WINDOW OF TIME by DJ Erfert Read Free Book Online Page A

she grabbed the front of his shirt, ashamed at showing weakness. “I’m just—my legs felt like marshmallows.” He took out his penlight, lifted her chin, and examined her eyes carefully.
    “Can you feel your toes?”
    “Huh?”
    He slid the penlight into his pocket before he lifted her foot and pulled off the boot. Her sock came off next. “Do you feel any numbness?”
    Lucy hadn’t noticed how tired her feet were until Johnny began to massage her toes. She didn’t answer his question right away, knowing that if she said she could feel his strong fingers melting away the tension in the muscles, he would stop. She closed her eyes and let the pleasing sensation wash over her, sighing softly when he pushed his thumb slowly along the arch. However long he continued to examine her foot for numbness, Lucy didn’t know. All she knew was that it didn’t last nearly long enough. When he stopped, she said, “Maybe you should check my other foot—just in case.”
    She might have believed he was annoyed if it hadn’t been for the surreptitious smile he wore on his lips. He repeated the same procedure with her other foot, maybe a little slower, a little more deliberately. Lucy accepted the kindness with her eyes closed, moaned every time he moved his fingers to a new spot.
    “Don’t fall asleep,” Johnny said.
    “I’m not,” Lucy said quietly. “I can’t lay my head back, remember?”
    “Yeah, I remember.” He set her foot down and leaned closer. “How are you feeling now?”
    Her head didn’t bother her as much with Johnny’s touch to concentrate on, but now Lucy thought her headache would leak out her ears. “My head hurts.”
    “Do you want to try to stand up?”
    Lucy ran her hand up Johnny’s shoulder and sank her fingers into his shirt. “Okay.” With his arm around her waist, she stood on her own two relaxed feet. “I’m good.”
    “Do you want me to let you go?”
    “I think I can make it to your couch.” Lucy peeked around the doorway into the living room where the light was on. “Really, I think I’m okay.”
    Johnny released her, stepping back only an arms length away. He stayed next to her as she walked unsteadily through the small kitchen and into the living room. The white walls were bare save for a clock in the shape of a fire hydrant. “Cute,” she whispered. A couch was pushed up against the longest wall, with an over-stuffed recliner near the end of it and a coffee table in front. On the opposite end of the room was a large flat-screened TV on a low-rise cabinet. A couple of mismatched lamps rounded out the sparse décor. Very basic. Very male.
    Lucy sat on the sofa, lifted her handbag off over her head, and set it down on the table in front of her. Johnny had disappeared again. Looking around, she didn’t find a throw pillow or anything else to lie on. She hoped he didn’t expect her to sit up for hours. At least the remote control sat on the coffee table, well within reach. She could find something on the History channel and keep her mind occupied.
    “Here, put these on,” Johnny said when he came back out. He had clothes in his hand, along with a couple of pillows and a blanket.
    “What are these for?” Lucy took the dark blue t-shirt from his hand and a pair of pajama bottoms with tiny red fire engines covering the entire soft fabric. He tossed the pillows and blanket on the end of the couch before kneeling down in front of her.
    “I want you to be comfortable,” he said with a grin. “And these tight jeans, as beautiful as they look on you, are just too restrictive to sleep in.” Johnny reached around her waist and he deftly removed her holster and gun from the waistband. He set them on the coffee table next to the handbag. “Now, I’m going to change out of my uniform and take a shower. That should give you plenty of time to change your clothes in privacy. Then I’ll make some dinner.”
    Feeling overwhelmed at blatantly being told what to do, Lucy said, “I