Page 151 of Distant Shores
“Oh, and here,” she said, handing me the envelope I’d forgotten on the couch.
The uncomfortable situation in my shorts wanted me to get out of here fast, so I took it but didn’t open it.
“Why the smiley faces? On the vase?” she asked, gesturing toward the sunflowers in the kitchen with her head.
I huffed, pushing a hand through my hair. “A dumb nickname I picked up my first week on the job. It’s haunted me for almost ten years.”
She raised an eyebrow at me.
“Smiley,” I admitted. “The older paramedic I was paired with as a young, dumb eighteen-year-old said I was the only kid who smiled at every scene. She thought I might be a psychopath.”
Ireland snorted, but then smiled at me over her shoulder. “I get accused of the same for the opposite reason.”
Like that woman from her dance class and Miss Lenny’s friends.
Her eyes trailed down me in a blatant perusal, and it was enough to distract me from the sudden anger.
Her swollen, glistening lips probably could’ve made me forget almost anything, and my body tightened, coming alive under her watch.
“Another boner would probably go against medical advice, Indigo,” I said solemnly.
I expected her to laugh, but I found her gaze fixed on my shirt. Looking down, I saw the wet mark she’d left. I licked my lips automatically and nearly groaned, realizing I could still tasteher.
Her eyes traveled back up to mine, and she tilted her head toward the hallway to our bedrooms.
“Yeah,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “Yeah….”
Finding no other words, I tore myself away from her, remembering that Delly could be back at any moment.
If I looked back, I was afraid I’d end up begging her to come with me.
So, I went straight to our bathroom, stripped out of my wrecked clothes, and dragged my equally wrecked body into the shower, only remembering to wrap my cast at the last minute.
The water pounded me as I sat on the built-in bench, and I prayed it did a good job of masking the audible, prolonged groan that tore from my throat.
Careful.
Careful.
I repeated the mantra over and over, but by the time I was clean and dressed again, I still wasn’t sure that it was a promise I could keep.
39
IRELAND
Delly whistled under her breath when we parked at the Locc. “Wow.”
“What?” I asked as I unbuckled my seatbelt, my head in the clouds.
Or rather, back at Camellia Lane.
“You just don’t see a lot of people who look like that around here.”
“Like what?” I frowned at her, but then followed her line of sight. A tall, muscular guy was leaning against one of the stone columns, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Delly, that’s Cody. You’ve met him.”
She pushed her face to the window to get a better look. “Dang, you’re right.”
