Page 29 of Donovan's Men

I was in the process of trying to call a cab on my phone when soft knocking on the front door reached my ears.

What the fuck?

Maybe Codi? The driver who’d brought me home the night of the shooting? I doubted either Thomas or Seamus would be here as they both had young children and lived on opposite sides of the city.

Taking cabs was expensive, but I wasn’t willing to risk public transit where someone might jostle my arm. That and I still felt too exposed—too raw—to venture out in such a public way. My face had appeared, along with Cole’s, in several news stories. I didn’t flatter myself that everyone in Vancouver would recognize me, but it would take only one or two to make things difficult.

The knock sounded again as I hustled down the stairs.

Well, walked awkwardly while trying not to move my upper torso too much. My arm ached like an SOB today.

I swung open the door, a little disconcerted to find it unlocked, then the night before flooded back.

Just as I came face-to-face with the man of my dreams.

One of the men of my dreams, I corrected.

Tyson held up a bottle of organic carrot juice. “You said something about a spinach smoothie? Or someone did. I couldn’t find—”

“This is perfect.”

“I thought…” He peered up at me. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay. And you’re on my way to work, right? I thought if you needed a lift, I can get you most of the way to wherever you’re going.”

“The studio.”

“Well, I can drive you there.”

“The studio is about fifteen klicks past your office.”

“More like ten…and I’m sure I can find some excuse to meet with someone there. There’s a guy who works in Meggibeth’s department…” He winced when he said her name.

“It’s okay. I’m slowly accepting this new reality.” I scratched my nose with my good hand. “Let me get my wallet and phone. Did you plug it in last night?”

Tyson nodded.

“Yeah, you’re a good guy. Of course, I drug dialed Doc after I woke up…” After having dropped that little tidbit, I made my way back upstairs to grab everything. When I worked, I always took my gym bag with me. Today, like yesterday, I didn’t want to be encumbered. My wallet and cell phone would suffice. With a couple of doses of painkillers in my pocket just in case.

And, of course, my sunglasses. The meteorologist predicted sunny skies, and my sensitive eyes struggled with the bright light that shone not only in the sky but also reflected off the snow on the ground. Snow that would soon melt as a warm front was predicted with lots and lots and lots of rain.

At the moment, though, the morning light only peeked over the eastern horizon, so I tucked my sunglasses in the neck of my T-shirt.

“You going to be warm enough?”

Tyson’s words greeted me as I ambled down the stairs.

The man held up his hands. “Sorry. You’re an adult—you know what you’re doing.”

“I have a sweatshirt at work I can put on if I get cold. And we’re not going back to the crime scene, so I won’t be hanging around outside for long today.”

Before Tyson could exit the front door, I snagged him around the waist and pulled him close. I whispered, “Good morning,” before planting a kiss on his lips. Chaster than I would’ve liked,but we didn’t have time for more. And more might lead to me trying to drag the man up and into my bed.

He stiffened and then, after a moment, sank into the kiss.

I nipped his lower lip.

He opened his mouth on a sigh.

Taking full advantage, I dove in for a deeper kiss. I dominated—thrusting my tongue in and demanding reciprocity.