Page 49 of Relentless
“Yes, but I wasn’t hurt as badly as I might have been,” she countered. Then turning to Ethan, she added, “As an attempt on my life, doesn’t it all seem a bit haphazard?”
It did. Not only that, if Shelley was the only one who’d known about the wedding, she obviously couldn’t have been the one to rig any sort of accident.
Maybe Evelyn was right and her tumblewasjust an accident.
He bit back a sigh. If only he could convince himself of that.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
They didn’t stick aroundfor the post-show party that night. Instead, they managed to fit in a full night’s rest. Now it was nearing nine o’clock in the morning, and the whole day stretched in front of them. Only Ethan was still sleeping.
Kara raised herself on an elbow and looked down at him. They’d spent a sum total of three nights together, and yet she couldn’t imagine spending any without him. Not that there wouldn’t be times when they’d be apart. His job required he travel, and she’d likely have an occasional trip as well. But beingphysicallyseparated was different from being without him.
Her fingers twitched to touch him. To trace the lines of his chest and the softness of his lips. Knowing he wouldn’t mind in the least, she raised her hand to do just that. Only her phone buzzed on the small shelf beside the bed, arresting her movement.
Scrambling to deny the call before the noise woke Ethan, she caught a glimpse of the name on the screen and her stomach sank. She sent the call to voice mail, then slid out of bed.
Kara:I’ll call you in two minutes
Sabina:Please tell me I didn’t interrupt anything
Kara:First, why would I answer the phone if I was in the middle of that? And second, why would I answer the phone if I was in the middle of that? Even just to text? You just gave me a peek into your sex life I could have done without
Sabina:Phones are not allowed in the bedroom in our house. Neither is TV. If someone needs to reach us urgently, they have to call the landline
Kara:Of course you have a protocol for that
Sabina liked to plan. And she’d married a man who liked it even more. Kara wasn’t as “go with the flow” as she had been growing up—medical school and her profession had taken care of that. But she didn’t like to plan everything. At least not when she wasn’t working.
Sabina:Sounds like someone needs coffee…or a good orgasm. Or four
Kara:Stop texting me so I can make coffee. I had several of the other last night
Sabina responded with a lewd emoji that Kara ignored. Setting her phone down, she started making a pot of coffee. Cody had mentioned stopping by, but she had no idea what time that might be. He’d probably sleep in, but just in case, she filled the pot.
“That Sabina or Chad?” Ethan asked from the doorway to their bedroom.
Kara spun in surprise then paused and drank in the sight of him. He wore a pair of boxers and nothing else. His dark hair was sticking up in several places, and he regarded her with sleepy green eyes. The only “flaw” she could see were the deep red scars on his leg. Scars from the lacerations he’d received the day she’d arrived in Mystery Lake. The stitches had dissolved a few days ago, but the skin was still raw and healing. Even as angry as they looked, she didn’t see them as a flaw, though. He’d received them helping to extricate a family from a car in the aftermath of a terrible accident. They weren’t a defect. They were a reminder of who he was as a person.
His lips quirked. “If you like, I can go back to bed, and you can join me. We have a few minutes before the coffee is ready. I’m pretty sure I can find a good way to use them.”
She walked over to him, slipped her hand to the nape of his neck, and pulled him down. “I have no doubt you could,” she said, before pressing her lips to his. His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her against him.
She was about to take him up on his offer when her phone went off again. The vibration of the device on the countertop filled the bus with a muted clanging, breaking the moment.
She sighed as she pulled back. “Sabina,” she said, moving out of his arms.
“I heard you scramble out of bed. I assume you told her you’d call her back?”
“In two minutes,” Kara responded.
“And let me guess, it’s been three?”
Kara laughed as she picked up her phone and hit her sister’s contact.
“Finally,” Sabina said.
“It’s been three minutes,” Kara said.
