“Yes.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Spencer
“Please,” I gently pushed my aunt’s hand away from my hair, “really, I’m okay. I don’t care about how I look.”
“Well, you should,” Jaci chimed as she gathered my clothes and tossed them into a bag, “because you look like shit.”
Lisa scowled at her, but my best friend just shrugged. One thing I could always count on from Jaci was the honest, bare truth. Even when I didn’t want it.
“I just want to go home and wash the smell of hospital off my skin.” I hated this place, but really, who did like a hospital?
My head hurt like hell, my muscles ached, and I couldn’t even allow myself to think about who it was that attacked me.
I wasn’t ready.
“Okay,” G busted into the room and pointed to the door, “everyone out.”
Both Lisa and Jaci grabbed the rest of my things and assured me they would bring the car around.
“All right, hon.” G lowered his voice and rubbed the creases on his forehead. “It’s you and me, no bullshit. I’m sorry but I have to ask.”
“It’s okay G.” I cut him off. “At the moment, I don’t remember anything, other than hearing footsteps behind me and the sound of something hard hitting my skull. No smells, no noises, just footsteps, a hit, and blackness.”
“That’s okay, maybe something will surface over time or maybe it won’t. I just need to know, are you okay?”
“Truthfully,” I drew in a shaky breath, “it’s a little too early to know.”
“Okay.” He shook his head and looked around at my bag. “You ready?”
I nodded and pushed down my sleeves on my sweater. I hadn’t been able to get warm since I arrived at the hospital.
“Benny, Jackson, and Blake are here.” I noticed he drew out Blake’s name, and I felt a sense of relief knowing he wasn’t far away. “Keep all personal feelings at home, right?”
I closed my eyes and waited for the pounding in my head to ease. “I’m smarter than that. You helped raise me, remember. I wouldn’t dream of risking both our careers right now. Yes, I really like Blake, but that’s as far as I will go.”
“For now,” he added, and I appreciated that. “Good,” he agreed and seemed to relax a little. “He’s a great detective, and this case needs him.”
“I know.” I stood, and a wave of nausea washed over me.
“You think you can handle coming down to the station to give a proper statement tomorrow?”
“Yes.” I sighed, as I was pretty sure it was pointless, but I’d try.
Dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, a red sweater, and Ugg boots, I eased out of the room and into the bright hallway. Benny was the first to step forward and gave me a hug.
“How are you?”
“Good.” I opened my arms for Jackson, who dove in right after.
“Ouch.” Jackson eyed the four stitches that hid in my hairline. The gnarly bruise made it look more dramatic than it was. I hated the fuss, but I knew it made them feel like they were helping by being there.
Blake had been eyeing me and came over as he ended a call. He tucked his phone away, and for a second, I thought he was going to hug me, but he squeezed my arm then made a show of examining my head instead.
“They give you anything for pain?”
I held up a pill bottle and shook it.
“Good. Let’s get you home.” His face was unreadable as we walked down the hall with the others.
“Awesome.” Benny snickered at the freezing rain that poured down in heavy sheets. “I’ll go get the truck.”
As we entered the lobby, I was hit with the wonderful smell of caffeine. My mouth watered and begged me for some real coffee.
“I need coffee.” I came to a halt, and both Blake and G, who were discussing some details of the case, stopped short.
“I’ll get it.” G went to move, but I stopped him.
“I can do it. I need a breather anyway.”
His lips twisted, but he nodded and let me go into the coffee shop. I took a deep breath through my nose and let my mind take a moment.
I shook off my discomfort and focused solely on the caffeine I was about to ingest.
“A grande Verona, with a dash of cinnamon, please.”
“Three twenty-four.” The kid at Starbucks went to work, and I pushed my card into the slot to pay.
Two girls at a table next to me were wearing t-shirts that read “If you’re not written in between the white spaces, then you’re not worth my Friday night.” I chuckled inside because I knew they were avid readers of my books, as their t-shirts were sold at any Syracuse book signing. My publicist thought they were cute and bought me one too at my last signing. Thankfully, my appearance had changed a lot, so if they came to my signing, they shouldn’t be able to recognize me. I’d gone from a curly blonde to a long, smooth brunette, which was actually my real color.
“I can’t believe she’s dead!” One girl shook her head then covered her eyes. “I can’t believe we finished the second book in three hours.”
“Welcome to the binge era.” Her friend snickered.
“Well, don’t get me started on the sex scenes. Holy hell, I was blushing on the bus.”
“The way he peeled her blouse down and nipped her neck. Where is that man for me? Where do they exist?”
“They don’t,” her friend replied, deadpan. “That’s why we have Officer Matt McGee and yummy villains to tempt us and make us see that bad could be so good when mixed with a little cinnamon.”
I froze, unable to think as the kid handed me my order.
“Miss?”
The hairs on my arms stood at attention when I turned around and eyed the two books that sat between them. No way! How the hell did he get them out so fast?
Lake Secrets Series, Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Did I just…? I shook my head and tried to pull the information from my memory.
“No,” I whispered.
“Miss?” The kid cleared his throat and touched my arm. “Are you okay?”
I jolted back to reality.
“Yes, sorry.” I didn’t have to force a smile. One had already taken its place.
I thought I might have just discovered the pen name of who I was writing for.
Blake must have caught my puzzled moment when I headed back over because he frowned as he tried to read my face.
“What hit you back there?” He glanced at G, who was now on the phone.
I wanted to share it with him, but when I was about to speak, the NDA flashed in front of me.
“I just thought of a good angle for my next article.”
“Mm,” he muttered.
“Can you give me just a moment? There is something I really need before I go home.” I held up a finger and made my way over to the bookstore across the hall.
The smell of books always filled me with happy memories, mainly because my parents had dedicated an entire room for a library when they built the cabin. We would spend hours in there reading all our old favorites. I bit the inside of my cheek as the hurt that always found me nipped at my armor. God, I missed them. I hadn’t been able to spend more than a few moments at a time in the library since the day I saw my parents lifeless on the floor. Some memories were just too hard to re-visit.