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She felt her body involuntarily tense up. She could tell he felt it, too.
“Don’t, Cowgirl. We both fucked up, but it’s over and done with, and we’re back together… for good, right?”
“Righter than anything else I’ve ever done in my life. I love you, Mac.”
“I love you, too, Cowgirl. Why don’t you put some clothes on?”
“Gee, you used to like it when I stayed naked.”
“I still do if it’s only the two of us, but we’ll probably have company sometime today.”
“And this isn’t exactly standard operating procedure, is it?” she teased.
“For you and me, yes, this is the way it’s going to be. For a marshal and a protected witness? Hell, no.”
“Then I’ll be a good little material witness if anyone else is around.”
He kissed her forehead and turned her toward the bedroom. Turning around, she saw him grinning.
“What?” she asked.
“I had planned to give your bottom an affectionate swat but decided, given the color it’s still sporting, it probably wouldn’t have been received in the way I intended. Hopefully, I won’t have to get after you like that for a while, but if you get that out of line again, I’ll welt your ass so fast, it’ll make your head spin.”
It bothered Willa only a little, instead of his words pissing her off, they made her feel all warm and gooey inside.
“I don’t have anything here except these jeans, and they’re going to be really uncomfortable.”
“Do you want me to ask the gal who comes by here when we’re not using the house to pick you up a couple of things? After all, they know we spirited you out of the hospital with nothing but the clothes you had on. We keep sundries here but not a lot of clothes, so it wouldn’t seem out of the norm to ask her.”
“If she could grab me a couple pairs of leggings and some oversized sweaters or t-shirts, that would be great. I can give her my credit card.”
Mac shook his head.
“Why not?”
“Because anyone trying to find you would have a better idea where to look. She has an agency credit card.”
The enormity of what had happened yesterday finally hit her.
“He really tried to have me killed, didn’t he?”
Mac nodded slowly, walked over, and drew her into his embrace.
“He did, but John thinks they have a good lead on the shooter, then we’re going to really focus on Eastwick. It’ll be okay, Willa. No one’s going to hurt you while I’m around.”
“Except you,” she teased, shaking off the fear from her realization.
“Damn straight, but only if you misbehave.” A quiet whistle sounded. “Someone’s coming down the drive. You stay in here and lock the door.”
“Where are you going to be?”
“I’m going to see who it is and act accordingly. You don’t come out until I give you the all-clear. Shit, I got so caught up in reclaiming you, I didn’t set up any emergency procedures. That’s on the agenda right after I deal with whatever this is.” He moved through the bedroom door and pulled it closed behind him. “Lock it, Willa. Now.”
Willa listened with her ear to the door but couldn’t hear anything. She didn’t even realize she’d been holding her breath until there was a knock, and she let her breath out. Willa was unsure what to do until she recognized the rhythm of the knocking was the beat to one of their favorite songs. Even then, she hesitated until Mac shouted, “Open up. It’s me.”
She cracked it open and was relieved to see Mac standing with John Hampton.
“Is it safe to come out? That’s a mean desperado next to you.”
