“Oh yes. I know that.” The feel of Jerica pressed against her on the couch the other night came back full force. She wanted that again. She wanted Jerica naked on top of her doing the same thing so she could finger her, watch her come apart as Jerica writhed on top of her. Heat pooled between her legs, and she knew she was going to have to stop thinking about that if she was going to get any sleep that night.
“Good.” Jerica paused. “Hey, I’ve got to get some food and eat something before I crash. I have an early shift tomorrow.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah.”
Bridget rubbed her lips together, listening next door and hearing only talking. She hoped they were done for the night, but from what she remembered with Eli, that likely wasn’t going to be the case. “When do you think I can see you again?”
“I’m off the day after tomorrow if you want.”
“I hate that you have to do all the driving.”
“I won’t soon enough. Trust me.”
Bridget took a gamble. “Will you spend all day here?”
“If you want me to, I can manage that.”
“I would love it if you could.”
“Then I’ll see you then.”
They hung up, and Bridget couldn’t wipe the smile off her lips. She was managing to do what Eli had told her. Open up, be honest, be proactive. She really liked Jerica, perhaps even more since she couldn’t get her out of her head. Something about Jerica always seemed to come up any time Bridget had a stray thought or time to sit and think, which was a lot lately. Falling asleep with a smile on her lips was the best thing that had happened to her that day.
CHAPTER12
Bridget’s stomachwas a bundle of nerves. Crutches leaned against the wall as she waited for Jerica to arrive later that morning. There were no guests in the house, and the quiet, oddly enough, wasn’t soothing. She missed the hustle and bustle of people moving around in the morning, of Eli making breakfast for the guests.
Eli had blocked out weeks of the bed-and-breakfast, leaving for the moment only three of them, though more people were incoming. Family. People Bridget had never met and ones she’d known for most of her life, and yet, the last impression she had left on them wasn’t the greatest. She had no idea how they would react to seeing her, if she was going to be facing problems again or if they would calmly accept her presence.
More than once over the last week, Bridget had tried to convince Eli that she could go home and live on her own, especially now that she had crutches. Eli had promptly laughed and told her when she could go up and down stairs comfortably without falling or scooting then she could go home. Bridget pursed her lips at the thought. Perhaps Jerica could help her figure that one out.
It had been nearly six weeks since the accident, and she was getting closer to ending her leave of absence and heading straight into light desk duty. At least her deputies seemed far more likely to include her in what was going on in town now than they had in the beginning. That was a blessing in and of itself. The distraction had been most welcome, and Bridget had to help them navigate some of the regulars down to the jail.
Still a lot of the days, Bridget couldn’t help but think of Sonny, still in jail as they awaited a trial. He didn’t have money enough to bail himself out, and he didn’t have family enough to do it. Bridget hadn’t taken a stand on what had happened, though. She wanted to go down to the jail and talk to him. It wouldn’t be a good idea.
Sighing, she stared out the window, half-expecting Jerica’s little car to be bumbling along the dirt road as she arrived, but there was nothing. Bridget checked her phone, knowing when Jerica had left and that she should be there any time.
“Would you stop it?” Eli whined.
“What?” Bridget twisted around in the chair with wide eyes and a hard look.
“Pining.”
“I’m not pining,” Bridget mumbled. “I’m waiting.”
“Good Lord, because there’s a whole lot of difference in that.” Eli laughed as she started a new pot of coffee.
Sarah came up from the basement, went to the fridge, and grabbed an energy drink. She leaned against the counter as she drank, eyeing Bridget—but not with a suspicious look. Rather an amused one. Bridget would have prodded her for a response as well but figured that probably wasn’t a good idea. The two of them were only just now finding a delicate balance.
“I haven’t met Jerica yet, but from what Eli tells me, I think I’ll like her.”
Bridget narrowed her gaze and muttered, “Probably.”
She still hadn’t told Eli about how thin the walls were, and she definitely wasn’t going to bring that up in front of Sarah. Nope, that was a conversation that could wait for Eli and her to be alone, although that had been tough to find since Sarah arrived. They did everything together.
When she glanced out the window, Jerica’s car moved up the road toward the house. She grinned. She couldn’t stop it, and when she and Sarah made eye contact again, she knew Sarah understood the feeling. Bridget stayed put, not quite sure she wanted to test her ability on the crutches just yet, considering she still struggled with her mostly healed arm. Her ankle was what was taking fucking forever to heal, although she’d known that was going to be the issue from the start.