“No,” she said, stiffening her back and glaring at him. “I won’t be a victim again. You’ve cured me of that.”
“Says you.” He lifted the gun, and his finger pulled on the trigger. Multiple shots rang out, but the first and foremost came from her own gun, as she pulled the trigger and threw herself to the side. She watched from the floor in shock, as his body danced in midair against the doorway. She’d only fired once, so somebody else was firing too. And just as suddenly, there was Baylor. He bent down, checking her frantically for injuries.
She smiled and said, “See? I knew you cared.”
“Of course I care,” he said in exasperation. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m not hurt,” she said. “I did pull the trigger, but I don’t know if I hit him or not,” she said apologetically. “But he called me a victim, and I told him that I was nobody’s victim.”
He looked at her in surprise, and then a huge smile crossed his face. He leaned over and kissed her passionately. She was crushed in his arms, and it was all she could do to wrap her arms up and around his neck and hold him close. When laughter came from the doorway, Baylor finally lifted his head, looked that way, and said, “What?”
But it was Mason of all people. A big grin was on his face, and he was laughing, obviously delighted. “Hey, I told you.”
“It’s got nothing to do with you,” Baylor said and lifted an arm. “Go away.”
She smiled and said, “We’ll have time for that later.”
He grinned at her. “I’ll hold you to that. And, no, you won’t ever be a victim again,” he said. He looked down at the guy beside her on the floor. “Did you kill him?”
“No, he’s still out from when you hit him.”
He nodded in surprise. “I’ll say his jaw may be broken, but that’s the worst that I did.”
“Well, he hasn’t moved since.”
“That’s possible, but not likely with all this commotion going on.”
Mason came inside, and they checked the guy over. “He’s got bullet wounds, probably from before he came inside,” he said. “Looks like one of them maybe did some damage.”
“Maybe?” she asked. “Is he dead?”
“Not yet, but he will be soon.” After that, more men came in, and there was a flurry of activity as the dead bodies were removed.
She looked up at Baylor. “Do we have to talk to the cops?”
He kept her close, as he had since they’d first burst into the room, and she loved it. She loved every minute of it and wrapped her arms tight around him.
He whispered, “No cops.”
“Thank heavens for that,” she said. “How long until we take that flight?”
“Too long in some ways,” he said, and then he waggled his eyebrows. “Not long enough in others.”
She burst out laughing. “Aren’t you just too cute,” she murmured.
“We have a lot to take care of,” Mason said from the doorway. “We’ll probably be a few hours.” He looked at Baylor and said, “So, make sure you get enough rest out of it.”
“Ha,” Baylor said as the door closed.
She looked from the door back to Baylor and said, “Did he mean that?”
“Well, he meant something like that,” he said.
She reached out and punched him gently in the stomach. “Surely he wasn’t suggesting what I think he was suggesting.”
“It’s an old running joke,” he said, “because I told him that I was immune to whatever was going on with this team.” Then he quickly explained how everybody in the team had found partners and that Baylor had held out, thinking it wouldn’t have anything to do with him. “Yet look at me now. Mason’s clearly having a field day with it.”
“And you’re not supposed to be angry about it,” she said.
“I’m not,” he said with a big grin. “I’m thoroughly delighted actually. I found something I didn’t even know I’d been looking for.”
“That’s good,” she said. “Those are the best kinds of finds.”
“Very true.”
And kissed her again; as he pulled back, he grinned down at her, absolutely loving that he had found himself with her in the same place again. He’d firmly believed his words when he’d first spoken to Mason about his matchmaking efforts. But, damn, Baylor was glad he’d been wrong.
*
“Are they all laughing at us?” she asked, half serious.
“No,” he said, laughing himself. “They’ve all found a love that none of them ever expected to find,” he said. He spoke in a very serious tone because it was important that Gizella understood. “They aren’t laughing at us. They aren’t laughing at anybody. They’re just enjoying the fact that somebody else has found the happiness and the love that they have. They want the same thing for everyone, and, because I’m one of the few single guys, they wanted me to find somebody special too.”
Her eyes widened as she contemplated that.
“The stories I could tell you,” he said with a big smile. “You wouldn’t believe it. But they’ve all found love on missions, and Mason’s team is particularly well-known for it, since he started it. Then, one by one, everybody else in his team found the same thing.”
“And it’s a big joke?” she asked, still questioning it.
“There’s a lot of humor and teasing about it, but nobody’s joking, especially about the love,” he said. “Several of the members have gone on to get married. Several are starting families,” he said. “Everybody, and I mean everybody, is still together that started in this way.”
Her smile flashed wide and beautiful. “I like the sound of that,” she said, “because I’m not really one to do all these short-term relationships.”
“I know,” he said, “and that’s not what I want either.”
She wrapped her arms around him and said, “Well, in that case, good.” He chuckled, and the rumble of it rolling up his chest and filling the room was infectious, and she started laughing too. “Everybody?”
He nodded slowly. “Except Hudson. He’s one of the few single guys left.”
“Wow,” she said, “so
