“Did you tend to me while I was unconscious?”
“Huh?”
As I determined to keep an eye on her for signs of overdose, I persisted, “When I was in the hospital, were you my nurse?”
“No.” Her expression turned earnest. “I have been in the past, but not the last time. You came in when I wasn’t on shift and got transferred to the ICU and—” She pulled in a deep breath. “I guess I look a lot different out of scrubs, but I saw you the morning you were discharged from the VIP ward too. I-I just thought you should know.”
Deciding it was wise to pretend that I didn’t remember her, I swirled my bourbon around my glass. “I appreciate the transparency.”
“My name’s Kitty. I-I know you’re Custanzu.”
“Stan, for short.”
“Are you going to Cancún for fun…, Stan?”
Well, wasn’t that enough to give me a semi?
“In a sense. Doubt we’ll be visiting the same establishments,” I half-teased because it was a lie.
Wherever the fuck she was, I’d be.
“Lucky you. Neev has this whole list of places for us to visit. I think the sole requirement was that they’re trashy.”
“Is that safe?” My jaw locked because the answer was categoricallyno.
“You sound like my brother.” A gleam sparkled in her eye. A spark that I wanted there for-fucking-ever. “He wanted me to take a gun with me on this trip.”
“I don’t blame him.”
“Yeah, well, I think TSA would have a problem with that.” She toyed with the hem of that too-short skirt that showcased her legs to perfection. My fingers prickled with the urge to smooth over them and— “We can defend ourselves. He’s forgotten that he taught me how to take a man down.”
“How?”
“How?” she repeated. At my nod, her brow puckered. “Well, did you know it only takes six pounds of force to rip off someone’s ear?”
“I did actually,” I drawled. “But what if your hands are sweating and you can’t get purchase? They’re slippery when perspiration is introduced. In the middle of an attack, your adrenaline will be pumping and you’re bound to sweat.”
“Well, I?—”
“Teeth,” I prompted.
“Yeah. Teeth. Wait. What about them?”
“Bite the ear off.”
“Oh. Yeah. Of course.” A nervous laugh escaped her. “Are we really talking about this?”
I shifted in the seat to give her my full attention. She knew it too. Whatever it was about me that flustered her, be it the drugs or attraction, had the blush making another reappearance, but she matched my position, tilting so that she could see me better.
“Why shouldn’t we talk about this? The pretty lights of the city will catch your eye, but there’s no denying the truth of what’s happening on the ground?—”
“What’s happening on the ground?”
“Turf warfare.” When her brow puckered, I continued, “If you headed to the nearest convenience store parking lot, you’d be able to buy a gun.”
“That’d be illegal.”
“I can get you one if you’d like.”
