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Dr. Evans gave her a final wave and left the room. When they were alone, Ainsley came back to sit beside her.

“God, is it weird that I’m still so horny?” Rachel asked, wincing a bit as she shifted her bottom on the bed.

Ainsley smirked.

“Well, we were in the middle of unfinished business,” she said.

“That and seeing you be all sexy-bossy when we first got here,” Rachel purred, looping her arms around Ainsley’s neck. “That was hot! I mean, I was in excruciating pain at the time, but it was still hot.”

“Mm-hm. Just don’t get any ideas. We’re done for the night. You’re on the injured list.”

“What?” Rachel squawked. “That’s not fair! I want to keep having fun!”

“Is that so?” Ainsley asked, her voice lowering to a sexy volume.

“Yes,” Rachel murmured, her heartbeat increasing.

“Would you like to start right here in this room?” Ains

ley asked, now ghosting Rachel’s ear with her lips.

“Oh, fuck, baby! Yes, please!”

“Okay, then,” Ainsley said. “Open your legs.”

Rachel’s heart was thudding now.

Hospital sex! Fuck yeah! I wonder if that door locks…

But when she started to spread her thighs…

“Owwwwww! Oh fuck!”

A knife’s-edge sharp pain at the juncture of thigh and pelvis made her cry out and squeeze her eyes shut. She also pounded the mattress with both fists.

Ainsley looked at her with a smug expression on her face.

“We’re done for the night,” she repeated.

Chapter 34

Driving back to Carlsbad from Encinitas, Ainsley held Rachel’s hand as often as road conditions allowed.

She was amazingly happy. Not at Rachel’s injury, of course, but at how right this all felt. Even though their night hadn’t gone exactly as either of them would have envisioned, Ainsley didn’t mind. In fact…

She knew more days and nights wouldn’t go exactly as envisioned. That was just the way life worked. Plans change. Friends cancel. Flights get delayed. Restaurants lose reservations. People get sick. Injuries happen.

Life was full of curveballs; it’s what made it simultaneously frustrating and exciting.

And Ainsley knew more curveballs were coming. But it comforted her to imagine experiencing many of them with Rachel.

She could put up with a delayed flight, for example, if Rachel was with her.

Friends can’t make it out for dinner one night after all? No problem. She and Rachel could just order in.

Car broke down on the highway? Inconvenient, sure. But waiting for a tow truck with Rachel didn’t sound like torture.

Why is that?