Ten #4
The three-day-old stubble, how soft his eyes were, the way his hair was sort of sticking up, the shy, crooked grin that took the ice out of his dark, smoky-blue eyes, infusing them with heat…all of it made my heart hurt. “You look so good.”
He just stared at me. “They want you to spend the night in the hospital for observation because of the concussion.”
“I wanna go home.”
“I knew you would. That’s what I told them. Dane’s fixing it now.”
“Good”—I sighed deeply—“because I just wanna sleep with you.”
“Baby—”
I felt the sting of the tears behind my eyes. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, love.”
I smiled up at him, letting out a deep breath of contentment. “I can’t wait to go home.”
“Okay, baby,” he said, and he put his head down on my chest, over my heart.
I trailed my fingers through his hair as I looked out the window. I watched the snow gather on my window. Gray, cloudy days being my favorite, I was comforted by the darkness.
Sam gave me a choice. I could either be carried down to Caleb’s room or I could ride in a wheelchair.
I rode, and when I reached his room and saw him, I was so relieved I started shaking.
Caleb had been grazed by a bullet that had hit his leg, but other than that, he was in great shape.
He actually looked much better than my own bruised and battered appearance.
“I was so worried about you,” I told him, holding his hand, trying not to cry.
“I know.” He sighed, hugging me tight. “You care so much about me.”
And I did. We were friends, and family, sort of. I stayed with him as long as Sam let me. I found it sad that Caleb didn’t have anyone to sit with him. Sam assured me that it was not going to be me.
Sam had brought me clothes from home since my old ones had been collected as evidence.
I appreciated finally getting out of the drafty hospital gown and back into my jeans.
My wardrobe always diminished when I wound up in the hospital, and I was really sort of sad about the last pair of jeans; they were perfectly worn in.
Two officers came and took my statement at the hospital, asking me to walk them through everything that had happened from the time I was grabbed to when I arrived at the police station in the kidnapper’s car, now identified as a 1980 Dodge Mirada. It had been reported stolen weeks before.
I explained about where I’d been taken by the carjackers, but since I really didn’t want the men who saved me to get in trouble, because they’d saved me from the kidnappers, I lied and said I couldn’t remember what they looked like.
It wasn’t as long of an explanation as I’d thought, and it was helped by the fact that they already had Caleb’s.
Once we were home and Sam had the car parked on the street in front of my apartment, I swung the door open to get out.
“Don’t move, J.”
So I waited for him to come around, and when he did, I leaned down into his arms. Gently, he set me on my feet.
“I can walk,” I assured him.
“Nope, we’re not doing that,” he said, scooping me up into his arms.
I squirmed to get him to drop me. “I’m not broken. You should put me—”
“I’m carrying you up to that apartment,” he told me, “and if I put you over my shoulder, you’re gonna be sick. So today you’re going to let me carry you like this.”
“But, Sam, I—”
“No, J. Just stop talking.”
I sighed, realizing he was going to have his way since there was nothing at all I could do about it.
He rubbed his chin through my hair as he carried me up the front stoop and through the door that led into the foyer of the building. I let my head drop onto his shoulder and felt him tighten his hold.
“Caleb’s gonna be all right, isn’t he?”
“That’s the fifth time you’ve asked me.”
“No, I know,” I said. “I was just worried about him.”
“You’re the one that got hurt, J. He should be worried about you.”
“He got shot.” I was incredulous. “I didn’t even—”
“He was grazed by a bullet, that’s it. You, on the other hand…” He took a settling breath. “You were choked and hit and kicked and—”
“I don’t remember any of that.”
“Maybe they hurt you when you were passed out, I have no idea, but the evidence is right there on your body. You can’t argue that it happened. Maybe you—”
“Well, I’m fine now.” I cut him off before he got worked up. “You can see I’m fine.”
“Well, so is Caleb,” he snapped at me. “He’s in better shape than you.”
I was going to mention again that Caleb Reid had been shot, but Sam didn’t seem all that receptive to the reminder.
“Caleb was way luckier than you,” Sam said, letting himself in with the key to the security door. I told him I could get up the stairs myself, I didn’t need to be carried, but he didn’t even slow down. “Just let me take care of you…please.”
“Why don’t you just put me down?”
“I don’t feel like it. I like holding you,” he said as he effortlessly took the stairs, even with my added weight.
I squeezed him tight and felt the deep breath he took when he reached my front door.
My apartment was just as I’d left it two days earlier. It was so good to be home.
“It’s cold in here,” he commented as he locked the door behind him.
“The radiator just hasn’t kicked on yet.” I yawned. “But it will.”
“Yeah, and you’ll be frozen by then.”
I couldn’t stop yawning. My eyes were watering, I was so tired. “I need a shower so bad.”
He carried me to the bathroom, and after I promised not to pass out and hit my head on the tile or the faucet, he went to get a fire started while I stripped out of the fresh clothes he’d brought me and washed away my captivity.
When I was towel-drying my hair, he came in with sweats and socks and a long-sleeved T-shirt for me. He watched me as I changed.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I’m just glad to see you.”
“Where are you going with my clothes?” I asked as he picked up my jeans, sweater, and boots.
“To put them in the laundry. They should be washed, even though you only had them on for about an hour, don’t you think?”
I did, and nodded. “Okay,” I said weakly, “I’m gonna go lie down.”
“You should try and eat something.”
But just the thought of food was nauseating. “Maybe later,” I said, walking away from him.
My bed felt amazing, and I sank down onto it. I was almost asleep by the time he came back, but I felt the bed dip as he lay down.
“Come here.”
I lifted up, and he pulled me into his arms so I was lying beside him with my head on his chest. The steady beat of his heart was very comforting, as was his warmth.
“Did you miss me?”
“I more than missed you,” he said, his hands in my hair, on my back, petting me.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t sleep the same when you’re not with me. I figured that out when I was gone all that time. You’re the only one who makes me forget about everything else so I can just…be.”
“You know, for a big, tough, silent-guy type, you say a lot of really good stuff.”
“Yeah, well, I try.”
“No, you don’t.” I smiled, my body getting heavy. “And that’s the best part.”
“J, you—”
“Wait,” I said, rolling over on my stomach away from him, reaching between my shoulder blades to pull my T-shirt off and over my head. “Look.”
“J, I’m trying to—oh shit.” I heard him deflate.
I smiled into the pillow as his warm hands slid over my back.
“Jory…baby, you put my name on you.”