Page 47 of Final Exit

“Of course I’m okay. I can take care of... wait, you know who I am?”

He frowned. “Unless you have an identical twin I don’t know about, you’re Bailey Stark. Why are you...oomph.” His arms were suddenly filled with a gorgeous redhead, hugging him tight, her soft breasts crushed against his chest.

Obviously he’d died and gone to heaven.

“Whatever I did, let me know,” he said. “I want to make sure that I do it again.”

The laugh he’d expected didn’t happen. Instead, she pushed out of his arms, her brow lined with worry again.

“How about you don’t do it again?” she said. “You’ll make me prematurely gray.”

He was about to ask what she was talking about, when he noticed two half-empty glasses of water and a stack of dirty dishes on the bedside table. Beside that on the floor was a pile of discarded towels. And next to that was a smaller pile of clothes, including a dark T-shirt and... bloody jeans.

His gaze shot to hers. “I remember I was in the bathroom. My leg was killing me and my back...” He reached around his left side, frowning when he felt a patch of gauze taped to his skin.

Bailey gently pulled his hand down. “You’re not naked just so I could have my wicked way with you while you were delirious with fever. You’re naked because I had to cut your clothes off in order to sew up the bullet hole in your side.”

He really, really wanted to explore that whole “wicked way” and “naked” thing with her, but the wordbulletmore or less canceled that out.

“The hospital parking lot?”

She nodded. “Apparently one of the agents fired through the trunk when we were driving away. It was just a flesh wound, thankfully. But you lost so much blood—” She shook her head. “Obviously I couldn’t risk taking you back to the hospital. I had to do the best I could. And being the badass Enforcer that I am, I saved the day. So settle down before you ruin my handiwork. I have better things to do than stitch you up again.”

Her brusque manner didn’t fool him. He could tell that she’d been worried, and had obviously worked hard to save his life. Her actions amazed him considering the fact that they’d been bitter enemies such a short time ago. What were they now? Temporary allies? Whatever they were, he was certain he owed her more than he could ever repay.

“You have better things to do, huh?” he teased.

“Tons.”

“Like what?”

“Lots of things.” She absently toyed with the edge of the sheet, making his breath catch. “Maybe a Netflix marathon. I’m ridiculously behind onThe Walking Dead. I need to find out if Darryl’s still in the land of the living.”

“Want me to tell you?”

Her eyes widened. “Don’t you dare.”

He laughed at her outraged expression. Then, ever so slowly, he slid his hand through her silky hair to the back of her neck.

“Kade? What are you doing?”

“I could say that I’m thanking you for saving my life.” He rubbed his fingers against her skin, reveling in the shudder of awareness that swept through her. “But really, I just can’t resist having you in my bed without finally seeing how you taste.”

Before she could think too hard or put up a wall between them, he pulled her down and pressed his lips to hers. She was just as sweet as he knew she would be, and smelled so damn good that he wanted to keep her there forever, trapped in his embrace. But they barely knew each other, and there were a million reasons why this was an incredibly bad idea. So he kept the kiss achingly short.

She stared wide-eyed at him when he let her go. Her hands had fallen to his shoulders and were still clutching him, as if she didn’t know whether to pull him close, or shove him away.

“Thank you,” he said.

She looked a little dazed, which had him wanting to smile. But he didn’t dare.

She cleared her throat. “For what, exactly?”

“For saving my life, of course.” This time he did smile. “And for not punching me when I kissed you.”

“Oh. Well. Okay then.” Her fingers flexed against his shoulders. “Sounds like you’re thanking me fortwothings, though.” Her gaze dropped to his lips. “But you only gave me one kiss.”

He couldn’t have resisted that invitation if a whole army of mercenaries was breaking down their door. He speared his hands through her glorious hair again and pulled her close, until their lips were just inches apart.

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