Thinking of the life he wanted with her, Parker hit Rueben square on the head. He followed that with another hit under the jaw, and then, using his back paws, he jumped into the air and managed to pin Rueben to the ground.
“Move,” Jade shouted. She had a big metal box in her hands … taken from one of the safety deposit boxes … and she smashed it onto Rueben’s head. The hit was enough to knock him out.
Parker blinked down at the jaguar and laughed. The sound was off, given that he was still in his panther form. He quickly changed back into his human body. He had to hold Jade, to tell her she had done so well.
“Oh, Parker!” As soon as he was human again, Jade ran into his arms and held him close and tightly.
It felt so damn amazing to have her in his arms. Parker closed his eyes and let the heat of a very alive body warm him.
“Rosebud, I love you. I’m …” The rest of his sentence died on his lips. As soon as he uttered those three magical little words, his panther perked up in his mind’s eye.
Wedolove her!The beast was adamant that they loved Jade Curran.We love her, and that’s really good because she’s ourmate. Jade is our mate!
Parker didn’t loosen his hold on Jade. He just kept his eyes squeezed shut, repeating over and over again that he loved her, that she would be okay, and that he was never going to let anything bad happen to her.
His panther kept on insisting that Jade was his mate, but Parker was confused. How could it take his animal days, weeks even, to realize that the woman he was seeing was, in fact, his mate?
Mason’s words echoed through his mind, and Parker agreed with his new friend that perhaps the power glitch in Half Moon Key was somehow messing with their mate sense. That was the only logical explanation … not that there was too much that was logical about it at all.
“Parker,” Jade said. “You’re holding me a little tight, and you keep saying you love me, so I would like to look into your eyes for a moment.”
“Shit. Sorry, Rosebud. That scared the hell out of me.”
“Ditto,” she gave a small laugh. “I really thought he was going to steal all the money.”
“The money doesn’t matter for shit. Your life does because …”
“Because you love me,” she finished for him with a sweet smile.
“Because I love you,” he repeated.
“Well, that’s really good because I totally love you right back, and the whole time Rueben was here, all I kept thinking was that I never took the time to tell you how I feel. So. Here it is. I have fallen in love with you, Parker Dawson.”
His smile widened as he took a deep and steadying breath. “That’s amazing, Rosebud.” He dropped his head down enough to kiss her gently.
They made their way up the stairs where Cohen, Mason, and Jack had subdued the other two shifters. They were tied to one of the benches, completely passed out.
“You get Jade home,” Cohen said as soon as he saw them emerge from the basement. “Mason will take Pippa, and Jack will take Mrs. Francis.”
“But what’s gonna happen to them?” Parker asked, nudging his chin toward the men.
“I’m gonna do this by the book and get the deputies in here to do things all legal like. The elders will meet at Mrs. Francis’s house in a little bit to discuss security in the town. As soon as that’s all done, I’ll come by your place and tell you how everything went.” Cohen nodded. “That good with you?”
Parker didn’t want to deal with Rueben. If Cohen was confident the man could be charged under human law, then so be it. All Parker wanted to do was to take Jade home and hold her until the sun came up. He took Jade’s hand in his. “Well, since our Sheriff has it all under control, what do you say we get out of here?”
Jade blinked at Parker, confused. “But the day isn’t over. I’m still on the clock until five.”
“Like hell you are,” Mrs. Francis called out from across the room. “You’ve just been through something insane and traumatic. You heard the Sheriff. Both you and Pippa are going straight home. The bank is closed until further notice. Sheriff, if you would be so kind as to spread the word. Mr. Parker Dawson, you are now officially contracted to make this bank safe whether there is a glitch in the electricity or not. I’ll handle the details with the others later today.”
“You got it, Mrs. Francis,” Parker said. “Give me a couple of days, and it’ll be state-of-the-art security in here.” He kissed the top of Jade’s head. “I’m gonna protect what is precious to me.”
“Barf,” Pippa pretended to gag. “I’m out of here. I need to hug my kids and cuddle with absolutely no one because I am all alone.” She grabbed her purse and vanished.
“I’m going to make sure she gets home okay,” Mason chased after her. “As eventful as this all was, I’m gonna wanna see my woman soon. I’m sure she wants to see me alive and well after all that.”
“It’s a good thing the elders told you bank tellers about the shifters,” Parker said. “Pippa took this in stride.”
“She’s been through a lot,” Jade explained.