The thought of her with another man sends a rush of pure, raw rage through me, but I cover it with another smirk. “What was his name?”
The question catches her off guard. She hesitates, looking adorably flustered before finally mumbling “Jason.”
“Last name?”
“I’m not going to tell you that.”
“So why did you and Jason break up? If he was so magnificent in bed, I’m surprised you didn’t hang onto him.”
“Well,” she starts and then pauses. She brushes a strand of hair behind her ear to stall for time before saying, “He had to move.”
“Well, that’s a shame.” I lean closer so our lips are almost touching. “And here I thought maybe you were thinking about me.”
She looks like she’s about to say something snarky, so I run my tongue over her bottom lip, shutting her up with a soft moan that escapes before she can stop it. My plan was to pull back after proving my point, but once I get that small taste of her, I can’t stop. I cup the back of her head, pulling her harder against me and sliding my tongue between her pouty lips. In seconds, she’s running her fingers through my hair and opening her sweet mouth to me, brushing her tongue along mine in a shy but hungry stroke that makes my head spin.
I want more of her. Ineedmore of her, and I’m just about to lose all control and carry her to bed when the doorbell rings. I want to rip Jack’s head off, but I also want to thank him. I can’t afford to lose control with Charlie. She’s threatening to undo me, and I can’t let that happen. I give her bottom lip one last suck before pulling back. I cover everything I’m feeling and give her the same hard smirk I’ve been using.
“You sure you weren’t thinking about me,zaichik?”
For one horrible moment I think she’s going to cry, but then she clenches her jaw and turns her face from me as I leave to get the door. Jack’s waiting for me on the front step with his bag in hand. I wave him in and lead him to Charlie who’s still propped on the counter. Her face is flush from either embarrassment or the kiss, and she’s so damn beautiful I have to look away.
“This is Charlie,” I tell him, waving a hand at her foot. “She had a fall and hurt her ankle.”
Charlie snorts out a laugh at my explanation. Jack holds his hand out to her and gives her a smile.
“Hi, Charlie. I’m Jack.”
She shakes his hand but doesn’t say anything. He walks closer to her foot and lifts the ice pack off. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with here.”
She winces when he lifts the towel and starts to probe around. Her face goes pale when he puts a hand under her calf and lifts her leg so he can gently roll her ankle around.
“I know this hurts. I’m sorry,” Jack says, rolling her ankle in the opposite direction while he feels around to make sure nothing is broken. She lets out a soft whimper when he stretches her foot out, and the sound of it has me clenching my fists and wishing there was something I could do. I watch her eyes go glassy, and right when I’ve had all I can take, Jack carefully sets her leg back down and puts the ice pack back on it.
“Well, the good news is there aren’t any broken bones, but you’ve managed to sprain it pretty good, and it’s going to hurt for a few weeks. You’ll need to stay off it as much as possible. Keep icing it, and ibuprofen will help with the pain. I’ll wrap it up for you to help keep the swelling down.”
He turns to me and adds, “You should make sure she elevates it at night if at all possible.”
I nod, ignoring the look I know Charlie is giving me because like it or not, her ass will be in my bed from now on.
“I’ll drop off a pair of crutches tonight. I brought some with me,” he stops and gives Charlie a smile, “but I thought it was for one of the guys, so I’m afraid even on the lowest setting, they’ll still be too tall for you.”
He finishes wrapping her ankle and turns back to me. “Keep an eye on the swelling, and make her stay off of it.”
“I’ll try, but she can be a real stubborn ass.”
Charlie’s jaw drops as Jack laughs and puts the ice pack back on her. “I’m sure you two can figure it out.” Looking at Charlie, he tells her, “The more you walk on it, the longer it’ll take to heal.”
She nods and thanks him. I grab her a couple of ibuprofen and a glass of water before leaving her on the counter. I walk Jack to the door, thanking him again and telling him he can drop the crutches off whenever. Once he’s gone, I walk over to Charlie and pick her up before she can argue, carrying her up to my room.
“Why are you bringing me in here?”
“Because your room is a mess right now, and I don’t trust you on your own. All you managed with your little escape stunt was to piss me off, hurt yourself, and make it to where you’ll be sharing a room with me so I can keep an eye on you.
When I set her on my bed, she tries to pull herself off it. I push her back down.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m not staying in your nasty bed,” she shouts at me.