Officer in Pursuit by Ranae Rose Read Free Book Online Page B

can stay
with you,” the doctor said, “we should admit you for overnight
observation. So—”
    “It’s just a bump on the head. I don’t
want to stay overnight for that.”
    Out in the hall, a custodian had
arrived with a huge cart of cleaning supplies, no doubt to attend
to what remained of Grey’s taco lunch.
    “He’s right – he shouldn’t have to
stay the night here,” she hurried to say, sensing a battle of wills
between Grey and the doctor. “Grey, you can stay at my place for
the night.”
    Several seconds of deep silence were
punctuated by the faint, squeaking noise of a mop against
tile.
    “Great,” the doctor said. “Problem
solved.”
    It took Grey longer to reply, but when
he did, his voice echoed through the exam room and out into the
hall. “Really?”
    “I got you into this situation,” she
replied. “The least I can do is keep an eye on you until things
settle down. It’s no big deal.”
    It felt like a big deal though. No one
else had ever spent the night at her little two-bedroom rental. Not
that she’d expected anyone to – in fact, she’d converted the second
bedroom into a little yoga studio.
    “Thanks,” he said, his gaze locking
with hers. His eyes looked clearer than they had since the disaster
at jiu-jitsu. “It would’ve sucked to spend the night
here.”
    Her smile was genuine, even if she was
tingling all over with a weird combination of nerves and completely
inappropriate giddiness. The realization left her vaguely
embarrassed, but the idea of Grey spending the night at her place
was strangely exciting, no matter what the
circumstances.
    “What are friends for?” she said,
trying to sound nonchalant, like the idea of him staying overnight
didn’t faze her.
    He didn’t say anything, but his gaze
lingered on her eyes, and for one exhilarating, horrifying moment,
she got the feeling that he was looking right through her, seeing
all the things she could never bring herself to say.

CHAPTER 5
     
     
    Kerry’s house was insanely clean. Grey
didn’t usually notice stuff like that, but it was impossible not
to. It looked like a tiny model house out of a magazine; there was
no clutter anywhere, nothing out of place. As she closed and locked
the door behind them, he crossed the small living room and sank
down onto the couch.
    It was a faux-suede love seat, and
from its cushions he could see a neat kitchen and a hall that he
guessed led back to her bedroom and the bathroom.
    He couldn’t believe he was inside her
house. And staying the night, on top of it. Getting a face full of
sweaty guy foot was turning out to be the best thing that’d
happened to him in a hell of a long time. Was it weird to have a
concussion and a semi at the same time?
    Because as he watched Kerry
double-lock the front door and slip off her sandals, he got halfway
hard.
    “Thanks again for letting me stay
over,” he said, as if being polite would make up for the fact that
he was imagining stripping her out of her jean shorts.
    “Go ahead and lie down,” she said.
“I’ll get you a drink. What would you like?”
    “Water would be great.” He felt
guilty, letting her wait on him. But he was pretty thirsty, now
that he thought about it, and after puking up half a dozen of
Wilmington’s finest tacos in front of her, his new strategy was to
move as little as possible and hope nothing else came
up.
    While she was in the kitchen, he laid
back on the couch, trying to get comfortable. Considering that he
was nearly twice as long as the two-cushion loveseat, it was easier
said than done. He was still wriggling around with his legs jutting
off one end when she walked into the room.
    “Oh. Damn. I didn’t realize…” She
sounded upset.
    “Did you want me to take my shoes
off?”
    “No, it’s not that. I just didn’t
realize how tiny the couch was compared to you. I’d figured you
could sleep there, but obviously that’d be ridiculous.”
    “I can make it work. Don’t worry about
it.” He