Risky Pleasures - Brenda Jackson [70]
Leah pulled into Reese’s yard at the same time Daniel did, and she barely gave her car a chance to stop before she jumped out of it. As soon as Reese opened the door to Daniel’s truck to get out, she was there. And as if he understood, he pulled her into his arms and held her close to him.
A part of her wanted to cry. She’d seen the scratches on his face, the cut on his forehead and the slightly bruised eye. She thanked God because things could have been a lot worse. She could have lost him.
She pulled back and placed her hands on his shoulders and studied his features. Even banged-up he was the most handsome man she knew. And because she needed to know that he was totally okay, she moved closer to him and, on tiptoe and ignoring his brother’s presence, covered his mouth with hers. She gave a sigh of relief, then one of pleasure, when he began kissing her back, accepting the invasion of her tongue as he continued to kiss her and she kissed him, over and over.
In the distance, she heard Daniel clear his throat and she and Reese reluctantly parted. She glanced over and saw the frown that covered Daniel’s. “If the two of you don’t mind, I have to get back to work. I’d like to get Reese settled before I go. The doctor gave him some pain pills and said for him to lie down and rest,” he said.
She heard the underlying message in Daniel’s words. He would take care of his brother and wanted her gone. But she had news for Daniel Singleton. She wasn’t going anyplace.
“You can go on back to work, Daniel. I’ll handle things from here. I’ll take care of Reese.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes at her, and she knew he wanted to say something, probably something smart, but he decided to hold his tongue in front of Reese. She felt his anger. Daniel was only eighteen months younger than Reese and the two of them had always been close. He saw her as the woman who had hurt his brother deeply.
“I’ll be okay, Danny. I need you to go and assure Mom that I’m all right. Let her know that Leah is here with me and that I’ll be fine.”
Leah could feel the tension between the two men and it nearly broke her heart to know she was the cause of it. Daniel stared at Reese for the longest time before finally nodding. Getting back into his truck he glanced through the window at them one last time before pulling off. Leah then turned her attention back to Reese. Taking his hand in hers, she said warmly, “Come on. Let’s go inside so I can get you settled in bed.”
Less than an hour later, Reese had showered, put on his pajamas, eaten the chicken noodle soup Leah had prepared, taken his medication and was out like a light. Leah thought that even asleep he looked sexy.
She stood at the foot of the bed and smiled down at the man she loved with all her heart. She didn’t want to think about what could have happened, but thanked God for what hadn’t happened.
She glanced down at herself, deciding she needed to take a shower, as well, but knew she didn’t have any clothes to change into. She also knew she wouldn’t be leaving Reese alone tonight so she made a quick decision. He had a drawer full of T-shirts; she would shower then slip into one and then wash and dry the clothes she was wearing for tomorrow.
Knowing Reese would be sleeping for a while, she crossed the room and opened several drawers before locating the one where he kept his T-shirts nicely folded. She found one that advertised Singleton’s Handcrafted Furniture that she knew would work. She checked on him one last time before leaving the room to use the shower in the guest room.
A half hour later she had showered, put on Reese’s T-shirt—it came to midthigh—and sat curled up in a chair by his bed, watching him as he continued to sleep. It was just turning dusk when she stood to stretch her muscles and decided to give Jocelyn a call to let her know about Reese. Tiptoeing out of the room she went into the living room and picked up the phone.
Moments later she heard her sister’s voice on the line. “Hello?”
“Jocelyn? This is Leah.”
Jocelyn knew something was wrong the moment she heard the strain in