“No,” came a growly denial from the other side of the dog. “I did not let him up here, and I am tough to the core. Get down, you bed-hog.”
The dog tummy crawled closer to West and whined.
“Down. I mean it.”
It whined again and licked West’s jaw.
“Ugh.” West flung up an arm. “Don’t—”
As a dog-block, his arm proved insufficient. The beast simply snuck under and got another couple licks in before West managed to subdue the wriggling bundle of energy. Roxy fought laughter as he scooted the dog to the foot of the bed. “Stop. Enough. Where’s your dignity, man?”
The animal gave an unoffended bark, circled once, and settled into the tangle of bedding West inevitably kicked off every night. With the dog out of the way, Roxy scooted closer. He was upset with her, she knew, and probably deserved to be, but last night he’d packed all that away—most of it, anyway—and looked after her, the dog, and even Gibson, because he was a protect and serve kind of guy. She cushioned her head on his pillow and rubbed the back of her hand along his whisker-rough jaw. “Morning, Officer Donovan.”
He turned toward her and ran his fingers gently over her bandaged forehead. “Morning, Reckless. How’re you feeling?”
“Not too bad,” which was true. “Thanks to somebody taking really good care of me.”
The corner of his mouth turned up in a whisper of a smile, but his eyes remained serious as
he ran his thumb very gently over her scratched cheek. “Yeah. That Ellie is a very dedicated doctor. Speaking of which”—he rolled away from her and lifted something from his night table—“she said take two of these”—he rolled back and tipped two Tylenol into her palm before pointing to something over her shoulder—“and call her this morning.”
Roxy turned to find a bottle of water sitting on the night table. Dutifully, she swallowed the pills. “She is dedicated and extremely compassionate, and I truly appreciate her seeing me after hours and working around my issues, but I was referring to someone who picked me up from the doctor’s office, drove out of his way to fetch Gib from Rawley’s, opened his home to a dog I tried to rescue, and”—she peeked under the half of the sheet still wrapped around her to confirm her current state of undress—“relieved me of my filthy clothes before tucking me into bed. Last but not least, he watched over me all night to make sure my brain didn’t bust its way out of my skull. That person deserves a huge thank-you. I don’t know how I can repay all his kindness.”
Those serious eyes locked with hers. “He has a few requests he’d like you to consider.”
Equally serious, she nodded. Here it came, and she had it coming, so she’d take it like a big girl. “I wouldn’t be much of a musician if I didn’t take requests.”
“My first is that I get you a cell phone, and you accept it, so the next time you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, you call me. Okay?”
Though her heart wanted to agree to anything he asked of her, her head couldn’t ignore the cost. “I can’t let you pay—”
He folded an arm behind his head and stared at the ceiling. “I checked with my carrier. I can add a second line for pennies, and they’ll give me the phone, so cost isn’t the issue. Your safety is.”
“I have a job. I have income. I’ll pay my part of the bill.”
He stayed silent for a moment, a muscle ticking in his jaw, but after a few seconds, he nodded. “Fine. I’ll get the phone tomorrow. Throw it in that big-ass bag you always carry and use it whenever you’re thinking of body-slamming some cocksucker in a parking lot. Any situation puts you in potential danger, call me instead of going it alone. Deal?”
“I—” Words were suddenly difficult to force through her tight throat. “I’ll try.”
“Try hard. Next, I’m going to speak to Earl about putting lights and a security cam behind Rawley’s. Don’t go back to work until he does. That’s not just for your sake,” he continued when she drew in a breath to argue. “Those measures enhance the safety of every employee. If Earl agrees, he’ll offer you a raise to offset your lost income from the nights you miss until he gets the lights and camera installed.”
“Okay.” A boulder of guilt rolled heavily onto her chest. “I’m happy to be an agent of change for the better, but you should know, I don’t usually go back there.” Confessions didn’t come naturally to her. Even this comparatively minor one thinned her voice. “It’s not, like, part of my job or anything.”
West exhaled deeply and turned to look at her. “I have a pretty good idea why you went back there, Reckless.”
Well, he did, but he didn’t. Could she tell him everything? Could she tell him she went back there to stress-smoke because she’d worked herself into a panic over stealing her guitar away from a pawnshop owned by a notorious loan shark? Could she risk losing Gibson? Losing West’s respect? She’d already tried his patience sorely in the last twelve hours. Maybe this wasn’t the best time? Even so, a part of her wanted to come clean. Whether she deserved it or not, a part of her wanted to cling to what she’d found here in Bluelick—this home, this life…this man. “I went back there to smoke.”
“I know.”
“Because…” Jesus, this was hard.
“Because you didn’t want anyone to see you.”
“Um, yes. I felt—”
“You wanted to sneak one in without anybody knowing, so there’d be no consequences.”
“Yeah. In a way, yes, but—” This was where she had to just let it rip. I had a panic attack because I’ve done something even more reckless than jumping a dog beater in the middle of a deserted lot. I’ve broken the law. I’ve committed grand larceny to get back what’s mine, and it’s in your house at this very moment. Her voice refused to cooperate.