Protect Me Not ((Un)Professionally Yours 2)

“Just make sure she’s well taken care of, okay?” Ty said tiredly, not in the mood to banter. Chance’s expression went solemn, and he nodded.

“Vicki,” Ty called, halting everybody’s slow progress out of the office. She lifted her quizzical gaze to his. Ty stepped forward to cup her jaw. He ran a reverential thumb over her lip.

“I’ll come see you later, all right?” She nodded.

Ty sighed before thinking—Fuck it, I’m so fired from this assignment anyway—and leaned down to kiss her, uncaring of Chance’s presence, or the EMTs’ impatience to get going, or the police waiting for him to finish his statement. Not caring about anything in that moment, except this woman who had nearly been lost to him in a moment of terrifying violence.

Ty knew that he should be running scared. This incident pretty much confirmed everything he already knew about how quickly he could lose someone he cared about. Instead, all it had done was make him want to hold her close and never let her go.

This gentle, lovely woman, whom he hadn’t even realized he cared about in any emotional capacity, until this very moment.

He lifted his head—ignoring Chance—and smiled at her.

He made a gruff self-conscious sound and stepped back, allowing them to continue out of the shop.

Chapter Seventeen

“He’s going to try and take the blame for this, isn’t he?” Vicki asked Chance wearily once they were settled in the ambulance. Because Chance took up so much space in the back, and Vicki’s injuries weren’t life-threatening, both EMTs rode up front.

“Aw yeah, for damned sure. I reckon that’s why he went for broke and did the thing with the smushing lips and the tongues and what-not.”

Vicki blushed at his reference to the kiss and glared at the dressing on her arm.

“But what happened wasn’t his fault.”

“You’re his responsibility. It happened on his watch. And he’s a sucker for punishment.”

“I’ll make sure Brand and my brothers know that I’m the idiot who opened that door. Ty warned me not to.”

“I’m thinking if they find out about the…” He gestured toward her mouth and raised his eyebrows pointedly. “They’ll assume his judgment was impaired.”

“Please, I’m not that irresistible,” Vicki scoffed.

“Come on, now. Don’t sell y’self short. You’re a cute little Sheila. I’ve noticed it and so—it appears—has my good friend, Tyler.”

“Ty’s a professional, he would never allow his judgment to become impaired.”

“Some would argue that getting involved with a principal shows a serious lack of good judgment.”

“Well, no one will know, because you’re not telling anyone, are you, Chance?”

“Hell, Vicki. Ask anyone, I’m like a gossipy old woman. I can’t keep m’lips shut for more than two seconds.”

“Chance, please,” she begged, tears welling. “He’s good at his job, and he’s only ever had my best interests at heart. Please, this will destroy the reputation he’s worked so hard to build.”

“How long has this thing between you two been going on?” Chance asked, suddenly as serious as a heart attack.

“It only lasted for two weeks, he doesn’t deserve to have his career and reputation ruined because of two weeks of folly.”

“Was it folly?”

“On his part.”

He sighed and took her hand, careful not to jostle her arm.

“No wonder he looked so damned pissed off about that Teddy guy,” he muttered. Vicki blinked; not sure she had heard him properly.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said, his easy grin back. “Vicki, I’m sure Ty thinks he really outed himself to God and all after that kiss, but I don’t intend to tell a fucking soul. If he wants people to know about you two, he can tell them his own damned self.”

Vicki sighed in relief, smiling at him through a sheen of tears. “Thank you, Chance.”

“Not sure what Ty’s going to do though.”

“He won’t say a word about it. I’ll make sure of that,” Vicki promised grimly.

“He’s still going to try to take the fall for your bad decision-making though,” Chance said, and Vicki winced. “What the hell were you thinking? You should know better by now.”

She hung her head. “I know. It never occurred to me that something like this would happen, not with Ty there. That guy must have been high on something to think he could take Ty on.”

“Flattered though he’d probably be to hear that… How do you think that solemn, surly, uncommunicative bastard would have felt if you got your damned fool self killed today?”

Her head dropped even lower. He grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath and lifted her chin with his forefinger.

“Vicki, I’ve known a lot of guys like Ty. They’ve suffered immeasurable loss and tend to keep people at a distance because of it. He’s terrified of losing more people he loves, so he’s closed himself off from the world. Six years we’ve been colleagues, and he’s only now coming out of his shell. I’ve always called him friend, but I don’t think he’s seen me as one until recently.