The Girl Next Door (Shadow Agents 6)

COOPER HATED BEING in the hospital. The place smelled too much of antiseptic, and the stark white walls hurt his eyes.

Not that the room was 100 percent white. To the left, right near his lone window, he had an explosion of color—twelve bl

ue balloons, reaching for the ceiling.

The balloons were from Gabrielle.

His beautiful Gabrielle. She was beside him right then.

Sleeping.

She’d been with him since the attack.

He’d woken a few times, seen her staring at him with fear and hope in her gaze. One time when he’d fought through the drugs, he’d opened his eyes and seen her holding those balloons.

She’d been trying to smile at him then.

She’d been crying, too.

Her fingers were entwined with his. He curled his around hers a little more, squeezing lightly.

Gabrielle gave a little gasp, and her eyes immediately flew open. “Cooper?”

He smiled at her.

In the next instant, Gabrielle was in that bed with him. She put her mouth to his and kissed him.

He loved having her mouth on his.

Her kiss was light and gentle, and the woman was out of her head if she thought that was enough to satisfy him. Her body was next to his, not touching him, and that wasn’t good enough, either.

He pulled her closer, ignoring the burn of the IV in his arm.

“No!” Gabrielle said, pulling back. “You have to be careful. You need—”

“I have what...I need.” He was staring right at her.

Her lips trembled.

“You said...you loved me...” His voice was raspy, and talking made his throat ache more, but he didn’t care. The pain just meant that he was alive.

“I did,” she whispered, searching his eyes.

“Say it again.”

Her smile bloomed, full and beautiful. “I love you, Cooper Marshall.”

“Again.” His demand. He would never get tired of hearing those words from her.

Gabrielle pressed another too light kiss to his lips. “I love you.”

This time, he was the one to tremble. Because, for an instant, he’d wondered what he would have done if Deuce had killed her.

I would have been lost.

“Cooper?”

He shoved the darkness away from his mind and focused on the light—on Gabrielle. “I think we need...to reevaluate our partnership,” he managed to tell her.