Jacked (14 page)

Sarah nodded profusely. “He’s got these awesome tribal tattoos that wrap all the way around. Makes me wonder what else he’s got tattooed, ya know?”

Sherry shrugged. “Get him to change into a gown and make him turn and cough.” She flipped her multi-hued bangs back out of her eyes. “Or you can push some Versed in him and we can take turns cathing his penis. That sounds like fun. Jen quick. Run and get some.”

Unbelievable!
I glared at all of them. Had this been anyone else but the cop who almost arrested me I would have probably been privately laughing right along with them, but joking about sedating and groping him was not funny.

“What? He’s freaking hot. You know we’re just kidding. Go. Tend to his wounds,” Sherry teased, shushing me away with her hand.

Unfortunately, I had to agree with her on that part.

When I reentered his exam room, I had a hypodermic needle loaded with Lidocaine on the small tray in my hand and my nerves wound extra tight, trying not to imagine his penis. “You ready?”

I heard the rustle of the hospital bed behind me, presuming he was looking forward to receiving stitches as much as he would be getting a tooth pulled. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, Doc.”

I wished I could say the same, though his words seemed to be a double entendre. I fumbled with the prep tray, stalling.

“Erin, look at me.” His voice brooked no other choice.

As soon as I did, he smiled gently and said, “How’ve you been? Everything okay?”

I glanced over my shoulder to ensure we were alone. Everything was not okay, but I didn’t know him well enough to discuss it. I’d been emotionally twisted over everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours and was barely hanging by a thread.

Instead, I nodded and shrugged, doing my best to appear convincing and professionally detached. “Just surprised to see you again.”

“Me too.” A small dimple appeared on his cheek. “I thought maybe you were still mad at me.”

Yeah, no
…
maybe
. I hoped no one was within earshot. “I just don’t want to have to explain anything to them,” I whispered. “But I don’t think anyone here knows what happened… how we, um, met. I looked all over the local news sites earlier, but I didn’t see anything.”

“And you won’t,” he stressed.

I wished I could believe that.

“Hey, you have to trust me. I made you a promise, okay? Nothing is going to come back on you. Your job is safe here.”

“I’ve worked so hard…” Adam’s sincerity tugged at my heart. “Are you sure?”

He sighed. “Come here.”

I twitched at his request and melted a bit under his commanding gaze. When I hesitated, he held out his hand. Instant attraction pulled me right to him.

Adam placed his good hand over mine, sending his warmth right through my chilled skin.

“Cold hands,” he murmured.

I gulped. “Warm heart, though.” I felt a million tiny impulses when he slipped his fingers around mine, as if he had every right to take possession of me. And man, did my body want him to take possession. His simple gesture seemed so natural and completely foreign and totally comforting all at the same time, making me feel dizzy and incredibly lonely.

He pegged me with those amazing eyes. “I never go back on my word.
Ever.
If I tell you that you’re good, you’re good. Okay?”

My spine stiffened just a bit at his direct order not to doubt him. A small “okay” came out of me, feeling it in my gut that even though I didn’t know him I could trust him.

“Okay,” he breathed.

“I need… I need to examine you now.”

Adam glanced at our entwined hands, brushing his thumb over my skin before relinquishing his hold. A hint of a smile appeared.

The cut had fragments of dirt and debris within. “This looks like it hurt.ˮ

He grunted a little at that. “It did.”

That deep rumble in his chest was sexy as hell. “I need to give you a local. I’ll numb this up, we’ll irrigate it, and then I’ll stitch you up, okay?”

“Am I going to live?” Again with the sexy smirk and innocent eyes.

“Probably. But the medical bill afterward might kill you. This might burn a little at first.”

I wondered how many panties he’d separated from women with that wicked grin. “Then do what you have to, Doc.”

Adam’s fingers toyed with my hospital identification badge hanging off my breast pocket. “Doctor Erin Novak,” he said with husky exhaustion, ignoring the needle. “Good stick, by the way.”

“Thanks. I’m trying to be gentle.”

“You did real good.”

“I actually stuck you more than once.”

His nose wrinkled a little. “I know. I felt it. Thanks for not jabbing me.”

Before I could stop it from happening, I winked at him. “You’re welcome. We’ll give that a few minutes to numb you. Your tetanus shot is still current, so you’ll only get one needle stuck in you tonight.”

“Lucky me,” he grumbled.

One of our new interns slid her perky ass into his room. Megan was still fresh; she hadn’t been at this long enough to have the spark squashed out of her enthusiasm. “Doctor Novak, do you need help?”

Megan would have been more convincing if she’d actually been looking at
me
when she asked that question. I was just about to tell her “no” to make her just go away when she said, “Doctor Vonore told me I’m to assist with the suturing.”

Of course Miriam would remind this one to come bug me; she always paired me up with the lazy ones. This Megan girl had no desire to be in emergency medicine, letting it be known to all who would listen she’ll be happy once this rotation was over with. I sighed; after all, it was part of my job to mentor the new interns no matter how long we had them.

“Okay,” I said, resigning to having no other choice but to turn my cop over to the new girl.

My cop.

Some sort of possessiveness was taking over. I really didn’t want anyone else touching him, especially this single, fresh-faced, barely-out-of-med-school twit. Part of me wanted to grab her lab coat and shove her out of the room, knowing that her lack of basic skills would end up leaving a scar on him, but I couldn’t. We were a teaching hospital. “Well, I was just going to irrigate the wound but I suppose you can do that.”

Adam seemed to be irritated again.

“Detective Trent, I need you to come over to the sink here. Can you… here, let me help.” I held his wounded hand steady while he easily folded his incredible body off the bed, getting to him before Megan did. “I… I mean
we
need to irrigate the wound, clean out any debris.”

I tried to concentrate on his injury but his incredible eyes drew me in again, gazing down at me with some unspoken emotion that was so raw it took away my ability to breathe. Damn, he was built. Long legs, too. Had to be over six feet tall given that he passed my five-foot-six height by another head.

“Sorry about all of that bullshit,” he said privately, glancing down at my lips for a second, or maybe it was ten. I’d lost count. “And the thing… earlier.”

I was distracted by his tone, leading me to believe that he was being completely sincere and genuinely seeking my forgiveness. “It’s okay. But, thank you.ˮ

He frowned, dipping his head even lower. “No, it’s not. It was uncalled for.”

I shrugged. “My first priority is you. The rest I can deal with.”

He seemed to be taken aback by that, but I didn’t care. It was the truth.

I really wanted to ask him about the cameraman and the guy with the headphones, but not while someone else was in the room with us. Everything about it seemed to be a source of agitation for him though. The nurses would surely berate me later for not getting the dirty details, but they’d just have to get over it. He’d already been through enough shit for one night from what I could tell and I certainly wasn’t going to add to it.

I decided to go a different route while cleaning his wound. Even his long fingers were deliciously seductive. “So, Detective, did you get him?”

“Who?” he asked.

I nodded my chin, feeling a bit braver. “The guy that did this to you. I presume he was a bad guy?”

Adam laughed lightly. It was the sexiest sound I’d ever heard—deep and alluring. “He was just a kid but yeah, I got him. Had to chase him a few blocks, too. Ran like hell. I hate the rabbits.”

I blotted off his hand and wrapped him up in a towel. “Rabbits?”

He chuckled again, taking a few steps backwards to the bed. “That’s what we call car thieves who ditch and run.” He sat back down, curling one knee up on the bed to sit sideways. “The car was still rolling when the kid jumped out of it. You know? Like a jack rabbit? It’s just a nickname.”

“Interesting.” I scooted my little rolling stool closer to his bedside and gently poked at his gash to see if he was numb. “Do you feel that?”

“Nope. Go for it.”

“Would you like to lie down?”

His eyes narrowed a bit. “You want me to?”

His words rolled through me like an electric wave, causing me to stutter. “If you want to. I mean, I want you to be comfortable and relaxed. It would be best if you didn’t move so…”

I saw the hint of a smirk curl his lip as he pulled his legs up on the bed and crossed his large black boots at the ankles.

As soon as he was settled, I resumed my examination, bothered by more than the fact he’d been injured on the job. “Well, the good news is that it’s superficial enough that you won’t need to see an orthopedic surgeon.”

Adam’s brow rose. “Is there bad news?”

I smiled a bit. “Yeah. You’re going to have stitches in your hand.”

Megan was standing there with a drape, waiting for me to move out of her way. I stood, allowing her to take my place.

“Hold up,” Adam said, pulling his hand back. “I thought
you
were going to do this.”

I felt bad. I hoped he could sense I didn’t have much of a choice here. “Megan is one of our interns. I’ll be supervising.”

“Supervising? Yeah, no… not today.” He rolled his incensed gaze to Megan. “No offense, sweetheart, but the only person putting stitches in me tonight is her.” He nodded his head my way. “I’d appreciate it if you could go find something else to do. Erin, Doctor Novak is all I need.”

Megan’s face fell. “But—”

She didn’t get another word out. He unleashed his intimidating cop glare, silently daring her to question the authority wafting off him. He glanced at the doorway, indicating for her to get going. Like
now
.

I stood there, sort of dumbfounded.

Megan was wide-eyed, waiting for me to intervene.

“It’s okay, Megan. I’ll take care of this. Perhaps you can ask Doctor Mason if he needs assistance.”

That apparently was not what she wanted to hear. She ripped her latex gloves off and tossed them in the trash.

“Now then,” Adam said, sliding back on the cot, “where were we?”

His authoritative demeanor subsided quickly.

I sat back down on the stool and rolled in closer. “I think you scared her.”

Adam put his other hand behind his head, cupping the pillow. “Good. I want this done right.” He gave me his cut hand.

He was assuming a lot. Still, I found it amusing. I covered his hand with the medical drape, exposing just his wound. “What makes you so sure I’ll do any better?”

He tilted his head. “I trust you. Well, at least until you give me a reason not to.”

God, he had a great laugh. I pulled the first suture through and stopped. “We good?”

He smiled and rested his head back. “Keep stitching, Doc.”

Damn, if he didn’t own one of the sexiest smiles I’d ever seen. While I was throwing my first knot, I was fantasizing about taking him home and locking him in my bedroom. I needed something else to think about beyond stripping him bare. “So, may I ask what the ATTF letters stand for?”

He pressed his chin to his chest, reading his own T-shirt. “Acronym for auto theft task force. It’s a special division within the police department.”

“Ah, that’s right. I remember now. That’s why you pulled me over.”

He looked so damn remorseful. “I pulled my gun on you.” His eyes searched around the ceiling before landing back on my face. “I know you’re worried. You have nothing to worry about, okay? That stuff we got will never be seen on TV. I don’t want you to worry about your job or anything.”

I pulled another suture through. “I appreciate that. I’ve been feeling quite paranoid all day, worrying that I’d wind up on the six o’clock news. It was quite a traumatic experience. I’m surprised I’m not still shaking.”

“Erin, look at me.”

His authoritative yet gentle voice made goose bumps rise on my arms. I met his gaze.

“It will never happen. Trust me.”

There was so much sincerity in his eyes, I found myself wanting to believe in him so damn bad. “You swear?”

“You have my word. I’d never let anything bad happen to you.”

I swallowed hard, finding myself in uncharted territory. I’d never had a guy seem to care as much about me as this man I barely knew appeared to do. But then again, I was never one to allow myself to be vulnerable. The desire to give him a hug was quite powerful. “Okay, thank you. This career means everything to me.”

“I know. A blind man could see that.”

His insightfulness took me by surprise. “So, is that what you do then? Deal with carjackings?”

He nodded. “That and other things. We mainly chase down stolen vehicles. Most felonies involve a stolen car. You know, like robberies, homicides.” He scratched his brow. “The bad guys usually don’t want to use their own cars. Go figure.”

Again, he got me to laugh, but considering some perpetrator caused him to get injured tonight, his job didn’t sound like a pleasure cruise. “Sounds like dangerous work.”

He was silent for so long I had to look at him.

“It can be,” he said, almost regretfully. “But I guess the good part is there are people like you to piece us back together.”

I shrugged, feeling his words like a comforting affirmation, especially since I had just accused him a day ago of ruining my career when he was just doing his job. Things could have been worse; I could have wound up back in jail. “Well, fortunately for me, you didn’t require a lot of piecing together tonight. I get it, though. I’ve often said that cops don’t get paid enough to do what you do.”