Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 14425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 72(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 72(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
Even in a hospital gown, she makes my heart beat faster. She's not too beat up, but I know Chelsea's always been able to handle herself. It's one of the things I like most about her. She never goes down without a fight.
"Still tough as nails, Chelsea. You got hit pretty good tonight. Why don't you tell me what happened? Who were your partners on this?" I ask her. I don't want to think about her falling into our old habits. Given the way police officers found her at the scene, I want to get my hands on the bastards who robbed the place but not to put them in handcuffs.
Chelsea flips her hair to the side. "Why do you think I have anything to do with this? My fucking father is in a coma, Victor."
"I actually don't think you do, but I had to see it in your eyes when I pinned it to you."
"Fuck you, Victor." Chelsea chuckles as she glances at me, a glimmer of desire.
"I'd love to if you're up to it. I can't say I haven't missed … us." My admission draws a timid but fleeting smile from her.
She jiggles her ankle against the handcuff, securing her to the hospital bed rail. "I'd agree with you, Victor, but this isn't much of a welcome home. I mean, the handcuffs are familiar to us, but it's been a while since we've been familiar."
Three years is a long time, but not long enough to remember how my body reacts to her every time she's near. A breath pushes through my nostrils as I take a step toward the edge of her bed to unlock her. The pain splinters across her face as she reaches down to rub her ankle.
I can't stop my hand from covering hers to rub where redness blooms around her ankle. The way she moans under my touch melts that wall ice slightly until she stops my hand. My eyes reach up to meet hers as she draws the other leg up toward her chest. The way she rests her chin on her knee, letting her waves of hair cascade to the side, draws me in.
"Chelsea, I did it for your own protection in case one of those goons decided to come check on you to see if you were cooperating."
"I'll cooperate, Vic. I will always help you if I can. When I became a security consultant, your family helped me. I'm going to help you get these guys, but I need a favor." Her voice is soft, even though I know her intentions are lethal.
There's a reason Chelsea and I clicked a few years ago, but life took us in different directions.
"What kind of favor?" I ask.
Chelsea rattles off precisely what she wants. "I want you to get me out of this hospital. Next, leave me in the car while you go into your precinct to grab whatever footage you siphoned off my father's cameras and anything else that will help me figure out who did this. And then? If I … I mean, if we like what we see, you can take me to dinner."
"Same old Chelsea, I see. Always trying to tell me what to do and how to do it. Don't you know it's the other way around, love?"
She giggles and reaches up to stroke the side of my face. "There's only one place I let you tell me what to do, Victor. We'll need way more than dinner to take that ride down memory lane."
"If I get you out of here tonight and you tell me who the guys were in the store as soon as you know who they are—"
"Then we can go to dinner and take it from there. Are you serious about this, Victor? Or do I need to call you Detective Bennett?" She leans away from me as if my job leaves a stench that she can't stand.
"You can call me whatever you like, Chelsea. Are you ready to go?"
"As soon as you give me the discharge papers." She smiles.
I nod and leave the room, looking for the doctor and to make a call to my commanding officer. If there’s one thing I know for sure, Chelsea can probably tell me who hit her father's store. And if she doesn't, she's going to lead me to whoever did.
A smile spreads across my face knowing that certain things never change. Especially when I head back to her hospital room to see it empty. She's not going to get far since an ambulance brought her here, but this town is easy enough to navigate.
Even though she has a head start, I still beat her back to Francine's Jewelers. It doesn't take long before I see her get out of a taxi. Long legs clad in denim that hugs Chelsea's slender curves have my eyes watching her every move. She doesn't bother to look up and down the street, as she waltzes through the front door of the shop. I follow her inside, ducking under the yellow crime scene tape.