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Sage didn’t take long to shower and when they met back in the bed a few minutes later, she was flushed from the heat of it and gorgeous. She’d piled her hair on top of her head so that she didn’t have to wash it, explaining that it took forever to dry, but Brian thought she looked beautiful with the messy bun, tendrils of her rich colored hair trailing down her pale neck. When she’d climbed into bed, she’d stripped off her robe. She wore a threadbare pink T-shirt.
He’d pulled his underwear back on, and they lay in the bed, heads on the same pillow, just looking at each other, touching each other. They were learning each other in a way they hadn’t before. The blankets were pulled up around them in the chilly room, and they’d created a quiet little cocoon.
“Tell me about this,” she said, brushing her fingers over his deltoid tattoo. It was a tattered flag with names and a date in the middle.
“End of watch,” Brian said softly, “June fifteenth, twenty-twelve. And those were the guys with me in the Humvee. They didn’t make it.”
She pressed the tattoo, then brushed her fingers over his cheek. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He knew by the sound of her voice that she truly meant it. “It’s okay. They were good guys doing what they wanted to do, serve their country. We just couldn’t all make it back.”
They were quiet for a minute, thinking about the losses in the Middle East. Then he had to brush it off and switch subjects. “I noticed in the shower most of your bruising is gone,” he murmured, reaching out to touch her ribs. At one point she’d been purple, bruised from being dragged by the car.
Sage grinned. “And my arm is strong enough to hold you now.” She lifted both arms to show him, then folded them between them, tugging the blankets back in place, and he was impressed.
“When do you think you’ll go back to work?”
She frowned, brushing her fingers across his chest. “Not sure. I have an appointment with my doctor next Tuesday, and if he releases me, I can check with the department’s doctor. Maybe next week for light duty? I don’t know if they’ll put me straight on the road again. I never technically finished my training with Gary, so everything is kind of up in the air. I’m supposed to call my supervisor after I talk to the doctors.”
“Are you ready to go back?”
“Oh, absolutely,” she said, nodding. “I’m okay for lazing around a day or two, but any more than that and I go crazy. I did accelerate through a college class, at least.”
“Excellent! Only a couple more before you can test, right?”
She nodded, her eyes shining with excitement.
Brian knew she loved being a cop, but he also knew he was going to worry about her. He would probably worry about her more than he’d ever worried about anyone else. Sage Harrison had crawled into his heart and latched on. “Any more word from your ex/secret gift giver?”
She shook her head against the pillow, her eyes dimming a little. “No and I’m tired of being worried about it. If Tim shows up here, I may have to kick his ass. He left us on the verge of ruin, and I don’t want to be there again.”
“I’m literally right next door. I want you to call me at the slightest hint that something is off. Do you understand? Keep your alarm and cameras on.”
She nodded again and humor danced in her eyes. “My hero next door. I may need you to bail me out if I kick his ass.”
Brian lifted a brow at her. “Not sure that would guarantee you a road spot on the police department again.”
“Might be worth it,” she sighed. “But with my luck, Adam would be there. I don’t want to stress him out any more than he already is.”
“I think the lack of knowledge stresses him out more than anything,” Brian murmured. “Let me take care of kicking Tim’s ass.”
“Hm. You’re right about Adam, though.” She brushed her fingers through his chest hair. “I try to be open with him with everything I can. I’d like to tell him we’re dating.”
Brian chuckled. “Well, I think he knows we’re doing something. He’s too smart not to have picked up on the way we’ve been looking at each other.”
“You’re probably right,” she sighed.
Sage brushed her hand over his. It was very intimate, laying on the same pillow and staring at each other in the dimness of the room, but he wasn’t uncomfortable. This felt right.
17
Sage was grinning when she woke up the next morning. She had to pee like a bitch, but her body was sore in places it had been for a long time. And it wasn’t the achy-bone kind of soreness she’d dealt with the past two weeks.
When she reached across the mattress, though, Brian was gone. She listened, trying to hear if he was in the bathroom, or maybe the kitchen. No, the apartment was quiet. Hm. Reaching out, she snagged her phone off the bedside table. Had he texted her?
No.
Sighing, she rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. She did her business and took a minute to brush her teeth, just in case he came back. It was Sunday. Surely, he wasn’t working today…
