“Maybe you should just lay there and not move while I call for an ambulance.”
“Oh hell no,” she muttered. “I’ve had enough of ambulances and hospitals. Help me up. If I can stand on my own for at least five seconds, you have to promise to take me home with you.”
“Baby, I thought you’d never ask.”
“Smart-ass.”
He laughed, and she tried to smile. Honestly she did. But hell, it hurt. Her whole face hurt. She grimaced as she reached up to grab Hutch’s arm. He wrapped his arms around her and gently helped her up.
Her knees buckled, and Hutch caught her before she fell on her face again. She clung to his shirt and took quick stock of her injuries.
Other than a nagging buzz in her head that wouldn’t go away, she didn’t think she was any worse for the wear. Well, unless you counted some seriously shot nerves.
“We have to call this in,” she rasped. “Evidence.”
“Already done, baby. You just stay your ass in one place. In fact, I’m going to take you to the truck so you can sit down. If you so much as look like you’re going to sway, I’m hauling your butt to the ER.”
“Truck sounds pretty good right now,” she said.
Hutch picked her up and strode to his truck. Her fuzzy vision took in a large dent in his hood as they passed.
“Ah, fuck. Your truck.”
“I don’t give a shit about my truck. Just that you’re all right.”
He opened the passenger door, then shouldered it open wider before he settled her into the seat. Then he reached down and pulled the lever to recline it. He eased her down until she was nearly flat on her back.
“You’re a mess,” he murmured as he trailed a finger down her cheek.
“So is your truck,” she croaked. “And my SUV.” She sighed. “I saved up for forever to buy it. It was cute.”
“Cute? You’re actually admitting to buying a cute vehicle?”
“Hey, I’m a girl. We’re supposed to have cute vehicles,” she grumbled.
“Now I know you’re suffering a head injury.”
She reached a hand blindly up until it collided with his face. She cupped his cheek. “I was so scared,” she whispered. “I thought . . .” Her voice cracked as tears suddenly welled in her eyes. “I thought maybe it was you. That the explosion got you.”
Hutch leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “No, baby, I’m fine. Don’t upset yourself.” He stroked a gentle hand through her hair. “God, I was fine. Just a cracked windshield and a dent or two. But you . . . Jesus, I watched you hit the door.”
Sirens wailed in the distance, growing closer with each passing second. She struggled to sit up despite Hutch holding her down.
“Let me up,” she said.
He hesitated but then relented and helped her sit up. She swung her feet around the seat to dangle close to the step down. After blinking a few times to clear her vision, she saw two fire trucks and three police units tear up her street.
Her car was still a smoking mass of metal, but the flames had died down some. And then she saw what the explosion had done to the front of her house.
“My house,” she said faintly. “Look at my house.”
The front windows were blown out, all three of them. There was debris on the roof and scattered over the lawn. The flowers that she’d lovingly planted were gone. Even the lone dogwood in the yard was now nothing more than a pitiful, smoldering stick in the ground.
The firefighters jumped out and quickly hosed down her SUV. Jeremy, Carl and the chief hurried over to the truck where Hutch stood.
“Regina, are you all right?” the chief demanded.
“I’m fine. Just shaken up.”
