By the time Sean’s medicine was ready, he was willing to admit his shoulder was starting to throb.Actually, his entire body was feeling the effects of being hit by the car.
“Make sure you take this with food,” the pharmacist instructed.“It can wreak havoc on your stomach.Do you have any questions about the drug?”
“No, thanks.”Sean signed for the prescription and checked the box that said he didn’t need a consultation before handing over the twenty dollars he’d had to borrow from Grace to cover the co-pay and the cost of the Tylenol.He’d only taken his house keys and weapon on his run, and Deputy Montgomery had secured the gun at the scene.It was then passed on to the sheriff, who had returned it to Sean when he’d been released from the ER.
“Okay, then, have a nice day,” the man said with a smile.
Grumbling at the pharmacist’s cheerful demeanor, he took the paper bag and headed next door to the pizzeria, where he found Grace paying for their dinner.His mood soured even more as he saw the man behind the counter checking Grace out.Dressed in her tight yoga pants, a body-hugging tank with a lightweight, zippered hoodie, she looked sexy as hell with her long, blonde hair pulled up into a twist at the back of her head.Of course, men would check her out, and this asshole wasn’t the only one Sean had noticed eyeing his woman.The doctor, a hospital security guard, an EMT, the pharmacist, and a few other men had been ogling her with a combination of appreciation and lust between the ER and here—some subtly, others blatantly.
Jealousy was an emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time, and it grated on his nerves.It wasn’t Grace’s fault she was a walking wet dream, and he’d have to keep reminding himself that men could look all they wanted, but it was Sean’s bed she was sleeping in every night.
Possessively putting his good arm around her waist as she took the pizza box, he led her back to the car.Ten minutes later, they swung by the beach house, where Grace helped him pack a few clothes and toiletries so that he could stay at her place for the next few days.It wasn’t like he wouldn’t have been there anyway, but he’d been going back and forth to the cottage for his clothes.
As Grace drove toward her condo, Sean thought about their relationship.It was too soon to ask her to move in with him—hell, they’d only been dating a few weeks.But they’d been the best weeks of his adult life, despite the serial killer running around.He’d been in lust many times, but this thing with her was more.He knew it.He just wasn’t sure if Grace knew it.Neither one of them had said the “L” word yet, but it had been on the tip of his tongue as he’d made sweet love to her last night.Was she ready to hear it?Was he ready to take that leap into commitment?
A wave of nausea came over him, and he swallowed hard.He was pretty sure it was from the narcotics in his body combined with the aroma of the greasy pepperoni pizza sitting on his lap and not from the “L” or “C” words bouncing around his mind.
“Are you okay?”
Grace’s voice brought Sean out of the fog he’d been in—he could probably blame that on the narcotics, too, because he hadn’t noticed they’d arrived and parked outside her condo.Grasping her hand, he brought it to his lips and kissed her knuckles.“Thank you for being there for me today.”
“Of course!Did you think I wouldn’t be?”
Shit.There was a hint of insult mixed in with her tone of disbelief.“No… I’m just… I like having you by my side.I’m falling for you, Grace.Big time.And it’s unfamiliar territory for me.I don’t want to rush you into anything, but for the first time in my life, I’ve found something…someonereal.Someone who’s taken my heart and given me hers in return.”He chuckled and gave her a wry grin.“Please say you love me, too, before I start spouting poetry.If I did that, I think Brian and KC would demand I hand in my man card.”
Leaning over the center console, Grace cupped his cheek and kissed him softly.As gentle as the kiss was, it still sent electricity straight to his groin.
Well, it’s nice to know I’m not injured down there, and everything is working perfectly.
“I love you, too, Sean,” she whispered against his lips.“No poetry needed.”
He attempted to lift his arm to pull her closer, and sharp, hot pain shot through him.His sudden inhalation and gasp had Grace jumping back into the driver’s seat.“Oh shit.I’m sorry, Sean.”
“Shh.It’s okay.My mistake.”He tried to will the pain away, but the throbbing was getting worse.“But I think you were right.I’m going to need one of those painkillers.Especially since I plan on making love to you sometime this afternoon.”
Shaking her head, Grace turned the engine off.“You’re incorrigible.”
“When it comes to you?Absolutely.”
While he continued to work, George tried to keep his demeanor pleasant, so no one would notice how angry he was.Not only was the bastard fed alive, but he’d been released from the hospital.How the fuck had he escaped being seriously injured, at the very least?George had hit him doing close to fifty miles per hour.
The only good thing about the fed still being alive was George had found his next victim.The blonde who couldn’t keep her hands off the bastard looked nicer than George’s usual sluts, but in her skintight pants, she had men drooling all over her.And not just her boyfriend.Just like George’s bitch of a mother, the blonde had no problem using her body to tease the opposite sex.She probably banged a new guy every week.
Well, he would put an end to that.After he was through with her, she wouldn’t be teasing and tantalizing anyone.He could kill two birds with one stone, too—her wimpy boyfriend would be too bereaved to get on TV and insult George anymore.He’d pay—maybe not with his life, as originally intended, but George would definitely make the bastard pay.
Grace’s heart soared.He loves me!And I love him!Once again, she regretted not keeping a diary because those announcements would take up ten, maybe twenty pages.
Sean was stretched out on her bed with Rico on the other side, grooming himself.She handed him a glass of water and a Vicodin, which he dutifully popped into his mouth.After he downed the medication with most of the water, she took the glass from him and set it on the nightstand.“Do you want to take a shower before that kicks in?”
Grinning, he took her hand and kissed it.“That sounds like an awesome idea.But I’ll need help getting out of these clothes and someone to wash my back.”
“Someone, huh?”Grace smirked.“Do you have anyone in mind?”
“Oh, yeah.”He licked her palm.“She’s a green-eyed blonde with a body that’s a walking wet dream.She’s sweet and funny and rocks my world.Know anyone who fits that description?”
Grace’s other hand trailed down his sculpted torso to the waistband of his shorts.She pulled on the tied string, loosening it.“I might.You wouldn’t happen to know if she makes you hard as granite, would you?”
His hips bucked as she tucked her hand beneath his shorts and found his growing erection.A moan of pleasure escaped him as she fondled him.Grace loved the velvety feel of him and how he responded to her touch.Sean bit his lip as she squeezed his shaft.“Oh, she definitely makes me hard—especially when she’s naked in the shower with me.Think I could convince her to help me out?”
