Page 26 of Love is a Drum Beat
She lifted her head to look down at the small shard of glass. “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”
He pursed his lips and sat on the couch, drawing her feet into his lap.
Rifling through the first aid kit, he found a pair of tweezers, an alcohol swab, and a long bandage. He searched her foot to make sure there was only one piece of glass.
“Just do it, Dax.”
She needed a distraction.
“What were you doing out of bed, anyway?” He leaned in closer and latched onto the glass with the tweezers.
Jo winced, but he could tell she was trying to mask her pain, to be strong. “I was hungry. I’m always hungry.”
He removed the glass and reached for the alcohol swab, tearing it open. “You could have asked for something.”
Jo frowned. “I’m not an invalid.”
“So…” He wasn’t sure what to say as he pressed the swab to the small cut.
Jo bit her lip and managed not to cry out.
“Pickles?” He arched one brow as he unrolled the bandage and started wrapping it around her foot.
She sighed. “Well, I wouldn’t have had to resort to pickles if you had anything edible in your fridge. You don’t even have any ice cream! How do you get through the days when everything sucks without some cookies and cream?”
“There’s plenty to eat in there.”
Leaning her head back against the cushion, she grimaced. “Yes, but it all has to be prepared, cooked. I, Jo Jackson, do not cook. Knowing me, I’d burn this baby when my stomach caught on fire.”
He suppressed a laugh. This was one of the first normal conversations they’d ever had. Sure, she’d hurt her foot, but there were no secrets, nothing to turn their moods sour. For the next two months, it was just him and Jo in this big house.
“Want to know something?”
He nodded.
She dropped her voice conspiratorially. “I don’t even like pickles.”
“Then, why is there pickle juice all over my kitchen?”
One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “In all the movies and books about women having babies, they crave pickles.”
“So, you decided to eat something you didn’t even like?” He massaged her non-injured foot.
“Sounded like a good idea at the time.”
“You use that phrase a lot, I’m guessing.”
She smiled a full, heart-stopping smile. “Maybe.”
“Are you still hungry?”
“Starved.”
He studied her for a moment. There were many things he’d held back from the Rockstars Anonymous group, parts of him he didn’t let anyone see. His family—though, Jo knew his mom now. The way he lived a normal life despite the gigantic house. And the fact that he once almost quit music in favor of going to culinary school.
“Okay, let’s get you back to bed, and I’ll bring some food in.”
She sat up. “Takeout? Because I hate to break it to you, Daxy, but your fridge is full of green things.”
