“Why?”
What more pride did I have? He already knew enough of the bad bits and pieces of me. What was one more, really? “I don’t trust myself around anything that could be addictive. I don’t want to risk it, and the pills are an opiate. I looked them up while I was waiting.”
I didn’t need to look at him to know he’d sobered. I could feel it. Could sense him shoot me a glance.
I shrugged so he’d know it wasn’t a big deal. “Anyway, if you want to—”
“You’re not going back to work,” he shot back before I could even finish.
It was hard not to smile. “I know. Mr. Cooper sent me a message while I was waiting for an X-ray and told me not to bother coming in the rest of the week. I was going to see if you could give me a ride home, boss.”
His grunt made me smile again. “I’ll take you. I didn’t wait around for no reason.”
I rolled my eyes.
Then I wondered what I was going to do now. I had never taken a day off just for the hell of it. It had always been for something with one of my sisters or on the rare occasion I was sick.
But now? The first and only thing I thought of was Lily. Lily and only Lily.
And Rip, doing that thing where I swore he could read my mind, asked, “You gonna take it easy?”
“Yes.I was just thinking maybe I could go see my little sister in Galveston.”
“Galveston?”
“Yeah.” And before he could say anything, I threw out, “If I go, I’ll take an Uber or something. I’m not going to risk my life or anyone else’s trying to drive, okay?”
He held the door open for me that led outside, and I brushed by him, feeling the hard muscles across his chest and abs graze my arm. Sheesh, the man was buff. Tight. Hard.
Andmy boss.
My boss who I needed to keep messing with so he wouldn’t think I was thinking about his body.
“Unless you want to come?” I threw out for the hell of it as I went down the steps that led into the building.
He didn’t respond as we headed to his truck, and I didn’t take it personally. It wasn’t like he ever took me up on any of my invitations, and I’d asked, what? A hundred times over the last few years?
Pulling my phone out of my pocket while I walked, I found Lily’s name under my messages and smiled at the last one she had sent me.
I sent her a new one.
Me:Taking today and tomorrow off, and I was thinking about coming to visit if you’ve got some time. Let me know. No pressure.
If she was busy, I’d understand. No big deal.
“You gonna spend the night or go for the day?” Rip asked as he unlocked his truck.
Oh. “I’m waiting to hear back from Lily, but if I go… I guess I could spend the night. I don’t think I’ve ever spent the night in Galveston before, now that I think about it.”
He opened the passenger door before going to stand directly behind me, hands going to that familiar place really low on my hips again. “Haven’t been to Galveston in twenty years. Feet up.”
“You don’t like the beach?”
“I like the beach. I don’t like sand up my ass.”
Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t—
I couldn’t help myself. “Is there something you, uh, do like up there?” I asked.
