Keep Me Safe (Slow Burn 1)

“He likely thinks you’re a prescription drug addict,” Ramie said in amusement as they drove away.

He glared darkly at her, his scowl making her giggle, which only served to make him glower more fiercely.

“I’m so glad you find this so funny,” he muttered. “Do you forget you could have gotten killed today—yesterday? Whenever the f**k it was.”

“But I didn’t,” she said gently. “And you could have gotten killed too but I’m not biting your head off for daring to be in danger. You didn’t have to go, you know. I had to be there but you didn’t.”

“Stop right there,” he snapped, his mood as black as his expression. “Swear to God if you suggest one more f**king time that I should just leave you to your fate and not give a crap where you go or the danger you’re in I’m going to throttle you.”

“I was merely pointing out the hypocrisy of you being pissed at me for almost getting killed when you did the same,” she said in a mild voice.

“I’m not pissed at . . . ?Okay, maybe I’m pissed,” he grumbled. “Give me a break. I was scared, all right?”

“So was I,” she said, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “Do you have any idea how badly I panicked when I realized there was a bomb inside and didn’t know if I’d be able to warn everyone in time?”

He sighed and lifted her hand to his mouth, pressing his lips to her palm in a tender gesture. “I know, baby. I’m sorry. I don’t deal very well with feeling helpless and right now that’s exactly how I feel. I’m not used to other people controlling my happiness, my mood or my decisions. But you do.”

“I do what?” she queried.

“You have complete control over my happiness, my mood and my decision making,” he said starkly.

“Ah, the control freak in you frowns on that, huh.”

He shot her another glare. “What I would like is for you to stop making light of this. You aren’t helping.”

She smiled back at him, ignoring his scowl. “One of us has to not take things so seriously all the time. Otherwise we’d both be hot messes.”

He pulled through the gate at the end of his winding driveway and Ramie could see that every light in the house was on.

“Guess they waited up,” Ramie muttered.

“It’s not every day their brother nearly gets blown to hell and back,” Caleb said dryly. “Did you think they’d just go to bed and catch up with me in the morning?”

“One could hope,” she said under her breath.

The last thing she wanted right now was to be the recipient of their anger and disapproval over the fact that Caleb had nearly gotten killed because of her.

Caleb parked the vehicle in the garage and then stared at the cracked windshield, shaking his head. Every single vehicle at the bomb site had incurred damage. One of Caleb’s company SUVs had been totaled by a fallen tree. Yesterday’s blast had put a serious dent in his fleet of vehicles.

She groaned when she started to climb down from the passenger seat.

“Your ass stays put,” Caleb ordered.

“You know, you’ve got to work on your disposition, Caleb,” she grumbled. “Would it kill you to ask me something rather than hand down a command from on high?”

He appeared just behind her and then simply scooped her into his arms and headed for the door leading into the house.

“I find barking orders to be more satisfying.”

She snorted. “Ya think? I can’t imagine why you’re still single.”

He stopped short just inside the house, a frown seemingly tattooed on his face.

“I’m not single,” he growled. “And neither the hell are you.”

She lifted an eyebrow when he resumed walking toward the living room. “I’m not? You’re not?”

“Just shut up, Ramie,” he said in an aggravated tone.

She sighed and relaxed in his arms. Her lips twitched from trying to keep her laughter in, but one, he’d just get more pissed, and two, he’d wonder what the hell was wrong with her that she could laugh at a time like this.

What else could she do, though? The last year and a half of her life was a calamity of disaster and close calls. It was either laugh or start crying and never stop, and while Caleb might be pissed over her laughing, he’d freak if hysteria took over and she cried all over him.

Pissing him off seemed the lesser of two evils, and well, poking him amused her because the man had no sense of humor. She wouldn’t have thought she did either, but how else to explain her finding so much amusement in the fact that she’d very nearly been incinerated by a bomb blast.

He set her down on the sofa and it was then she saw his siblings—all three of them—standing across the room, their expressions drawn and worried. Relief was all over Tori’s face. And for some reason Ramie finally lost the battle and began laughing.

“What the hell?” Beau demanded.

“You think this is funny?” Quinn said in an incredulous voice.

Caleb made a sound of exasperation but then lost all semblance of anger when he looked at her.

“Shit,” he murmured.

“What’s wrong with her?” Tori asked sharply. “Is she okay?”

“No,” Caleb said quietly. “She’s not.”

“Don’t be angry, Caleb,” she said with an odd hitch in her voice. It sounded like she was gulping or making some other strange noise she couldn’t identify. “I have to laugh or I’ll start crying.”