Page 5 of Her Secret Wish

“Let me drop you off somewhere. As long as you don’t mind riding in the cruiser, I can save you some cab fare.”

Rachel gave him a narrow-eyed look. “Do I have to ride in the back?”

Dean chuckled deep in his chest. “Not today. I’ll let you ride in front like a big girl.”

His humor was pretty contagious. And she didn’t live far from the hospital. She wouldn’t put him too far out of his way. “Fine. Lead the way, Officer West.”

Without another word he took her elbow in his hand and walked her carefully to the car. He jumped forward enough to swing the door open for her, then grabbed a couple of things off the seat and threw them through the hole in the glass partition to the back seat. It was incredibly sweet but a little off-putting too. That back seat had probably seen a lot of fucked up things.

Rachel settled into the car seat and reached for the seatbelt, but he’d already stretched it out and was leaning in to reach around her hips to snap it shut. Blood suffused her face—she could feel it. Even as tan as she was, he had to see her embarrassment. “Thank you,” she choked out.

Rachel didn’t know if it was because she was so embarrassed or what, but it seemed like he withdrewveryslowly, giving her an incredible amount of time to look at the dark blond stubble growing in on his square jaw. When he finally pulled out of the car and carefully shut her door, she heaved a breath.Holy hell, what the fuck had that been?

Officer West circled the front of the car, giving her a chance to catch her breath and give herself a stern talking to. Yet as he settled behind the wheel, his broad shoulders reaching beyond the width of his seat, she had to wonder why he was taking the time to be with her.

“You didn’t have to do this,” she murmured.

That broad smile turned her way. “I know. But I wanted to. I wanted to check and make sure you really were recovering.”

Okay, that time she didn’t imagine it. Dean West had held eye contact with her way too long. Blinking out of her own daze, she watched his strong, broad hand twist the key in the ignition and shift the car into drive. Rachel took a moment to look at the interior of the car. Dash mounted pc, cursor blinking. Miscellaneous papers stuffed into the sun visor above his head. A spare set of cuffs hanging from the spotlight at the left of the dash. Typical patrol car; although spotlessly clean.

“How long have you been a cop, Mr. West?”

His blond head turned, one brow raised. “About seven years. I graduated police academy a year after I graduated college. Been on the job ever since. I moved out here from California about six months ago to be closer to family.”

He was still unbearably enthusiastic about his job. Rachel sighed, feeling older than her actual years. It had been a long time since she’d been that eager about anything.

“So, how do you feel? Nothing broken obviously, but you’ve got to have been beaten up.”

Rachel sighed. “Yes. My left calf is hugely swollen and tender, but no major damage. I was injured in the service but even those prior injuries were fine. I was lucky, I guess.”

West looked at her, interest in his eyes. “Which service were you in?”

“Marines,” she told him with a small smile. “I was a helicopter pilot.”

Yep, there it was. That slack jawed look people always got when she told them where she’d been for the past several years.

“Wow, that is very cool.”

Rachel gave him a nod and turned to look out the window. It had been cool. It had been the coolest thing she’d ever done. Well, besides fly.

That familiar need to be soaring through the blue surged through her. It had been a couple years now since she’d been behind the stick and she missed it like hell. She looked up at the puffy clouds in the sky today. Optimal flying weather.

“You have a faraway look in your eyes. I can tell you miss it,” he murmured.

Rachel blinked and sighed. “Yes, I do. More than anything.”

“Can you not still fly?”

She shrugged and turned to look out the window without answering him.

Luckily, he didn’t pursue that line of questioning.

“Do you know how the other guy was in the crash? Was he injured?”

Dean gave her a look out of the corner of his eyes. “Actually, we haven’t found the guy who hit you. He left the scene.”

Rachel felt her mouth drop open. “Are you serious? He hit me and took off?”

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