by Lori Foster
“Thank God Reese brought you a clean shirt.” She opened the buttons while saying that. “Tell me if I hurt you.”
As long as she didn’t leave him, she wouldn’t hurt him.
She eased the shirt away and went to work on his shoes and then his pants.
“I’m not an invalid, you know.”
“No, but you are right-handed and the doctor said your deltoid is going to hurt like crazy for a while, so I’m helping, end of story. Now, can you lift your hips?”
Charmed by the mix of bossy and nurturing, Logan did as directed. “Okay if I keep my boxers?” he teased.
“If you insist.” Her hair fell around her face as she dragged the pants down his legs. She plumped a pillow behind him so he could rest back on the headboard, then drew a sheet up and over him.
Trying to ignore the constant throbbing in his arm, Logan watched her move around the room, putting his clothes on a chair, tossing his shoes in a closet.
He had her in his house, in his bedroom, and whatever it took, he’d keep her there.
Strain showed in her drooping shoulders, the shadows under her eyes. Her hair hadn’t seen a comb since early the previous morning.
“You are so beautiful.”
A secret little smile peeked through the fatigue as she dug in a drawer and found a clean T-shirt. She shook it out. “Pain must be affecting your vision. Are you sure you don’t want a pill?”
“Not yet.” He’d already gotten a shot for pain along with a load dose of antibiotics in his backside. He’d be taking more antibiotics for a week and wearing the damned sling for longer than that. He had pain pills to take, but he wanted to be clearheaded for his conversation with Pepper.
He waited for her to remove her clothes.
Eyeing him, she held the shirt to her chest and chastised him with another indulgent smile. “You realize that hot stare is wasted. You’re in no shape to do anything.”
“I can hold you.” He patted the left side of the bed. “Right here.” He wanted to feel her heart beating with his. He wanted to breathe in her scent and listen to her sleeping. He wanted to tell her that no one and nothing could ever hurt her again—but in many ways, he was the one who’d hurt her the most.
Worry etched her brow. “What if I bump you in the night?”
Bumping he could take. Sleeping alone—no way. “I need to hold you.”
She said nothing, just stood there, his shirt in her hands, several feet from the bed.
He tried for patience, but it wasn’t easy when he so desperately wanted her beside him. “Are you hungry?”
“No. Dash got me a sandwich at the hospital.”
Thank God both his brother and hers had stuck around to keep her company until he’d finally been released. After dropping off clean clothes, Reese had joined Peterson in a sting against the traffickers.
“The master bath is through that door. There’s another in the hall if you want privacy.”
“It’s a nice house.”
A house she hadn’t even noticed as she’d hustled him through it and into bed. “Thank you.” He started to tell her that she could change anything she wanted, but maybe that’d be moving too fast for her. She needed time to acclimate to an entire transformation in her life.
“Rowdy will come by tomorrow.”
“He told me.” As soon as the hospital released him, Rowdy had taken off. Logan didn’t know where he’d go, and Pepper seemed to take it for granted that he’d do his own thing, in his own way.
Dash had driven them to Logan’s home, and Logan knew he’d wanted to hang around, but like Rowdy, he understood that Logan wanted time alone with Pepper. “If you’re worried about him—”
“Rowdy?” She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I’m worried about.”
He’d already shared Peterson’s report about the trafficking ring, so she knew that was over. And while they were both concerned for Alice, they had no influence there.
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
She licked her lips. “I don’t have…anything.” As if they were a longtime couple, she stripped off her clothes without fanfare or modesty and pulled on the T-shirt.
Logan would never tire of looking at her. “What do you need?”
“Everything.” Warming to that subject, she explained, “What little I owned was in the apartment that burned down or at the warehouse, and now that the police know about it, they’ve taken it over, at least for now.”
So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours, he hadn’t thought that far ahead. “We can go shopping tomorrow.”
Absently, she said, “No, tomorrow you have to rest. The doctor said so.” She put her clothes on the chair with his. “I was trying to think about it, but…now that I don’t have to hide anymore, the list just keeps growing in my mind.”
Rowdy said he and Pepper had enough money to endure, but what did that mean? Logan wanted her to do more than endure—he wanted her to thrive.
With him.
She sat on the bed near his hip. “Everything is so different now.”
Logan couldn’t deny that. “I want it to be better.” He’d wanted that almost from the day he met her.
“We have money, you know. Rowdy’s always seen to that. And he probably has a car for me.” The corner of her mouth lifted. “He usually thinks of everything for me. But there’s no job, no home, no clothes or food or dishes or furniture.”
How unsettled must she feel? Logan needed to reassure her. He’d be happy if she moved in with him, if she let him take her shopping.
But how could he suggest that without insulting her independent nature or stepping on Rowdy’s toes?
She licked her lips. “The thing is, there’s no fear, either. No threat, no worry.” She inhaled. “And I hope no more…loneliness.”
A hint? God, he hoped so. “Do you think you can forgive me?”
As if he hadn’t spoken, she said, “I want to jog. God, I miss jogging.”
“As soon as I can, I’ll jog with you.”
With the softest expression he’d ever seen on a woman, she touched his wounded arm in a butterfly caress. “I want to go to movies and restaurants. Maybe the park. And the lake. I’d love to go swimming, boating, too.”
“I won’t be up for all that today, but tomorrow…” He shifted, felt the burn of his wound, and retreated. “Maybe day after tomorrow?”
She paused, a little self-conscious, and said in a barely-there whisper, “What if that bullet had struck a little higher?”
“It didn’t. It’s just my arm, and that will be fine soon enough.”
Her eyes went glassy; her lips trembled. “You could have been killed, Logan, and I…”
He took her hand and lowered it from his arm. If she cried, it would kill him.
To distract her, he said, “Give me a few days, and I’ll do everything with you.”
“Everything, huh?” Her hand smoothed over his abdomen, making him twitchy. “There’s no more risk for me, you know.”
Meaning she’d rather do those things alone? She kept him so bemused, his head started to pound. “I never want you at risk again.”
Looking impish, she whispered, “Well, maybe a little risk…”
“No.” He sat forward—and she immediately protested the stress on his injury. Logan didn’t care. He caught her upper arms and held her still. “The only risk I want you to have is my last name.”
Slowly, she stopped fussing at him and gifted him with a smile so scorching, his arm could have fallen off and he wouldn’t notice. “Seriously, Detective Riske? I don’t know. I was thinking more about risking my heart.”
His blood rushed. “With me.”
She outright laughed. “Yes, with you.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “Though I have to say, the last name works for me, too.”
His heart skipped a beat. “You’ll marry me?”
“You need to understand, Logan. When you left me in Alice’s apartment and went off to tangle with An
drews…” She closed her eyes a moment. “God, I was so scared.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
“No, you don’t know. Because I haven’t told you.” She touched his chest where the white sling wrapped over his shoulder, and shuddered. “But I’m not a coward.”
“No, definitely not.”
She met his gaze. “I let you think I was only worried for Rowdy. I even told myself that’s all it was, because I was still mad, and hurt, and…a little afraid.”
“With reason.” He folded her hand in his. “I never should have used you like that.”
“But I’m so glad you did.” She smiled at his surprise. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. If you hadn’t come into my life, what would my life be right now? You not only freed me, you freed my brother, too.”
He wanted no misunderstandings. “I love you.”
She breathed a little faster. “You’re a part of my life now—a better life—and I don’t ever want to lose you.”
He’d damn well hold her to that—right now. “Tell me you’ll marry me, Pepper.”
Laughing a little, she said, “I will. And I’ll love you. And spend my life with you.”
Contentment moderated his aches and amplified his exhaustion.
“But for right now,” she said, easing him back in the bed, “I’d really like to just sleep.”
“With me.” He pulled her down with him, locking her in close.
“Yes.” She hugged him carefully, kissed his chest. Sleepily, she asked, “Big wedding or small?”
“Whatever you want.”
She yawned. “Tomorrow we can tell Rowdy and Dash about our plans to marry.” She snuggled closer. “And of course we’ll tell Reese.”
It pleased him that Rowdy and Pepper now trusted Reese.
“Maybe, if Reese wants, we could even invite Alice to the wedding. I don’t really have any female friends, but I liked her. And I think she’s more than earned the chance to celebrate with us.”
“A terrific idea.” Alice could probably use a few friends. He started to ask Pepper more about her, but he heard her breathing even into sleep.
Logan smiled. His arm was badly swollen and hurt like a son of a bitch, there was chaos at the station as the disloyal cops were exposed, and he’d soon gain a headstrong, overprotective brother-in-law used to living on the edge.
And still, he felt like the luckiest man alive. For the sake of justice, he’d run the risk, and despite the odds, he’d ended up with love.
He ended up with Pepper.
As long as he had her, he had it all.
*
HINDERED BY INDECISION, Reese stood outside Alice’s apartment door, his hand raised to knock while he warred with himself.
Damn it, his apartment was off-limits. They had the body out, but the blood, general destruction and bullet holes remained. Until the department finished their reports, he didn’t want to disturb anything. Exhaustion left him weaving on his feet. He was starting to see double, but he wasn’t sure—
The door opened and there stood Alice, Cash beside her.
The dog leaped forward to greet him with his usual enthusiasm and maybe something more, something like worry and relief. Reese stroked his back. “Too much confusion, buddy? For me, too.”
Wearing a vintage-looking nightgown under a loosely fastened robe, her feet bare and her hair rumpled, Alice watched him.
Best to just spit it out and take it from there. He opened his mouth.
Alice said, “You can’t go to your apartment.”
His mouth closed. He scrutinized her and puzzled over her uncanny ability to see things a timid woman should never notice. “No.”
“You need to get some sleep.”
“Yes.”
Her mouth screwed up, her gaze dropped down his body, then shot back to his face. She cleared her throat. “Why do you have an erection?”
A direct attack? Huh. Interesting…and somehow exciting. “Hell if I know.” God, this was awkward. “But you don’t have to worry about that.” Stupid. How could she not worry? She had all kinds of secretive shit going on, and here he was, dead on his feet while his Johnson wanted to stand at attention.
He’d been fighting a boner ever since pulling up to the apartment with the realization that he’d probably have to impose on Alice for a place to crash, at least for a couple of days.
She rubbed at one eye but came to a quick decision. Handing Cash’s leash to him, she said, “Let him out while I make up the couch for you.”
“I won’t be in your way?”
“I made the guest room into my office, so for the most part, you’ll be undisturbed.”
“I was worried about you being disturbed.” He was so tired, he could sleep through a train wreck.
Her face colored a pretty pink, intriguing him further.
The blush lifted his exhaustion, encouraged his libido, and made it near impossible to get his physical reactions under control.
She glanced at his lap again, then quickly away. “Take Cash out, then you can sleep. And afterward…I suppose we have to talk.”
Reese smiled at her. “I can hardly wait.” He started to go but thought better of it and caught the door before she could shut it. “You aren’t just waiting for me to walk off so you can lock me out?”
For the longest time she stared at his feet. Finally, she lifted her chin. “Truthfully, Detective, I’d as soon not spend the day alone anyway.”
Was it memories that wrought that confession? “Then I’m glad I’m here.”
She pulled her robe tighter around her, nodded and whispered, “Odd as it seems…so am I.” Gently, she closed the door in his face. He listened for the sound of a lock clicking into place but heard nothing.
“Great,” Reese said to the dog as he led him down the steps and out the front door. “Isn’t it just like a woman to get in a parting shot guaranteed to keep a guy stirred up?” Cash made a noise that, to Reese and his tired brain, sounded like agreement. “We’re going to have our hands full dealing with that one.”
But damn if he wasn’t already looking forward to it.
*
Don’t miss Reese’s story, BARE IT ALL,
coming soon from Lori Foster and Harlequin HQN!
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CHAPTER ONE
ARIZONA STORM SAT quietly on the overstuffed chair, her chin resting on her drawn-up knees, her fingers laced together around her shins.
Waiting.
In the quiet, shadowed room, she breathed in the unique aroma of aftershave and gun oil, and the headier scent of warm male. On the back of the chair behind her he’d tossed his jeans and a rumpled T-shirt. Close at hand on the nightstand, he’d placed his freshly cleaned gun and his deadly switchblade.
His discarded boxers lay on the floor.
He fascinated her.
After breaking into his house, she’d removed her sneakers and put them next to his boots by the front door. The air-conditioning, set on high, left her toes cold, but he’d covered himself with no more than a thin she
et.
Again and again, her gaze tracked over him, from one big foot sticking out over the side of the bed, up and over his flat, solid abs covered by the snowy-white sheet, to his chest—not covered by anything except enticing body hair.
With one arm behind his head, his underarm and the dark tuft of hair there were visible. Seeing that almost made him look vulnerable—except that, despite his relaxed pose, the positioning of his long arm made a thick biceps bulge.
At nearly six and a half feet tall, solidly built and finely sculpted, Spencer Lark was one of the biggest, strongest, most impressive men she’d ever met.
And she knew some really prime specimens.
His long lashes shadowed his high cheekbones, but that didn’t detract from the bruising beneath one eye. A recent fight? She smiled while picturing it, sure that Spencer had come out ahead. His skill at fighting intrigued her even more than his big bod.
Amazing, but even his slightly crooked nose held her rapt. When and how had he broken it?
She inhaled a deep breath and let it out in a quiet sigh that, given the silence in his home and Spencer’s acute instincts, disturbed his slumber.
Arizona admitted to herself that maybe she’d wanted to wake him. After all, she’d been watching him—and waiting—for a while now.
His head turned on the pillow, his legs shifted.
Holding herself perfectly still, she waited to see if he’d awaken, what he’d do, what he’d say. She didn’t know him all that well, and yet…she did.
Sort of.
They’d met nearly a month ago while they were both on a sting. Immediately, they’d butted heads, and he’d infuriated her by interfering with her life.
But worse, he’d robbed her of the revenge she desperately craved.
Sure, he had his own need for revenge, so she understood his motives. She didn’t forgive him. Not yet, anyway.
But she did understand.
At least, she thought she did. Once they talked it over, then she’d decide for sure.
He made a soft, gravelly sound as he stretched that long, strong body. His chin tucked in. Muscles flexed.
The sheet tented.
Eyes widening, Arizona stared, not really alarmed, but no longer so at ease, either. She had a very dark history with aroused men, so she doubted she’d ever be unaffected by them. But she didn’t let it get in her way, not when she wanted something, not when she had a goal in mind.
