too bad for him,” Rick said. “He wants to punch your lights out for thinking he sold you out.”
“Yeah, well, he’s going to have to wait in line,” Jake said, thinking of his surly boss. “I’m sure Cutter wants his pound of flesh.”
“He’s looked in on you several times in the past couple of days. No one can figure out if he wants you to wake up because he’s worried or if he wants to rake you over some hot coals.”
“Pretty ticked off, huh?”
“You bet.”
The door opened. Jake looked past Leigh and Rick to see his superior Sean Cutter enter the room. “Who’s ticked off?”
Rick muttered a curse under his breath.
Cutter’s gaze went to Jake and held. “Get lost, Monteith. Vanderpol and I have some business to discuss.”
Monteith nodded briskly at Cutter as the two men passed each other. Cutter strode over to the bed, barely sparing Leigh a glance.
“I should probably go,” she said.
Jake didn’t let go of her hand. “Anything he has to say, you can hear it.”
“I don’t mind dressing you down in front of a civilian,” Cutter said bluntly.
“Then do it,” Jake returned, but he was edgy all the same. His job with the MIDNIGHT Agency meant the world to him. He could tell by the look in Cutter’s eyes that he was going to fire him. Jake had broken too many rules in the past few days to count. But holding Leigh’s hand in his, he knew he’d do it all over again to save her life.
He loved her. More than his job. More than his own life. Whatever transpired in the next minutes didn’t really matter in the scope of things. She was the only thing he needed in his life to be happy.
Cutter scowled at Jake. “You disobeyed a direct order.”
“Several,” Jake muttered and mentally braced, telling himself he could always hire on as a Rent-a-Cop until he found something he could live with.
“You just about got one of my men killed. You stole a vehicle. You used your position with my agency to further a personal agenda.”
Leigh stuck out her chin. “With all due respect, that agenda just happened to be my life.”
Jake squeezed her hand. “Leigh—”
She ignored him, her eyes sharp on Cutter. “This man saved me from a slow and agonizing death. He stopped a dangerous criminal, and took a renegade U.S. marshal off the street. He risked his career and his very life to do the right thing.”
Cutter just stared at her. Jake shifted uncomfortably in the bed, secretly proud of her, wishing Cutter would just get this over with.
“Are you finished?” Cutter asked after a moment.
Leigh blinked as if realizing she’d overstepped. “Yes,” she said.
“In that case.” Cutter tugged an envelope from his jacket and passed it to Jake. “This is for you.”
Jake took the envelope from him and slid out the card inside. He recognized the star on the card, but couldn’t quite get his mind around its significance. “What is this?”
“I nominated you for the MIDNIGHT Star award.”
Jake didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to feel. Not when he’d been expecting one thing and receiving the exact opposite. The MIDNIGHT Star Award was the highest award a MIDNIGHT agent could earn.
“The ceremony is two weeks from today,” Cutter said. “The Ritz-Carlton in D.C. Don’t be late.”
“I’ll be there,” Jake heard himself say.
Cutter offered his hand. “I don’t necessarily agree with your methods, but you did good work, Vanderpol.”
Jake took the other man’s hand and shook it. “Thank you, sir.”
Nodding at Leigh, Sean Cutter turned and left the room.
“Did that really just happen?” Leigh asked.
Jake grinned at her. “Unless they’re pumping hallucinogens into me, I’d venture to say Cutter just let me off the hook in a very big way.”
“He knows you’re a good agent.”
“Smart guy.”
She touched the side of his face. “You look happy.”
“There’s only one thing that would make me happier.”
“I don’t think you’re in any condition to—”
He laughed. “Marry me.” He hadn’t meant to say it, but now that the words were out he couldn’t take them back. He didn’t want to.
Color bloomed in her cheeks.