Page 10 of Mercy for Reaper

All that waiting and dreaming just to give it up to a strange man called Reaper.

Christ, I must be out of my mind. I must be under some sort of spell or something, because for the last few days, I have been nursing a total stranger, a criminal no less, back to health with little to no thoughts of self-preservation. I don’t even know why or how he got shot, and yet, I have not reported him because . . . why?

He’s handsome? I have seen better-looking men than him. Okay, that’s a lie, but his rugged good looks are not enough to risk losing my license, or worse, going to jail.

So why the hell am I harboring this man in my home?

“Jesus, Holly, are you listening to me?”

My name catches my attention, and I refocus on my phone and the conversation I’d been having with Kate, my shift manager. Kate is the one who gifted me the bottle of wine, and although we met only a few months ago, we’ve grown closer in the time we’ve worked together.

“Sorry, did you say something?

“I have been talking for several minutes, were you not listening?”

“Sorry,” I say again, my eyes dropping to the book on my lap. I’m sitting on the living room couch, trying to keep my thoughts off the man currently asleep in my bed, but I can’t even recall what I’d been trying to read before picking up my phone. I’d called Kate to let her know I wouldn’t be able to make it for my shift today. I’ve never called in sick, but since I’d had yesterday off and worked a double the day before, she didn’t question me too much when I said I wasn’t feeling well.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want me to swing by after my shift?” she asks. “What’s up with you anyway?”

“I’m fine,” I say, closing the book and setting it aside.

“Holly?”

“I promise you, it’s nothing. I think I’m just coming down with something, probably working too much lately.”

“Does this something have a dick between his legs?”

I splutter at her words, my eyes widening as my gaze darts to the hall, as if Reaper might have overheard her. “Kate!”

“I know boy trouble when I hear it.”

Well, I wouldn’t exactly call Reaper a boy. Not with his broad shoulders and muscles that look like they were sculpted by the gods themselves. The man could give Adonis a run for his money with just how perfect every inch of him is.

“I . . . I don’t have boy troubles,” I defend weakly, when in reality, I have a whole load of trouble. A six-foot-four-inches of trouble with a tongue made to snatch souls from poor unsuspecting women. Can’t forget that skilled tongue of his.

“Tell me what’s wrong. I know everything about boys.”

“And yet you haven’t bagged the doctor you’ve been eyeing,” I deadpan.

“Touché,” she chuckles. “I’ll have you know I am bidding my time. Now about your boy problem.”

I bite my lips and contemplate burying my thoughts about Reaper to the furthest corner of my brain, but I can’t get the man off my mind. “Have you . . . have you ever been attracted to a patient before?”

“Ew, that’s disgusting,” she says, causing me to wince. “I’m kidding. I’ve totally wanted to bang a patient before. Have you seen some of the men that walk into the ER? Ugh, there was this one guy who was built like Thor, looked like him too and everything. He came in for stitches, and all I could do was suffer in silence because anything else would be unethical.”

“Oh.”

“So, who’s the patient you’re interested in? Whoever it is, I can assure you that his dick is not worth losing your license for.”

“I . . . I don’t . . . Never mind.”

“Uh, okay,” she muses.

“What?” I ask defensively, afraid she can hear the truth in my voice.

“I never pictured you as a rule breaker. Falling for a patient is definitely the last thing I would have expected from you.” She would be shocked just how far from grace I have fallen. One touch from the stranger in my bed, and I practically melt into a puddle.

“I don’t . . . I would never fall for a patient. I just helped a . . . friend. Someone I met outside of work.”

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