A Real Cowboy Always Protects by Stephanie Rowe

Chapter Four

It feltlike an eternity until Skylar finally heard a knock at the office door. The sound startled her, and she jumped, banging her head against the underside of the desk.

She was cramped, shaking, exhausted, and terrified of moving. All her bravado was long gone, replaced with a terror that any second, the door would fly open and she'd be shot right through the desk.

As fun as that sounded, it was definitely a downgrade from her original Saturday night plan of pulling an all-nighter working.

Periodically, she'd heard voices outside the door, which had nearly undone her. She'd waited for the sound of a bullet hitting the door. She'd waited for death.

Instead, she'd finally gotten a knock at the door. Who knew death was so polite?

"Skylar. It's me." Logan's familiar voice brushed over her. "Let me in."

Hah. She wasn't going to fall for that.

She pressed her forehead to her knees and said nothing. How did she know it was safe? For all she knew, Scarface had his gun at Logan's head, the way he'd had it at hers.

They should have made a code. More bubble bath. Something like that.

But they had no code, so yeah, as far as the world was concerned, Skylar was going to pretend there was no one to kill in this windowless, sterile office.

There was another tap on the door. "It's Logan," he said gently. "It's safe. Let me in."

She shook her head and didn't move. No chance.

"Skylar. Open the door."

God, he was irritatingly persistent. "There's no one in here," she finally said. "Go away."

"I'll withhold bubble baths for a year if you don't open the door."

A tiny smile pulled at her mouth. Bubble baths. Was that their code? Was it their code that Scarface was there, or Logan's code that everything was safe? Dammit. The next time she ran for her life in the middle of a gunfight, she was going to have better plans. "You're evil to even suggest that."

"I'm not evil." He sounded tired. "I need to see you. I need to make sure you're all right."

It was the weariness in his voice that finally got her to move. He sounded human, not like some gun-toting human assault weapon. She crawled out from under the desk, her legs cramping in protest.

She had to lean on the desk to get herself to her feet. Her legs felt weak and shaky, and her hands were still trembling. "Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"You're sure it's safe?"

"I'm sure. It's over." His tone was even, not tense or on edge.

She believed him that it was over. "Okay." She pried herself off the desk and walked across the office. The carpet was soft and thick under her feet, which she hadn't noticed during her frantic run before. She reached for the door to unlock it, and her hands started shaking again. She tucked them under her armpits. "I can't open it."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm terrified that when I open it, there's going to be a gun pointing at my head."

"Shit." There was a light bump against the door, as if he'd let his forehead drop against it. "I know you're scared, and I'm sorry about that. But I need you to open it anyway. You trust me, right?"

She closed her eyes. "I don't even know you. You're the hot guy across the hall who's been giving me smoldering looks for the last two years. That's not trust."

He paused. "I smolder?"

"It's possible I imagined it to give myself some semblance of a personal life. Either way, it doesn't amount to deep, enduring trust." Her hands were trembling again, and her legs felt like they couldn’t support her. She was at the end of her ability to cope.

She wanted to be able to trust him. She wanted desperately to open that door and let him keep her safe. But…hello…gunfight?

"Skylar."

"I'll call the police. Do you have a landline in here?" She'd dropped her phone during the gunfight. She was definitely going to have to work on her resilience in the presence of gunfire.

"The police are already here."

She leaned against the door. "Logan," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I can't do this."

"You can, actually." His voice was gentle, wrapping around her like a solid wall of protection and understanding. "Skylar, what does your gut say?"

She closed her eyes and thought about him. The way he always had that smile for her whenever she saw him, the smile that barely reached his shadowed eyes. She thought about how he always held the door for her in the mailroom. How he stepped back to let her exit and enter the elevator first, his hand always hovering by her lower back. Never actually touching her, but hovering, as if to let her know he was there to keep her safe.

Always close. Always there. But never crossing that line and making it personal.

She thought of his eyes, the way he watched her, his gaze tracking her as if he wanted to say something more, but never did. He was a man who laughed rarely, but when he did, the sound of his voice lit up the space around him.

His laughter, those few times she'd heard it, had poured light into the darkest, most afraid, most lonely parts of her soul.

"Skylar?"

She believed in him. For better or worse, whether it was smart or not, she did. "I suppose there is a small, hopelessly romantic, and desperately foolish part of me that trusts you."

"I'll take that." She could almost feel his smile through the door. "You think you can let me in, then?"

She still couldn't make herself open the door. "I don't want to date your cat anymore."

"I still don't have one, so that works."

Damn him for still thinking her cat joke was funny. She was a sucker for a hot guy who thought she was funny. "Fine, but if I get shot, I will be super pissed and will never bring you coffee again."

"You're not going to get shot. I swear it."

"Okay, then." She had to let him in now, or she never would. She'd die in his office, a dusty and crusty agoraphobic who wasn't even lucky enough to have cats. She took a deep breath and made herself reach for the door. Her hand was shaking so much she could barely grasp the knob, but she managed to twist it and pull it open.

Instinctively, she jumped to the side, out of the way, but Logan was right there in the doorway, taking up the space, using his body to shield her. If anyone tried to get to her, they would literally have to take him down first.

Logan. Alive. Safe. No more gunfire.

He smiled at her, that same half smile that barely reached his eyes, the one that always made her feel like she was the only person in the world he'd ever bothered to notice. "Hey," he said gently.

"Hi." Tears started to fill her eyes at the sight of him. "Don’t ever get in a gunfight around me again."

"Never. I swear."

At that moment, she saw someone move behind him. Fear shot through her and she stumbled back, holding out her hands in protest. "Logan. Behind you—"

"It's okay." Logan moved in front of whoever it was, back into her line of vision. "They're safe."

"Safe?" She shot a look at Logan. "You're sure?"

"Absolutely." Logan's steady conviction broke through her sudden fear, wrapping around her like a warm blanket. "It's okay. I work with them. They're good guys."

She managed to stop her frantic flight backwards, but she was trembling again. She couldn't remember ever being so scared in her life. The two men behind Logan were wearing jeans like Logan was, but they looked more serious. Stoic. Hard. Relentless.

"Hang on a sec, guys." Logan gestured for the others to stay back. "I'm going to come in, okay, Skylar? Just me. I want to check and see if you're all right."

She shook her head, unable to take her gaze off the other men. Dammit. She hated being so terrified, but she couldn’t stop panicking.

Logan pressed his lips together, then pulled his gun out of a holster on his hip. "I'll shoot them if they come in here, okay?"

She saw both of the men look at each other. "Where will you shoot them?"

Logan raised his brows. "What do you mean?"

"In the head? In the shoulder? Foot?"

"Do you have a request? I take requests."

She studied them. "Middle of the forehead? I feel like that would be a good equalizer."

"Forehead it is." He glanced over his shoulder. "Did you hear that, gentlemen? Middle of the forehead if either of you scare her."

The taller one nodded. "Got it."

The shorter one, who was studying her just a little too intensely, raised his brows. "You're a pain in the ass, Stockton."

"Agreed." Logan studied her, his gaze concerned. "Good? Can I come in?"

Skylar finally nodded, and Logan immediately crossed the threshold into the office. The minute he came into the room, she felt her tension ease. Her foundation seemed to right itself, shoring up beneath her feet the closer he got to her.

Logan walked over to her, his hands going to her shoulders as he searched her face. "How are you?"

Tears filled her eyes again when she felt his hands settle on her shoulders. She'd been holding herself so tightly, but having Logan holding her suddenly made her shields crumble. "I'm fantastic," she managed to say as she started to cry.

"Skylar." He reached for her at the same moment she reached for him.