Tyler (Blue Halo Book 6)

“Dark or milk chocolate?”

She studied the two bars of chocolate in Tyler’s hands, noting the hint of a smile playing at his lips. They were standing in the grocery store, and she wasn’t going to lie, it was a tough decision. “Younger me would have said milk. But now that I’m nearing forty, I’m definitely in the dark camp.”

His lips twitched. “I’d hardly consider thirty-four to be ‘nearly forty.’”

“Ah, well, my creaking bones would say otherwise. And I’m certainly closer to forty than you.”

This time, it wasn’t a twitch of his lips. It was a full grin, dimples and all. And man, it was a force. “Luckily, I find your maturity sexy as hell.”

Her heart stuttered with so much force it rendered her silent. Then he winked, setting her heart off on a full gallop. God, the universe liked to torture her. Or, less the universe and more this man.

With a sharp inhale, she moved forward. Their day had consisted of a long walk around town—now that her ankle was feeling up to it—a longer stop at The Grind, followed by an afternoon of working at Blue Halo. She hadn’t quite finished her commissioned piece, but she was close. It was taking her longer than usual, mostly because of all her distractions.

Now they were grocery shopping. It was so…domestic. And it was making her feel everything she should not be feeling. But then, they’d already kissed this morning—twice. At this point, she was steering a sinking ship.

He hadn’t asked about her reaction to the crawl space at Mrs. Henry’s house. She wasn’t surprised though. If there was anything she’d learned about Tyler Morgan, it was that he was good at knowing when she wanted to talk about something and when she didn’t. And good at not asking too many questions. She was almost certain that was because he wanted her to offer the answers herself. And she wanted to. Lord, she wanted to bare her soul to this man.

“Okay, next big question,” Tyler said once she was beside him again. “Chili peppers in your chili con carne, or no chili peppers?”

That was an easy one. “Definitely chili peppers. I’m a ‘how hot can you make it’ kind of girl.”

She expected laughter or some form of humor to play across his face. Maybe a witty retort. So the intensity in his blue eyes and the deepening of his voice almost had her stumbling.

“Guess we’ll make it hot, then.”

Jesus. Send help.

He held her gaze for a beat longer than he should have, then touched a hand to the small of her back as they walked to the end of the aisle.

Screwed. She was so screwed.

They’d just stepped out of the aisle when prickles on the back of her neck came for the second time that day. Only now, it was more intense. It was accompanied by the hairs on her arms standing on end. The thumping of her heart.

She stopped. He was close.

Tyler’s eyes flashed to her in question, but she continued to scan the store, searching for Levi’s brown eyes.

“Emerson?”

“He’s here,” she whispered, finally looking at him.

The change in him was instant. His features tightened. He lowered the basket and reached for something at his waist with the other.

A woman shouted.

Levi walked out of another aisle, gun in both hands, pointed right at them.

Cold sweat drenched her skin.

No. Not them. Tyler.

More screams echoed throughout the store. The pounding sound of people running to get out or hide behind counters. Tyler shifted his body to cover her fully. Emerson remained still. So still, she felt stuck. Unable to move forward or back.

Tyler tried to speak. “Levi—”

“Shut up.” Levi stepped in a wide arc to meet her gaze. “Come with me, Emerson. I’ll keep you safe.”

His left hand released the pistol, and he touched his shoulder. The same shoulder he’d been scratching at the bus station. Like it was itchy or uncomfortable.

“Levi…” She stepped forward, but Tyler’s hand whipped out across her body, keeping her in place.

“Don’t touch her!” Levi shouted.

She jumped at the vicious anger and aggression in his voice. At the way his fingers twitched on the gun.

“I’m not here to hurt you or her, Levi.” Tyler’s voice was quiet as he inched forward. “I’m here to help.” His hand slowly moved behind him. He slipped his phone from his pocket and pressed something. Perhaps to alert his team… Then his hand hovered over something else. The concealed tranquilizer?

Levi’s chest heaved with his uneven breaths. “You’re lying. You’re working with him.”

“Who’s him?” Tyler sounded so soothing and calm. It was the voice an adult would use with a child when they were having a meltdown.

“You know who he is! Commander James Hylar.”

Her brows creased. Her brother knew that man was dead. Everyone did. When news about Project Arma had broken in the media, so had details about the commander’s death.

Another small step forward from Tyler. “Hylar’s dead—”

“Stop. Lying!”

Her heart cracked at the pain in her stepbrother’s voice, at the anxiety and fear she heard behind the words.

“He’s alive!” Levi pressed. “And his men are everywhere. I know you’re one of them!”

Tyler shook his head. He was blocking her body again. “Some very good friends of mine in Texas killed him themselves. They listened as his heart stopped in his chest.”

Again, Levi touched his shoulder. His eyes shut for a second but flashed open the moment Tyler stepped forward. “I just want my sister. Give her to me and I’ll leave.”

“I can’t do that, Levi.”

Movement caught her eye from the door. A uniformed officer with a pistol.

No…

The click of the officer thumbing off the safety was loud in the shop—and the second it sounded, Levi turned and fired.

The officer fell to the floor, blood blooming on his chest.

Emerson’s heart stopped.

Tyler shot his tranquilizer gun, but Levi ducked faster than her eyes could track. The second he did, Tyler flew forward just as quickly, grabbing Levi’s wrist and shoving the pistol’s muzzle up toward the roof. Another bullet fired.

People screamed even louder and ran for the door. Emerson raced toward the fallen officer and dropped beside him.

Oh God, there was so much blood!

His eyes were half-closed, his breaths rattling in his chest.

“Hey, stay with me!” she cried as she pressed her hand to his bloody wound.

A woman who’d been working behind a counter crawled toward them. “I’ve called the paramedics!”

Emerson nodded and searched for Tyler and Levi. Her heart squeezed. They were on the floor, Tyler on top. Levi spun them, throwing a punch. Tyler dodged, then quickly rolled them again.

Fear for both men caused her world to slow and panic to bubble in her chest. Each was as fierce and dangerous as the other.

The officer coughed, and she looked back down to see blood splutter from his mouth. Levi had done this. Levi had hurt this man. The knowledge was like a bullet to her own flesh.

She applied more pressure to the wound.

Had he shot others? Killed them? People he’d deemed a threat?

She swallowed her nausea, and when a loud grunt sounded, she looked over to see Tyler grabbing his side. Levi jumped to his feet and lunged for the gun.

Emerson moved without thought. She dove on top of Tyler, covering his body with her own.

“Levi, no!”

Her stepbrother’s gaze clashed with hers. Something flashed over his face—confusion mixed with rage.

Tyler quickly stood, lifting her easily and tugging her behind his body.

Liam and Jason flew into the store, one from the entrance, the other from the back, heading straight for them.

Levi took off, smashing through a huge front window and racing into the night.

Anger and frustration thrummed through Tyler’s veins as the paramedic applied a bandage to his stomach. He’d taken a knife to his gut. But he didn’t care about that. It was superficial and would heal within a few days. What bothered him was that, for the second time, Levi had been literally in his grasp, but he hadn’t been able to capture the guy—because he was trying to detain him without injury.

Thanks to his failure, someone else had been injured instead. The officer had been taken to the hospital. He’d lost a lot of blood, and paramedics hadn’t been able to confirm whether he’d survive the night.

Emerson wrapped her arms around herself. His gaze had barely left her since the incident. Meanwhile, since giving a statement to the police, she’d been stuck in her own head.

The rest of his team had arrived minutes after Levi fled, and now everyone had gone home except Jason and Liam. They’d remained in case Levi returned. He hadn’t.

When the paramedic was finally done, Tyler stood and walked over to Emerson. He slid an arm around her shoulders, his voice soft as he asked, “Are you okay?”

She nodded too quickly, glancing at his stomach, then back to his face. “Yes. Are you?”

Lie. She wasn’t okay. He didn’t need his enhanced abilities to hear that. “Just a scratch, honey.” He looked up at Jason and Liam. “Thanks, guys. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They both nodded. Liam, of course, wasn’t actually going home. He was going to tail them back to Tyler’s house. Neither Emerson nor Tyler were staying at her Airbnb tonight. Not after Levi had made it clear he wanted to take his stepsister. Tyler’s home had more security. It was safer.

He guided her toward his car and waited until they were driving to touch her knee. “Still with me?”

She nodded, but there was no part of him that believed it. Not that he blamed her. She’d watched her stepbrother shoot someone, knife Tyler in the gut, then run away through a plate glass window. It was a shitshow all round—of course she was stuck in her own head.

His muscles thrummed with tension as he shot a glance into the rearview mirror. Liam was just visible in the distance. Knowing there was backup close by relaxed him. Marginally.

When they reached his place, he parked in the garage. He was around to her side before she got out of the car.

She stopped when they reached his living room. “Is it okay if I have a shower, then just go to bed? I’m exhausted.”

She looked exhausted. But he knew it was more emotional than physical. He stepped closer, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “You sure you’re okay?”

“You should stop asking me that. You’re the one who got stabbed.” Her face turned down, like she was staring at his waist.

“I told you, it’s just a scratch.”

She shook her head like she didn’t believe him. “Do you think…”

When she stopped, he gently caressed her cheek with his thumb. “What is it, honey?”

“Do you think that officer will be okay?”

Tyler wanted to lie. He wanted to tell her the guy would be fine. But the bullet had hit too close to the heart for him to be able to give her any reassurance. “I’m not sure.”

Pain flashed across her face. And maybe guilt, too. She stepped out of his reach.

With a sigh, he led her up the stairs and into the bathroom connected to his room. Once she had a towel and one of his shirts to sleep in, he left her.

The second he was back downstairs, he pulled out his phone and called Liam, who answered on the first ring.

“Hey.”

Tyler checked the lock on the back door. “All clear out there?”

“All clear, but I’m gonna stay out here until around two, then Aidan’s gonna take over.”

God, he was so grateful for his team. “Thank you.”

“You got it. Call if you need anything.”

He hung up and spent the next few minutes confirming that all entry points were locked and the house alarmed. He grabbed something quick to eat, even though he wasn’t hungry. When the shower turned off, he took some food upstairs to the bedroom. She’d probably tell him she didn’t want to eat, but he’d still offer.

He was beside the bed, removing his shirt, when she stepped into the room, hair damp around her shoulders, his shirt drowning her.

Desire slammed into his gut. And something else. Something darker. More possessive. Because he liked looking at this woman in his clothing…and he almost didn’t get the chance. She could’ve been taken from him tonight. And it made everything in him scream his.

Emerson didn’t meet his eyes. She was staring at the bandage on his torso.

Slowly, she stepped forward until she was in front of him. Then, just like she’d done with the bruise last night, she grazed his stomach. And even though her fingers slid over the bandage, he swore he felt skin against skin.

So many emotions flickered over her face that he couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

Gently, he cupped her cheek. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

Her brows creased, but she didn’t take her eyes off his stomach. “It just kind of hit me tonight… Maybe I can’t save him.”

There was so much anguish in her voice, like the very thought of failure killed something inside her. It fucking tore at him.

“Hey.” He put some pressure on her chin. It took her a moment, but finally, her eyes rose. “He’s suffering from a mental illness. He needs help. And we’re going to get him that help. After that, it will be up to him to get better.”

Her frown deepened, and she looked away. “There are things I haven’t told you.”

“What haven’t you told me?”

He needed to know. The reason for her hesitation. The secrets in her eyes.

Her hands moved over his chest, slowly, like she was familiarizing herself with him. Every muscle in his body tightened. Instead of answering his question, she inched closer and pressed a kiss to his bandage. And again, despite the thin material of the dressing, her lips burned him. Singed his very skin.

“I’m so sorry he stabbed you.”

That wasn’t an answer to his question. “Emerson…”

She looked up, her gaze filled with so much emotion. “I need you to be okay.”

“I am. But I didn’t like you putting yourself between me and that weapon today.” He would have nightmares about that. Of her shielding him from a bullet with her body.

“I was trying to protect you.”

“That’s not your job. It’s mine.”

She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling. The next words tumbled from her lips in a whisper. “Kiss me, Tyler.”

He needed answers. But that was a request he couldn’t say no to. He simply didn’t have the strength.

Without hesitation, he lowered his head and kissed the beautiful woman in his arms, needing the reminder that she was here…and she was his.