Officer in Pursuit by Ranae Rose

accepted the glass of ice water she handed to him.
“Thanks.”
    “No way. You can sleep in my
bed.”
    His heart jolted and soared, and he
got a little harder.
    “I’ll take the couch,” she continued.
“I’ll fit just fine.”
    And just like that, his heart sank
right back down where it belonged.
    Of course, he was being an idiot. No
part of him had really thought that he and Kerry would wind up in
the same room together that night, let alone the same bed. But her
words had set off an instant, automatic reaction fueled by a
summer’s worth of fantasies and some serious wishful
thinking.
    “I appreciate it,” he said, “but I
can’t take your bed. I’ll be fine out here.”
    What did she wear to bed? It was still
too hot to wear much of anything. Maybe nothing at all? He couldn’t
help but wonder. His head still felt a little fuzzy, but when he
imagined her and what she might – or might not – wear to sleep, his
powers of concentration took an amazing turn for the
better.
    “No, the doctor said you need to get
plenty of rest. You’re definitely taking my bed. Don’t argue –
you’re supposed to rest your brain, remember?”
    His brain was busy feverishly
imagining her sans-clothing, but he had enough sense not to admit
it, even if he did have a concussion. “Fine. But I owe you – I’ll
make it up to you sometime. Buy you dinner.”
    Had he really just said that? Well… He
dared to meet her eyes, hoping his proposal wouldn’t go the way of
his recent sunset viewing invitation.
    She was giving him a strange look.
“You don’t owe me anything. It was my bright idea that ended up
with you in the hospital. Anyway, I’ll go put a fresh set of sheets
on the bed for you.”
    He bit his tongue before he could tell
her not to, to just leave the sheets that probably smelled like
her.
    Somehow, he drifted off in the span of
the few minutes she was gone. He realized he’d fallen asleep when
the sound of her footsteps on the hardwood floor snapped him back
into wakefulness.
    “You’d better get to bed.”
    He stood up, felt dead on his feet.
The fatigue had come out of nowhere, and suddenly, the day felt
incredibly long. Had he really tried on his jacked-up tux and
gorged himself on tacos earlier in the day? All that felt like it’d
happened weeks ago, at least.
    He stretched, and his muscles twinged
in protest. Kerry had been right – jiu-jitsu hadn’t just kicked his
face, but his ass. Not that he was going to admit that to
her.
    The movement left him lightheaded, and
he steadied himself with a hand against the back of the
couch.
    “Are you okay?” Her voice was soft,
tinged with audible worry.
    “ Fine.” His head throbbed
beneath the ridiculous bandage they’d stuck on him at the ER. “I’m
going to look like an idiot at the wedding this weekend though.”
The thought struck him and just tumbled out; he was too tired to
have a filter.
    “I’m sure Liam and Alicia will
understand. Accidents happen.”
    “I’m not worried about them. There was
this bridesmaid I wanted to impress, though.”
    “Who – Alicia’s cousin?”
    He was pretty sure she was joking, but
the fog of exhaustion made it hard to be 100% certain.
    “Not hardly. I don’t want to name
names, but her initials are Kerry Harlow. I’ve made an ass out of
myself in front of her quite a few times, so the wedding was my
chance to turn things around. You know, be all sophisticated and
dashing.”
    She placed a hand on his arm, pushed
him toward the hall. For her size, she was pretty strong. “I guess
that’ll be pretty hard to pull off with a gauze pad stuck to the
side of your head, but I have faith in you.”
     
    * * * * *
     
    It took Kerry forever to fall asleep.
Not because the couch was uncomfortable – she hardly noticed that.
No, it was her conscience that made it hard to get any rest. Forget
her guilt over getting Grey kicked in the head – that was nothing
compared to the shame that hit her when she admitted to