by Kira Archer
Before she could ask what was up, he backed her up until she was flush against the wall and kissed her again. Longer. Deeper. Until she trembled in his arms and his body begged for more.
Something brushed against his leg. He knew what it was before he looked down. He could also tell the moment Alejandro brushed against Gina. She jerked away from him with a startled gasp and looked down. Less than a second later, Rick’s arms were full of hyperventilating, squirming woman, a prospect that a few moments ago had him all kinds of excited. Now it was all he could do to hold on to her and keep from laughing his ass off. She’d managed to jump straight into his arms, wrap her legs around his waist, and twist herself around so she straddled him piggyback. All the while she was screaming and pointing at the last spot she’d seen their steely-eyed attacker.
Rick finally gave in and laughed. Gina swatted him across the back of the head.
“Where did it go?” she shrieked.
“I think he’s gone.” Rick tried to pry her from his back but she wasn’t having it, until he made sure there were no more furry avengers strutting about.
“I thought you got rid of that thing last time,” she said, once he’d finally coaxed her down.
“He could have climbed back up here. Or maybe it was part of his entourage. I doubt he’s the only rat in Hoboken.”
“That does it. I’m bringing a bat next time.”
Rick laughed again and pulled her back into his arms. “I solemnly swear to protect you from Alejandro and his cartel. You are safe with me.”
Gina eyed him dubiously. “Uh-huh. That’s twice now the furry little bastard has accosted me. I think you’re slacking off, Boyd.”
“Well, if someone wasn’t distracting me…” He bent to nuzzle at her neck, and she sucked in a breath.
Rick pressed a soft kiss to the tender spot behind her ear. “Let’s get out of here.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Where to?” Before he could answer, she raised her hand and gasped at the blood-covered fingertips. “I think you need stitches.” She glanced down at his arm and he followed her gaze. The Band-Aids were soaked through, and a few small rivulets of blood ran down his arm.
“Hmm. I think I got a little carried away.” He wrapped his non-bleeding arm around her waist and tried to pull her back to him.
She looked at him with a heated gaze that made him forget everything else. But she placed a hand on his chest. “I really think you should have that taken care of.”
“What? Don’t think you’re tough enough to carry me down if I pass out?”
She snorted. “Carry you? Hell, I’d leave your stubborn ass up here to bleed to death.”
Rick burst out laughing. “All right, then. If you insist.” He looked down at his arm again. The blood really was flowing pretty good. “Do you have any more of those Band-Aids?”
Gina frowned. “No, but I have something else that might work.”
…
Gina pulled the maxi pad out of her backpack and handed it to Rick. He looked at it like she was handing him a tarantula.
“Really?”
She shrugged. “It’s made to absorb blood. It’s big enough to cover the whole cut. And it’s superabsorbent, so you hopefully won’t bleed through it. It’s perfect.”
Rick opened his mouth to argue but shut it just as quickly. She smiled and unwrapped the pad.
“You don’t have to enjoy this so much, you know,” he said.
“I don’t have to.” She smirked up at him. “But where would the fun be in that? Now hold this down for a second.”
He clapped a hand over it while she opened two more pads. “How many do you have in there?”
“Only the three, so I hope this holds. I could use the duct tape but that would be a bitch to take off.” She laid one pad over each end of the first, sticky side down. “There,” she said, pleased with herself.
He looked at his arm with the uncomfortable aversion of a male being brought face-to-face with something inherently female. She waited for him to say something crass, sexist, or just plain stupid. Instead, he shook his head and chuckled.
“Well, it’ll work. Let’s get going.”
Two hours later, Gina sat with Rick, who was all stitched up and impatiently waiting for discharge papers. The fact that he was a cop injured in the line of duty had gotten him seen as quickly as possible, but it had still been a long night. Though, strangely, she wasn’t all that eager to go home. She was tired, but the night had been…interesting. To say the least.
Rick was a pain in her ass. But he’d turned out to be surprisingly good company. He made her laugh. He was hot as hell, and she could spend days just staring at him. And that kiss…thinking about it made her want to close the privacy curtains in their cubicle and go at it again. But he’d also protected her from the rat cartel. And had taken a knife for her. Twenty stitches in his arm. That would leave a scar for the rest of his life.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, his voice quiet.
She shook her head. “Nothing much.” She reached a finger out. Gently touched his newly bandaged arm. “Sorry about the scar.”
He shrugged. “It’s not the first one. Not even the most impressive one.”
“Really?”
He gave her a sexy little grin that made her stomach flip and lifted his shirt to reveal abs that should be illegal. Running along his side, its tail disappearing into the waistband of his jeans, was a thick scar.
She reached out, stopping short of touching him. “How the hell did that happen?”
“When I was a rookie. Chasing a shoplifter down an alley. Tried being a badass like on all the cop shows and jumped a chain-link fence. I made it over but kind of got hung up on a jagged piece of fence at the top.”
Gina stared at the scar with fresh interest. “Um, ouch?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. But the one that really hurt was this one.”
He reached down and pulled his pant leg up, revealing a thin six-inch white scar on his very white ankle.
“Those are some white legs you got going on there, Officer.”
Rick flashed a little more skin. “Yeah, you can blame that on my parents. This Irish skin of mine wouldn’t tan if I dived into the sun.”
She laughed and touched his scar. “Another chase gone wrong?” she asked.
“Unfortunately, no.”
“Unfortunately?”
He cleared his throat with an almost sheepish grimace. “Yeah. Injured in a chase is at least cool. I did this showing off on my sister’s pogo stick. Thought I could get some altitude if I jumped off our ping-pong table.”
Gina covered her mouth with her hand. “You did not.”
“Oh yeah. And I did get some great velocity. On the first bounce, anyway. Controlling it after that was a little trickier. And landing was kind of a bitch. Especially when I was riding a big metal stick. Snapped my ankle like a twig. Got an ankle full of hardware.”
“Sexy.”
“Oh, I can make anything sexy.” His voice was suddenly deeper, huskier.
“I bet you can.” Gina stepped closer, moving to stand between his legs as he sat on the table. “What about this one?” she asked, lightly touching the small scar at the corner of his mouth.
He pursed his lips slightly, and the gentle pressure against her skin sent a shiver down her spine. She dropped her hand but didn’t move away. His hand encircled her waist and pulled her closer.
“Kitten,” he said.
Her eyebrows rose. “Did you just call me kitten?”
He laughed. “No.” He touched the scar on his lip. “You asked how I got this. A kitten did it.”
“A tiny, fluffy little kitten scarred you for life?”
“Hey. They may be tiny and fluffy but those little bastards have wicked sharp claws.”
Gina laughed. “True.”
“His name was Maverick, and I was trying to give him a bath. He objected. I made the mistake of leaning in a little too closely while he was trying
to claw his way out. I tell you what; a tiny little kitten doesn’t feel so tiny when it’s hanging from your lip by a claw.”
“Oh! Ouch!” Gina shuddered. “That had to hurt.”
“It didn’t tickle.”
She laughed again and then looked down at his arm, her amusement disappearing.
“Thank you.” She looked into his eyes so he knew she was sincere.
“My pleasure,” he said with a slight smile.
“Next time, maybe let me clobber him.”
That drew a laugh out of Rick. “I might do that.”
“Good.” She reached up, laying her hand on his cheek for a moment before letting it drift to his neck and up into his hair. “It would be a shame to mark you up any more than you already are.”
He didn’t wait to see what else she’d say. Which was good because she’d only been stalling anyway. He leaned forward, closing the last bit of distance between them, and captured her lips. She rose on her toes and swayed against him. He wrapped both arms about her, grunting a bit when his newly stitched arm bumped against her. But he didn’t stop kissing her. Instead, he brought both hands up to cup her face so he could delve even deeper…
The clearing of someone’s throat brought them both back to reality, and they came up for air, though Rick didn’t release her. And she didn’t try to pull away.
The doctor who entered gave them an amused smile. “Be careful with those stitches now. I’d hate to have to redo them already.”
Rick let his injured arm fall to rest at his side. But he kept his other arm firmly around Gina.
After some last-minute instructions and paperwork, they were finally free to leave.
They walked out into the cool night air, and Gina took the first deep breath she’d taken since arriving. She hated hospitals.
“Well, it’s getting late, I guess,” she said, not sure what else to say.
“Ah. It’s not late yet.”
Gina smiled up at him. “No? Not sure anything else we could do could top that,” she said, jerking a thumb in the direction of the hospital.
“Oh, I can definitely top that.”
“You think?”
“I know. But there’s something else I want first.”
Gina’s breath left her lungs in a rush so strong her head spun. Rick stared at her, his eyes intense, his breathing shallow.
“And what is it you want?” she asked, not sure she could handle the answer.
Chapter Nine
“Food,” Rick said.
Gina blinked, surprised, and then laughed. Obviously not the answer she was expecting. But the only one he could give. And at the moment, totally the truth. “I’m starving. I need sustenance. And not that junk you got from the store.”
“Hey. That’s not junk. It was a nicely balanced meal.”
Rick grunted. “How do you figure that?”
“Uh, Slim Jim, fig cookies, Doritos…you’ve got your meat, fruit, and vegetable groups right there.”
“Doritos are a vegetable?”
“They are corn chips. And if you take me out for ice cream, we’ve got dairy covered. See. Dinner of champions.”
“I don’t think so.” He pulled her close for a quick kiss and released her so he could sling the backpack over his shoulder. “I need food, woman. Real food. Come on.” He held out his hand, relieved when she took it without a fight. Just because they’d been making out on and off all night didn’t mean she’d suddenly changed personalities. He pretty much expected her to argue with everything he said, whenever possible. On this, though, he was glad she didn’t. He really was starving.
“I know a great place for noodles not too far from here. Hungry?” he asked.
“What about the truck? If Tony was fully loaded with a bag of frosting…”
“Let him have the truck tonight.”
“What?”
Yeah. He knew she wouldn’t like that idea. “Look, I seriously doubt he is going anywhere near the truck tonight. A mugger who knifed a cop was just arrested across the street. Not exactly conducive to an illegal rendezvous. And if I’m wrong and he breaks in, I’ll help you clean it up and camp out on that roof every night for the next month. Whatever it takes. As long as we get some food first. I think my stomach is trying to eat itself.”
Gina’s smile was like the first sip of coffee on a cold morning. Smooth and delicious and warmed him through and through.
“Fine. Lead on, Officer.”
Rick wanted to hold her hand the whole way to the restaurant, but that seemed to be pushing things a bit. Gina wasn’t a public affection kind of girl from what he’d seen so far. Or an affectionate person at all, really. At least until after the mugger. With him.
She let go of his hand as soon as they got to the car and didn’t make a move to take it again. That was okay. He could be patient. For the moment. Though what he was being patient for, he had no idea. His head was a mass of confusion where Gina was involved. Part of him wanted to drag her back to his apartment and not let her go. Maybe ever. The other part of him knew they’d probably kill each other within a day.
They had amazing chemistry. Obviously. The mere thought of their impromptu make-out sessions made his jeans grow uncomfortably tight. He wanted her as he’d never wanted another woman. But he’d never been a casual sex type of guy. If you weren’t going to have casual sex, you were in a relationship. And there was a lot more to a relationship than sex. While the sex with Gina would no doubt be phenomenal, what happened then? He’d have to put all his valuables in a locked drawer every time she came over. Just in case.
Interesting choice of woman for a cop to be mixed up with. But man, she made him laugh like no one had…in a long time. It felt good to laugh. Gina didn’t seem to take anything too seriously. Where he, on the other hand, went a little overboard in the other direction. At least according to his mother.
They found a place to park up the street from the restaurant. When they got there he held the door open for Gina. She gave him a surprised look, her lips twitching with amusement as she went inside. It was probably a faux pas to open the door for a woman nowadays, but that was the way his mother had raised him.
Within fifteen minutes, they were seated at his favorite table by the window and were slurping big bowls of incredible noodles like there was no tomorrow. One of the many reasons Rick loved the place so much. It was fast, and the food was always delicious.
Gina shoveled another load of noodles into her mouth, her eyes rolling in admiration as she chowed them down.
“Oh my God,” she said once her mouth was clear. “I don’t know how I’ve never eaten here before. This is incredible.”
She took another huge bite and Rick nodded, shoveling in his own noodles. He was glad to see she was not only enjoying the food, but actually eating it. The last date he’d brought here had sipped a bit of the broth and declared herself completely full. Gina was one refreshing surprise after another. If it weren’t for her slight criminal tendencies, she might be the perfect woman.
“Come to this place a lot?” she asked.
Rick nodded, taking a break from the noodles for a quick sip of water. “At least once a week.”
“I can see why.” She speared a piece of pork from her steaming broth.
He opened his mouth to ask her where she usually liked to eat, but before he could get the words out, someone rapped on the window by his face. He glanced up, startled, to see Jenny waving madly at him. She grabbed her friend by the hand, towing her inside.
Shit.
Gina looked back and forth between him and the young woman barreling toward them.
“Ricky!” Jenny said, giving him a hug. Of his four sisters, Jenny was the perkiest. And that was saying something. “What are you doing here? And who’s your friend?” she asked, turning wide, curiosity-filled eyes to Gina.
Gina, he was happily surprised to see, was frowning, her gaze zeroed in on the hand that Jenny still had on his shoulder. Was she actually jealous? As mu
ch as he wanted to torture her, his sister was nearly vibrating with excitement at his side. He’d better introduce everyone quickly before she took matters into her own hands.
“Jenny, this is my friend Gina. Gina, my sister Jenny and her friend…”
“Gretchen,” her friend supplied with a slight pout. He felt bad for forgetting her name, but really, with four sisters constantly bringing their friends in and out of the house, there was no way he could keep them all straight.
“Very nice to meet you, Gina,” Jenny said, sticking out her hand for an enthusiastic shake.
Rick breathed a slight sigh of relief. Jenny was normally a hugger. But maybe she’d picked up on Gina’s deer-in-the-headlights look and decided to take pity on her.
“Hey, Mom has been trying to call you all day. She wants to make sure you’re coming for dinner tomorrow. She said she’s fixing all your favorites so you better not forget. Gina!” She turned a megawatt smile that would put a supermodel to shame on Gina, who cringed a bit, but admirably did not flee in terror. “I know Mom would love to meet you. You should come, too.”
“Oh, that’s nice of you but I wouldn’t want to impose or…” Gina started.
“Oh, nonsense. Any friend of Ricky’s is always welcome, and I know the rest of the family would love to meet you. I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Well…I guess I could stop in…” Gina looked at him helplessly, and while Rick could throttle his sister at that moment for putting them on the spot, he couldn’t help but laugh at her tactics. There was no stopping Jenny once she’d set her mind to something.
“Great! I’ll let Mom know you’re coming. You’ll have fun, I promise. Mom’s a great cook.”
Gina paled a bit, but Jenny didn’t give her the chance to object. She leaned over and gave Rick a hug again. “I gotta run, but you make sure you bring her tomorrow. You don’t want to disappoint Mom!”
Before either one could say anything else, Jenny and her sullen friend Gretchen had scampered back out the door.
“Sorry about that,” Rick said, though he couldn’t keep the fond smile from his lips. “Jenny can be a little…hyper.”
