Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(34)

His authoritative demeanor subsided quickly.

I sat back down on the stool and rolled in closer. “I think you scared her.”

Adam put his other hand behind his head, cupping the pillow. “Good. I want this done right.” He gave me his cut hand.

He was assuming a lot. Still, I found it amusing. I covered his hand with the medical drape, exposing just his wound. “What makes you so sure I’ll do any better?”

He tilted his head. “I trust you. Well, at least until you give me a reason not to.”

God, he had a great laugh. I pulled the first suture through and stopped. “We good?”

He smiled and rested his head back. “Keep stitching, Doc.”

Damn, if he didn’t own one of the sexiest smiles I’d ever seen. While I was throwing my first knot, I was fantasizing about taking him home and locking him in my bedroom. I needed something else to think about beyond stripping him bare. “So, may I ask what the ATTF letters stand for?”

He pressed his chin to his chest, reading his own T-shirt. “Acronym for auto theft task force. It’s a special division within the police department.”

“Ah, that’s right. I remember now. That’s why you pulled me over.”

He looked so damn remorseful. “I pulled my gun on you.” His eyes searched around the ceiling before landing back on my face. “I know you’re worried. You have nothing to worry about, okay? That stuff we got will never be seen on TV. I don’t want you to worry about your job or anything.”

I pulled another suture through. “I appreciate that. I’ve been feeling quite paranoid all day, worrying that I’d wind up on the six o’clock news. It was quite a traumatic experience. I’m surprised I’m not still shaking.”

“Erin, look at me.”

His authoritative yet gentle voice made goose bumps rise on my arms. I met his gaze.

“It will never happen. Trust me.”

There was so much sincerity in his eyes, I found myself wanting to believe in him so damn bad. “You swear?”

“You have my word. I’d never let anything bad happen to you.”

I swallowed hard, finding myself in uncharted territory. I’d never had a guy seem to care as much about me as this man I barely knew appeared to do. But then again, I was never one to allow myself to be vulnerable. The desire to give him a hug was quite powerful. “Okay, thank you. This career means everything to me.”

“I know. A blind man could see that.”

His insightfulness took me by surprise. “So, is that what you do then? Deal with carjackings?”

He nodded. “That and other things. We mainly chase down stolen vehicles. Most felonies involve a stolen car. You know, like robberies, homicides.” He scratched his brow. “The bad guys usually don’t want to use their own cars. Go figure.”

Again, he got me to laugh, but considering some perpetrator caused him to get injured tonight, his job didn’t sound like a pleasure cruise. “Sounds like dangerous work.”

He was silent for so long I had to look at him.

“It can be,” he said, almost regretfully. “But I guess the good part is there are people like you to piece us back together.”

I shrugged, feeling his words like a comforting affirmation, especially since I had just accused him a day ago of ruining my career when he was just doing his job. Things could have been worse; I could have wound up back in jail. “Well, fortunately for me, you didn’t require a lot of piecing together tonight. I get it, though. I’ve often said that cops don’t get paid enough to do what you do.”

Adam drew in a tight breath. “Did you become a doctor for the money?”

I could tell by the way he asked, he wasn’t being purposely hurtful or looking to be judgmental. He was trying to make a point. I tied another stitch off before answering. “No. I didn’t. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to heal the sick. I was forever putting bandages on my dolls and stuffed animals.” It wasn’t a lie, but it was also my standard canned answer whenever anyone asked that question. It always generated a smile and it was much simpler than the full truth.

“Ah, the caretaker gene. Very noble. My brother Jason was born that gene, too.”

I pulled another stitch through his palm. “Is he a doctor?”

Adam scratched his chest with his free hand, appearing a wee bit proud. “Not quite. He’s a flight medic in the Army. He’s in Bosnia right now, actually. Wish he wasn’t but… there’s nothing I can do to change it.”

I felt a twinge of sickness. “Another group that put their lives on the line to keep us safe.”

His face softened in agreement.

“What about you? Always known you wanted to be a police officer?”

His lips twisted up. “Yeah, for as long as I can remember. Although that pipe dream of wanting to be a cowboy doesn’t seem so bad right now.”

“Never too late to switch,” I teased. “But most of the cowboys I remember seeing in the movies always chased bank robbers. Not sure a horse would appreciate the wind chill outside.”

The smile washed from his face. “You watch a lot of TV, Doc?”

“Um, no. Not really.”

“Why is that?”

Because my nose is usually in a medical textbook until I pass out? “I don’t know.”