Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36987 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36987 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
I was quiet a moment. “I feel like I should apologize, but at the same time—”
“George, no.” She grabbed hold of my forearm. “You saved my family. I can’t ever—and I feel terrible for what I thought.”
I grinned slowly. “What’d ya think?”
Her brows furrowed, but I noted that she didn’t let me go.
“I thought my brother was infatuated.”
“For two years?”
“I know,” she said, shaking her head, still not letting go of my arm, holding on as if afraid if she stopped, she might drown. “I just—he didn’t sound like him whenever he talked about you.”
“How so?”
She was silent, thinking, picking her words, I thought. “It was like he was happy but unsure of where he stood with you.”
I nodded.
“But unsure of how you felt, not how he felt. Please don’t think for a moment that I ever heard anything but gushing words praising how smart you are and how kind.”
“Kind?” That was an odd compliment. No one thought of me that way.
“Oh yes. Always. And how brave you are and selfless to the point where he worries.”
I kept my mouth shut.
“He didn’t like that you would sacrifice yourself for a member of your team without a thought to what that would do to him.”
“I—”
She put up her hand. “But also, he knows that when you’re in the field, there should only be your team to consider.”
“Yes.”
“And he hates when you leave, but his time alone is precious to him as well.”
“I know that.”
“I just didn’t understand because it was like he was going back and forth, contradicting himself, but then I met you, and I witnessed you saving us, and… I can’t imagine how anyone couldn’t fall madly, head over heels crazy in love with you.”
I squinted at her, and she laughed.
“My goodness, George, you’re an action hero in the flesh.”
My turn to laugh.
“No, it’s true. You’re this quiet, mysterious loner, and you’re absolutely gorgeous, so I completely get how he’s smitten and terrified at the same time.”
“Terrified?”
“Well, yes, of course,” she said as though I was being obtuse. “You’re you, and he’s a psychiatrist, for heaven’s sake.”
“So you’re saying what, that he’s not exciting enough for me?”
“I think he thinks so. And he is, in many ways, a curmudgeonly old grandfather.”
“What’re you—”
“Have you seen his clothes? There are no jeans in that man’s wardrobe. He actually has tweed blazers and herringbone sportscoats and—I mean, this is not the fifties. Why does he have a newsboy cap? He has a billion scarves, and his shoes… Really, how old is he?”
But I liked all those things.
“He sent me a picture of the two of you on New Year’s last year, and he’s in this three-piece navy, chalk-stripe suit, and you’re in a black Hugo Boss. He’s got a tie, you don’t, he has a pocket watch and cuff links, and—God, it was all just so fussy, and you have a black dress shirt on and look like you walked off a magazine cover. You two don’t fit together at all.”
I chuckled. “You don’t get it because you don’t see him with me.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
What that meant was, she didn’t see how possessive and confident her brother was. When we were out together, Kurt steered me through crowds, rooms, and always pulled chairs out for me, opened doors, and held my hand. When we were with his friends, he put his hand behind my chair, included me in every conversation, made certain that topics that could exclude me were seamlessly changed, and always asked my opinion. Because of that, I liked his friends; they were funny and nice and really good sports about trying new things. My friends, the few I had, guys I lived and bled with, liked him because he was genuine and could hold his liquor. He didn’t judge them and could talk about sensitive subjects with finesse and tolerance. We were truly very different people, the bodyguard and the shrink, but we fit. What I had to do, he said often, was to start taking him for granted. As in, he would be there, always. But no one but the men I bled with could make that promise.
“George?” Thomasin prodded me, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“You have to look at more than what’s on the surface.”
“Oh, I know, but as you said, I’ve never seen you together. I only know what he tells me, and what he tells me is that you’re the one and he hopes you feel the same.”
“That’s what he said?”
“He said you still have your own apartment.”
“Yes, but we’re getting rid of it when we get home.”
Her eyes warmed. “Oh, that’s wonderful news.”
“Do you think you will look into some private security for you and your family?”
“I think that might be good for now to ensure the boys are safe—that they feel safe.”