Team: Echo (22 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Looking up suddenly Mikhail pinned her with a look. “Coffee’s
on. Your lads are out back helping Stefan do some reno’s to the
barn space. Mainly so they can pound on shit for a while, they
weren’t looking happy this morning. Which given how you look,” he
shook his head. “Can’t imagine why.”

“
Shh,” Penny hissed, moving to pour herself a cup of coffee.
“I feel as if my head is about to explode.” She’d woken up with a
migraine the size of Texas and her stomach rolling enough to make
her whimper. “I swear I think that whatever you gave me has given
me a hangover. And yeah, they are pretty pissed aren’t they?” she
asked, sliding into a chair at his side.

“
Pissed would be a grave understatement,” Gareth said, coming
into the kitchen. Moving to her he took her free hand, unfolded her
fingers and dropped two pills into her palm. “They’ll counteract
what Mik gave you to ensure you slept last night. You may even feel
mildly human again too.”

“
You are truly a god among men,” Penny said after taking the
pills. “I think that I should go and talk to them. I passed out on
them last night before they could finish talking to me and I really
don’t want to put this off any longer than necessary.” She hated
having Dieter and James upset with her, a great deal.

“
Take them drinks,” Mikhail suggested, continuing to scribble
in the ledger before him. “They’ve been out there a while and have
likely driven Stefan insane. So I’d take them snacks too and pry
them away.”

She went to the fridge and pulled out three bottles of water
as well as some trail mix, some other assorted snacks and placed
them on a tray. She moved toward the door and looked back at
Mikhail and Gareth. “Thanks guys. Let’s just hope they will forgive
me.” Her shoulder was killing her so when Gareth opened the door
for her she smiled in thanks to him and then headed off to find her
guys and hopefully get them to forgive her.

“
Incoming,” Stefan’s voice called out.

Dieter’s head appeared out of the opening up top and then
James appeared from the hole in the floor where the elevator would
eventually be going. Dieter dropped down to the main floor at the
same time James pulled himself up fully into view. Neither
approached her as she moved in deeper into the barn. “You should be
resting,” Dieter told her as Stefan took the tray from
her.

“
I wanted to see you instead,” Penny shot back at him, moving
closer to Dieter, her good hand reaching out and touching his
cheek. “I brought you some snacks and water. You need to hydrate
and fuel up, you know you do.”

He pulled her into his arms and held her gently, his lips
brushing slowly over her cheek. “We will eat and we will drink, but
you should rest. If you want to be out here you at least need to
sit down,” he muttered against her neck.

“
I can totally handle that. I just,” she hugged him back and
sighed. “I just want and need to be near you. It makes me jumpy
when you aren’t close. I love you. I hate knowing how upset that
you are with me. I just feel better when I’m close to
you.”

“
I am not so much upset as I am annoyed and disappointed you
felt you couldn’t tell us,” Dieter said quietly. “James has moved
beyond that to straight out pissed. He will need you to suck up to
him to get him out of that mood. Though it may take some
time.”

“
Whatever it takes,” Penny vowed. “For now though I am
perfectly fine with watching you perfectly amazing looking men
working on this building without your shirts on. I’m totally good
with that, without a question.”

“
Then go and perch your ass out of the way,” he told her,
pointing to a spot. “We will eat and get back to work pretty much
all at the same time. Then we can hopefully get through our
projects and get you back into bed this afternoon for more
resting.”

“
That sounds good. As long as I know that you will be wanting
you to come to bed with me that’s even better. I love you both. I
need you both. A great deal, forever,” she told him with a smile.
“Now, how about you give me a hug, babe? How about you give me a
little loving and then I will let you get back to it
okay?”

Dieter wrapped her in his arms and held her to him. Not with
his usual enthusiasm but close enough she didn’t feel cheated. “You
may want to wait until James has eaten something before talking to
him.” He let her loose and stepped back, one of his hands coming up
to stroke back her hair. “He’s been in a less than pleasant mood
today. It’s why we’re working in two different areas. If I had to
work with him I’d likely kill him.”

Penny felt her heart sinking and sighed. “Are you ever going
to be able to forgive me?” she asked softly. “Will you be able to
get over it and let us get on with our lives? I know that I have to
make it up to you guys but will we be able to do that?” She wanted
to know if they would be able to do it or not. Get on with their
lives and back to happiness once more.

“
I’ve already forgiven you,” he said. “While I’m still
displeased with your choice Mik was there and it could have been
worse. A lot worse given who shot you. But you do it again and you
won’t get so lucky with me. I’m not the one you need to suck up
to,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.

“
Got any pointers on how I might be able to get him to forgive
me?” she asked quietly. “Because I hate having either of you angry
with me. It hurts my heart to feel the anger radiating off of the
two of you. I just want to go back to being happy in our lives
together.”

Dieter turned to look at James for a long, long time. Leaving
her just standing there desperately trying not to fidget. Finally
he turned to face her fully once more. “Tell him you were wrong.
About everything. Don’t justify. Don’t make excuses. Be fully
honest and let him know you screwed up. We’re all human Penny and
we make mistakes. You scared him, bad. I’ve never seen him react
like he did when we got word you’d been shot. I swear that if not
for his training he would have likely passed out cold from those
words. Hell, I thought he was going to toss his noodles right
there.”

“
And should I wait to tell him or should I pull him away now
and tell him now? Whatever I do I don’t want to mess up any more
than I already have. I fucked up. I know that I did. No questions
about it. I just.” She sighed. “I just want you guys to love me
again, to hold me and feel the same as you did before.”

“
We never stopped loving you Penelope,” he told her quietly.
“That’s why we were so mad, why he’s still so mad. He’s hurt
because you couldn’t discuss it with him beforehand. He’s feeling
like you don’t trust him. That he’s given you everything of himself
and yet you’re holding back.” Dieter let out a breath. “Go and talk
to him. Get him outside and talk with him about it. Just remember,
when he’s hurting he tends to be an ass and an idiot. Don’t take
what he may throw out to heart, he’s still reacting instead of
thinking. And remember, he loves you with everything he has in his
heart.”

Penny nodded and decided to do just that. After giving Dieter
another kiss she moved to James, staying silent at his side for a
time before asking to see him alone.

Chapter Fifteen

James was right on her heels as they left the barn. She led
them toward some of the older trees and then stopped to face him.
His hands were in his jean pockets, his stance relaxed and even
lazy looking. But the tension was fairly radiating from him as he
watched her, waiting for her to speak.

Penny looked at James and felt her heart hurting her. “I’m
sorry, James,” she said quietly, moving in closer to him. “I was
completely and totally wrong in this. In all of it. I’m so sorry
that I did what I did. Will you ever be able to forgive
me?”

“
Will you ever do it again? Will you ditch us because you
think you need to protect us?” he asked her not moving. “Because
the answers you give will determine my answer to your question. So
tell me, Penny, you planning on acting like we’re less than you for
the rest of our lives?”

“
Hell no. I’ve learned my lesson. From now on if there is any
trouble I’m putting you boys in front of me. I will do what I have
to do but only as long as I have the two of you backing me up and
keeping my ass safe,” she blurted out honestly. “I know you aren’t
less than me and I think that’s part of what’s so scary. You two
are so very much more than I could ever be and I’ve never felt that
way before. Ever.”

“
We’re equals Penelope,” he said, shaking his head. “When are
you going to figure that out? We are a partnership, a unit. When
one goes down the other two are there to pick up the slack. But we
can’t do that when the one part runs off with her own plans.” He
moved then, fast. He backed her against a tree, his whole body
pressed against hers. “If you ever do something as asinine as that
again I will personally ensure you can’t sit for a month without
feeling pain. We clear?”

Penny nodded and licked her lips. “We are crystal clear.” The
feeling of his body against hers, his hard and muscular length had
her whimpering. “Kiss me?” She had missed him, missed his kisses.
Missed everything about him and it hadn’t even been that long, but
the wedge between them had hurt.

He stared down at her for a little longer before he leaned
in. But he paused, his lips just brushing hers. She couldn’t go
anywhere either, not with one of his hands on her chest keeping her
where he apparently wanted her. “And Penny,” he whispered. “I’m not
fucking kidding.” Then he kissed her, his arms wrapping around her
as he thrust his tongue into her mouth and assaulted her very
senses.

Penny wrapped her good arm around him and melted into him.
She would never, ever make the same mistake. She loved this man and
would walk through hell for him and she showed it in her kiss to
him. She poured her heart and soul into the kiss, fully and
completely.

James drew back with a low groan, his breath ragged and warm
on her face. “You should be resting not running around being
mauled.” One of his hands lifted and light fingers brushed slowly
over her cheek. “Go back to the house and have a nap love. We’ll
come and check on you in a few hours.”

“
I happen to really like being mauled by you,” she told him
with a grin, leaning into his hand. “How about I sit there in the
shade and when you guys are ready for the day to end we can all go
in together? Or if I start to drift off before then I will go
inside but I really like being close to you, especially right
now.”

He stared down at her and finally nodded. “All right. But
we’ll get you a blanket to sit on. I don’t want you getting
uncomfortable. Or cold. It gets chilly just sitting in the shade
even in the middle of a Texas afternoon.”

“
All right.” She touched her hand to his cheek and sighed
happily. “I love you James, thank you for giving me another chance.
For giving us all another chance and I won’t fuck it up again.
Promise.” She would do anything she had to in order to ensure that
she didn’t mess up again.

“
I know you won’t,” he said quietly. She knew the consequences
if she did, something they all wouldn’t like in the end. “Come
little one, let’s go and get you settled comfortably.” Taking her
hand in his he guided her back towards the barn.

She easily followed him, she would do anything for this man
and knew it. Lacing her fingers with his she smiled up at him and
followed along. When they got her settled Penny leaned back against
a stud and yawned, before she knew it she was sound asleep
listening to her men bickering and chattering as she drifted
off.

* * * * *

Something was tickling her nose and no matter how she brushed
or rubbed it wouldn’t leave her alone. “Come on P, open up your big
ole eyes and get up. We need to go in for dinner babe,” that was
James’s voice calling to her. “Open your eyes or I’m dumping a
bucket of ice water on you.”

“
If you do then I will dump one on you when you sleep,” she
muttered and opened her eyes. Giving him her good hand she said,
“Come on, help me up big boy.” A frown crossed her face and she
tilted her head to the side. “Hey, what happened?” She pointed to
the bruise on his cheek.

“
Dieter apparently is very dangerous with a length of wood,”
he said, pulling her gently to her feet. “Stefan asked him a
question, he swung around with it and I stood up just in time to
get clocked. We all had a moment of stunned silence before bursting
out laughing. It was rather amusing really.”

She smiled and shook her head. Letting him pull her to her
feet she licked her lips. “Have I mentioned to you just exactly how
very, very much that I adore you boys? Both of you.” She sighed and
shook her head. “All right, let’s get inside. I am ready for
something to eat and then sleep. Lots of sleep please.”

Nodding he let her loose before bending to collect the
blanket. He gave it a shake before folding it and waving her
forward. “Dinner should be ready and then we’ll get you tucked into
a bed. You should have been sleeping comfortably in one instead of
being out here love.”

“
But where would the fun have been in that?” she asked with a
smile. “Besides, I happen to have liked it. Yes, I slept, but I was
close to you guys. I was able to spend time with the two men that I
love the most in the world, even if it was me sawing
logs.”