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He gave me a wolfish grin, like I’d busted him in his plan not to take up too much space. “Is the picture in the kitchen your ma? I said hello to her just in case.”
My breath hitched. “Stop being so sweet, or…”
“Or what?”
Something low built in my belly, a coiling heat that warmed my blood. I switched my gaze to my daughter, but she was drooping, staring at the TV and the cartoon playing low in the background.
When I returned my attention to Valentine, he was still watching me, but his focus had slipped down my body. His eyes flared.
Then his phone dinged.
“Your meds alarm,” I said with a thick voice. Then I hopped up. “I’ll get them. You wait here.”
I collected his antibiotics and painkillers plus a glass of water. Valentine accepted the antibiotics and swallowed them down. “Not the others. They fu— I mean I want to get off them. They’re bad for my system.”
“So’s a night spent in pain.”
“Tell ye what. If I can’t sleep for hurting, I’ll take them then. Besides, I want to be back on my feet tomorrow. There’s all that hammering and drilling next door, and I want to check out what they’re doing. Plus I have plans to use my body for other things.”
That last line almost did me in.
The tone change of the evening, and of the whole few days of taking care of him shifted. The old, sexy-as-hell Valentine was coming back. I was powerless against him.
I took a shuddering inhale. “You’re nowhere near healed before you go offering to help next door. You’re supposed to be resting your leg.” If he did too much and tore a stitch, if he did half the things going around my head, he’d be straight back to square one.
“Don’t fret, sweetheart. I wised up. I know exactly how much I can and can’t do.”
Didn’t that just give me a slew of images?
Ones that were probably a danger to him if we acted them out.
My daughter yawned, and I took the cue.
“Come on, Tobi. Let’s go to bed. Valentine, you probably should, too.”
He regarded me. It was barely eight PM, but if I didn’t get out of his orbit, I was going to break the man in two.
“Another good night of sleep,” I added.
“Fine.” He heaved himself up and walked to my bedroom, his limp still there but less now.
And I spent the next couple of hours imagining just how healed he might be.
In the morning, I got a call from Daisy while finishing up my second client.
“We had a cancellation,” she told me. “Your ten-thirty has moved to tomorrow, I shifted the rota to make it work.”
“No problem. I’ll go home for an early lunch and check on Valentine.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Good. He’s healing. Missing work, I think.”
“Ben said they’ll be back on Sunday right after the last gig rather than waiting until Monday which was the original plan.Raphael will make a couple of flights. Everyone is dying to come home.”
A small pang hit my heart. With his crew back, Valentine would have other things to occupy him rather than just hanging out with me and Tobi. He’d probably move back to the castle.
“I’ll tell Valentine. He’ll be gunning to see everyone.”
