I groaned. “You’re asking me that without letting me look at my calendar? I swear, shiftwork sucks. Is it after midnight or before?”
“After. One a.m.”
“Then it’s, um, Saturday. I think.” I started this endless shift on Friday, right? Yeah, because Friday was Callum’s travel day,so I had the babysitter home till Saturday morning, only a few hours from now. And then I’d have four days off, thank God.
Jay asked me a few more questions, then nodded. “You seem good to me. You know the drill. Any dizziness, nausea, confusion, increasing headache, whatever, you get yourself to the ER for a CT scan.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Ice that nose when you can. Take ibuprofen and make sure you eat food with it. And here.” He scribbled something on a slip of paper, then held it out to me. “I’m single and if you’re still single, then once you can breathe through your nose without pain, I’d love to get together. For a drink or coffee, or anything else your imagination can come up with.Anything.”
“Stillsingle?”
“I read that interview you did withOut in BC. Frankly, the photos didn’t do you justice and they were pretty damned hot. Even better in person, though.”
“With blood on my face and a swelling nose?”
Jay grinned. He was dark and compact, with strong, short-fingered hands and curly black hair. The twinkle in his mahogany eyes suggested he’d be a fun time in bed, and his profession suggested he wasn’t a total douche. “Your nose isn’t that bad. Yet. And here.” He flipped a pack of wet wipes in my lap with his other hand. “You can clean up your face.”
I looked at the number on the slip of paper. A month ago, I’d have jumped on his offer. Or a year ago. Jay wasn’t suggesting anything complicated, just a hot fuck. Or a cup of coffee.
Technically, I still could. Callum and I hadn’t even come close to talking exclusivity. For all I knew, he picked up a guy on every road trip— I swallowed down jealous anger at that thought. I had no right. And yet… “Not single anymore. Sorry.”
“Aw, shit. Story of my life, always a day late.” His rueful smile made him look even more charming. “Listen, take my numberanyway. We have a kind of informal rainbow-first-responders group. If you want someone to bitch to, who knows exactly what you’re going through, we’d have your back.”
“Thank you.” I took the paper and tucked it into my pocket.
“And if not-single becomes single again, call me. Now wipe your face and get out of my truck, you lazy bum.”
I dabbed at my lip and chin, and Jay held a mirror for me to see. It took five wipes to get me presentable, but the bleeding seemed to have stopped. There wasn’t anything I could do about the bruises coming up.
Jay put away the mirror and held out a small trash bag for my discards. “Still gorgeous. Take it easy out there tonight.”
“Thanks.” I climbed out and surveyed the scene. The combatants had all been escorted off, and most of the cars along the curb were gone. One officer stood in the doorway of the bar, talking to someone, probably a witness. I took a careful look around, fixing the layout in my mind for my report, then headed to the station to do paperwork.
Half an hour of “I saw the defendant strike a man in a red shirt and khaki pants” and “clasped the defendant’s wrist to restrain him” got me through the report, with enough detail to justify the arrest. The paramedic would send along his medical log entry, but if the prosecutor wanted to charge the perp with assaulting an officer, I’d have to go to a doctor and get a full medical.
On my day off.Fury at the fucker who hit me in the face warred with a desire to just be done with it. In the end, that elbow wasn’t really worth the hassle. Unger would’ve wanted him to pay dearly, but I didn’t care about taking down a fool who’d been drunk. Which gave me hope that I really was shedding that attitude.
When I made it back out on the street, I was immediately called to a bad traffic accident. Typical two a.m. scene— one guyspeeding, one guy drunk. The bigger SUV took out a signal light, and after the accident was cleared, I ended up playing traffic cop for the rest of my shift.You, stop. You, go.Fuck my life.
Olivia stopped me on my way to the locker room after our shift. “Man, that drunk got you good, huh?”
“Just bruises. But it sucks, because Jos is freaked out about my job being dangerous, and I told him I had less risk of getting injured than Callum. This isn’t very reassuring.”
“Tell Callum to get in a fight and come home with matching bruises. Cancel each other out.”
“Yeah, no. In the first place, we’re friends but I can’t say, ‘Get yourself punched in the face because I did.’ And in the second place, he’s a goalie and he wears a mask, so he doesn’t get black eyes very often. Most of his bruises will be places I don’t want Jos looking.”
“But places where you can kiss them better?” Olivia smirked, then sighed. “Never mind, I didn’t say that, you’re just friends. I’m sleep deprived. I can’t wait to be on days next.”
“Same.” I stretched. My neck was sore, but I couldn’t tell if that was ordinary end-of-shift or I pulled something, dodging the sucker-punch. “Ice and ibuprofen are calling my name.”
She tapped my shoulder. “Take it easy. Four days off next. Heaven.” With a roll of her eyes, she strode toward the women’s locker room. I admired the energy that still powered her steps as I dragged my feet off toward a much-needed shower and civvies.
A light still shone in my living room when I pulled into the drive, but when I let myself in and checked the downstairs, no one was about. The babysitter I’d hired—house minder, for Jos’s benefit— was probably asleep upstairs. I’d told Isabelle she could use the other spare room next to Callum’s. She’d signed on to make dinner, do a few evening chores, make sure Jos was in his room, if not in bed, by eleven, and feed him breakfast in the morning. That didn’t include sitting up overnight, especiallyfor what I was paying her. She was the college-aged kid of one of Olivia’s neighbours, and if this worked, I hoped she would cover overnights whenever I needed her.
I checked the alarm again, feeling restless. Isabelle and Jos were both around upstairs. There was no reason for the house to seem empty. Yet, I was very aware that Callum wasn’t sleeping in that room overhead.
