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“Liked ‘em, did you?” His husky question caught her off guard.
“Well, sure. You’re a great dancer.” She decided she should shift away from visions
of Jack’s hips doing a bump and grind as his cock powered into her pussy. “Um … back
to your need for a vacation. If you’re overworked, that could cause health problems,
mistakes on the job, you name it.”
“That’s what the Chief said when he suggested I take it easy for a couple of days.
Told me to take it off as sick leave.”
“When is the last time you had a vacation?”
“Around Christmas last year.”
New concern wiped the visages of the nightmare from her mind. “Are you burning
out?”
Reluctance hardened his mouth, and she wondered if she’d pushed him too far. “No.
I’ve had trouble sleeping lately. Dreams. Nightmares.”
Worry made her lean forward. “About what?”
“Before? Mostly the 911 recovery efforts. Since you came back to town, I’ve been
dreaming about the night Dad died. The night your parents died.”
“Oh, Jack. I’m sorry.”
He turned a little more toward her. “I don’t blame you. But seeing you again brought
back old memories.” His gaze intensified, and she could have sworn she saw more than
lust lurking there. “And old feelings.”
“Bad?” she managed to ask around the dryness in her throat.
“Some. But that can’t be helped. Mostly good feelings about how much I owe you
for changing my life.”
His gratitude made her cheeks warm. “No, Jack. Please don’t.”
He placed his left palm on the other side of her legs, and the intimate position
reminded her of how he’d encroached on her space in the hospital. “It’s all true. And I’ll
always remember it.”
She heaved a sigh and put her hands over her face for a second.
“Want to talk about your bad dream?” he asked before she could respond to his last
statement.
“No.”
“You feel all right?” His voice warmed with a caring quality that turned her into
gooey marshmallow consistency.
Gawd, this man could be so sweet, it made her ache. “I’m much better. But you
quizzed Bitsie about that, didn’t you?”
“Good guess.”
“I have a few aches and pains and the occasional cough.”
“If that cough doesn’t disappear by late tomorrow, get back to the doctor.”
She saluted. “Yes, sir.”
“Now tell me about the nightmare.”
“No.”
He crossed his arms and gave her a mock frown. “If you don’t tell me, I don’t do the
interview on my experiences in New York City.”
She huffed. “That’s blackmail.”
“It’s fair.”
“I ought to—”
“What’re you going to do? Tie me to the bed and torture the information out of me?”
he asked.
Images, raw and erotic, spun through her head like a tornado. She gaped at him. He’d
look fantastic naked, sprawled in sweet glory for her to torment in any way she chose.
When she couldn’t seem to form a coherent sentence, Jack laughed. And laughed.
“Be quiet. Your mother will think we’re having a party in here,” she said.
He stifled the laugh, but kept the unrepentant smile. “You tell me about the
nightmare, I’ll tell you about New York City when you come to do the interview.”
She crossed her arms this time and it looked like a face off. “No deal. You tell me
about New York, then I’ll spill the nightmare.”
For a second she thought he might argue, but to her surprise, he said, “All right. But
if you renege, I will get the information out of you one way or another. You know that,
don’t you?”
“I can only imagine.” Determined to veer away from the innuendo-laced banter, she
headed toward a different subject. “I gave Artemis an interview over the phone earlier
today about the fire, but then Elliott called me and said Artemis butchered the story. So I
sent him a new story over email.”
His face went hard as marble. “Elliott made you work today?”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal. It was one of the easier stories for me to do, and most of
it was the interview Artemis did. A combined story, actually. Artemis is getting credit
with me on the byline.”
Jack’s mouth thinned in displeasure.
“Does it make you angry he asked me to work?” She had to know what his
expression meant rather than assuming. She touched his left hand, still flattened palm-
down on the bed. “You make a great watchdog, but I’m fine. I can take care of myself.”
He smiled, the tension slipping away. “I know. I was … worried.” His gaze flicked
up and down the entire length of her body. “If I’m the guard dog, who is going to protect
you against me?”
His question threw her for a loop, and she couldn’t think or move. “Jack … I…”
He leaned closer. “Something else is bothering you. What is it?”
Autumn sucked in a deep breath, her heart feeling extraordinarily heavy. An image
of that woman falling down the stairs tumbled into her head. “Damn it.” [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]