Page 30 of Wrecked (McIntyre Security Bodyguard #16)

After Cooper drives away, I return to Jamie’s apartment and knock quietly.

“Come on in, Sam,” Jamie says. “You don’t need to knock.”

I find Beth in the kitchen with Jamie. It looks like they’re cleaning up the breakfast dishes. She appears to be dressed for work. “Hey, Princess, you going to work today?”

“Yes. I saved you some breakfast. It’s keeping warm on the stove.”

“Thanks.” I carry the plate to the table and sit down to eat even though I have absolutely no appetite.

I notice Jamie quietly disappearing down the hall, and I wonder if he’s giving me and Beth some privacy.

Beth joins me at the table. “You’ve been crying.”

I swallow a mouthful of food and shrug. I really don’t want to discuss it. What can I say? I’m so in love with Cooper I can’t walk away, even when I know I probably should? He’s not capable of giving me what I need.

“You can talk to me, Sam,” she says quietly.

I scrub a hand down my face and blow out a heavy breath. “I’m sorry you saw us like that. Cooper and me. We shouldn’t have been doing that here.”

“It’s okay,” she insists. “I was just surprised, that’s all.”

My eyes tear up again. “Have you ever been in love with someone who’s incapable of loving you back?

” Just saying those words aloud hurts. “And no matter how hard you try to stop loving him, you can’t.

” I close my eyes tightly in an effort to stem the waterworks.

“And every time he snaps his fingers, you come running like some poor, pathetic puppy desperate for his attention.”

I open my eyes to see poor Beth staring at me, her face wracked with pain and sympathy. “Sam.” She lays her hand on my arm. “So, you’re in love with Cooper, but you think he doesn’t love you?” Her tone of voice tells me she doesn’t believe it. “Why do you think that? Did he say as much?”

“Not in so many words, no.” I laugh. “He’s not a big talker, you know.

But I know he doesn’t feel the same way about me as I do him.

He wants to fuck me, yes, until we’re both sore.

” Okay, that was probably TMI, especially going by the expression on Beth’s face.

“But he doesn’t love me. I’m his dirty little secret. ”

I lean back in my chair and let out a pained, harsh groan.

“I can’t take much more of this! Things have got to change.

If he won’t claim me in public—” I shake my head, feeling utterly defeated because he’s not going to change.

“God, I can’t keep doing this, Beth. He’s tearing me apart, bit by bit.

The problem is, that man owns me, heart and soul, and I don’t know how to leave him.

I need him like I need air to breathe. How in the hell do you quit breathing? ”

Oh, great. Now Beth’s crying. I watch as she wipes her eyes and cheeks. “I don’t know, Sam,” she says, her voice breaking. “Maybe you just shouldn’t give up on him.”

* * *

On our way to the bookstore, Beth calls Shane. They have a pretty emotional conversation. I hate eavesdropping on them, but as we’re trapped in the back seat of a taxi cab, I don’t have much choice.

Beth tells Shane she wants to see him— needs to see him. She’s whispering to him over the phone in an attempt to keep their conversation private. I can’t hear his reply, but I see her tense. I guess he’s too busy with the image analysis work they’re doing to prove Luciana faked the photos of Shane.

Finally, she says, “Okay,” and then she ends the call, looking utterly dejected.

I reach for her hand. “Don’t worry. You guys are going to be fine.” For her sake, I hope I’m right.

* * *

Beth gets quite the welcome party when we walk into Clancy’s. Everyone’s so happy to see her back, especially Erin.

I follow Beth upstairs to her office. She tries to put on a happy face, but I can see she’s hurting.

She receives a text from Lia, who’s checking up on her.

Then she receives a second text that completely turns her mood around. “Shane’s coming!”

If he’s coming, that can mean only one thing. He has the proof he needs to prove his innocence to Beth.

Twenty minutes later, Shane walks into Beth’s office looking pretty damn pleased with himself. The guy looks absolutely worn out. His suit and shirt are wrinkled, his tie is missing, and his hair looks frazzled. I doubt he slept a wink last night.

A second guy, young, blond, with wire-rimmed glasses, is with him. I recognize him from work. It’s Scott Anderson, who works in the digital forensics lab.

Beth jumps up from her chair and runs to Shane, meeting him halfway. They hug and kiss like they’ve been separated for ages and not just overnight.

“Come with me,” he says, taking her hand and leading her from the room.

We all end up in the security control room.

Scott pops a thumb drive into a computer and brings up the images in question.

He goes through the images, one by one, pointing out various features.

The first image is of Shane, but the next three, the really problematic ones, are not.

The bottom line: the images of Shane kissing Luciana, copping a feel, and grabbing her ass are fakes.

It’s not actually Shane in those pictures.

It’s a body double. Scott proves these images were taken at a later time by capturing a timestamp on a nearby parking meter.

After all the discussion and debriefing is over, Beth says to Shane, “Take me home. Please.”

* * *

That night, Cooper lets himself into my apartment around midnight. I’m already in bed. I hear him in the bathroom brushing his teeth. When he walks into my bedroom, he’s wearing just a pair of black boxers.

My heart leaps at the sight of him. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming.” My gaze follows him as he walks past the foot of the bed.

“I almost didn’t. I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome.” He slides into bed beside me.

“Of course, I wanted you to come.”

“I’m sorry about earlier—Beth walking in on us. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have been so reckless, knowing she was in the other room. I got carried away.”

“It takes two to tango, you know.”

Cooper scoffs. “Yeah, well, I fucked up, and I’m sorry.”

“She seems fine with us being together. How’s she doing? I saw that Shane was able to prove those images were frauds.”

“She’s fine. She’s just happy they’re together.”

Cooper makes no sexual overtures to me that night. No touching. No stroking. He does pull me into his arms and hold me close. He says, “Goodnight, baby,” before he kisses my forehead.

From our time together, I’ve learned that when Cooper feels guilty about something, he abstains from sex. I guess he doesn’t think he deserves it. So, right now he must be feeling pretty guilty.

“Goodnight, Danny,” I murmur as my eyelids grow heavy.

His arms tighten around me.

* * *

Everything’s pretty much back to normal after all the drama has blown over. Thank God. I’ve had enough of Luciana and her delusional antics. That woman is a menace! Hopefully she’s finally realized she’s never going to break up Shane and Beth.

Now all the excitement revolves around Beth and Shane making preparations for their upcoming wedding.

Late one morning at the bookstore, Beth and I head downstairs and run into Jamie’s neighbor, Molly Ferguson.

While Beth is happily chatting with Molly, Lia and Jonah show up.

They’re on their way to Casa del Sol for lunch, and they thought they’d stop by and see if we wanted to go with them.

Beth’s all for it—it turns out Casa del Sol is where she and Shane had their first official date. She even talks Molly into joining us.

The restaurant is only a few blocks from the bookstore, so we decide to walk. We have to wait at the corner for the light to change. As we step into the crosswalk, I hear the screeching of tires on our left.

Everything happens so fast.

A sedan is barreling through the light, coming right for us, and Beth is directly in its path. I shove her out of the way, hard, knocking her back to the relative safety of the curb.

She screams as a crushing force barrels into me, sending me airborne. A crack and my leg is on fire. A blinding pain explodes in my head.

The last thing I remember is hearing Beth scream my name.