Mike was quickly by her other side and laid a gentle hand on her arm as he kissed the top of her head.
“You scared me.”
A prickle ran through her head. Emma raised her eyebrow, unsure if the feelings were leftover from the accident or from Mike poking around. Within seconds, the sensation disappeared. Emma practically salivated when Jake held a glass of water to her lips. She tried desperately to down the contents, but after only a few sips, he pulled it back. The cool liquid relief was a blessing, and she desperately wanted more.
“I’m sorry,” she choked out as tears formed in her eyes. Anger, disappointment, and relief swarmed through her thoughts as she tried to force them back. Thankful to be alive, she needed to stay strong for her brother. Emma didn't have to read minds to know Mike would blame himself for her driving while upset. She expected to find Momma Mae had made herself at home in her room, but the old ghost was nowhere to be found.
She turned her head slowly toward Jake. “What happened after I blacked out?” she asked as he once again put the cup back to her lips. She shifted in bed for a more comfortable position and immediately wished she hadn’t. Her body ached from the bruises.
“Whoever it was left. I’m not sure if he got spooked when I was blaring my horn or if he thought he had finished the job. I pulled you out of the wreckage and away from the car before it went up in flames. I’m so sorry, Emma.” Regret filled his voice.
Emma thought about that for a minute before the word fire registered. “Oh my god! My poor car...”
“Your car can be replaced, Emma. Your life is more important.”
“I got your gun and purse out and had a wrecker take it to Abby’s lab, maybe the department can give us some clues to help catch this asshole.” Mike walked to her side. He grabbed her hand, sitting down on the edge of her bed in silence. His eyes closed, and his eyebrows furrowed together. She knew what he was doing by the concentration on his face. He was pilfering her mind again. Hadn’t he seen enough?
Jake opened his phone and called someone. His stern voice was distracting her from Mike’s prodding, so she eavesdropped on his conversation.
“I don’t care. Edwards, I want you, Jacobs, and Briggs on the next flight. Mike needs our help. I’ve got the plane on standby.” After a few more uh huhs, he flipped the phone closed.
The door flew open again, and Ben and her sisters barged into her now cramped hospital room dressed in tuxedos and ball gowns.
What the hell is he doing here?
She looked at Mike, raised her brow as if questioning who would have invited him to the hospital. All she got was a shrug. Lots of help he was.
“What are you doing here?” Emma asked Ben.
“I was at Claire’s party when she got the call from Mike.”
He was the last person she wanted to see. “Ben, we’re over. You don’t need to be here.”
The collective gasps from her sisters reminded Emma she’d avoided that conversation with them. She would have a lot of explaining to do later. Emma clenched the sheet, and her jaw ticked. How dare he come in here all concerned like they still had a relationship? What an ass!
Tension filled the room, weighting heavily on her chest as she glared at Ben.
Her gaze flew to her brother again, the only other person in the room who knew the truth. Mike studied her face before turning toward Ben.
“I think you need to leave,” Mike said in his big brother tone.
Jake strolled to her and took her hand in his. What was he trying to prove? Why not just give the man more ammunition to stay? Ben was used to getting his way and would now see this as a challenge. Emma’s blood boiled. She was going to need to deal with this now once and for all.
Ben glanced from their joined hands to each of their faces. “Sooo, it’s like that?” He shook his head in what appeared to be understanding. “Is this asshole why you walked out on me?” he spat out.
“
Get out!
” she screamed, not caring that her throat was still raw.
She closed her eyes, tired of him not taking responsibility for his actions. She didn’t want him to assume there was anything left for them to “work out”. It was over. Emma released a sigh as she leaned back into her hard pillow, exhausted from the day’s events. Clair and Abby walked to the bed, taking a stand by her side as Mike and Jake advanced on Ben.
“The lady asked you to leave.” Jake gestured with his hand to the door as he and Mike stalked closer to Ben. The two of them together made an impressive solid wall of muscles.
“This isn’t over, Emma.” Ben’s threat vibrated off the hospital room walls.
“I believe it is, buddy.” Jake shoved him toward the door at the same moment it squeaked open. The door slammed into his face, and a loud crack reverberated through the room. Blood drops splattered on his tuxedo shirt as he cupped his hand over his nose.
A petite blonde in a white lab coat stopped inside the door. She must have realized what she had done. Her hand flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry. Are you all right? Her intent seemed sincere as she approached Ben with an outstretched arm to check his nose. “Damn, I think you broke it. You’ll be sorry for that,” he spat out as he hurried from the room.
Emma was beginning to wonder if she’d ever truly known Ben at all. His threats lingered in the air, but she had no headache other than the dull pain from the accident and no stomach cramps assaulted her. She was still safe.
Emma remained quiet. She had little sympathy for the jerk. Laughter erupted from Mike and Jake, breaking the silence. Claire slapped her brother on the arm to get him to stop. The women’s gazes flashed from the now closed door to the two men creating a scene. Dr. Lister’s hands went to her hips, and her squinted eyes reminded Emma of her third grade teacher. Emma smirked, satisfied her Neanderthals were about to be brought down a notch by the little doctor. She expected them to start pounding their chests at any moment.
“Everyone out,” the little doctor demanded. Emma didn’t expect such command from such a petite thing. Her authoritative tone commanded respect.
She must be used to this.
Emma smiled.
“Not a chance, short stuff.” Mike pulled his badge and flashed it. “Who are you and how is my sister?”
“Dr. Lister, her doctor,” she said with a tilt of her head toward Emma. “Now leave so I can do my exam.” She made a shooing motion with her hands.
“Doc, all you had to do was ask nicely,” Mike said as he approached Dr. Lister. He towered a foot over the petite thing, doing his best to invade her personal space.
Emma watched, impressed as the doc stood her ground and looked up at Mike. With a seductive smile, she winked and replied, “Detective, I run the show around here, and you need to leave so I can do my job.” Dr. Lister left Mike standing in the middle of the room, dismissing him, when she turned and walked over to Emma's bed.
Who knew the little doctor could hold her own?
Her sisters kissed her cheek and left with the threat they would talk later about Ben. They all filed out of the room, but she knew at least two of them weren’t going far.
Dr. Lister completed her exam. Emma had a concussion from the accident. It explained her pounding headache since she seemed to be safe. Dr. Lister prescribed medication and gave her the option of being released into someone’s care or staying for observation. Either way, she wasn’t going to get a solid night’s sleep tonight. Emma chose release over incarceration. The quicker she could get out of here, the closer she could come up with a plan to flush her assailant out. Emma was tired of looking over her shoulder and decided to take matters into her own hand. Her brother wasn’t going to be happy with her new plan. She just needed to stay out of touching distance until then.
Emma had changed out of her hospital gown and into a pair of scrubs, compliments of Dr. Lister. Emma was hanging up the phone when Mike and Jake walked through the door.
“Who were you talking to?” Mike asked as he walked toward her.
“I had to get someone to cover for me at the café for the next few days,” she quipped. “Doctor’s orders.”
Emma got dizzy as she got off the bed and swayed when the room started to spin. Jake’s strong arms came around her for support. She blinked her eyes several times to bring the room back into focus. She hated to rely on anyone but herself.
“Easy, Emma. Do you have a concussion?” Jake asked. She was sure he was still blaming himself for the accident. The last thing she needed was a Greek Adonis posing as her knight in shining armor. Being close to him for any length of time would distract from her new goal, and that wasn’t going to be an option. She’d figure out how to keep everyone safe while keeping her secrets held close to her heart. Emma had almost slipped up once, revealing her little secret; she didn’t want to risk it again.
“Yeah.” She released a sigh. “Someone has to wake me up every hour. I need to go to Claire’s or Abby’s house for the night.” She frowned. Emma didn’t want to deal with questions about Ben, but she had no choice. Her sisters would push until they got answers.
“You can’t. Claire went back to her party.” The cancer benefit was special to all of them. “Abby went to see John, and I need to get back to the office to try and find your thug.”
“Well, I’m not staying here. I will just set my alarm clock to wake me every hour.”
“Don’t be silly, Emma, that won’t work.” Jake took her arm and pulled it around his shoulders as he clutched her hip, giving her support. Her body ached from the sudden movement, and she grimaced. “You’re coming home with me.”
“Like hell I am.” She tried to pull out of his embrace, but she was too weak. He just held tighter. She tilted her head back to look in his eyes and wondered why this was happening to her. Why did she have to meet a nice guy, albeit stubborn, under these circumstances? The situation obviously called for a different tactic with him. She tried reasoning. “I’m not your problem, Jake. You were just doing a favor for Mike, and as much as I appreciate it, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Emma, first of all, Mike didn’t even have to ask. I would have done it regardless." Jake held up two fingers ticking off each of his points. "Second of all, it will give us some time to get to know each other better, and I do believe that you promised not to be mean to me anymore. So under the circumstances, I believe you’ve just became my house guest...Don’t be stubborn, angel, just get used to it.” Jake turned his gaze to her brother to discuss plans with him, dismissing her.
“Mike, can you get her car back to her place and bring her some things?
“Yep, I’ll be there in an hour.”
“Mike, be reasonable,” she pleaded. “I can’t stay with him. I barely know him.”
“I do, and you’ll be safe. His place has security like Fort Knox. Em, please trust me.”
Even though her brother was a pain in the ass, he was still one of the few people she trusted in the entire world. She would grin and bear it until she could slip away. She needed time to figure out who was trying to kill her before he succeeded. Mike might be the cop in the family; however, Emma was just as resourceful. She had friends on the force and could easily get the information she was after with little more than a few promised dates and batting her eyelashes. Mike had made sure she knew how to defend herself and use a gun. All she had to do was change the playing field. Next time she would be ready for this asshole.
She conceded and smiled at her brother, and without another word, Emma lowered herself into the awaiting wheelchair.
When Jake pulled up to the entrance in the same SUV from before, the SUV reminded her of the one that had run her off the road. Fatigue set in at the thought of trying to climb into the tall monstrosity. Her muscles ached, and her head still throbbed, but fortunately, it still wasn’t the type of pain she associated with danger. She just wanted a comfortable bed to lie down in so she could sleep until all of her worries went away.
Emma struggled to get out of the wheelchair. Jake leaned down and swept her up in his arms, holding her close to his body before gently placing her in the passenger seat. He buckled her in and shut the door. She waited for what seemed like an eternity for him to finish talking to Mike. The fatigue too much, she leaned her seat back, snuggled into the leather seat, and prayed the ride to Jake’s house was uneventful right before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Jake’s body covered hers as she lay in his arms. Each kiss drove up her need as she whimpered for more. Her heart beat frantically from his light touch. She should stop him. Jake wasn’t from here, and it was only going to break her heart when he was gone. She tried to reason, but her body wasn’t listening. His hard body pressed her deliciously into the bed while he kissed a line from her neck to her mouth, devouring her. All thoughts of stopping him vanished as he dove in kissing her, like she had never in her life been kissed before. His hand rose to cup her neck, slowly inching down to her chest in a gentle caress, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. She ran her fingers through his curly hair and pulled him closer. Her body arched into his touch, silently begging for more. Yes, so much more. That was what she needed.
She heard her name called from a distance. It sounded like Jake, but that seemed impossible. He was still kissing her body. The sound became louder, pulling her from the bliss of Jake's caress. Emma opened her eyes to find the star of her dream sitting beside her on the bed. Damn, it had been just a dream. She felt the warmth creep up into her cheeks and prayed she hadn’t moaned aloud.
Emma glanced around the unfamiliar room and wondered how she’d gotten there. His ocean blue eyes fixated on her, the intensity making her squirm. Unable to read his thoughts, she cleared her throat.
Jake shook his head and grabbed a cup from the bedside table. “Sleep well? I’m sorry to interrupt your dream. The smile on your face indicates it must have been a good one.”