Page 48 of Echo, the Sniper (Men of PSI #2)

“I didn’t say he was a monk and not getting himself some action on the regular.

” She winked at me, and I swore I felt my cheeks heat.

“He’s a man, after all. What I’m talking about is a deeply connected emotional relationship, not getting laid.

We have a profiler on staff who’s friends with Echo.

He says that snipers pretty much have similar personality traits, such as extreme patience—which is needed for when they’re lying in wait for their target to show up—and that they’re usually lone wolves.

Like, they actually enjoy being alone. That’s always been Echo, so to see him so wrapped up in you makes my romantic heart go all gooey. ”

“We’re figuring out what we are now that we’re together,” I said eventually, so thrilled by her words that it was all I could do to keep from throwing my arms around her. “But that’s what we are—together. And yes, I do know what real love is now because... well, I love Echo.”

She nodded, clearly unsurprised. “Just one question, and it’s because I care about my friend, so please don’t get pissy. After all this madness is over and there’s no longer any reason for you to be in his very solicitous, very protective company, do you think you’ll still feel the same way?”

“You’re talking about the bodyguard crush syndrome.

” I smiled when she brows shot up before moving to the toaster oven to check on the garlic bread.

“Echo and I have talked about it. A lot. I know the pitfalls. From the beginning I’ve tried to fight this.

So did Echo. Nothing worked, so we gave in to it.

Now I’m looking for apartments in Chicago, and he’s promising to not put any pressure on me to move in with him after I get myself settled and we’re both certain of my own mind.

” Then I grinned at her. “But I already know my own mind, so as soon as I’m settled, all bets are off. ”

“Wow,” she said just above a whisper. “Oh Rory, I’m so happy for you.

After all you’ve been through, and with Echo always being so alone.

.. I just couldn’t be happier about this.

” Before I knew what she was doing, she swept me up into a big, squishy hug before she backed up with a wild grin and handed me her knife.

“Let’s send that Marshal dude a pic of you right now.

Think stabby thoughts and flip off that fuckwad of an ex-husband.

He'll get the message you’re doing just fine without him, trust me. ”

And that was how Echo found us—me, posing with a carving knife, tongue out and middle finger at attention, while Mary Jane went around me saying, “Work it, sexy baby! Oh yeah, you are a single-girl legend .”

“Let me guess—proof-of-life photo?” Grinning, Echo dusted the snow off of his head.

His black hair, which had been little more than whiskers when I’d first met him, had grown and was well on its way to a Caesar cut that made me want to reach out and stroke its softness. “I think I’ve got an idea for that.”

“I’ll bet you do,” Mary Jane snorted, looking up from her phone. “I’ll be your photographer if you’ll trust me to capture all your perfect angles.”

“I have every faith in you.” With a cocky grin, Echo took the knife from my grasp and set it aside before turning me into his arms. “Keep up that middle finger, baby girl. You know, just in case he understands sign language.”

I laughed as his hand joined mine in giving the one-finger salute, but before I could say anything, he lowered his head and kissed me.

Instantly all thoughts of Dane vanished.

Made sense, since there was no room for anyone but Echo whenever he touched me.

That alone was proof that he was the only person in my universe, just as he made me feel like I was the only person in his.

To me, that was everything.

“At least a dozen of these are so epic you should use them as your next Christmas cards.” Clearly satisfied, Mary Jane couldn’t seem to stop grinning as she scrolled through the photos. “Check it out.”

Echo took the offered phone, then started laughing.

I peeked over his arm, then grinned at the ridiculous photo of me with the knife, a psychotic look in my eyes, and my unbound hair looking wild and almost white against the darkening kitchen window above the sink with snow piling up around the edges.

Then he swiped to an image of us kissing, my body bowed to be closer to his in his puffy, snow-dusted jacket while our middle fingers flashed prominently in the foreground.

It was so touching, so beautiful, I wanted to cry. While laughing my butt off.

“I hearted my two favorites,” Echo said, handing the phone back to Mary Jane. “I vote for those being sent.”

“Feel free to send the lot,” I added blithely, grinning that much wider as I imagined my formerly late husband’s response. “Obviously Dane believes I’m falling apart without him, but even a narcissistic jerk like him will get the picture when he, you know... gets the pictures.”

“Your wish is my command, my lady.” Mary Jane raised her brows at Echo. “Any caption you’d like to send along with the pics?”

“Just this—'Rory’s not your wife anymore. Come near her and die, this time for real.’” He shrugged while my heart did a silly little whirl. “The pics alone should make that message obvious, but I get the feeling that prick needs to have things spelled out to him like he’s five.”

“Too bad I don’t have a crayon font,” she lamented with a smirk, then made a production of tapping her phone. “There. Sent. Now let’s all be quiet to see if we can hear that pig squealing all the way down in the Springs.”

“Thanks, but I’d rather dig through the old digital files Dane kept, so I can hopefully find some clue of who could’ve known about his offshore account other than Edward.

” Then I gasped as a thought suddenly struck.

“Wait a minute. Now that I know Dane’s alive.

.. What if it was Dane who set the house on fire?

The man in the security video sort of fits the same pear-shaped body type as Dane, yes? ”

“Already had that thought,” Mary Jane began, then grimaced.

“Okay, I’m sort of lying. Our in-house profiler actually already had that thought, so we contacted Dane Grant’s US Marshal handler, a guy by the name of Gary Schuller.

He’s confirmed that his protectee never left his new home in some faraway, unknown state at the time of the fire.

Dane only broke away after he heard about the fire, and came back to Colorado. ”

I deflated under a crushing wave of disappointment. “So we still have no idea who’s trying to kill me.”

“We’ll find them,” Echo assured me so confidently my spiraling worry dialed down to a manageable roar.

Good grief, this man was pure magic for me.

That was why I didn’t hesitate to take his hand when he offered it, smiling with all the love blooming inside me when he brought it to his lips.

“Go ahead and start combing through whatever digital files you’ve got.

Or better yet, you can always have our IT guys go through it for you.

All you have to do is text me the info on how to access your account.

” A dark brow quirked while a corner of his mouth curled.

“Knowing you, you have it filed away somewhere in that amazing brain of yours.”

Oh, wow. He thought my brain was amazing.

“As it happens, I do have it memorized, but it’s okay.

Looking through it will give me something to do instead of sitting around worrying.

” I turned and grabbed up an oven mitt to retrieve the golden, fragrant garlic bread.

“Not to mention it’ll help me feel like I’m personally doing everything in my power to finally close this chapter in my life, if only to get started on the rest of my story. ”

“In Chicago.” Clearly uncaring that Mary Jane was right there plating our salads like there was going to be some kind of photoshoot, Echo waited just long enough for me to put the sheet of garlic bread on a trivet before bending to claim my mouth with his.

“Send me the info anyway, because I’m thinking you’re going to have more than enough to occupy your time right after dinner. ”

“Oh?” My brows went up in tandem with my temperature, and I bit my lip.

Need coiled through me, deep and heavy, and it was a wonder I didn’t start squirming right there as hot slickness bloomed between my thighs.

“Sounds like you have some ideas on how I can keep myself occupied on a cold and snowy night.”

The smile that curved his mouth was downright wicked. “As a matter of fact, I do. Wanna hear about them?”

“Before you get into any details about that, kids, I’d like to remind you both that I’m here, existing, and that the spaghetti is probably ready, if not past the point of al dente.

” Mary Jane rummaged around the cabinets and came up with a ceramic bowl, which she lined with a tea towel, then started transferring slices of piping hot garlic bread into it.

“We can get into the whole argument of whether or not true Italians like their pasta al dente, but this girlie will die on the hill of pro-al dente, and anti-you guys having wild kitchen sex right in front of me.”

“Killjoy.” With a velvety chuckle that turned me into goo, Echo kissed me once more before reluctantly letting me go.