“Who’s been feeding Boomer?” Rachel asked Dylan. Boomer was his enormous Maine coon cat.
“I asked my neighbor to do it.”
Rachel nodded. “Okay. I’ll make sure the house is stocked with groceries, and that you have everything you need when you get home.”
Dylan raised his eyebrows. “You would do that for me?”
“Of course.” She eyed him speculatively. “Do you want me to rent a hospital bed? Sometimes it’s easier to get out of, with the tilt function.”
“You sound like you know this from experience,” he said drily, giving her a knowing look.
“Jamie doesn’t use a hospital bed,” she replied. The words were out of her mouth before she realized just how revealing they were.
“I should have had one brought to the house when I first came home,” Jamie interjected quickly. “Having the ability to elevate the foot of the bed is a lot better than trying to stuff pillows under your leg.”
Rachel pretended to fish in her pocketbook for her sunglasses, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.
“We should get going,” she mumbled. With a rushed good-bye, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Jamie to follow her. They made their way to the hospital entrance in silence, until finally Rachel looked over at him. He gave her a meaningful grin.
“What?” she demanded.
“Nothing,” he said, laughing. “But for someone who wants to keep us a secret, you just about told everyone in that room we’re sleeping together.”
“I did not.”
She gave the glass doors a hard push and walked outside, not bothering to hold the door open for Jamie. She heard him give a surprised shout, just before he started laughing again.
*
They arrived back in Glacier Creek at dusk, having been delayed by several hours due to a major accident on the highway ahead of them. Rachel pulled into her parents’ driveway and killed the engine. She stretched her arms over the steering wheel, easing the tightness from her shoulders and back.
“Ooh, that was a long drive,” she said. “I’m so tired, and so hungry I could eat a horse.”
Behind her, Jamie slid the door of the van open and climbed out, hitching his crutches beneath his arms. She watched him in the rearview mirror. For a guy with one leg in a cast, he was disgustingly nimble. She stepped out of the van and went around to the cargo trunk to retrieve their bags.
“I’ve got that,” Jamie said, taking his duffel bag and throwing it over one shoulder. “Listen, why don’t you come over and I’ll cook us both some dinner? We can head over to Dylan’s place in the morning.”
Rachel pushed a hand through her hair, and smiled at him. “That sounds good, but right now I really want to take a shower.”
“Come take one at my place.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the lecherous look he gave her. “I don’t have any clean clothes at your house.”
“Who said you’ll need clothes?”
“If I come over now,” Rachel said, stepping closer to him and rubbing her fingers along the roughness of his jaw, “then the likelihood of you cooking me dinner is about nil, and I really am hungry.” She pressed a soft kiss against his tempting mouth. “I promise you I’m much, much better company after I’m showered and fed.”
Jamie gave a groan and deepened the kiss, slanting his mouth across hers and feasting on her lips until finally, she pulled away.
“You’re dangerous.” She pressed another, swift kiss against his mouth and turned away with a smile. “I’ll see you shortly.”
“How shortly?” he called after her.
“Fifteen minutes!”
“Don’t make me come get you!”
Rachel laughed, and let herself into the dark house. She’d just grab a quick shower and some clean clothes, and be over at Jamie’s house well before the allotted fifteen minutes were up. She would have been happy to take a shower at his house, but she would never make it past his bed. Even now, her body thrummed with anticipation of what the night would bring. After spending the last several nights in his arms, she didn’t want to sleep alone tonight. She’d never felt this way about anyone before, not even Deke during the early days of their romance.
She made her way through the house to her bedroom, stripping off her clothes as she went. She turned on the shower and let the water grow warm as she pulled a clean change of clothing from her dresser and laid it on the bed. Closing the bathroom door, she stepped under the spray and quickly washed her hair and soaped her body, before running a razor over her legs and underarms. Jamie seemed mesmerized by her skin, always reflecting on how smooth and soft it was, so she didn’t want to disappoint him.