‘Not much I wouldn’t do for you,’ he said lightly, but the intensity in his eyes spoke differently. ‘I’ll still be on DB for the next two months at least. We can take all the time we need to figure this out.’ He hesitated, then shifted his weight so that his injured leg was in the hot spray. ‘I might not be a detective anymore.’
She wanted to apologize, but bit the words back. That wasn’t what he needed. She kissed his chin, then rose on her toes to kiss his mouth. ‘I know. Maybe we can figure out some other options for you, just in case. You know . . . together.’
It was the right thing to say, because he sagged against the tile, his eyes closing, relief stamped on his handsome face. ‘Yeah.’ He swallowed hard. ‘Together. I like that.’ He reached behind her to turn off the water.
‘Hey,’ she protested. ‘I wasn’t done.’
‘We would have been standing in ice water in about four seconds.’
‘Oh. Good to know. You know, for that list I’ll be making for all the things I want to do with you. Long showers probably won’t be on it.’ She opened the shower door and grabbed two towels from the rack. ‘Dry off and get into bed. I’ll get us food. And then we sleep. There will be time to start worrying about everything when we wake up.’
Sacramento, California
Thursday, 20 April, 12.15 P.M.
Reality intruded sometime after noon, with a loud knocking on the door. Rafe lifted his head from the pillow with a groan. He was already awake and contemplating waking Mercy the way she’d woken him before dawn – by kissing every inch of her body. He did not want to entertain any visitors.
Curled up against him, Mercy stirred. ‘What is it?’
He scowled. ‘Somebody’s at the door.’
The knocking started again. ‘Open up, Rafe!’
He groaned again. ‘It’s Sasha.’
‘I brought food!’ she hollered. ‘Oh, hi, Gideon,’ she said loudly enough for them to hear. ‘I brought enough for everyone, but brother dear won’t open the door. I’ve got a key, Rafe!’
‘Don’t you dare!’ Rafe shouted back. ‘Give me a minute.’
Mercy sat up in the bed, beautifully naked, which Rafe loved. But her hair was going every which direction. Rafe thought it was damn adorable but somehow he knew that she wouldn’t agree, so he kept that thought to himself.
‘I’ll get it,’ she said, treating him to a wonderful view when she bent over her suitcase to pull out clean clothes.
‘Sasha spoils everything,’ he muttered, making Mercy laugh.
‘She did bring food.’ In less than thirty seconds Mercy had covered all that pretty naked skin with jeans and a turtleneck sweater. ‘Coming, Sasha,’ she called when Sasha started knocking again. She threw Rafe a pair of sweats and pulled the silk screen so that he had some privacy.
‘Hey, Mercy? You should check a mirror before you open the door.’
A muted shriek met his ears. Mercy marched back to her bag, glared at him, found a brush, and dragged it through her hair, muttering about going to bed with wet hair. Then she opened the door. ‘Sasha,’ she said in a singsong.
‘Mercy,’ Sasha sang back. ‘Is he decent?’
‘Not remotely,’ Rafe called from the bed, struggling with the sweats. But he could smell chicken and waffles and his stomach growled. He looked at his chest and decided a shirt would be a good idea. He was pretty sure that Mercy wouldn’t appreciate him showing off the line of small bruises she’d left while kissing down his chest during the night.
That had been a pleasant way to wake up and he’d had plans for more of the same. And then Sasha showed up.
He put on a T-shirt, grappled for the cane that had rolled out of reach, then rounded the silk screen to find that Gideon and Daisy had joined them. Mercy was setting the small dinette and Sasha was unpacking the food she’d brought. It was a tight fit with just the five of them.
Rafe added finding a larger place without stairs to his mental to-do list. Right after brainstorming new careers.
It should have felt really shitty, but as he watched Mercy moving around his little kitchen like she belonged there . . . She’d said that she’d consider staying. That we’re special.
Suddenly the thought of changing careers was much less terrifying than it had been yesterday.
‘How’s the leg?’ Gideon asked.
Rafe shrugged as he lowered himself into the dinette chair. ‘Hurts. I need to make an appointment with my doctor. And I’ve got Cash this afternoon. I missed two appointments this week, so it was going to hurt a little anyway.’
Mercy’s mouth opened and Rafe pointed to her. ‘Do not say you’re sorry,’ he said. ‘That I forgot about my appointment so that we could go to Snowbush had nothing to do with you, and there was no way I was going to go to therapy yesterday with all that happened. Now, what are you feeding me, Sasha?’
‘Chicken and waffles from the Forty-niner Diner,’ Sasha said.
‘My favorite,’ Daisy said, digging in. ‘What?’ she asked, when the rest of them snickered. ‘I’ve been up since five and already had my workday while you guys were snoring.’ She lifted a brow at Rafe. ‘Or something.’
Gideon winced. ‘Can we not go there?’
Mercy laughed. ‘Fine.’ She quickly checked her phone, her smile fading. Which meant either no news about Amos or bad news.
‘Well?’ Rafe asked.
‘No news at all,’ Mercy said. ‘I’m going to call the hospital really quickly, just in case he’s awake and they’re too busy to text me.’ She dropped a kiss on Rafe’s cheek and went into the hall to call.
Gideon watched her go. ‘Part of me doesn’t want her to go near the door, with that stained glass. It’s not bullet-resistant. But that’s overbearing, right?’
Daisy chuckled. ‘Right,’ she said around a mouthful of chicken. ‘Especially since there’s a Fed on the curb. Where are Farrah and André?’
‘At Mom’s,’ Rafe said. ‘Mom wanted to keep an eye on them until the sedative was all out of André’s system. They’ll be coming back here later to pack.’
‘They’re here,’ Mercy said, coming back into the apartment, Farrah and André on her heels. And following them was Tom Hunter, who’d apparently driven them from the Sokolovs’ house.
Luckily Sasha had brought plenty of food, because they had none left by the time they’d all eaten their fill.
‘That was so good,’ Mercy moaned, and Rafe wished everyone were gone so he could hear her moan like that again, but kicking them out would be rude, so he gritted his teeth.