Page 24 of Wicked Lies

Interesting, he hadn’t said how it happened.

She moved under the light, and he noticed her tank top was soaked. Then his dick noticed how it clung to every curve of her bangin’ body.

He jerked his chin at her shirt. “Somebody throw their drink at you?” He joked.

“Actually, yeah. Some guys at a bachelor party were getting crazy, and when Tina told me to cut them off, the ringleader pitched his beer at me.”

“Shit, I hope the bouncers tossed his ass out.”

“Oh yeah, they tossed out the beer-throwing jerk and all his asshole buddies.” Cheryl laughed. “They were so obnoxious, people actually cheered when they left.”

“But aside from getting drenched in beer, you’re all right?”

“Just came up to change, but I think I’m doing way better than you.” She furrowed her brow at most of the kit scattered around the bathroom tile.

“Why don’t you sit down while I clean this up.” She cocked her head. “You look a little green.”

“I’m fine.” That was a total fuckin’ lie. His head now pounded in time with his arm. “It’s just a cut.”

“You better sit down before you fall down.” She motioned to the closed toilet seat.

* * *

Cheryl righted the kit,then tried to decipher his expression. Nick was probably surprised she wasn’t freaked out by all the blood, but she couldn’t let the guy bleed out all over his white tiled bathroom.

“This is very impressive.” She waved her hand over the array of bandages and salves. “Were you a paramedic in your last life?”

“Gotta be prepared, right?”

Prepared was one thing, having enough supplies to perform a small surgery was another. She couldn’t help wondering how many times he’d needed patching up.

Cheryl retrieved a clean washcloth, rinsed it with warm water, then gently wiped at his arm, concentrating on his wound while being careful not to hurt him. It was impossible to ignore Nick’s bare, broad chest or how his taut muscles cut across his impressive abs as they contracted beneath his smooth, bronze skin.

It was the same body she’d admired the other night, only she was up close and personal this time. A barbwire tattoo encircled the muscled bicep of his good arm, and the light from the lamp cast a silvery shadow over another tattoo covering the left side of his ribs, a heart inside a cross inked over a jagged scar.

His eyes slid shut for a minute, and she glanced away when they fluttered open. The edges of his lips curved up like he caught her ogling his body.

“You said you grew up around here, so how come I’ve never seen you before the other night?”

“Probably because I beat it out of here the first chance I got.”With Jimmy, the only person who ever showed me any attention.Talk about being desperate.

“But now you’re back.”

“Yeah.” Cheryl made a show of selecting the correct size gauze, hoping to squash the question-and-answer period.

He drew a breath, and she feared not wanting to answer another question, so she beat him to it with one of her own. “How come you’re so casual about a six-inch gash and losing a boatload of blood.” She pressed the sterile pad against the wound, then wrapped the gauze around his arm a few times before taping it in place.

“I’ve had worse,” he mumbled.

Like the scar he almost camouflaged on his chest. Maybe she wasn't the only one with secrets.

Nick rotated his arm. “Not bad.” The slow, lazy grin caught her by surprise.

“I’ve had some practice patching people up.” Her heart flip-flopped at the thought of Jimmy and all his smash-ups. “It could get infected.” She busied herself, putting the first aid kit back together. “And I’m sure you need stitches.”

“It’ll be fine.”

An uncomfortable silence passed between them until he nodded toward her still-damp top. “You better change.”

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