Unexpected Love

by Melissa Price

“Take your jeans off.”

  She half laughed, sure he was joking, “What?”

  “I said take your jeans down. I want to see it.”

  “I can go to the bathroom and look at it. It’s just sore, maybe a bruise.” She was pulling at the hem of her t-shirt. When she looked down, she realized there was blood on her clothes. Little children’s blood.

  She sank onto the bed. The accident emotions came back full force. Her eyes filled with tears. “I couldn’t help her, Sean. I told her she would be okay.”

  He stooped down next to her, “You saved two children. The other girl, Alice I think, the medics said if she had not gotten your help she would have died at the scene before they could have cut her out. You saved her life, Taylor.”

  “It doesn’t make me feel any better.”

  “I know but you have to remember the other two. You are the most selfless, courageous, kindest woman I have ever known.” He looked almost embarrassed after he said it.

  She gave him a slight smile, “That’s going to be hard to live up to.”

  He said in a huskier voice, “It’s just who you are, you don’t have to try; it’s natural.”

  He stood up. “Taylor, take the jeans off or pull them down. I don’t care which. But if you don’t, I will.” He said it in his best cop voice, she thought.

  “You and what army?”

  He leaned over her, “I’m not kidding. You do it or I will.”

  She looked at him. He could probably scare most people he came up against, but not her.

  He could see the almost defiant look in her eyes. He said softly, “Don’t make me manhandle you.”

  He watched her tilt her head ever so slightly and he knew she was thinking about it. He waited. She gave in. She pulled her jeans down to her knees and stretched her shirt to cover as much as possible. She looked at the shallow cut on her thigh.

  Sean told her to sit still. He came back with some liquid to clean the cut and some bandages. He poured the liquid onto a square of gauze and started to dab the cut. He was very aware of her bare skin and shapely legs. His hands were shaking ever so slightly.

  When the liquid touched her skin, she drew in a hissy breath. He looked up at her and smiled. “Sorry, it needs to be cleaned so it doesn’t get infected.”

  She just nodded. She was hoping the goose bumps on her arms were not going to spread to her legs. She ran her hands up her arms, which she realized was a mistake when he glanced up at her arms.

  When he was done, he put a light dressing over it and taped it in place. His fingers rubbing on her skin to press the tape down were torture. As soon as he was done he stood up, said good night, and left quickly.

  Thirty-four

  After she had changed, she felt restless and uneasy. She didn’t consider her actions, she just went barefoot down to his room. His door was open.

  “Sean? Can I come in?” She saw he was lying in bed. Maybe she should have let him rest. Considering the way he had just made her feel while cleaning and bandaging her leg, maybe this wasn’t the best idea. Well, too late now. He was looking at her.

  “Sure.” He answered. He tried to sound casual. He felt anything but.

  She saw the tank top he was wearing. It showed off muscles and smooth skin. She walked over to the bed and crawled over him. His bed on one side was up against the wall. She could not have crawled over the footboard to get on the bed.

  She sat facing him. “Have you ever seen a bad accident before?”

  “Yes, worse than that one. I try not to think about it.”

  “I can’t stop thinking about it, Sean.”

  His fingers lightly brushed her face, “I know. It will take time.”

  She laid down on the covers, her head on her arm as they talked for a while. She asked about his day and told him about shopping with Maggie. She also told him about how Maggie had met Walter.

  “I didn’t know that. Guess it’s not really something she would tell me.”

  She talked about anything to not think about the accident.

  He didn’t move her when she fell asleep but he did cover her up.

  She woke up as she usually did and realized she was still in his bed. She could see the outline of his body. He was laying on his side, facing away from her. She didn’t want to wake him so she decided to just lay there. Normally, she would have gotten a drink or gone to the restroom, but she would have to crawl over him to do either.

  She was wide awake and restless. She had never slept in a man’s bed before. Hmm, what to do? She did not want the memories of the accident creeping into her mind. She started softly humming. She stared at the ceiling and kept humming.

  He rolled over onto his back and rubbed a hand on his face, “What are you doing?”

  “What? Me? I’m just laying here. Minding my own business.” She tried to sound innocent.

  “Are you humming a pirate song?”

  “Shanty.”

  “What?”

  ”Pirate shanty.”

  “Whatever. It’s two o’clock in the morning.”

  He sounded a little testy. “Are you grumpy?”

  He was still trying to wake up, “What?”

  “Grumpy. You’re grumpy at 2 a.m. in the morning.”

  “I have to go to work in a few hours. Go back to sleep.”

  “Yep, definitely grumpy.” She said it with an awed tone.

  “Taylor, go to sleep.” He said it in a more forceful tone. He was tired and he needed to get some more rest before he went on duty.

  “Wow. Grumpy and testy.” She giggled.

  He sighed. This wasn’t what he had in mind for the first night sleeping with her. He closed his eyes, “I’m not grumpy. I’m tired.”

  “Oh, is that what you call it? Well, just for your information, it’s called grumpy.” She turned away from him and closed her eyes.

  She couldn’t resist saying, “Admission is the first step to recovery.”

  He almost growled, “Taylor.”

  “I’m just saying.” She giggled, “What is the next phase in recovery? I think anger.”

  Sean sighed loudly but said nothing. She couldn’t see the grin on his face.

  “I’ll be very quiet. Don’t want you getting angry like a hibernating bear being awakened in the middle of a cold wintery, snowy night.

  He managed to keep from laughing, “Taylor.”

  “You know my name.”

  He sighed exaggeratedly.

  “Okay, okay.” It was fun teasing him. She had never had anyone to bother in the wee hours of the morning before.

  Thirty-five

  Sean was gone when she woke up. The floor people came to do the floors in the house. Sean had told her they came twice a year. She sat on the couch while they cleaned and polished the hardwood floor. When they left, she decided to go to the gym.

  She wasn’t sure she was much stronger, but it would take time. She usually waited for Sean and she liked watching him workout. He ran on the treadmill and she had given him a hard time about it. But he usually wore a t-shirt or tank top and she could see his muscles.

  Yep, she liked watching him. She noticed other women would look over at him too. The treadmills were across from the machine she worked on so she had a good vantage point and he usually would look over at her often and smile or sometimes wink at her and mouthed, “Keep going.”

  She would rather go with Sean but he had been working extra hours and he wanted to get home when he got off. She still didn’t like doing the exercising and she told him so whenever they left. He always just laughed and shook his head at her.

  When she was done she stopped and talked to Derrick. He surprised her by saying he would ask her out if she wasn’t already taken. Taken? She must have given him a funny look because he just grinned and said, “I don’t mess with a cop’s girlfriend.”

  As she walked to the door, she thought about what he said. Was that the impression he got? She knew Sean would not have said anything.

  Befo
re she stepped outside, she texted Sean.

  Sorry I woke you up but you were grumpy no matter how much you deny it.

  In just a few minutes, he texted her back. I don’t get grumpy you must have been dreaming.

  She replied. Ha. You wish.

  He texted back. I can show you grumpy if you want.

  She grinned when she read it. He was not going to admit he was grumpy but she would keep reminding him.

  After she left the gym, she decided to stop at the garage and check on her car. She was almost reluctant to go, not sure why. The place was as she remembered. The smell of oil, gas, and sweat hung in the air. It was not the cleanest place, but she imagined most small garages probably were not. Except maybe for dealerships, which she had always gone to. They were usually clean but there was still the oil smell.

  When she asked for Billy, the receptionist or secretary or whatever she was, pointed to a door. She found Billy, his hands permanently stained with grease and who knew what else, overalls smeared with dirt, taking a break at his desk, eating a sandwich. He greeted her with a warm smile.

  Billy told her all the parts but one were in and that one was a custom make and the factory was not operating at full capacity due to the bad weather they were experiencing. Taylor had watched the weather channel. That area of the country was getting slammed by a big winter storm and it had stalled, producing snow, heavy winds, and power outages. They had estimated close to 300,000 people were now out of power already.

  As she turned to leave, Billy called out, “Thanks for paying for the parts. I had to pay for them since I was invoiced.”

  Paid? She hadn’t paid him a dime. What was he talking about? She tried to sound casual, “How much was it again?”

  He gave her an odd look, “Seven hundred eighty-seven dollars.”

  She walked out and got into the car. It had to be Sean. What was he thinking? How could he? She picked up her cell phone to give him a piece of her mind and demand he take her re-payment to him immediately. Still, he was on duty. She put the phone down. When he got home he was going to get an earful.

  As soon as Sean walked into the house he saw the tension in her body, her arms folded across her chest as she stood there staring at him.

  “What?” He looked at her with a slight frown. He knew trouble when he saw it.

  “What? You paid for my car, didn’t tell me, and didn’t tell me it was for more than he had originally said. How could you? I could have paid it, you know. I don’t have a lot of money but I was ready to pay.” She stomped up to him and thrust a check in his face. “Take it.”

  He didn’t move. She put the check in his pocket and walked into the kitchen.

  He pulled the check out. It was for the entire amount. He could only assume she had talked to Billy. He had been trying to help her. He had needed the money right then so Sean had paid with his card. She was definitely mad but he wasn’t really sure why. He laid the check down on the coffee table and went to the kitchen.

  Her back was stiff as she pulled open the oven. She tried to pull out the pan but she almost dropped it and he rushed over and took it from her. Their shoulders brushed and her goose bumps started popping up on her arms. Dammit. She was mad at him, but he still made her tingle.

  When he had set the hot pan on the stove he said quietly, “Billy needed the money immediately so I just paid it. I know you can pay for it and you can pay me back, but you don’t have to pay it all back at once. It’s a lot of money. I was trying to help you.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I guess I was waiting because I was afraid it would make you mad. And I was right. A lot has been going on recently and it wasn’t important enough to worry about.” Well, he hadn’t been afraid to tell her exactly, but he knew she was stubborn sometimes and would probably not like it.

  She sighed, “I’ll pay you $150 a month. Is that okay?” It was a big chunk out of her savings and he had been trying to help. Maybe she could find a part-time job soon.

  “That’s fine.”

  “I made baked chicken. Do you want some?”

  He grinned, grateful that it was over, “Would I turn down your food?”

  During dinner, she told him about baking cookies later in the week for the school with Maggie.

  “Yeah, that was a bad situation. Cookies would be nice. I’m sure the kids will be excited.”

  “I went to the gym today.”

  “You starting to like it finally?”

  “It’s still boring.” She did not add especially when he was not there.

  He laughed. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get you to like it. But you’re doing it, that’s what counts.”

  “When do you start working nights?”

  He gave her a quick look, was she nervous about it? “It’s only for two days, not sure when but this week or next week. They are a lot of people out sick right now so they need to shift us around.”

  “Do you like nights?”

  “Not really, but it’s usually quieter. Oh guess what? I made the SWAT team. Found out today.”

  “Wow, that’s great. What does that mean for you?”

  “Oh, I will get called out to special operations if needed. I had to go through a lot of training to make it and a lot of testing. We have to train once a month. I get a pay raise too.”

  She gave him a warm smile, “Congratulations.” Was that putting him in more danger? She had watched some reality cop show on TV and it was not an easy job. She didn’t want to ask. “Is John on the team?”

  “No. He says he’s too old. It’s a promotion and I had really wanted it.” It didn’t seem as important as it was a few months ago, he pondered. He was not sure why exactly. He loved being a cop. It was all he had ever wanted to do for a career.

  She took her shoes off and sat on the couch next to him as they watched TV. During a commercial, she got up to get a drink and offered him one.

  “Sure, water is good.”

  She came back carrying two bottles of water and walked too fast on the newly polished floor. Her socks were slippery and before she could stop or slow down, her feet went out from under and she landed on the floor.

  Sean hurried over and tried to ask if she was okay, but he slipped and ended up next to her. She was laughing so hard, she was crying. He started to laugh, “I forgot to tell you the floors are really slippery for the first couple of days.”

  “You seem to have forgotten yourself.” She was still laughing.

  “Let me put my shoes on before I get you up.” She laughed as he carefully walked back to the couch and put on his tennis shoes. Then he came back over and pulled her up. She stopped laughing when he bent his head and gave a quick kiss on the lips.

  On the way upstairs, she said over her shoulder, “Try not to be too grumpy later.”

  “I told you I’m never grumpy. You were dreaming.”

  “Right.” She giggled, “Good night.”

  Thirty-six

  The next evening when Sean came home, he had bruises on his face and his knuckles were scrapped. She gasped, “What happened?”

  “We had a run in with two smartass teenagers. They were trying to steal a couple of bicycles but someone saw them hacking at the chains and called the police. When we got there, they started to run. John took the car and I ran after them. I heard one of them tell the other one to keep running, they could outrun me.” He smirked. “Actually what he said was that I was not going to be able to catch them because cops ate too many donuts and did not like to run.”

  She giggled, “I told you to lay off those donuts. Guess you proved him wrong.”

  “Yeah. They tried knocking down trash cans, throwing a laundry basket on the ground, and jumping a short wall. The one kid said, he didn’t think I was going to stop. He said ‘Bro, he’s too fast.’ The other one said to just keep running. I’d give up and quit soon.”

  “I bet he was scared. You weren’t doing what he thought you would be doing. I might be scared if you
were shouting and running after me.”

  “I was determined to get a least one of them. Except when I got him, he decided to fight. I won by the way.”

  “I have no doubts that you would have. Did you catch the other one?”

  “John did. And I have serious doubts you would be scared of me.”

  “You never know. Big strong cop that gets grumpy…”

  Sean rolled his eyes. She laughed. ‘Anything else exciting happen today?”

  He grinned, “We caught two people making out in the back of their car. An old lady had walked by and saw them going at it and called it in.”

  “Oh no. That was probably way more than she wanted to see.”

  He laughed, “More than I wanted to see too.”

  She giggled. He didn’t tell her it was a married man making out with his assistant. Sean did not understand why anyone would jeopardize their marriage and life to just get some sex. Not that he didn’t really, really like sex, it was just not worth the risk.

  When they were sitting on the couch watching the food channel, she looked over at him during a commercial. Her fingers touched his bruised face lightly, “Does it hurt?”

  He stared at her and shook his head no. He pulled her close and kissed her. She almost sighed, it felt so good. The heat spread across her body and they forgot about the TV. When they came up for air, she smiled a dreamy smile at him. He bent his head and kissed her neck, her ear. His hand slipped up under her shirt and she stopped him. “Sean.”

  She spoke hesitantly, hoping he would understand. “Sean, I know it might sound silly, but I’m not ready for this.”

  He gave her a smile, “That’s okay. I understand.” He tried to reign in his spiraling emotions and realized he was feeling shaken. He prided himself on his ability to keep his cool, but with her he was having trouble in that area. He wasn’t sure he did understand but he would wait. She had been through a lot over the past several months and he knew being weak still bothered her. And her mother had made her feel guilty even if she would not admit it.

  She gave him a happy smile, glad he wasn’t going to push her.