Chapter Seventeen

Emmet woke up on alert. Something was off. He blinked into the gloom and saw a pair of eyes staring down at him.

“Shit!” he croaked, bolted upright.

The cat hissed from the nightstand.

Beside him in the bed, Nicole stirred. She was on her back, a blanket draped over her, oblivious to the warmth of the overheated room.

Emmet sat forward and raked his hand through his hair. Gray bands of light seeped through the mini-blinds. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and checked the time. It was 6:52. He’d planned to leave after giving Nicole her four a.m. pill, but instead he’d drifted off again.

Shit.

He had to get home.

And shower and check his messages and get to work. The empty hole in his stomach reminded him that he’d skipped dinner last night, so he had to eat something, too.

Emmet got up, eyeing the floor to make sure he didn’t trip over the cat. Nicole’s body was a shapeless lump beneath the blanket, but it looked like she’d made it through the night with her boot propped on the pillow, so that was good.

He stepped closer to the bed and gazed down at her in the dimness. She was out cold. Gone was the fire in her eyes and the stubborn set of her jaw. She looked... soft. He stared down at her, drinking in the sight.

Thwack thwack thwack.

Across the room, the cat pawed at the mini-blinds.

“Damn it, Lucifer.” Emmet grabbed his boots off the floor, then stepped to the window. “Out. Let’s go.” He corralled the cat out the door, and it raced into the kitchen, probably eager for breakfast.

Emmet stopped to adjust the thermostat, then made his way down the dim hallway, his mind filling with all the shit he’d planned to do last night before he’d ended up here.

In Nicole’s apartment.

In Nicole’s bed.

He sank onto the sofa and dropped his boots on the floor.

Fuck.

He scrubbed his hands over his face and tried to think about work. But all he could think of was Nicole’s smooth skin and the sound she’d made when he’d kissed her nipple.

A noise at the door had him glancing up. Shit. Did David have a key? Emmet hadn’t even thought of it.

The door swung open, and Nicole’s sister stepped inside. She turned and switched on the light.

“Hey, Kate.”

“Good morning, Emmet. I thought that was your truck down there.” She closed the door behind her and strode into the kitchen, setting down a pair of shopping bags. She looked dressed for work and not at all surprised to see him here.

Emmet shoved his feet into his boots, and she started unloading the bags.

“You want coffee?” she asked.

His stomach growled in response.

“I’m good, thanks.”

She lifted an eyebrow skeptically and turned to put a pod into the Keurig. She took a mug down from the cabinet and eyed his wallet and holster on the breakfast bar.

“How is she?” Kate asked.

He stepped over to the kitchen. “Groggy from the meds. And pretty out of it.”

Out of it enough to kiss him.

That had been the pain meds, definitely. Those pills made her loopy.

The coffee machine groaned and gurgled, and Kate leaned back against the counter, watching him. She wore a black skirt and pale blue blouse, and he tried to remember what she did for a living. Something in real estate? Damned if he could remember.

The coffee finished, and she unpacked a carton of creamer from one of the grocery bags.

“You’ve been to the store already?” he asked.

“This is from my place. I wanted to save her any errands today.” She poured creamer into her mug and then put the carton in the fridge.

“So.” She leaned against the counter again. “What the hell happened, exactly? And don’t give me the same bull Nicole did.”

Emmet had overheard their phone call last night, and Nicole had downplayed everything, probably to keep her family from worrying.

“We don’t know for sure,” he said, because he wasn’t on board with Nicole’s push to sugarcoat everything. “But what didn’t happen was some guy didn’t accidentally run a red light.”

Kate’s eyebrows shot up. “It wasn’t an accident?”

“No.”

“I knew it.” She shook her head. “I told her it was just a little too weird that someone nearly ran her down after she’s been so paranoid lately.”

“Paranoid?”

She eyed him over the coffee cup. “She didn’t tell you?”

His stomach clenched. “No. What?”

She took a sip, then set the mug aside.

“Nicole told me she thought someone was maybe following her home,” Kate said.

Emmet’s blood ran cold. “Who?”

“She didn’t know. She just said she felt like someone was tailing her around the last few days. I told her it was probably some sleazebag she once busted trying to mess with her head.”

Emmet gritted his teeth. Every word of this was news to him. Why hadn’t Nicole told him?

“So, did anyone get a license plate or anything at the scene last night?” Kate asked.

“No.”

“Well, did you at least have a description? Do you know who it is?”

“We’re investigating.” He picked up his holster. “We should know more later today.”

Kate frowned at him, suddenly resembling her sister. “That’s concerning, to say the least.”

Emmet buckled his belt and grabbed his wallet off the counter.

“Well.” Kate folded her arms, watching him. “Thank you for staying with her.”

He nodded.

“She doesn’t like asking for help.” She tipped her head to the side. “But you know that already.”

She was baiting him, but he wasn’t biting. He grabbed his leather jacket off the back of the chair and shrugged into it.

“Tell Nicole I’ll check in with her later.”

“Sure. Good luck with the investigation. I really hope you find the guy.”

“We will.”

“And hey, Emmet, if she stonewalls me again, I’m coming to you.”

Shooting pain penetrated her dreams about bacon.

Nicole sat up in bed. The space beside her was empty. She blinked at it a moment, wondering if she’d imagined Emmet stretched out there last night in the flicker of the television.

But the nervous flutter in her stomach told her it was real. And the memory of his mouth and his taste and the feel of his stubble under her fingertips was much too vivid to be a dream.

Throbbing pain pulled her attention back to the present. She grabbed the crutches propped by her nightstand and, after two attempts, managed to stand.

“You’re awake!”

She glanced up to see Kate in the doorway smiling.

“I was about to come pinch you to make sure you’re still alive.”

Nicole squinted at her. “Why are you so cheerful?”

“Uh-oh. Sounds like someone needs a pill.”

Nicole glanced at the clock and sighed. “Thirty minutes. I can’t take one until ten.” Nicole hauled herself to the doorway. Every limb ached, even the nonbroken ones.

She stopped at the door and looked Kate over. She was all dressed up, which meant she probably had a closing today. “How are you here right now?”

Kate smiled. “I’m working from home this morning. Your home. But I’ve got a meeting at noon, so you’d better make use of me while you can.” She nodded at Nicole’s boot. “How’s the ankle?”

“All right.”

“Liar.” She stepped back to make room as Nicole crutched past her to the bathroom. “There’s breakfast on the stove.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be right out.”

Nicole tried to avoid her reflection as she went about her morning routine. Then she crutched into the kitchen, where Kate had her laptop open on the bar and Nicole’s favorite Snoopy mug beside her.

“I fixed you some coffee,” Kate said.

“I’m dying for some.” She stopped in the middle of the kitchen. “You made pancakes?”

“Ha. Not a chance. Those are from Mom.”

Nicole reached over and lifted a paper towel off a plate and found six crispy strips of bacon.

“I thought I was dreaming.” She turned around. “Why didn’t Mom wake me up?”

“You were completely zonked, and she wanted you to sleep.” Kate eyed her over the rim of her coffee cup. “Those pills must have really knocked you out.”

“Yeah.” She checked the clock again. She was due for another one in twenty minutes.

She glanced at Kate, and the expression on her sister’s face set off a little warning bell.

“What’s that look?” Nicole reached for a piece of bacon and winced when a jolt of fire shot up from her hip. She didn’t even want to look at the bruise today.

“I’m here to get the straight story,” Kate said. “No more dodging me.”

Nicole nibbled the crispy bacon, and the salty goodness melted on her tongue.

“I want to know what really happened yesterday. Emmet said it wasn’t an accident.”

Hearing his name put a flutter in Nicole’s stomach. She grabbed another piece of bacon and maneuvered over to the counter, where a mug of coffee sat waiting for her.

“I honestly don’t know,” Nicole said. “Some psycho tried to barrel into me.” The memory of that big silver grille flashed through her brain, and a chill went down her spine.

She glanced at Kate, and her sister was watching her with a worried frown.

“Don’t worry, though. We’ll figure it out.”

Kate’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

“What else do you want me to say?”

“How can you be so calm? You were almost killed yesterday!”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“You’re severely injured!”

“That’s because I leaped over a car hood and then tripped over my own feet getting up.”

“Nicole! You could have been hit.”

“It wasn’t really that big a thing.”

“That’s not what Emmet said.”

Again, his name made her stomach flutter. She remembered his face during the drive home from the hospital. He’d looked like a thundercloud.

“What all did he tell you?” Nicole asked.

“That someone intentionally tried to run you down. He seemed very concerned about it.”

Nicole nodded. “Well, we’re investigating. We’ll figure out what happened,” she said, hoping to project more confidence than she felt. She wasn’t up for a debate with her sister right now, not when every inch of her body ached. “I’ll update you when we know more. But can you please not freak out about this? I don’t want all this getting back to Mom and Dad and having to deal with Mom’s hysterics.”

Kate sighed. When it came to their mom, Nicole and Kate had each other’s backs. Renee Lawson was constantly worrying about her daughters’ safety. With Nicole’s job, it was understandable. But Kate was a real estate agent, and even she was constantly getting pelted with news articles about people who had been attacked in vacant houses by perverts pretending to be home buyers. Only their brother, Kevin, was spared her constant fretting.

“Okay, fine,” Kate said. “But don’t hide shit from me, all right?”

“I won’t.”

She closed her laptop. “Now, I want to hear about the other thing. Spill it.”

“Spill what?” Nicole turned and grabbed a fluffy yellow pancake from the plate on the counter. When she turned around, Kate was staring at her expectantly. If it had been anyone else it might have worked, but her sister knew her too well.

Nicole nibbled the pancake. “Emmet spent the night.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “No kidding. I bumped into him this morning. Tell me what happened.”

Nicole bit her lip.

“Oh my God. Did you have sex?”

A chunk of pancake lodged in Nicole’s throat, and she swallowed it down. “We kissed.”

Kate tipped her head back. “Finally! God. It only took you, what, ten years?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Or fifteen, really, if you count the crush you had on him in high school.”

Nicole turned around and put her coffee in the microwave to give herself something to do.

“Well? How did it happen?” Kate demanded. “I want details.”

“I don’t remember, exactly.”

“How can you not remember? It was just last night.”

“I was pretty spacey.” Nicole rubbed the back of her neck. “He was leaving, and I think I just... kissed him.”

“And?”

“And that’s it.” She thought of his hands sliding under her shirt and his mouth on her nipple. “That’s what happened.”

Kate squinted. “You are so full of shit.”

“What?” She turned and got her coffee out. She didn’t want to talk about this anymore—not with Kate or anyone. She hadn’t even had time to think about it herself, and she wasn’t ready to piece it apart yet. Emmet had been so many things last night. He’d been kind, and frustrated, and thoughtful, and infuriating.

And sweet. It wasn’t a word she’d ever associated with him before. But he’d turned down her bed and put a glass of water out for her.

And the tender look on his face when he’d leaned over and kissed her forehead... A little zing went through her as the memory popped into her brain. That was what prompted her to throw ten years of restraint out the window—that and the pain meds. He’d kissed her first.

Only his kiss had been short and platonic. She’d been the one to drag him into bed with her and practically beg him to stay.

“Nicole.”

“What?”

“You’ve got this look on your face. What are you leaving out?”

“Nothing.” She took a sip of coffee, and it scalded her throat.

Kate sighed. Then she checked her phone and stood up.

“Well, that’s obviously crap, but I don’t have time to drag it out of you, so you’re off the hook. For now.”

A knock on the door had them both turning around.

Kate shot Nicole a look and then strode across the living room. She checked the peephole and glanced over her shoulder.

“Oh my God.”

“Who is it?” Nicole asked.

Her sister opened the door, but Nicole couldn’t see who was there because the entire doorway was taken up by a ginormous flower arrangement.

“How pretty! Thank you so much!” Kate accepted the delivery and used her hip to close the door. “Okay, these are gorgeous.” The towering bouquet blocked Kate’s face as she returned to the kitchen and set the vase on the counter.

“What?” Kate glanced up. “Why do you look like it’s a ticking bomb?” She plucked the little white envelope from the arrangement and held it out. “Open it.”

Nicole took the envelope and stared down at it for a moment. This felt like a David gesture. Her mother loved flowers, but she would have bought them at the grocery store. And there wasn’t a single other person in Nicole’s life who would even think of such a thing.

She tore open the envelope.

Hope you feel better soon.—D

“David?” Kate asked.

Nicole nodded. She tucked the card back into the envelope as guilt washed over her. “Shit,” she muttered.

“What? They’re stunning!”

“They look really expensive.”

Kate waved her off. “So what? He can afford it. Anyway, he left you stranded at the ER. What a jerk move! Not to mention that’s the second time he’s bailed on you for work.”

The third. But who was counting?

“He can’t help it if he got a callout,” Nicole said.

“What? Why are you defending him?”

“I’m not. But I feel so guilty. I don’t know what got into me.”

Kate smiled. “Besides the narcotics?”

“That’s no excuse.”

She rolled her eyes. “Calm down. It’s not like you slept with someone... right?”

“We kissed. I told you.”

“Well, then chalk it up to the meds and give yourself a break. You’d just been through a trauma.”

Nicole stared at the multicolored mix of roses, tulips, and hydrangeas. If only it had been a wilty-looking bunch of pink carnations left over from Valentine’s.

“I need to talk to him,” Nicole said. “This thing isn’t working. Obviously.”

Kate sighed. “You’re a mess, Nik. I swear. Your love life is just...”

She bristled. “What?”

“Interesting. That’s the word I was looking for.”

Nicole combed her hand through her messy hair. She probably looked as terrible as she felt this morning.

“You okay?” Kate asked.

“Yeah.”

Kate lifted an eyebrow at yet another lie. “I really wish I could stay, but I’m running late.” She gathered up her laptop and slid it into her computer bag.

“Thanks for coming over. And for running interference with Mom and Dad.”

“No problem.” She stepped over and gave Nicole a quick hug. “Keep me posted. And be sure to stay on top of your pain meds.”

As if she could forget.