Page 81 of The Moments You Were Mine

HER: Did he hold your pinky? Or smile up at you? Did you snuggle with him while he slept? Those times with Spencey were the best.

HER: Plus, I want the ranch to go to the next generation of Harringtons. I’d never require my kid to stay here, but I hope they’ll want it as much as I do.

HIM: I guess I can understand that. I’d like to pass my family’s SEAL legacy on, but it would be unfair to have a kid when they’d only see me a handful of days each year.

HER: You could be like all those old actors who have kids in their sixties. You’d be retired with your Bull Frog trophy already on a shelf by then.

HIM: I’ll still be in peak shape when they force me out the door, so it’s possible.

HER: It isn’t your career but your ego that’s going to kill you someday.

PRESENT DAY

They hadn’t let me go withFallon in the ambulance. It was a protocol I hated but respected, and it had allowed me to check in on Theo. Teddy had him holed up in the barn, out of sight, safe and sound. My responsibility to him, to keeping Will’s son safe, tore through me, at odds with my desperate need to go after Fallon.

When Theo seemed to sense my torment, I tickled him and did my best to downplay what had happened before heading to my truck parked at Fallon’s with Lance jogging at my side. We made plans for the added security arriving later, the investigation, and the additional cameras I wanted set up.

I was calm and collected on the outside, but inside, I was a fucking mess. Thinking of Fallon. In my mind, seeing her on the ground. Seeing the ugly knot on her head. Seeing the fear and fury in her eyes.

I’d almost lost her. Fucking hell. I’d almost lost her.

I slammed my hand on the steering wheel.

The only damn good thing that had come from today was our earth-shattering kiss. I’d finally done what I should have years ago—I’d kissed her. Claimed her.

I didn’t regret it, but she’d been right. It had been a shitty-ass time for me to do so.

When my phone rang, my dad’s face on the screen, I almost rejected the call, the bitter taste of failure in my mouth.

“How is she?” he demanded.

“I’m just pulling into the hospital parking lot. She was awake, talking, and pissed when they took her in the ambulance.”

“So, normal Fallon,” Dad said, trying to lighten the mood, but it couldn’t hide his worry.

“This was a scare tactic, Dad. They could easily have hit someone. We were wide open.”

“Or they aren’t skilled with guns.”

Which brought us back to JJ and Ace. I was waiting to hear back from Wylee and the detective in San Diego to ensure the two men were right where they should be.

“Backup is arriving later today and more tomorrow,” he said. “Fornow, focus on Fallon.”

I couldn’t respond as his words brought back all the ways I really wanted to focus on her. The ways I should have been focusing on her for years now, ways Dad wouldn’t approve.

“Park?” Dad prompted.

“I almost lost her…” It was choked. Angry. Full of guilt.

Dad inhaled sharply. “We didn’t. She’s here. Now, we just need to do our damn job and catch this son of a bitch.”

Frustration bloomed that I did my best to keep a lid on. At myself. Our dads. The asshole coming for her. I shoved the truck door shut and strode toward the emergency room doors.

“I’ll call you later.”

“Park—”

“I gotta go.”