how I want to rip your panties off, spread you on my bed, and feast on every inch of you?” He stood up slowly.
She was speechless, and her heart was pounding. He carefully wrapped her cast with the clear wrap the hospital had given her, to protect it while she showered, and left the room, leaving her all hot and bothered.
But after that moment, they’d quickly fallen into a routine that mostly consisted of her sleeping through the grogginess induced by the pain meds and him driving her around or bringing her food when she was awake. He hadn’t once asked her out on a date since she’d moved in. Now that she was mostly healed, the least she could do was go out on one date with him. Even though he was just being playful about the date, she knew he really did want to go out with her. He’d made his intentions clear months ago, when she was still dating Dennis.
—
“Okay. I’ll go out with you,” Jessica said when she finally spoke.
“Okay?” He could barely believe it. He’d been wanting to go out with her since he’d met her months ago.
“I’m going to take a shower, then I’ll make something for breakfast. I’ll pack my stuff up afterward so you can drive me home,” she said before turning to go up the stairs.
Slade grabbed his cup and walked outside to his patio overlooking the ocean, where he loved to drink his coffee in the morning.
The moment he had first seen Jessica in the hospital haunted his mind.
Slade ran through the hospital doors.
“Jessica Cross? I need to see Jessica Cross,” he said to the woman who sat in the reception area of the hospital.
The woman typed something into her computer system. “Is that two s’s?”
Slade’s eyes narrowed in confusion. What the hell was she talking about?
“What?” he yelled impatiently.
“Is that Jessica with two s’s?”
“Are you kidding me right now?” He slammed his palms onto the desk and leaned toward the woman, whose cheeks flamed noticeably. “Is there any other way of spelling it? Of course it’s Jessica with two s’s.”
The woman stared at him for a moment before going back to her computer.
“And before you ask, it’s Cross with two s’s as well.”
She looked up, nodded timidly, and went back to typing.
“Here she is. She is in the critical care unit, room three twelve. Follow this hall to the end, take the elevators to the third floor, and you’ll see the sign for critical care. Only immediate family allowed.”
Without a second thought he answered, “I’m her brother.”
She nodded her approval, and he took off toward Jessica.
As soon as he found the correct room, he knocked. He heard a faint sound and walked in.
“Slade?” Jessica whispered.
Slade took in the sight of the beautiful woman in front of him. Her perfect skin, something that he’d always noticed, was marred with scrapes and bruises. Her eye was swollen shut, her lips inflamed and split. She didn’t look like Jessica.
“Jess. I came as soon as I heard.” He walked hesitantly toward her. When he got close, she turned her face away from him. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. “Jessica, please, sweetheart, look at me.”
He heard a sniffle. “No, I can’t.”
“This isn’t your fault. He’s the monster. You were just a victim. A brave victim. Please, Jess. Look at me.” He heard more sniffling before she turned her head slowly toward him.
His gaze was locked on her beautiful brown eyes. He reached up and smoothed her hair away from her face. “I’m so sorry this happened, Jessica. So sorry. This is all my fault. You shouldn’t have gone alone to talk to Dennis, baby. You should’ve called me. He’s lucky he’s in jail.”
Her lip quivered. “And you?” It was difficult to understand her because her jaw was swollen and her voice was low and muffled.
“Thanks to you, everything’s clear.”
“Oh, thank God.”
“Immediate family only,” a nurse said curtly as she walked in.
“It’s oka—” Jessica began to say.
“I’m her brother.” The nurse eyed him before shrugging and continuing toward her patient. Jessica’s eyes narrowed, but she seemed to accept his lie in order to have him there.
“What’s the prognosis? When can she go home?”
The nurse looked at Jessica for permission to discuss this with Slade. When Jessica nodded, she flipped open the chart and skimmed it before answering, “She’ll probably be here a few more days. Just waiting for some lab work and scan results. The broken rib punctured her lung