Chapter 2
When the hospital was under siege, Kate had held her revolver with a limp, shaky hand. Though she had carried the gun with her for some time, the weighted metal still felt foreign to her. Regardless of its simple mechanics, Kate would never feel comfortable using it on a whim.
Nick was a different story. He seemed incomplete without a firearm. If his hand was empty of a pistol, a rifle, or a blade, he was an amputee—a fragmented version of himself.
Kate watched him through tiny slits in her eyes as he unclasped his belt and let his black pants drop to the ground. He kicked the pants away from his ankles, left in nothing but a shirt and boxers. Nick took a pair of sweatpants from the stack of clothes and slid his legs inside.
He turned to face Kate, assessing the small bed and her body taking up the majority of the mattress.
He exited the room and returned moments later with several blankets and a pillow clutched in his arms. Laying out the blankets across the floor next to the bed, Nick prepared a moderately comfortable place to sleep.
“What are you doing?” Kate asked. Nick jumped at the sound of her voice, then drew out a deep, startled breath.
“I thought you were asleep,” Nick rasped in a shaky voice. Kate giggled at the sight of him unnerved by something, for once.
“Put your stupid blankets on this bed and lay with me,” Kate ordered. Nick stood, a smile creeping across his face, and surveyed the bed.
“Lay… where?” Nick asked. Kate scooted against the wall, flattening herself to create as much free space as possible. Then, she patted the spot next to her. Skepticism replaced Nick’s smile, and he raised an eyebrow.
“I am not going to listen to you complain all day tomorrow about back pain.” Kate narrowed her eyes at him.
“Complain?” Nick feigned offense with a hand to his chest. “Well, maybe I don’t want to hear you complain when I crowd you in that tiny bed.”
“You? Crowd me? Never. Also, it’s freezing in here and you’re like my personal heater.”
Nick laughed and shut off the light. Then he laid on top of the comforter draped over Kate’s body, covering himself with the blankets he brought from the other room. He propped himself on one elbow to face her.
“Is that all I’m good for?”
“You’re a cute heater.” Kate grinned and leaned into him, pressing her mouth to his in a kiss.
Electricity buzzed through Nick’s arms as the desire to reach out, graze her hair, and run his fingers down her arm ran rampant through his mind.
Yet, he kept his body still. He made a silent vow to let her come to him; he would always let her make the first move.
Kate pulled away from Nick and settled her head against the pillow, sighing when she closed her tired eyes.