Love Required (33 page)

The officer blinked and finally took his attention away from Damien’s body to look at Jason and Tori. He didn’t get a chance to answer before sirens filled the air. Jason sagged against Tori and waited. When his front door opened and Sean walked in followed by other officers with guns drawn, Jason wanted to laugh.
The show’s over guys
, he thought.

Sean took in the scene around them before his eyes landed on the rookie in the doorway. “Officer Jennings, I’ll need to confiscate your weapon. Standard procedure.”

The young guy still hadn’t said anything, but he nodded at Sean’s request before removing the magazine from his gun and unloading the round from the chamber. Sean took it from him and handed it off to another officer who had a bag ready. Jason took the pause in activity to ask, “How did you know to come here?”

The young guy obviously had a reason other than being alerted by nine-one-one.

“I got a call from the landlord, Hal. He said someone had been snooping around his place and thought I should check it out. Then he insisted I check out your place, too. When I got here, I could see the smoke coming from the barbeque over the fence, so I thought something was wrong. That’s when I saw him aim to take your head off with the bat.”

“Then you have impeccable timing,” Jason said as he closed his eyes. The pain in his side was increasing in his current position, and he feared he’d pass out from hyperventilating. Looking up at Tori, he sighed when she smiled at him. The amount of blood on her face was frightening, but he was so happy that was her only injury.

“Hey you,” he said.

“Hey yourself,” she said in a whisper.

“I think we both have an ambulance ride in our future.”

She nodded. “I think you might be right, but you can take the bed. In fact, I insist.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

TORI parked the car and turned off the engine. Looking to the passenger seat, she couldn’t help but laugh at Jason again. Shaking her head, she said, “Oh, will you stop pouting. There’s nothing wrong with letting me drive you around.”

Jason scowled. “You’re injured, too.” He tried to cross his arms over his chest to complete his pout, but grunted in pain when his casted arm landed on his broken rib.

“Are you seriously comparing my stitches to your post-surgical arm and two cracked ribs? Suck it up, big guy, and let me take care of you,” Tori said in her best stern-mom-voice.

Still scowling, he grumbled, “But it’s my job to take care of you.”

She was about to tell him that he was being ridiculous when a stuffed animal came flying from the back seat and nailed him in the back of his head. Tori let out a laugh before quickly schooling it and looking at Lexi. As she was about to scold Lexi, she got as far as saying her name when the stuffed animal flew back and landed in Lexi’s lap. Looking back at Jason, he shrugged. “What? She started it.”

“How can I tell her not to do it if you do it, too?” To prove her point, the toy came up and hit Jason on top of the head again. Jason picked it up from his lap and smiled for the first time since they left the house. “She’s got great aim, doesn’t she?”

Shaking her head, she got out of the car, and said, “I give up.”

After getting Lexi out, leaving the toy behind, she opened Jason’s door for him. His scowl was back as he stood. Tori once again fought her need to laugh at his bad mood. Closing the door behind him, she said, “You know, if you’re so resistant to letting me take care of you, you could’ve opened your door yourself.”

Between his arm being casted and padded from surgery on the one side and his ribs being cracked on the other, he couldn’t. But she was going to give him crap over his bad mood until it disappeared.

“Very funny,” he said as they began walking. “I think you’re enjoying this a bit much.”

“Does anyone enjoy grumpy Jason? ‘Cause I gotta tell you, he was cute at first, but now I’d like to smack him,” Tori said playfully, although there might’ve been some truth to it. Okay, it was definitely true, but he needed to get over it and let her be there for him. After all, she was the reason for his current condition.

Jason stepped in front of her, halting her. “I’m sorry, really, I am. But I’m all sorts of pissed off because I can’t even hold you. I’m broken on both sides, and I hate it. Poor Lexi will think I don’t like her anymore, and it kills me.”

She immediately felt bad for giving him grief. She’d hate it if she were in his position; and since she hadn’t thought of it that way, she apologized. Putting a hand to his cheek, he leaned into it. She ran her thumb over his cheekbone, as she said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t look at like that. In fact, you should be a lot grumpier when you put it that way. But before long, you’ll be good as new, and you can hold both of us as much as you want.”

“I’m counting the days,” he said with determination. She smiled then kissed him as best she could with the tape restricting her facial movements.
What a pair they were
, she thought as they resumed walking. Jason had a follow up appointment with his orthopedic surgeon, and she had one with the plastic surgeon. They’d been fortunate enough to be transported to the hospital Gillian worked at after the incident. While in the emergency room, Gillian made sure to use her connections, and both of them were seeing specialists immediately. Jason said it was another perk of being part of his group, and Tori would have to agree.

When they reached the floor for orthopedics, Tori kissed Jason before he stepped off the elevator. “I’ll be down as soon as I’m done, okay.”

He gave her a hopeful look. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

“Don’t be silly; go get your arm checked, and I’ll see you in a little while.” She ushered him out and let the doors close. She was a little nervous to see what her face looked like under the bandages. It had been a week, and Gillian had reassured her that the plastic surgeon she had was the best, and she trusted her. Walking into the waiting room, she found Gillian chatting with the receptionist. When she spotted Tori, Gillian promptly removed Lexi from her arms. Tori thought she should be used to them always swooping in and snagging her daughter, but it still surprised her they didn’t ask.

Giving her a one-sided smile, she teased, “Are you working on this floor now?”

Gillian leveled a stare at her. “And how do you plan to hold on to this little hellion while lying still to have sutures removed?”

She had her on that one. “Guess I hadn’t thought that far. I was too busy chastising the grumpy giant.”

She laughed. “I can only imagine.” Gillian sat when they called Tori back, and within ten minutes she was standing in front of a mirror, looking at the newest scar added to her collection. It wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be, but then again, that was probably because it was better than the other cheek. Pleased with his work, the doctor assured her that the redness of the line would go down as he placed a thin, flesh-colored tape along the length of the wound.

When she walked out of his office, she was confident with the knowledge that her man would have no problem with her new scar.

JASON hated feeling helpless. As he waited for the doctor to examine him, he tried not to focus on what he couldn’t do. It only pissed him off more. And the fact that he’d needed to be saved by a cop fresh out of the academy … he didn’t even want to go there. His ego had taken a few major blows when Damien violated the sanctity of his home and harmed Tori. It didn’t matter what anyone told him about it being out of his control—it was going to take time to get over that.

Sighing again, he was relieved when the doctor finally came in.

“How’s the patient doing today?” the doctor asked in a much-too-cheery voice for a grown man to use. It only pissed Jason off more.

“Grouchy as hell is how the patient is doing,” Jason admitted.

The doctor laughed under his breath as he washed his hands. “From the pain?”

He checked Jason’s vitals as he waited for an answer. “No, because I have zero use of the repaired arm and can’t lift the good one because of my ribs. I need help using the damn bathroom, and I can’t even give lame, one-armed hugs like this, but I’d settle for them if I could.”

There was a pause before the doctor asked with humor, “So you’re a hugger?”

“Yeah, I’d like to hold my woman. In the past three weeks, she’s been kidnapped, then found, then her ex came in to my house and tried to take her again. He sliced up her face that needed over thirty stitches to repair, and then left me like this. It pisses me off that even though the bastard is dead, he’s preventing me from holding the woman he tried taking from me.” Jason’s voice had gotten louder with each word he spoke.

Apparently, he’d felt the need to take his frustration out on the doctor. He was about to apologize when the doctor said, “All right, how about we x-ray those ribs and see if we can’t get you more mobility with a good binding wrap? You’ll be getting a more condensed cast on the arm if everything looks good, but you still need a cast. Can’t do much about that one I’m afraid.”

He welcomed the relief he felt at the possibility to be more independent and actually hold his girls. After several x-rays, one cast removal and subsequent replacement, and a torture session where his ribs were bound, he was heading to the waiting room. His mission: to give Tori a lame, one-armed hug. He smiled when he found her in the hall letting Lexi walk around.

When she saw him coming, she smiled in return, and he almost missed the bandage on her face. Walking up to her, he cautiously wrapped his good arm around her waist and slowly leaned in to her. When her body rested against his and there was no pain, he relaxed. Finding her lips, he gently kissed her.

Pulling back, she smiled and said, “Look who’s not so grumpy anymore.”

He laughed. “Apparently I just needed a hug.”

She winked at him before reaching down to pick up Lexi. He gave her a cautious hug, too, and was pleased when she hugged him back. Feeling content, he walked out of the hospital with his girls.

Once in the car, Tori said, “Is it okay if we stop by my place? I need to pick up some different clothes for us. Been wearing the same things over and over and I’m getting kind sick of them.”

Since she had basically been staying with him for the past three weeks, he figured now was as good a time as any to bring up what he wanted. As it always was with Tori, he got nervous about what her response might be. Since he’d been giving it some thought recently, he’d come up with some ideas if he needed to convince her to stay.

“What if you just brought
all
of your clothes over?” he asked vaguely. She looked to him in question before turning her attention back to driving. Realizing it was a chicken shit way of asking her, he rephrased, “What I meant to say was, how about we just move all your stuff over to my place, and you can call it your place, too?”

Tori smirked at him. “Call it my place, too? That was really cute.”

He shrugged, waiting for her answer. She glanced at him once more before they exited the freeway. When they stopped at a light, she turned toward him. “You really want me and Lexi to invade your space on a permanent basis? Because I understand that you need me right now, but I also know there will come a time when you won’t. And I would hate it if you felt stuck with us. Maybe you should wait until you feel better …”

Jason was grateful his arm was more mobile because he covered her mouth with his hand. “Stop right there.”

She did, so he added, “This is usually where you start to babble stupid shit that pisses me off. So let’s just cut to the chase. There will not come a time when I won’t need you, so just give me a yes or no answer. Will you move in with me?”

Tori smiled as the light turned green, and she started driving again. “I’m not the only person in this car who babbles, you know.”

“True. Now stop avoiding the question and give me your answer,” Jason insisted.

They’d just pulled into her driveway, so once the car was turned off, she turned to him. “You’re not just proposing this now so you can get out of lifting things, are you?”

“Okay smartass, what’s a guy gotta do to get a straight answer out of you?” he asked as he kissed the back of her hand.

“A kiss is always helpful, but I can see you’re getting worried, so yes. We’ll move in with you.” Tori finished with a smile.

“That’s a great answer. How about we go inside and I can give you that kiss to help seal the deal.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Tori stepped out into the warmth of the day, smiling at the turn of events. Helping Jason out and then getting Lexi, they’d started toward her door, when a voice behind them had her stopping dead in her tracks.

“Victoria Chambers?” 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

JASON felt Tori stiffen at the sound of her former name. They turned around together and stared at the stranger. A few moments passed by before Tori took a deep breath and said, “Why say my name like a question when you know exactly who I am? Or do you not recognize me with my new scar?”

He wasn’t sure who this guy was, but he didn’t sense any fear from Tori, so he stood quietly next to her and offered his support.

“My apologies. I only said your name as a question, because I know you don’t go by that name anymore,” he confessed.

“Then how did you find my address, and why are you here? He’s dead so you should have no business with me,” Tori spat at him. Her anger at the man was palpable as she turned to walk to her door.

“I may not have any business with you, but I do with your daughter.” At that, Jason had to say something.

“Okay, who the fuck are you, and what do you want? You have about five seconds to get to your point before I call the police and have you removed,” Jason growled at the small man.

Straightening his spine, he pulled a business card from his pocket. Handing it to Jason, he said, “My name is Richard Quinn, and I’m an attorney.”

Jason looked at the address and phone number on the business card and realized whose attorney he was. “I guess it’d be safe to assume that your client is the late Damien Chambers?”