Fatal Series 01 - Fatal Affair

her up.
    The moment she was upright, the pain she had managed to stave off during the confrontation with Dawn roared through her, leaving her breathless and weak in its wake.
    “Jesus Christ, Sam,” Nick muttered.
    “S’okay,” she said, bent in half as she took deep breaths. “Just give me a second.” It took several minutes, but she was finally able to straighten only to find his hazel eyes hot with dismay and anger. “I’m fine.”
    “You’re not fine.” He took hold of her arm to steer her toward home. “And don’t you ever push me out of the way again so you can dive at a gun, do you hear me? Don’t ever do that again.”
    Startled by his tone, she stopped and turned to face him. “It’s instinct and training. You can’t fault me for that.”
    “How do you think it makes me feel, as a man , when the woman I love pushes me out of harm’s way so she can throw herself in front of it? Huh?”
    “I have no idea,” she said sincerely.
    “Well, let me tell you, it makes me feel like a useless, dickless moron.”
    “I’m not the kind of woman who needs a big strong man to protect her, Nick. If that’s what you want or need, you’ve got the wrong girl.”
    “And you think I’m the kind of man who needs his woman to protect him? Is that what you want?”
    “Why are we fighting?” she asked, perplexed. “I saw a shooter. I took her down. What the hell did I do wrong?”
    “You pushed me out of the way!”
    “Excuse me for not wanting your dumb ass to get killed. Next time I’ll let her blow your head off. Would that be better?”
    “Now you’re just being a jerk.”
    Stunned and dismayed, she stared at him and said a silent thanks a lot to Dawn for turning their romantic afternoon to shit. “ I’m the jerk? Whatever.” Without a care as to whether he followed her or not, she stomped off toward home. When she got there, she heard voices in the kitchen and figured her sister Tracy’s family had arrived. But rather than go see them, Sam went straight upstairs, needing a few minutes to get herself together first.
    What’s his problem anyway? She fumed as she shrugged off her coat, tossed it over her desk chair and flopped down on the bed. What did I do besides try to protect his sorry ass? The ache in her stomach was no match for the pain in her heart. This was exactly why she had stayed away from relationships since she split with Peter. If she never felt this shitty again, it would be just fine with her.
    Nick came in a few minutes later, carrying the package she had abandoned in the chaos. “I believe this is yours,” he said as he put it on her desk and took off his coat.
    She couldn’t believe she had forgotten all about the painting. “Thanks.”
    He sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed his fingers over her sore cheek.
    Sam winced when he grazed the spot where Dawn’s elbow had connected.
    “You should put some ice on that.” He laced his fingers through hers. “Between the bump on your head, the bruises on your chest and neck, and now this, you’re quite a colorful mess.”
    “It’s not usually like this. I swear to God, it’s never this crazy.”
    “That’s good to know, because I don’t think I could handle this much drama on a daily basis.” He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed each of her fingers. “I’m sorry I overreacted.”
    Sam’s mouth fell open. “Did you just apologize? ”
    “Yeah,” he huffed. “So?”
    “I didn’t think guys did that. This is a first for me. You’ll have to excuse me while I take a moment to enjoy it.”
    His eyes narrowed. “I’m about to take it back.”
    She laughed. “Please don’t.” Reaching up to touch the soft hair that curled over his ear, she studied the face she had come to love so much in such a short time. “I’m trying to understand why you got so upset.”
    “You did what you were trained to do, and just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean you were wrong.”
    “Wow. This is truly quite a moment for me.”
    “Samantha … ”
    “I’ll always push you out of the way, Nick. If you can’t deal with that, we’re going to have problems.”
    “We’re going to have problems anyway. So how about we handle it this way? When I’m wrong, I’ll say so. And when you’re wrong, you’ll say so.”
    “I will?”
    “Uh huh. That’s how it works. That’s the only way it works.”
    “Is this you being anal again and cleaning things up?”
    “If that’s how you want to see