Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(40)

Kathy set our drinks down. “Are you ready?”

“Yes. For the lady, she’d like the western omelet and whole wheat toast and I’d like the Spanish omelet with whole wheat also. And a large plate of home fries and bacon.” I handed the menus over, catching Kathy’s approving smile while completely dazed by Erin’s. She appeared to be a happy person, which was wonderful because I had enough shit to worry about; I didn’t need to be the sole source of someone’s happiness.

“I love bacon,” she said.

I leaned up on the table. “Me too.”

“How’s the hand feel?”

I glanced at the meticulous job she did and flexed my fingers. “Feels fine, although I think wrapping it this good on my own might be tough.”

I watched her lips pucker and brush the edge of her water glass, thinking it was one of the most erotic things I’d seen in a long time.

“What time do you normally start your shift?”

“Um, we have ops briefing at eight and then we’re on the streets by eight-thirty. Why?”

She shrugged. “I’ll be at the hospital at seven. I can re-wrap you, if you want, before you start your shift.”

Is she giving me an in to see her or is she just being nice? Either way, I was thankful. “You’d be okay to do that?”

She didn’t even question it. “Sure. You need to keep those stitches covered. While you’re home, you can let them air, but while you’re out there in germ world better to be safe than sorry.”

She made me laugh with her little animations. “Germ world? That bad, huh?”

Erin nodded. “Yep. Trust me.”

I leaned back. “Actually, I’ve been benched. Apparently stitches warrant a few days of desk duty.”

“Well, you need to heal. How long are you benched?”

I shrugged, not really knowing. “A week? It’s okay. Gives me time to dig into why someone switched your plate.”

Erin fidgeted with her napkin. “That’s been bothering me a lot, actually.”

Thinking about some asswipe creeping around her car at night bothered me a whole hell of a lot, too. “I’m not completely sure, but my guess is that you were used as a diversion.”

“A diversion?”

I nodded, reconsidering just how much I should divulge. Last thing I wanted to do was to scare her. “Several expensive cars on the other side of the city disappeared into thin air at the same time we were chasing you.”

The look of abject horror I received told me she was completely innocent.

“Don’t let it worry you, though. I talked with hospital security before I left and I got the number for their main office. I’ll inform them that your car was tampered with on hospital property. But the fact they let you ladies walk out into that dark parking lot unescorted, well that’s something they need to fix right away.”

She frowned at me. “We’ve never had problems before.”

Didn’t matter if she disapproved or not. “I walked through your lot, Erin; it’s dark, unlit, and unsafe. You ever have any self-defense training?”

“No,” she admitted.

“Well then, you should never walk out there alone, especially when it’s dark. I’ll show you some self-defense moves. You should at least know how to escape if someone grabs you.”

She gave me a measured look.

“I’m serious.”

She smirked at me. “I believe you.”

Didn’t take long for Kathy to return with our food. I could have inhaled mine for how hungry I was. I let the subject of her safety drop and started scooping chunky salsa out over my omelet when I noticed Erin scrutinizing me. “Want some?”

“Salsa? On an omelet?” She was definitely questioning my sanity.

“You ever try it?”

She shook her head.

“Babe, you haven’t lived until you’ve had salsa on an omelet. Here,” I handed the small soup cup over to her, “give it a shot.”

I was glad to see she was willing to try something new and even more relieved that she didn’t get all righteous on me when I called her “babe.” It had slipped out before I could stop myself.

One mouthful and she started grinning. “Oh, that’s good.”

I crammed a big bite into my mouth, nodding in agreement. “Told ya. Have some more.”

She rubbed another spoonful over her food. “I think this is my new favorite thing.”

“You think that’s good, wait until I show you the proper way to eat French fries.”

A lock of hair fell across her face. I wanted to touch it.

“Gravy on top?” she asked.

I set my fork down. “Aw. Who told you?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve known about gravy fries since I was old enough to speak the words. You know who has the best gravy fries?”

“Al’s Tavern,” we both said in unison.

“You’ve been to Al’s?” I asked, completely shocked she knew about my favorite hole-in-the-wall pub.

She smiled that wholesome naughty girl grin again. God, I wanted to climb over the table and kiss her. Could life be this poetic? Something so benign and simple felt like a lifeline, gluing a piece of me back together. If she only knew…