Pain made her pupils black pools in the center of sky-blue irises. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“Want me to do that?” Kat asked.
“No,” Nick shot back, his voice gruffer than he’d intended. With the utmost care, he eased the robe open, peeling the terry cloth out of the sticky red blood.
“See? Just a flesh wound. I’ll be just fine.”
“Jeez, Mary. Even if it’s just a flesh wound, bullets aren’t necessarily sterile.” Kat hurried into the bathroom and ran a clean washrag under the tap.
Nick slid the robe off Mary’s shoulders and down her arms. She’d managed to get her shirt off, leaving her standing in blue snowpants and a lacy black bra.
“I can handle this, Kat.” Nick took the cloth from Kat, his gaze fully connecting with Mary’s.
“Are you sure, Mary?” Kat’s brows angled to a V on her forehead. “I can call an ambulance if you want.”
“No. It’s really nothing.” Mary winced when the cloth touched the gash in her side. “It’s just more blood than anything.”
“At least let me get my first aid kit. I’ll be right back.” Kat ran for the door and paused to throw Nick a stern look. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Nick. The girl’s injured.”
“Go.”
Kat loped down the hallway.
Nick dabbed at the wound until he’d cleaned all the blood away. The bullet had only nicked her side, leaving a two-inch slash across her pale skin.
“I told you it wasn’t much.”
Nick’s hand shook as he pressed the cloth to the wound, applying enough pressure to stop the bleeding. Then he pushed his other hand through her hair, his palm cupping the back of her head. “Promise me you won’t ever hide something like this again.” His mouth hovered over hers, his lips a breath away. “Promise.”
She stared up at him, her gaze dropping to his lips, her hands inching up his chest clenching his jacket. “I promise.”
Then a dam burst inside Nick. He had to possess her, hold her, claim her as his own and leave his mark on her. He crushed her lips beneath his, slanting across their fullness. She tasted of peppermint, her mouth wet and hot. Nick dove in, plundering, ravaging, and taking no prisoners.
Mary’s hand circled the back of his neck, pulling him closer until he could feel the lace of her bra pressing through his shirt.
A cough at the door broke through Nick’s madness.
Chapter 14
“Here’s the antibiotic ointment and bandages I had in my kit. I notified the police about the attack. They’ll have someone here within the next fifteen minutes. Someone has to come in from out at Feegan’s.” Kat shoved the first-aid items into Nick’s hands and pulled the note from her pocket. “Maybe you can tell me what whoever left this note meant.”
Scratched in her father’s crisp print were the words Shop Around the Corner and a group of numbers.
Kat turned the paper over. It was blank on the back. “Is this some kind of shopping list?”
“No, The Shop Around the Corner was a 1940s movie my mother and I used to watch when I was little.” Mary shook her head. “When I was growing up, my father and I used to play games with each other using clues based on lines from the classics or old movies. Then we’d have to figure it out. Usually there was prize at the end. I just have to figure out what the movie stands for, then how the numbers relate.”
“Could the numbers be a date?”
“Maybe. But I don’t think so. There aren’t enough numbers.”
Nick’s cell phone played the tune from Mission: Impossible.
Mary smiled. Nick always seemed so intense. To poke fun at spy movies made him seem more human.
Kat rolled her eyes. “You really need to get a new ring tone.”
Nick slid his phone open. “Yeah.”
