California Nights (Rich Boys of California Duet 1)

“Frannie.”

“I’m here.”

I turned my head and saw her. She’d been there all along, just on the other side of the room. Her arms were wrapped around her. She looked beautiful.

She was crying and trying to smile. I held out my hand and she came over to take it.

“How long?”

“You been out two days, buddy. We thought we had lost you.”

I wasn’t looking at my dad. I was looking at Frannie.

She looked heartbroken and relieved at the same time.

“Did I win?”

She laughed through her tears and nodded. I grinned, leaning back. If I won, that meant I had a nice fat check waiting for me. And I wasn’t dead.

And my woman was here. She hadn’t jumped ship. That had to mean something.

My dad cleared his throat.

“Maybe we’ll give these two a minute alone.”

Clyde and Flannery walked over, kissing my head like I was a kid. I didn’t mind though. I just clasped their hands and smiled.

I turned to Frannie, still standing by the window.

“Come here.”

She walked towards me, staring down at me with those big blue eyes. I reached out and she took my hand, squeezing it.

“How bad am I?”

She laughed, wiping her tears away with one hand.

“Dislocated shoulder. Cracked collar bone. Bruised ribs. Concussion.”

“So my dick is fine.”

She stared at me, trying not to laugh.

“Is that really all you care about?”

“I’m just messing with you, Frannie. It is pretty high on the list, though.”

“Nobody has mentioned your… um…”

I laughed. It hurt like hell.

“You can’t even say it can you?”

I yanked her onto the bed with me, bringing her close so I could kiss her.

“Jace! You’ll hurt yourself!”

“Don’t care.”

She looked annoyed but she didn’t stop me from kissing her. She kissed me back, her delicate little tongue tangling with mine. I groaned at the feel of her chest pressed against mine. If this was heaven, I wasn’t going to complain.

And just like that, I was hard.

A hospital was an inconvenient place to get a boner, but I was glad to know it was working. My dick worked. Frannie hadn’t left me. I was fucking aces.

“How about a quickie?”

She shook her head, laughing. She carefully untangled herself from me and moved out of my reach so I couldn’t grab her again. Smart girl.

“Not until you’re better.”

“And after that?”

She nodded shyly.

“Your my boyfriend, right?”

“I’m a fuckton more than that, sweetheart.”

She blushed furiously but I could tell she wasn’t against the idea.

“We can talk about this later. I think your family wants to come back in now.”

I nodded. She was right.

Besides, she wasn’t going anywhere.

She was mine.

I could wait.

Chapter Eighty-One

Frannie

“Jace! Go easy!”

Jace was trying to molest me again. I’d just gotten him settled in his bed at his father’s house. I’d given him a horse sized pain pill. It should have made him sleep.

Instead it was making him loopy and horny. Very, very horny.

Not that he ever wasn’t.

Not around me anyway.

“Stay with me, Frannie,” he moaned.

“I am. I will be just down the hall in the spare room.”

“That’s not what I fucking meant and you know it.”

I smiled serenely and sat in the chair across the room, pulling out a book.

“You rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Come here and kiss me. That’s all.”

I sighed.

“That won’t be all and you know it.”

“The doctor said I could have sex.”

“The doctor said you should rest!”

“Sex is very restful.”

I laughed. He was incorrigible. To tell the truth, I missed making love with him too. I’d been so scared…

“Frannie…”

“It won’t work this time, you know.”

“What?”

“That bossy tone you use on me. I’m immune.”

He growled and tried to sit up, wincing in pain.

I was by his side in an instant, perching on the side of the bed.

“What exactly are you trying to do, Jace?”

“Trying to get to my woman. Show her who’s boss,” he said, even though his face said he was joking. Kind of. He laid back, his hands sliding over my hips. “Hmmmmm, that’s nice.”

I let him touch me. It seemed to calm him down. I liked the way he touched me. It was almost… reverent.

“Open your top.”

I rolled my eyes and did as he asked. He watched me hungrily as I pulled open my button-down shirt.

His eyes closed as his hands moved to my breasts. He had a beatific smile on his face that made me laugh. His eyes closed halfway as he played with my body like I was a shiny new toy. I leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

“We can do everything you said.”

His eyes opened with a snap.

“We can?”

“Yes.” I sat up, rebuttoning my blouse. “I need to go home though.”

“What, why?”

“Nevada’s wedding is next week.”

He closed his eyes nodding.

“Okay, we can go.”

“You wan’t to come?” I asked, surprised.

“I told you woman, I am not letting you out of my sight. You belong to me now.”

I tilted my head to the side, not entirely sure what that meant. He’d said he wanted to marry me… but did he really mean it?