The Healing Touch - Apryl Baker Page 0,26

to go inside, Dimitri. There’s a lot to do.”

The mountain of boxes. He’d forgotten all about them. She was right, of course. There was a lot to do, but he resented the damn boxes. They were interrupting this…whatever this was.

“I need to get cleaned up. Why don’t you call the front desk and see if there’s any place open that delivers this late? Then we’ll tackle that army of boxes waiting. Sound good?”

She nodded and stood. This time, he let her go without any arguments and rose, his legs quivering. He caught the back of the chair to steady himself. He saw Becca tense out of the corner of his eye, ready to help if he needed it, but understanding he wouldn’t want her help otherwise. Charlene had spent the last few months treating him like an invalid. Most probably would. That was another reason he wanted Becca with him. She’d make him man up and do it, but she’d be the first person offering him help if he needed it. She understood he needed to do this on his own. She probably learned it from her daddy’s biker gang and all those assholes.

Bikers. He resisted the urge to laugh. His dainty girl grew up with bikers. Who would have thunk it?

“Becca?”

“Hmm?”

“Did those bikers teach you how to fight too?”

That pulled an impish grin from her. “Never piss me off, and you’ll never have to find out.”

“So, that’s a yes?”

“Let’s just say I can hold my own.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Jackson made sure of it.”

“Come on, Jackie Chan, let’s get inside. Find us some food while I take a shower.”

She cracked a crooked smile his way and went to find the phone while he headed for the bathroom.

To take a cold, cold shower.

Chapter Seven

Becca’s nerves were about to get the best of her. What the hell just happened out there? She took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to steady herself. Falling apart wasn’t going to do anything to help her calm down. He kissed her, sure, but he was Dimitri, and Becca forcefully remembered all the women he’d gone through over the years. A kiss meant nothing to him. He was just full of alcohol. That was all it was. An alcoholic induced moment of insanity on both their parts. Best to leave it at that.

Instead of focusing on her very swollen lips, she set about opening boxes. The first two contained all the paper swag, and she set that aside. The next three were books. After opening the fourth, she turned her nervousness into full-on anger at Amazon’s new printing department. She’d specifically called them and asked each title be shipped in its own box, not thrown all together. And what did they go and do after assuring her otherwise? They threw them all together.

Dimitri had written twenty-three books in a little under four years. Granted, not all of them were popular, but he had three series that were, and now to have to sort them all out? He would have called her and pitched a fit if she hadn’t come. Hell, there was no way he could get this done by himself. The man had no sense of organization. She was surprised he managed to turn books out so quickly. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. When it came to writing, he was extremely well organized. The man had spreadsheets detailing everything in each series and book. Everything else? Toss it and hope it wasn’t important because there would be no finding it later.

So, instead of starting to organize the pre-orders, she began to sort books and stack them on the floor, muttering death threats at the shipping staff over at Amazon.

“What are you doing?”

Becca jumped and flailed backward, trying not to topple the books she’d so painfully organized, when Dimitri’s voice startled her. Strong hands caught her and yanked her up before she could fall. Her cheek came into contact with damp, warm skin. Holy hell. He didn’t have a shirt on. She bit her tongue to keep from tasting him.

“You okay?”

She nodded, not trusting her voice. She pushed away from him, keeping her eyes on the floor as she moved back to the boxes. If she refused to look, that was one image that wouldn’t haunt her dreams for a lifetime.

He walked up behind her, looking over her shoulder at the mess on the floor. “Why did you order so many books?”

One, two, three…she counted silently. Take a deep breath and keep your