Kissed Blind (Hot Pursuit #2)(29)

“How about the one down the road? Easy targets if you asked me. With my looks and your charm, they’ll never know what hit ‘em.”

He smiled his first genuine smile. “Thanks.”

“You want a drink? Becca was over and left some beers.”

He nodded. “Yeah, but only if you have one too.”

“Deal.”

I opened two beers in the kitchen and brought one over to him. Turning my body toward him, I lifted my bottle. “To Sal, and his full and speedy recovery.”

He tapped the neck of his bottle against mine. “Here here.”

He drained almost half the bottle in his first drink, and his shoulders relaxed for the first time since he’d been in my apartment. We sat listening only to the sounds of our beating hearts until a fire truck drove by outside with sirens blaring, breaking the silence.

“What were you and Becca doing?” he asked.

“Hanging out and watching a little TV. Nothing too exciting. How was Irene’s?”

“I got through one game of pool when Ma called. I was hardly there.” He took another swig and was down to the last third of the bottle. “This is good.” He read the label and rested the bottle on his thigh. Leaning his head back, he shut his eyes.

I watched him for a few moments. This was the guy I’d grown to love like family over the years, the guy who wasn’t afraid to cry, especially in front of me. He could pretend to be tough all he wanted, but the real him wasn’t the macho, womanizing guy he pretended to be most days.

His breathing slowed, and I smiled at the beard that seemed to have grown thicker in the hours we’d been apart. I glanced at the clock on my cable box. “You want to stay here? I can make up the couch for you.”

His grip loosened on the bottle. He was already asleep, and why wouldn’t he have been? He’d had a rough night. I slipped the bottle from his tired fingers and dumped the last of our beers in the sink. I grabbed a pillow off my bed and returned to cover him with a blanket but stopped when I saw his feet. He still had his shoes on. I crouched next to him and slid one shoe off then the other.

“What are you doing?” He sat up disoriented, his voice groggy. “I should go.”

“You’re staying here.” I pointed to the pillow. “Lay down so I can cover you up.” He paused to protest but reconsidered. He lay down, and I bent over him, taking the back cushions off to give him more room to spread out. “I know it’s not the biggest couch, but you’ll be comfortable.” I spread a patchwork quilt over him and smiled down. “There, snug as a bug.”

“Thanks.”

I leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Sleep tight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Without a sound, he drifted back into the darkness.

As I slipped between my sheets, Becca’s absurd notions replayed in my head. Vance didn’t have a thing for me. I laughed under my breath. He’d had plenty of opportunities to make a move on me before we got jobs at B&B but never did. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’d thought about him in a more-than-friends kind of a way though when we first met. The high school hunk everyone dreamed about was working out and training with me. Of course I did. But it became clear it wasn’t meant to be, and when we started working together, it sealed the deal. I floated off, lost in thoughts of Vance.



. . .



I slept hard like I’d been catching up on months of lost sleep but was pulled from my slumber by the smell of flowers and mint. I rolled over and blinked until my vision cleared. Vance stood in the doorway to my bathroom, wet with a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth.

I covered my head with my quilt. “What the heck are you doing, watching me sleep?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, so?”

I peeked out from my cotton cocoon, revealing only my eyes. “Well stop, weirdo. God, that’s creepy.” I squinted. “Wait, is that my toothbrush.”

“Yeah, you mind? I couldn’t find another one in here.”

“Did you even look? Yes, I mind. A lot. Yuck, that’s disgusting.”

“You’ve had Gabe’s tongue in your mouth and you’re calling this disgusting?”

“FYI smart ass, now you’ve had Gabe’s tongue in your mouth too.” I sat up and pulled the covers up to my chest. “And do I need to bring up the disgusting body parts of all the random women you’ve had in your mouth? You totally outgross me.”

He shrugged and nodded. “Touchée, pussycat.”

“But whatever, I have another one in a bin under the sink. Keep it.” I grabbed my phone to check the time. It was just after six. “Why are you up so early?”

He scrubbed back and forth and spit frothy goo into the sink and returned to the doorway, drying his mouth with my hand towel. “I woke up worrying about Pop. I decided to get showered.”

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and swung my legs out. “I’ll make us some coffee.”

“No, don’t worry about it. I want to run home and get some fresh clothes and stop by the hospital. I won’t be able to work if I don’t know how he’s doing.”

“Why don’t you call in? Cavanaugh will understand.”

“And have you partnered up with one of those other amateurs? No way. I’m not throwing you to the wolves like that. We don’t need to pick Oliver up until ten. I’ll have plenty of time.”