Page 73 of Guilty as Sin
“You remember that. With a concussion.”
“It’s training. It’s the way I work.”
“I know. I get it. I’ll be back soon. Sleep, if you can.”
He left, after telling Tobias to stay. She knew why. That he wanted her to feel safe, so she could relax. She levered herself out of bed, went to the bathroom, borrowed his toothbrush for the second time, sparing a moment to think, through the throbbing discomfort of a body that had been hit way too many times and a jaw that ached too much to make tooth brushing a pleasant activity, that she couldn’t have imagined borrowing a toothbrush from anyone else but Lily. And then she took off the scrubs and took a look at herself.
Fairly gorgeous, yep. Livid red bruising across her cheek, a swollen upper lip, and her left shoulder and forearm looked worse.
“Appealing,” she muttered, turning to see the mottled stripe of red across the middle of her back. “Nice hair, too.” She got in the shower, limping too much along the way, held onto the wall with her good right hand, and let the hot water ease some of the stiffness. Then she dried off, finger-combed her hair, pulled the scrubs back on, and drank a glass of water.
That’s enough,she thought as she crawled back into bed with her last bit of energy.That’s all I’ve got.
She came back to consciousness slowly. The smell, first. Bacon and coffee. It smelled good. The light outside was brighter, the full-body ache gentler now.
Beside her, Tobias put his head on the bed, and she reached her hand out and petted his ears. They were soft. That was nice. He stayed a minute, then headed downstairs with a click of toenails, and she stayed where she was. It felt so much better not to move.
Another minute, and she felt the vibration of a light tread on the stairs, then Jace came into her vision, set a mug on the bedside table, and sat on the edge of the bed again.
“You walk softly,” she said. “And is Tobias that smart?”
“Yeah, he is. And you had a president who said, ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick.’”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “Sounds dirty.”
He laughed. “Could be. I’ll let you decide, when you feel better.”
“What time is it?”
“Nine.”
“I should call Hailey.”
“Your phone’s charging. She’ll hear anyway. I’m sure you’re news. Give it a bit longer. If you want to trust me enough to take off those scrubs, I’ll see if I can help with your leg, get you more comfortable.”
She should check her phone. She should call Hailey, and she should call her lieutenant, too. He needed to know that she’d just set herself back. But maybe Jace was right. Maybe it could wait an hour.
“I’d act all modest,” she said, “except that I looked in the mirror. I’ve got a fat lip.”
He laughed out loud. “Yeah. You do. We’ll wait a while on the gymnastic sex. Want some help getting your things off?”
She sighed. “Why not.”
His hands were gentle on her as he helped her pull the top of the scrubs over her head, the bottoms down her legs, and she asked, “Did you date soldiers?”
“Sometimes. Go with what you know, maybe. Or go with what knows you. I can’t put you on your left side or your stomach, because of your shoulder, so I’m going to keep you on your back.”
“Sounds dirty again,” she said. He draped the sheet across her torso, and she said, “Too bad. And ‘go with what knows you?’ You mean that civilians don’t get you.”
“I do. Pity, as they tend to think you’re sexier. Helps make up for the no-money bit.” She was still trying not to laugh, because it hurt, when he got up and said, “Hang on. I’m getting some lotion.”
When he was back and stroking his hands over her thigh, not going too deep at first, sliding easily over her skin, and she had her eyes closed at the pleasure/pain of it, she said, “I thought you’d be angrier. You’re a black-and-white thinker, like me. You have to be to write like you do. Good guys and bad guys. I thought honesty would be too important to you.”
Silence for a moment, and she should open her eyes and look at his expression, but his hands felt too good. A little deeper now, his thumbs starting to dig into her quadriceps, and her attention was there. Finally, he said, “It is. But there are all sorts of honesty. A soldier has to deal with what is, not what he wants it to be, and I was a soldier for a long time. I thought about a few things last night. About how I kissed you, and you broke it off. About how I touched you, and you told me it would be for one night. About how I wanted that night anyway. That was on me. And then I thought, do I want to throw that away? And got my answer pretty bloody quickly. So you don’t have a lingerie shop. You still have access to the stock. And so you don’t have goats. I can live without goats. Can live without chickens and bees, too.”
Her eyes flew open. “Bees? What bees?”
“Your beehive. Sorry. Lily’s beehive.”
