Page 66 of A Matter of Time

“Very nice is the kiss of death,” he assured me, and I felt the bed dip as he took a seat beside me. “Right?”

“Pretty much.”

“He’s into you, huh?”

I glanced up at him and gave him a half grin.

“He must be because he’s called, like, a dozen times. I turned your phone off ’cause I got sick of hearing it.”

“He likes my scrawny ass,” I teased him, smiling.

“I like it too.”

I opened my eyes as he ran the backs of his fingers up my throat.

“At least you’re not freezing anymore.”

The noise I made was halfway between a moan and sigh. I was glad I was under so many blankets so he couldn’t tell I was excited.

“You sound like you’re purring.”

I smiled, and his hand went around my throat.

“I wanted to strangle you when I called and found out you’d left the hospital. I mean, Jesus, Jory, you were almost killed tonight.”

I closed my eyes again, rolling over away from his touch. “Can you get me some water?”

“Yeah,” he said gruffly, then left.

I was asleep before he came back.

NINE

When I opened my eyes, it was dark and still raining. It wasn’t dark like night but dark like morning. It was very early on a gray, rainy day; the kind of day best spent under the covers watching TV.

“You awake?”

Squinting, I looked up into the face of Sam Kage. He was standing there, one hand in the pocket of his jeans, staring down at me with that scowl of his.

“Listen, I called your boss and told him you weren’t coming in, so don’t freak out.” He was sipping something from a plain back mug that smelled good, like coffee.

“Can I have some of that?” I asked, trying not to whine.

I heard his long exhale. “Sure. How do you take it?”

“Just cream, no sugar. It needs to be blond like me.”

“Okay,” he said gently, the corner of his mouth curling. “Be right back.”

But before he could get far, I stopped him. “Last night you were worried about me, huh? That’s how you get when you’re scared, maybe? You yell?” I asked softly, beginning to understand the inner workings of Detective Kage. “’Cause you were terrified that I was hurt, weren’t you?”

He just stared at me.

“Tell me.”

“You scared the shit outta me.”

“Were you worried about me or your case?”