CHAPTER SEVEN
THE FEMALE DOCTOR, probably in her early forties, model thin and very attractive, wasn’t amused that Rowdy kept Avery so close. Not as support, Avery soon realized, but so that he could play kissy face and act outrageous in a dozen other ways.
Was it a defense mechanism? Was he in more pain than he let on?
The doctor pulled on rubber gloves and took a seat behind him. For the longest time she was silent, until finally she murmured, “You’ve been in a lot of fights?”
Rowdy toyed with Avery’s hair, twining one long tress around his finger. “A few.”
Somehow, being injured didn’t detract from Rowdy’s devastating good looks, or his ability to seduce. His body... Well, she’d seen plenty of men shirtless, but none of them looked like him. His chest, his shoulders, those incredible abs...
Fortunately, the doctor didn’t seem to notice or care. She, at least, was all business. After accessing the wound, she studied his broad back with a frown. “Some of these scars are pretty old.”
Scars? Avery started to move around so she could see for herself.
Rowdy kept her from doing so. “Old, and unimportant.” He glanced back at the doctor. “How soon can I get out of here?”
The doctor wasn’t put off by his brusque question. “You’ll need quite a few stitches. With luck, I won’t leave you with another scar.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“To me,” the doctor said, “it does.”
In short order, he got a tetanus shot and something to numb the area.
While the doctor put in the stitches, Avery watched Rowdy’s face.
“If you’re waiting for me to faint,” he told her, “you can relax. I don’t feel a thing.” He tried to draw her in for another kiss.
She tried to avoid it, but he didn’t make it easy.
While glaring at Avery as if it were her fault, the doctor said, “This would be a whole lot easier if you’d sit still.”
Freeing herself, Avery said in her sternest voice, “Behave.”
And wonder of wonders, he did.
As the doctor finished up, she went over his instructions as she wrote them. “I don’t want you to shower for at least twenty-four hours. When you do shower, make it quick so that you don’t soak your stitches. You can remove the bandage and have someone—” here she stared at Avery again “—reapply the antibiotic ointment.”
Rowdy gave Avery a wolfish smile.
The doctor pretended not to see it. “Keep it wrapped for three days, and then, if it’s comfortable for you, you can leave the bandages off.” She looked up. “I don’t suppose you have a desk job?”
“He owns his own bar,” Avery told her, more than willing to brag on him. “He works every part of it. Lots of physical activity.”
She sighed. “Well, I’d tell you to take it easy for at least a week, but somehow I don’t think you’ll listen.” She came to stand in front of them, put her hands on her hips and said with strict insistence, “Three days.”
“Three days of what?” Rowdy asked.
“Three days of you not overdoing it. No running, no heavy lifting.” She tipped her head forward in an “are you listening to me” pose. “Nothing that will put stress on your injury. Understand?”
Rowdy didn’t answer, so Avery did. “I’ll see that he’s more careful.”
“Yes, well, I have a feeling he’ll try to talk you around.” The doctor raised a brow. “Don’t let him.”
Good grief, did she mean sex? Avery went hot. “I have no say over that!”
With a huff, Rowdy pulled her closer. “You have the most say.”
The unspoken words at least for right now rang in her head.
The doctor saved Avery from having to reply. “You’re going to be uncomfortable. I’m giving you a script for pain meds, but they might make you sleepy. No driving, no drinking and no operating heavy machinery when you take them.”
“Not a problem.”
“If you can get by with aspirin during the day, I’d recommend saving the stronger stuff for when you go to bed.” She turned to Avery. “You’ll be helping to care for him?”
Rowdy watched her, saying nothing, so Avery gave a quick nod. “Yes.” And I’ll do my best not to take advantage of his weakened condition.
“The dressing needs to be changed every day until Friday, and more ointment applied. In about fourteen days, the stitches can come out. Either return here or go to your physician.” She frowned at Rowdy. “Do not try taking them out yourself.”
Deadpan, Rowdy said, “I’d have a little trouble reaching.”
The doctor turned back to Avery again. “Let me know if you see any redness or swelling around the sutures.”
“Thank you.” Avery took her hand in sincere appreciation. “I’ll see to it.”
“Good luck with that.” After one last glance at Rowdy, the doctor smiled. “As she said, behave.”
One of nurses stepped back into the room and handed Rowdy a clean T-shirt. “I wish we had a coat to loan you, but this is the best I could do.”
“Appreciate it.”
The nursed started to help him pull it on, but Avery insinuated herself between them. “I can do it.”
Rowdy smiled, and the disgruntled nurse retreated. When she was gone, Avery gently pulled the shirt over his head. He stuffed his arms through the sleeves without her assistance.
Knowing he was anxious to find out about Marcus, she said, “I’ll call for a cab.”
As they left the hospital, he was so silent, so withdrawn, she didn’t know how to handle him. Not that anyone could ever fully handle Rowdy Yates, but boy, she wanted to try.
“Should we stop on the way to get your prescription filled?”
“I’ll take care of it tomorrow.” He opened the cab door for her, but surprised her by telling the cabbie his address, instead of hers.
She’d been almost certain that he’d insist on seeing her home first. Heart thumping a slow, anxious beat, Avery watched him settle in the seat beside her, this time far more comfortably now that he’d been tended to.
“You don’t mind, do you?” He put an arm around her.
His constitution amazed her. “That we’re going to your apartment first? Of course not. In fact, if it wouldn’t put you in panic mode, I’d like to stay and make sure you’re settled.”
“Great.” He stared out the window.
No signs of panic at all. Was he just too worried? What could she say to help? That Marcus would be okay? She wasn’t sure. She knew nothing about the process of protecting a child from his own parents.
But she had a feeling that Rowdy had far too much knowledge of exactly that.
* * *
HE’D WAITED ENDLESSLY in the cold dark night, but Avery and the blond ruffian hadn’t yet left the bar. Where the hell were they? Little by little he’d thought to learn Avery’s schedule, but this he hadn’t expected.
He was just about to give up when a cab slowed at the curb in front of him. The headlights hit his windshield, momentarily blinding him. Sinking lower in the driver’s seat of his car, heart thumping in excitement, he waited. Sure enough, that was Avery and her swain that exited the cab.
Despite the dead cold of the night, lover boy didn’t wear a coat. A macho show to impress Avery? Idiot. If an abundance of cash and social influence hadn’t done the trick, nothing would. Then again, maybe he’d looked at this wrong. Maybe she went for the brutish type.
But if so, she wouldn’t have run off, right?
Whatever the girl wanted, it no longer mattered. The decision to return or stay gone would no longer be hers to make. He was done playing nice.
* * *
THEY’D JUST GOTTEN into Rowdy’s apartment when his cell phone rang. He figured it’d be Pepper again, and he was all set to tease her about turning into a mother hen. But when he looked at the number, he saw it was Logan instead, and dread consumed him.
“Where is he?” he asked by way of answering the phone.
“If you mean Marcus, then I maybe have some good news.”
Nausea burned his throat. So often “good news” from the system meant the kid got fucked over again. “Tell me.” He urged Avery down the landing steps and over to the couch, indicating that she should take a seat.
“Well, after pulling a few strings, he’s with Reese and Alice.”
Luckily, the couch was right behind Rowdy because he dropped onto it. “With Reese?” He hadn’t expected that. His thoughts reeled but his tension ebbed. “But...why?” And how?
“If she survives, the mother is still going to be in the hospital for a while. The dad was not only involved in an assault on you, but we also found a substantial amount of drugs in his truck, along with a small arsenal of unregistered weapons.”
“No shit?”
“The truck door was open,” Logan said with a shrug. “One of the unis spotted an assault rifle and more right there in plain sight. Guess they figured on gutting you and taking off.”
“Didn’t go quite as they planned then, did it?” Take that, you miserable fucks. “So how did Reese end up with Marcus?”
“In extreme situations, we—the police—can take a child into protective custody overnight on an emergency basis. After you left for the hospital, Reese called Alice to tell her what was going on. She came to the bar to help out, and...”
Rowdy could guess the rest. “She and Marcus hit it off.” God bless Alice; no one could ever resist her and her gentle but curious way.
Maybe wounded souls recognized each other. Heaven knew, he and Alice had bonded right from the get-go.
“She got him to talk to her,” Logan said. “Not much, but it was more of a connection than with anyone else. When the social worker started to take him away, he...”
Rowdy held his breath during Logan’s five-second, emotional pause.
“...Reese said it was the damnedest thing. In that short time, Marcus had already gotten an attachment to her. He kicked up such a fuss that Alice was on her knees holding him and telling everyone else to back off.”
Sounded like Alice. Eyes burning, throat going scratchy, Rowdy avoided Avery’s astute gaze. “I’d put my money on Alice.”
“Pretty much always, you know?”
“Yeah.” Rowdy found his first smile. And once he had it, the need to touch Avery, to connect with her, nearly overwhelmed him. He put an arm around her and hauled her into his side. “What else?”
“After Reese closed up the bar, he and Alice took Marcus home. Reese told me to tell you not to worry too much. He’s sleeping on the couch to make sure the kid doesn’t try to take off, and Cash is sticking close to him.”
Cash, their crazy-ass rescue dog, had seen his fair share of abuse before living the cushy life with Alice and Reese.
For the moment, it was the best Rowdy could have hoped for. “The kid knows what happened to his dad?”
“That he and one of his thugs attacked you? That we arrested him? No. I don’t think it was uncommon for that bastard to take off.”
But it would be uncommon for a social worker to show up. Marcus probably had a clue, but Rowdy was grateful that it hadn’t been spelled out to him. “Thanks.”
“One of these days,” Logan said, “you’re going to believe that a few bad cops don’t represent the whole of the profession.”
He ignored that to say, “What happens now?”
“The social worker is getting hold of the family court judge. If that goes well, the judge might be able to place Marcus with Reese until we get everything else sorted out.”
Breathing became more difficult. “Reese is up for that?”
“Yeah, you know Reese. He’s muscle-bound, but at heart he’s just a big softie.”
Yeah, that was one truth Rowdy could swear to. Until recently, he wouldn’t have believed they existed, but now... Reese and Logan both were proving to be really good men.
Next they’d have him believing in Santa Claus.
Logan didn’t seem to think that much of Reese taking on a street rat. “There’ll be an emergency custody hearing. Unless we find a suitable family member—”
Rowdy’s heart stalled. “No.” Other family would have to know what went on, and the fact that it continued meant they didn’t care enough to put a stop to it.
And that, as far as Rowdy was concerned, made them unsuitable as guardians.
“Reese could have temporary custody.”
How long that would last, Rowdy didn’t know, but he wouldn’t tip his hand by asking too many questions. Because when it was all said and done, Marcus wasn’t going back there. He wouldn’t let it happen, no matter what the court said.
As the numbness wore off, his back began to ache and his temples throbbed. “Can I see him tomorrow?”
“Sure. Alice would love that. Reese is taking the day off, so he’ll be around, too.”
Rowdy knew he owed Logan and Reese more than he could ever repay. But he’d try all the same.
Usually a debt would have eaten at him, but this time, it didn’t. This time, weird as it seemed...it sort of lightened his burden.
Smiling as if she felt his relief, Avery leaned into him. Her silky hair teased over his skin. The side of her breast pressed against his ribs.
If he’d known being cut would get her to touch him this much, he’d have figured out a way to get sliced sooner. Maybe she thought he was too hurt to take advantage of her affection.
Even at the worst of times, Rowdy couldn’t keep his hands out of her gorgeous red hair. He tunneled his fingers in close to her scalp and kissed her temple.
“Yeah, so, Logan...” What could he say? How did you thank a man for doing what you couldn’t? “I... Damn, man...”
“Get some sleep,” Logan told him. “We’ll talk more tomorrow. But for tonight, know that your bar is fine and Marcus is safe.” He disconnected the call.
Hand shaking, Rowdy put the phone on the coffee table and slowly turned to Avery.
“Marcus is okay?”
It felt like her beautiful blue eyes looked into his soul. “He’s with Reese.” She’d met both Reese and Logan when they came to help with the renovations to the bar. But she couldn’t possibly know the lengths they’d go to to serve and protect.
Hell, until recently, Rowdy himself hadn’t realized it. Before this, even with the evidence in front of him, he’d told himself that most people had ulterior motives. They were users. They cared only about their own comforts.
Now... Well, now he had to believe that some men had amazing ethics and a deep sense of responsibility.
“What will happen?” Avery asked.
Rowdy shook his head, but said, “I’ll make sure he stays safe.”
Her expression softened. “Rowdy—”
Driven by hunger and desperation, Rowdy drew her in for a kiss.
With a light laugh, she dodged him. “Not again. You need your rest—”
I need you. He didn’t say it aloud, and he didn’t let her retreat. “I’m not tired.”
“Well, I am.” She put her hand to the side of his face. “What do you think? It’s awfully late. Would you mind if I stayed the rest of the night with you?”
Vivid sexual images sent his muscles contracting. Hell, he’d figured on having to persuade her. With every new breath, his back hurt more, and still, with her statement, his hunger stirred.
Avery went on in a rush. “To sleep, I mean.”
Well, hell. He drew her closer, his gaze on her mouth. “We could sleep after.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Her face warmed. “I want to be here in case you need anything.”
This time he couldn’t keep the words contained. “I need you.”
As if he hadn’t spoken, she continued. “I promise not to become clingy. I won’t drop in uninvited and I won’t make any assumptions.”
She should, Rowdy thought, because God knew she’d probably be right. He kissed her forehead, the bridge of her nose, that soft, sweet mouth. “You can stay,” he whispered. “On one condition.”
Her eyes narrowed in teasing threat. “I mean it, Rowdy. Sleep and only sleep.”
He could handle that—with a fair trade-off. “All right. But you sleep with me. In my bed.”
Her eyes widened again. “You,” she said, sounding like a schoolteacher, “are not up for it.”
“There’s where you’re wrong.” Just hearing her talk about it had him throbbing.
Her gaze dropped to his lap, and she scuttled off the couch so fast that his fingers got snagged in her hair. “Rowdy Yates, you’re... We can’t possibly...”
“We could, but yeah, it’d be tricky.” Besides, when he finally got her under him, he didn’t want to be handicapped by a zipper of fresh stitches with her still reeling from a night of upset.
Avery continued to stare at his lap.
“That’s not helping, honey.” Pushing to his feet, he readjusted in an effort to get more comfortable. “It’s not a snake and it doesn’t bite.”
More color rushed into her face until she looked sunburned.
Enjoying her mix of innocence and sex appeal, Rowdy touched her chin and brought her gaze up to his. “What do you say, honey? Ready to crash for the night?”
“Well.” She chewed her bottom lip and worked hard to keep her attention off the solid erection straining his jeans. “I could sleep on the couch...”
“I’ll feel better if you stick close.” He always enjoyed snuggling up with a warm female body. Granted, it usually only happened with sex, but tonight, with Avery, he’d make an exception.
She twisted her mouth, gave him a skeptical look. “You promise you only mean for sleep?”
“Unless you get frisky and go for more.” He leaned down and nuzzled her ear. “I’m in a weakened state. You could totally take advantage of me.”
She laughed—then slapped a hand over her mouth.
“What’s funny?” Taking her shoulders, he eased her against him. She was a tiny little thing, and still they fit perfectly. “I have a feeling I’m missing an inside joke here.”
Sighing, she leaned into him, her hands on his chest. “I probably shouldn’t tell you.”
“Tell me anyway.” Hell, now he had to know.
Tipping her head back, she gifted him with a big smile. “At the hospital, I had that very thought.” Her curious fingertips touched over his collarbone. “That I could molest you in your weakened condition.”
God, he would love for her to try. “Maybe tomorrow you can give it a shot.” In the meantime, he prompted her, saying, “Wanna help me get undressed?”
Her eyes flared.
Keeping his amusement under wraps, Rowdy said, “Reaching my shoes, peeling off my socks...” He shifted his shoulder and gave an exaggerated wince. “Pushing down my jeans. I’m not sure I can manage all that.”
“Oh.” She levered back and looked down the length of his body.
Yeah, the boner was still there. But then, with every pore of his being, he was aware of having Avery Mullins alone in his apartment. Talking about her taking off his jeans kept him primed.
She swallowed. “Of course.” And then, big eyes looking up at him, “Should we go by your bed?”
“I was going to wash up first.”
“Do you...ah, need help with that?”
Like he couldn’t brush his teeth on his own? Rowdy didn’t like playing weak, even if the aches and pains were starting to really settle in. Sooner or later, Avery would understand his strength. “I got it covered.”
Relief took some of the starch from her shoulders.
“Why don’t you go turn down the bed?”
“Okay.” She walked with him across the room. “Do you have something I can sleep in?”
My arms. But maybe it was better not to tell her that yet. “What’s wrong with your birthday suit?” He wouldn’t get any sleep, but he’d sacrifice sleep for a nude female body any day.
Avery looked scandalized. “I can’t sleep that way.”
“Why not?”
“I just wouldn’t.” She paused by some of his exercise equipment, eyeing it with curiosity. “I’ve never slept naked, and I’m not going to start tonight.”
Never? So his little bartender was modest? He’d get her over that, but obviously not tonight. Going to a dresser, Rowdy dug out a plain white T-shirt. If she wore only her panties under it, it’d be the next best thing to naked. “Will this work?”
She waffled. “Don’t you have something darker?”
“You won’t let me have any fun.” He found a black T-shirt and offered it to her. “Better?”
She held it up in front of her, saw it’d fall to her knees, and nodded. “Yes, thank you.” She turned to the weights on the floor, then indicated the chin-up bar and heavy bag hung from the rafters. “This is your stuff?”
“Yeah.” He needed those aspirin to kick in, the sooner the better. “When I can’t sleep and there isn’t a willing woman around to help me blow off some energy, I work out.”
Putting the T-shirt on his bed, she bent to lift one weight—and got it only about six inches off the floor. “Does it help?”
Not as much as fucking. “Sometimes, sure.”
She gave up on the weight and strode over to the heavy bag. With a slight push, she got it swaying. “You have trouble sleeping?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“Sometimes I guess.”
For most of his life, he’d been an insomniac. As a kid, he’d stayed awake listening for trouble—meaning his folks. Later, after they’d died, he’d been vigilant for Pepper.
The idea of Avery not sleeping bothered him. “What keeps you awake?”
“Too much caffeine, scary movies and worrying about stuff. Same as most people.” Smiling, she sat on the side of his bed. “You only have a full-size bed.”
“So?” If he’d known she was staying over, he’d have moved in a twin mattress real quick.
“I don’t want to interrupt your sleep tonight.”
He loved interruptions because usually if he fell into a sound sleep, nightmares plagued him.
That is, if you could call memories nightmares.
“Like I said, I’m an insomniac so don’t worry about it.” He went to the bathroom door. “You’ll have about two minutes to change in private if you want.”
Seated on the side of his bed, her knees together, her fiery hair trailing over her shoulders, she looked like living, breathing temptation. “Okay, thanks.”
Rowdy closed the door behind him, and only then allowed himself to scowl in discomfort. Every movement made his stitches pull, but he also felt other aches and pains. His knuckles were bruised, and one knee was stiff as if maybe swollen. Probably from landing on the damned gravel.
He brushed his teeth, washed his face then gave quick thought to shaving. If Avery was saying yes instead of no, maybe he would. But since she insisted on sleep only, he decided it wasn’t worth the effort.
He stepped out, and there she stood beside the turned-down bed, her hair freshly brushed, her clothes gone in place of his soft cotton T-shirt. He’d known it would swim on her, but he hadn’t counted on the enticing way it draped over her every curve, or how the wide neck exposed one shoulder.
Or how possessive he felt seeing her in it.
He could almost hate that shirt for being the only thing between him and the woman who was fast becoming an obsession.
Avery nervously waited for him to say something, but every thought he had was sure to send her running. Very slowly, knowing full well she could see his feelings on his face, he eased closer.
“Rowdy?”
She had beautiful legs, slim but shapely, silky and smooth. Her toes curled as he continued to stare at her. She crossed her forearms over her middle, shifting her stance and inadvertently pulling the material tighter over the swells of her breasts.
He’d had women coming under him and not felt as hot as he did seeing the shape of Avery’s body under black cotton.
“You’re making me feel naked.”
Close enough now to kiss her, he bent his head and nuzzled the fragrant skin of her neck, that supersexy red hair. “One touch, okay?”
“I... What?” Even as she spoke her confusion, she tipped her head, giving him access to continue.
He put his hands at her waist, loving the feel of her beneath the giving cotton. “Just one touch, babe,” he murmured. “Tell me it’s okay.” His fingers opened and closed, relishing the narrowness of her waist, the slight flare at the top of her hips. His mouth brushed her ear. “Just one. Then we can turn in.”
She drew in a shuddering breath—and nodded.
To make the most of it, Rowdy caressed both hands over her hips and down to her full, supple ass. A groan caught in his throat. He took a moment to enjoy how his large hands completely covered each cheek, then used his double-handed hold on her to lift her up to her tiptoes, bringing her in close, pelvis to pelvis.
While lust singed him, she gasped in worry and her hands grabbed for his shoulders. “Rowdy, your back.”
All he could feel at the moment was the throbbing in his cock. He’d never wanted a woman so much. Sex was great, always, but touching Avery like this was better, so good that it felt like a drug.
He lifted her higher so he could kiss the tender flesh where the neckline of the T-shirt exposed her shoulder.
“Rowdy, please.” She tucked her face into his shoulder, her voice rough with concern. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
It wasn’t easy, but Rowdy got himself under control. He wanted Avery’s need as sharp as his own, not clouded by worry.
Carefully, he lowered her feet back to the floor. “You have an amazing ass,” he said with feeling.
Dropping her forehead to his sternum, she gave a husky laugh. Her long hair hid her face from him. He lifted it back over her shoulders.
Damn, but he loved her hair. One of these days it’d be spread out over his pillow while he sank into her.
He shuddered with the thought.
“You’re okay?” Avery let her fingers hover over the waistband of his jeans.
“Better than okay,” he promised her, and kissed the top of her head.
Without looking at him, she whispered, “Should I help you undress now?”
He choked back a groan. “Might be better if you give me a minute.”
“Okay.” She pressed back. “I need to wash up anyway.”
“Make yourself at home.” The words left his mouth, and he froze. Jesus, he couldn’t believe he’d just said that, or that he really wanted her to be at ease.
Her mouth twitched. “You look like that hurt more than the knife wound.”
Emotional shit always hurt worse, and Avery made him feel way too much.
Rowdy accepted that it would be a torturous night. “Use anything you need.”
“You’re sure?” Proving she had a wickedly teasing nature, she said, “You’re already so beat-up, I don’t want to push you over the edge by getting too comfortable.”
“I’m not beat-up, smart-ass. The bastard just got in one lucky cut.” He kissed her to prove he was fine, then turned her and gave her a light swat on that spectacular ass. “Now stop harassing me and go get ready.”
Ignoring her snicker, Rowdy watched her go, fascinated by the way her body moved under his T-shirt. Who knew a damned tent of a shirt could be so erotic? The second Avery closed the bathroom door, self-preservation kicked in. He made quick work of double-checking the locks on the front door before turning out all the lights except for the one on the nightstand.
Sinking down to sit on the edge of the bed, in more pain than he wanted to admit to, Rowdy worked off his shoes and socks. Even if having Avery so close wouldn’t keep him awake and on the edge of lust, the deepening pain would make sleep impossible.
When he heard the water shut off in the bathroom, he stood and opened the snap on his jeans, then eased the zipper down over his boner.
Avery emerged. Damp tendrils of hair clung to her forehead and flushed cheeks.
Looking dewy and fresh and so sexy that he burned with need, she padded barefoot across the room to him. “What are you doing?” Her breath smelled minty, and he detected the smell of his soap on her skin. “You’ll hurt yourself.”
“By unzipping my jeans? Get real.” One day soon, he’d make sure she understood his strength. “Did you use my toothbrush?”
Brushing his hands away, she said, “Corner of a washcloth.”
Rowdy stared at the crooked part in her hair. “I wouldn’t have minded.” Would she?
“Maybe in the morning, then. Thanks.”
Apparently not. And why the hell did that seem so intimate?
“So.” She stared at the waistband of his jeans. “Let’s get you undressed.”
Ah, hell, if only the rest of his body felt as energetic as his dick. “This might be a bad idea...”
She glanced up at him, her face clean of makeup, the blue of her eyes looking deeper in the low light, her lashes leaving shadows on her smooth cheeks. “I’ll be careful, Rowdy, I promise.”
That wasn’t what worried him.
“Relax.” With that said, she hooked both hands in his waistband and tugged down his jeans—which brought her face so close that he imagined he could feel her breath through his boxers.
Pretending she didn’t see his erection, she went to a knee and finished dragging the denim down to his ankles. “Step out.”
What the hell. If she could take it, so could he. He put a hand on the top of her head and did as told.
Avery folded the jeans. “You can sit down on the side of the bed so I can get your shirt off.”
Better if she’d just get him off. It wouldn’t take much. Seeing her on her knees had almost done it.
Wearing only the snug boxers and a borrowed T-shirt, Rowdy sat.
After putting his jeans on the dresser, Avery climbed onto the bed behind him. He felt her there, so close and so utterly still.
Without warning, her fingers gently tunneled into his hair. “Is your sister as blond as you?”
The mesmerizing way she touched him wasn’t carnal, and maybe that’s why it affected him so strongly. It felt like...affection.
He wasn’t used to it.
He knotted his hands in the blankets. “Pepper’s hair is lighter, and a hell of a lot longer.”
“Is it as thick as yours? As wavy?”
He could feel her breath on the back of his neck. “Hell, I don’t know.” He twisted to look at her over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”
When she shrugged, the neckline of the shirt slid down. Not far enough for him to see her breast but close enough that his heart almost punched out of his chest.
He did not react this way to women, damn it.
Avery smoothed down his hair and said on a sigh, “You’re pretty irresistible, that’s all.” Leaning forward, she got hold of the hem of the shirt. “I’m going to be really careful. Let me lift up the shirt and then we can work each arm out, okay?”
It took an excruciating amount of time for Avery to do what he could have accomplished in five seconds. Never in his life would he have allowed a woman to “handle him,” but it was kind of nice the way Avery did it. Once freed, she tossed the shirt to the dresser to join the jeans.
A moment later, she breathed, “Oh, Rowdy.”
He imagined a lot of bruising had formed around the cut. “It’s okay, honey.”
Her fingertips moved lightly over his skin. “No, it’s not.” In a butterfly touch, she brushed her lips to one spot, then another.
Rowdy felt each small kiss in his dick. In a gravelly rumble, he promised, “Before long, it’ll be healed up and forgotten.”
Silence dragged out as she touched him again, on his shoulder, lower on his back. “Like the rest of these?”
Tension wound through his spine, making him stiff all over.
Her tone far too sad, Avery said, “Now I know what the doctor meant.”
Shit. Scars. Moving away from her hands and that damn unnerving empathy, Rowdy stood and turned so all she saw was his chest.
And his boner beneath the boxers. He could handle her seeing that, but he couldn’t handle her seeing any vulnerability.
“You ready to turn in?” He pulled the blankets back farther and eased down to his side. He hated that he had to move so slowly, but even a wiggle of his toe was felt in his back.
“Yes.” Still on her knees, she drew in a deep breath. “I’m ready.” In a unique but innocent sort of torture, she stretched beyond him, her body over his as she turned out the lamp. She settled back in front of him, resting on one elbow.
Moonlight shone through the high windows, leaving her body outlined in a mellow glow, turning the fall of her hair into a muted fire.
Could a woman be more physically appealing?
“What would be most comfortable for you?” Before he could answer, Avery turned, giving him her back, then scooted closer. “Will this work?”
Hell, yeah. That worked just fine. He put an arm around her and snuggled her in, his hand open on her belly, his hips nestled up against her ass. “Perfect.”
“Rowdy.” He heard her smile when she chastised him. “You won’t be able to sleep with me this close.”
“Told you I’m an insomniac, so I’m used to not sleeping. But for once I won’t mind being awake.”
She hesitated before saying, “Okay, then,” and wiggled to get more comfortable.
Excruciating.
Laying a hand over his, she let out a long yawn and whispered, “Good night, Rowdy.”
It would be a long night, but just as well that he wouldn’t sleep. He didn’t want to waste a single second of having her like this, with him, in his apartment, in his bed and in his arms.
Maybe it was the turmoil of the day, the dredging up of old hurts and twisted memories, but damn it, he even considered having her in his life...for more than a one-night stand.
* * *
WHEN THE LIGHT went out, he decided to give up his vigil for the night. The big windows should have afforded a decent view, and despite himself, he’d anticipated playing voyeur. But the bed wasn’t positioned correctly, so while he could occasionally see a body move past, he hadn’t seen enough to make it worth the danger in the area.
He felt cheated, damn it.
Maybe once he had Avery back where she belonged, he’d think about the whole voyeur fetish again. For all his trouble, he deserved that—and more.