“She could have slipped off that roof and died. What if it had been hours more until someone found her. I could have lost her.” There was a broken note in his voice and she froze.
“That didn’t happen. You didn’t lose her.”
“But I could have. How am I supposed to fucking close my eyes tonight and not see her falling to her death?”
“Just don’t think about it.”
“That’s great advice, Doc,” Linc said sarcastically.
“Archer is the words man. You want flowery advice, go to him. Look, I get it. But you can’t spend your life thinking of what ifs. You’ve got to appreciate what you have right now. Take care of her, but don’t smother her. Watch her, but don’t obsess over her. Got me?”
“She is everything to me. If I lost her, I don’t know what I would do . . .”
The words hit her hard. She could hear the starkness in his voice.
“Because you love her.”
“Of course I fucking do. I’ve never felt like this about anyone.”
“Scary fucking thing loving someone. But you can’t protect them from everything. Coddle her. Spank her. Make her promise not to climb up on any more roofs. Then keep moving forward. Don’t let this eat you up or you’ll push her away.”
“I thought Archer was the one with the good advice.”
“Archer is the one with the flowery fucking advice. You want to talk about your emotions, go to him. Me, I’m the practical one. I’ll tell you when to pull your head in and stop being an ass. Go back to her. You need to watch her closely for a few days then that’s what you do. But like I said, don’t let it consume you. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“
Thanks, appreciate it.”
“I take payment in beer or scotch. None of those froufrou drinks.”
She scrambled back to the sofa as she heard the door open. She grabbed a blanket and pulled it over her lap. She was picking up the bottle as Linc walked back in. He frowned as he looked at the drink.
“You haven’t drunk any.”
“I had a bit.”
He had her scoot down so he could sit behind her on the sofa, then he drew her onto his lap and grabbed the bottle. She lay back against his arm as she slowly sipped the warm drink.
Finally, he pulled it away from her and stared down at her. “You scared me today.”
“I know. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to help you. I knew you wanted them clean and didn’t have time to do it.”
“I didn’t mean for you to do it.”
“I know.”
“You broke a rule today, Mari-girl.”
“Because I washed the windows? You didn’t specifically say I couldn’t.”
“What’s your rule about endangering yourself?”
“I didn’t think washing the windows could be dangerous,” she explained.
He shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell me what you were going to do? Text me to ask me where the cleaning supplies were?”
Oh drat. He had her there.