Page 32 of One Lucky Hero (Men in Uniform 1)

“Do you want to tell me what happened? Maybe I can help.”

“No, thank you. It’s just time for me to get back to reality.” Violet started back toward the bathroom, but he dogged her footsteps.

“Violet, I know we don’t know each other well, but if you’re in some kind of trouble—”

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer.” She stopped in the doorway of the bathroom, blinking rapidly. If she didn’t get inside, she was going to break down into a messy, weeping ball, and she didn’t want him to see that. “There’s just nothing you can do except let me get dressed.”

Dean placed his hand on the door when she tried to close it, and she made the mistake of meeting his heavy gaze, so filled with concern.

“Can you please let go?” Her voice broke on the last word, and she hated that she still cried. Every time shit hit the fan, she was sure she had no more pain, grief, or tears left. But she did. She was weak, had always been weak.

Just like her mother.

Dean stepped back, maybe because he’d heard the desperation in her voice or because he got tired of trying. Whatever it was, she didn’t care.

She just needed to escape.

“Thank you for everything.” Closing the door with a soft click and locking it, she slid to the floor and sobbed into her arms.

DEAN STARED AT the closed door for several minutes, the sound of Violet’s muffled sobs tearing into him like a razor blade. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her, nothing about this had been a typical hookup. And if he’d been any other guy, he’d have been dying to get her the hell out of his place.

Instead, he wanted to unlock the door and hold her again, to coax whatever was going wrong in her life out of her so he could fix it. It was what he did. As the oldest of six, he had always been the fixer. One of his brothers was being bullied? He busted the other kid’s nose. His sister’s boyfriend got a little too pushy? He handled it.

But how did he convince a girl he just met to trust him with her problems?

Someone knocked on the front door, and he reluctantly left his post to grab his boxers off the floor of the bedroom.

“Hang on,” he called as he came back down the hall.

He pulled the door open, and Tracy didn’t wait for him to invite her inside, just stepped right past him. She gave him a cursory once-over, her lips twitching slightly like she wanted to comment on his seminudity, but she refrained.

“Where is she?” she asked.

“She’s in the bathroom. First door on the left.”

She nodded and walked briskly down the hallway, knocking softly. “Vi, it’s me. You about ready to go?”

“I’ll be out in a minute.” Her voice was raspy and wet.

“Damn it.” Tracy glanced his way with a grimace. “Sorry for all the drama.”

Dean motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen and was relieved when she did. “Do you want some coffee?”

“No, thanks. I’m on a caffeine detox. Haven’t had so much as a sip in over a week.”

“How’s that going?” There was no way he could give up caffeine.

“It fucking blows,” she said.

Dean started up the pot and turned back to face Tracy. “I know it’s none of my business, but what happened?”

Tracy’s face locked into a steely expression. “You’re right, it’s not your business.”

Dean already knew that, but still, being pretty much told to fuck off in his own house rankled him. “Be that as it may, I’ve got a hysterical woman crying her eyes out in my bathroom, so if I can help, I’d like to.”

Tracy seemed to be sizing him up, and he held her dark gaze, refusing to give an inch.

“Look, I don’t know what happened between you two last night, but I’m not going to tell my friend’s hookup intimate details about her life.”