Ryker (Hope City #6) - Kris Michaels Page 0,46

hotel room is not a better idea, by the way.” She pointed the straw of her drink at him as she spoke.

He nodded and closed his eyes. “My brothers stopped by this morning.”

She cocked her head at him. “All of them? That's kinda sweet.”

More like bittersweet. “No, just Xander and Killian. We worked through a few things.”

“And these things you worked through involve…” She let the sentence go, asking for information she had every right to know.

“Our mother. Their father. A past that isn’t pretty but not their fault—nor mine.” He looked at his half-eaten burger and fries. “I think I’ll save this for later. I’m tired.”

Brie was on her feet and at his side immediately. At least she wasn't shaking when she helped him stand and make his way back to his bed. He’d just laid down when a nurse swooped in to take his vitals again and give him another pain pill. Brie put their lunch back into the bag and moved the chair to sit beside him. “You don’t have to stay.” He smiled at her surprised look.

“I know, but I want to. I have a book on my phone app that I want to read and being near you makes me feel… safer.” She gave him a sad smile and winced. “I’m sorry for being clingy.”

“I feel better with you here, too. You’re not clingy.” He closed his eyes. Her warm hand covered his, and he sighed. He felt so much better with her by his side.

Chapter 12

Well, hell. The apartment was way better than a hotel room. Brianna picked him up from the West Entrance, just in case someone was watching the hospital. He would not parade out the main patient entrance and wave a fucking flag in their face. Additionally, he wore a Hope City Captains cap tugged down, obscuring any direct recognition. Was it overkill? Probably, but for Brie’s safety, yeah, he’d go the extra mile.

“Do you want to lie down?” Brie asked as she engaged the second deadbolt.

“God, no. I want a hot shower.”

“Doc said not to get those stitches wet.” Brie smiled at him. “Blay has an amazing bathtub.”

He groaned. “Babe, I am so not a bathtub type of guy.”

She smiled and started walking backward through the living room that boasted floor-to-ceiling views of the harbor. “Did I mention the tub is big enough for both of us?”

Ryker smiled and started after her. “No ma’am, you did not.” The puffiness that had dominated her cheek and eye yesterday had receded. Makeup mostly covered the black under her eye.

“No?” She reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. The leopard print bra was new. She popped the top button of her slacks. “I could have sworn I mentioned it. Olympic-sized. With jets.” She kicked off one heel and then the other, backing away from him as he moved forward.

She shimmied from her slacks at the end of the hall she was leading him down.

“I’m starting to see the benefits of taking a bath.”

“Right? We need to loosen all those miserably tight muscles.”

His woman turned, and he groaned. That leopard print thong framed her beautiful ass. His body was fully on board with this bath thing, especially as the doc hadn’t put any limitations on him other than the obvious no lifting bullshit. Yeah, his muscle was tight and getting tighter behind sweats.

“I’m going to turn on the water and then I’ll come back and help you with that problem that has popped up.” She gave a low throaty laugh that did nothing to help the problem and everything to exacerbate it.

He followed her into a black marble haven. The shower took up one corner of the room. He gazed longingly at the array of showerheads that begged him to ignore the doctor’s advice and step under them. He followed Brianna around the corner. “That is not a tub. That’s a freaking jacuzzi.”

“He installed extra vents to prevent the moisture from causing problems and reinforced the floor studs.” Brie laughed. “I heard about this project every Sunday for months.”

“Your brother has a freaking jacuzzi in his bathroom.” A four-seat jacuzzi with steps and shelves installed around the thing, Blay’d mounted a TV in the nook's corner, exactly where any man would mount a sixty-five-inch television. “I may never leave.” Ryker did a three-hundred-sixty-degree turn. “Damn, your brother is a genius.”

Brie slid the bra straps off her shoulders and reached behind her, freeing her full breasts. Damn,