Heart Trouble (3 page)

“I must’ve cut it on something when I knelt down on the floor.”

“Sit,” Tess ordered. “I’ll go grab a first-aid kit. Jeez, I feel like I’m at work.”

Erin climbed onto a chair. Sean spun another around in front of her and straddled it. Swiping a condensation-soaked napkin from the tabletop, he began carefully cleaning the streak of drying blood from her leg. It was a bit unnerving, having his warm fingers wrapped around her calf while he ministered to her. And she couldn’t deny there was a distinctive jolt of awareness at the contact points.

She’d likely have bruises on both knees by tomorrow. Not near as worrisome as Henry’s predicament. He wasn’t out of the water, not by a long shot. Lots of things could still go wrong before he recovered.

When Sean got too close to the actual injury, Erin flinched, and he raised his eyes to hers.

“So,” Sean started. “A doctor.”

“Jesus, I hope so, or I may be getting sued.”

He laughed. “And how is that similar to a mechanic?”

“Didn’t I try and fix him?” She halfheartedly waved her hand around. “Get him running again? Bleh, stupid analogy. Forget I said it.”

“No, it works.” When he smiled, Erin felt her stomach do that weird somersault thing again. His hand was still wrapped around her calf, his thumb making little circles on her skin as his gaze roamed her face.

Tess came back with the first-aid kit, interrupting the weird intensity of the moment. Erin sat still and let her play doctor for a change. There was a small sliver of glass wedged into her skin that Tess scraped out with her fingernail.

“There. All done,” she said, smoothing on an adhesive bandage.

“Tess, this is Sean… Sorry, I don’t know your last name.”

“Rembert.” He shook Tess’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Tess. I assume you work together at Baptist?”

“Tess is a nurse in the ER with me.” Erin stood, and her pinched toes protested. Wincing, she grumbled, “I would pay someone fifty bucks for a pair of used flip-flops right now.” More than ready to leave, she reached for her clutch. Which wasn’t where she’d left it. She looked under the table, around on the floor. Nothing. “My clutch is missing.”

“What?” Tess asked, her voice going up an octave. “After what you did here tonight, someone stole your purse. Unbelievable!”

Sean frowned, mouth pressed into a thin line as he planted his feet on the floor and stood. “I’ll check with the staff. See if anyone turned it in.”

“And I’ll go look around at the other tables and in the bathroom. Maybe they took your cash and dumped the rest of it,” Tess said.

Erin sighed and rolled her head around on her neck. This had been one hell of a night, even before her purse went missing. She routinely handled chaotic eighteen-hour shifts in the ER, barraged with gunshot wounds, car-accident victims, and feverish puking kids, and still managed to walk out the door wired like a cokehead. Somehow tonight had drained her dry, perhaps because she was out of her element with no one to back her up except Tess. Not that having Tess as backup hadn’t been reassuring—it had, but that man’s life had rested squarely on Erin’s shoulders, and it had been heavy.

Sean returned, his grim expression doing nothing to detract from his rugged good looks. “No one turned it in, but the manager told me to give you this.” He offered a folded stack of what looked to be at least five one-hundred dollar bills.

Erin took one look at it, frowned, and shook her head. “I don’t want that.”

“Take the money, Erin. If anyone deserves a reward tonight, it’s you.”

“Forget it.” She pushed his hand away. “Give it back. Tell him to write a check to Hospice or the Boys and Girls Club. Or better yet, send it to Memorial Hospital to help cover Henry’s medical expenses.”

Sean met the manager across the floor and relayed her message. When he returned, he asked, “What was in your purse?”

She blew out a long breath, thinking. “Not a lot. About two hundred dollars in cash, driver’s license, hospital ID, and my apartment key. I didn’t bother with a wallet tonight, and we brought Tess’s car.”

Tess returned empty-handed. “Nothing,” she grumbled. “I checked the garbage cans, under the tables and booths, every nook and cranny. It’s not here.”

“Look, it’s my fault the stupid thing got stolen in the first place for leaving it unattended, no matter what the circumstances were. Let’s just go. Tess has a spare key to my apartment, I can replace the other stuff next week, and at this point, I don’t care about the money,” Erin said, some of the irritability from earlier returning to temper her mood. She was mentally and physically drained, her toes hurt, and she was ready to trade the tight dress for a hot shower and her pajamas.

Sean escorted them out of the bar without saying a word, but the tight expression on his face told Erin he was not happy about something. They stopped beside Tess’s car.

“Tess, I’ll take Erin home. Are you safe to drive?”

Their jaws dropped. Tess managed to speak first. “Uh, yeah, sure,” she said, frowning in confusion as her eyes darted back and forth between Erin and Sean. “I never finished my second drink, and that was before the guy collapsed. Erin, are you okay with that?”

Erin blinked at Sean, summoning the energy to argue. Before she could protest, he said, “You had your apartment key stolen along with your driver’s license, which has your address on it. Do you think it’s possible for someone to forget you in that dress tonight? Especially after what just happened in there?”

A chill crept up her spine when the implication of his words sank in. She shifted on her aching feet, chewing the inside of her bottom lip. At her hesitancy, Sean pulled his wallet out of his pocket, flipping it open to show her his driver’s license, his police identification, and then his badge again so she could compare the numbers. He thought he’d read her as being wary because she couldn’t be sure he was telling the truth about being a cop. The sad fact was the thought hadn’t crossed her exhausted mind, even though it should have. Warning bells should’ve been clanging away inside her skull. Instead, all she’d heard was the whiney inner voice of discomfort.

“I’ll sleep on your couch, and in the morning we’ll call a locksmith.” He held up his hands. “No funny business, I swear.”

Sean Rembert, the sexiest and nicest cop she’d ever laid eyes on, sleeping on her couch, mostly naked, ten steps from her bedroom door. What was funny about that?

Chapter Three

Erin was quiet on the ride to her apartment.

She’d caved rather easily when he’d told her he was spending the night on her couch, considering the storm force she’d been earlier, commandeering the situation, ordering people around, saving that man’s life. But then he’d provided a valid argument against leaving her alone tonight too.

It never hurt to be overly cautious.

It could have been fatigue, or it could have been apprehension at having him in her home. Sean hoped there was a healthy dose of fear mixed in there as well, because of what he’d said. In his line of work, he’d seen horrible, unthinkable things happen to women. He didn’t want Erin to suffer that same fate.

Christ, he’d stood in absolute awe of her after he’d gotten over the shock of finding out she was a doctor. A saint in sin’s clothing. Something he was still trying to get his tired brain to accept.

He doubted he’d sleep much tonight, knowing she was near, warm and soft in sleep, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d pulled an all-nighter. Wouldn’t be his last either. He’d sat on stakeouts for days at a time, watching a suspect’s movements, needing a hot shower, a decent meal, and a comfortable bed. An unfortunate part of the job requirement. Erin’s couch would be a cakewalk compared to the seat of his car.

“Thanks for your help earlier,” she said, weariness making her words slow and measured.

“No problem.”

“He could’ve died right there on the dirty floor of that bar,” she murmured, staring forward through his windshield. “Beneath my hands.”

“But he didn’t. He’s lucky you were there. Have you ever had something like that happen before? Where you had to act so quickly?”

She turned her head to look at him, the flash of the streetlights illuminating half her beautiful features in steady, welcomed doses. “No, that was my first time working on a patient outside the ER. I’m used to having colleagues there to back me up, help me make decisions, sterility and a semblance of order.” She looked away again, out the side window. “I was terrified.”

That was a heavy admission, considering how strong he found her to be. He ran his knuckles down her forearm. “It didn’t show.”

She sighed, dropped her head back on the seat, and remained quiet for the rest of the ride except to tell him where to turn and her condo number when they pulled into the complex. It was a nice place in a good area of town, somewhat upscale, but not gated, and within walking or biking distance to the St. Johns River.

Sean unlocked the glove box and grabbed his .45–caliber pistol. He clipped it onto his belt while Erin watched, a small smile returning to her lips. Remembering what she’d said earlier about being turned on by him packing heat sent more blood rushing to his groin.

“Where’s the gun you said you were carrying in the bar?” she asked.

He patted his right ankle and climbed out before he did something stupid. Like smother her sexy mouth with a kiss. Toss her in the backseat and fuck like rabbits.

Sean opened her door and helped her out of his Dodge Charger. She’d pulled off the heels earlier, releasing a deep groan of relief that made his dick stir back to life. He grabbed his ever-present duffel of spare clothes and basic toiletries from the backseat, hit the locks, and followed her as she padded barefoot up a single flight of stairs.

She’d taken her spare key from Tess so she’d have a way into her apartment. It wouldn’t be any good after tomorrow anyway, once they had the locks changed. He stopped her before she slid it in the lock, pulling his gun from its holster.

“Is this the only door into your apartment?” he murmured.

“There’s a slider that opens onto the balcony, but you can’t open it from the outside,” she said, her breathing picking up, eyes going a little wide with alarm.

“Stay here. I’m going to make a quick check of everything inside.”

She gave a jerky nod, leaning against the building’s stucco wall.

Sean took the key and opened the door, then handed it back to her before he entered. Once inside, he went through every room, checking closets, under beds, behind curtains. Lastly, he checked the balcony before he returned to the front door where she waited.

“It’s okay,” he said. Her eyes tracked his gun as he secured it back inside the holster.
Taking the overprotective, alpha-male thing a little far, aren’t you, Rembert?
Okay, maybe pulling his gun in front of her had been a tad overkill. Next thing he knew he’d be thumping his chest and growling.

She let out a breath she must’ve been holding since he’d stepped inside, her shoulders drooping visibly. As soon as they crossed the threshold, and he snapped the door closed, he heard the shoes slip from her fingertips and hit the tile floor. He flipped the dead bolt, slid the chain in the latch.

Erin turned to him, motioning toward a hallway. “The guest bath is… Well, you know where it is now. I’m going to take a very long, very hot shower, so if you want some of that hot water I suggest you jump in there quick. Towels are under the sink. Make yourself at home.”

As she turned to leave, Sean caught her bicep, stopping her. “Erin, wait.” She looked at him warily. He trailed his fingers down her arm before he released her. “If we hadn’t been interrupted tonight by what happened in the bar, what would your answer have been when I asked if you wanted to get out of there?”

She swallowed, pulled her bottom lip through her teeth a few times. Maybe it wasn’t fair of him to ask her that question now, considering the state of mind she was in, but he had to know if she’d been feeling their connection too. For him it had been almost tangible.

“This is all an illusion, not the real me,” she said, gesturing to her hair and clothing. “I don’t dress this way. I don’t even own these clothes; they belong to Tess. This night out was the result of a silly bet I lost to her. She got to pick the place. I had to wear what
she
wanted me to wear, let
her
do my hair and makeup, attempt to be flirty and seductive, all of it to settle the bet.” She hesitated, shifting on her feet like he’d seen her do earlier when she was nervous. “So whatever mold you’ve poured me into, I can assure you it couldn’t be further from reality.”

He plowed a hand through his hair. “All right, fair enough. I admit I was turned on by your appearance at first. I’m a man, after all. Sometimes we think with our little heads first and our big ones second. But give me some credit. I knew after talking to you for thirty seconds you were different, that the outside didn’t quite fit the inside. And yeah, I was shocked when you said you were a doctor, but I took one look into those bottomless blue eyes of yours and knew you were telling the truth.
That
was the woman I was really looking at beneath the sex-kitten appearance. And guess what? She turned me on even more.”

At her headshake, he reined in his frustration.

“All night you’ve dodged telling me anything real about yourself. You wouldn’t have told me you were a doctor if that guy hadn’t collapsed. Why not?”

One smooth, pale shoulder lifted. “Because, in my experience, men don’t like it when women make more money than they do. They hate it even more when that woman oftentimes has to put her career ahead of everything else, including them,” she said.

“Sounds like you’ve dated some real jerks.”

“Perhaps. But then again, I can’t say that I blame them for wanting someone who doesn’t work twelve-hour shifts and is around once in a while when they get home. A doctor’s schedule can be a death sentence for a relationship, no matter how strong it is.”

“Cops’ hours aren’t much different,” he pointed out.

She frowned up at him as if this news had surprised her. “I guess you would know what it’s like then.”