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I scowled. “Don’t test me. Otherwise, I’ll make sure your sponge bath water is cold.”

“Yes,ma’am.”

“You’re learning.”

The lines of pain around his eyes melted away. The medication was having its desired effect. He was having a harder time focusing on my face. He yawned, and his eyes closed. “Learning what?” he asked sleepily.

“That I’m in charge.”

He yawned again. “You’re just now figuring that out? Amateur.”

I glanced at him, but Jimmy was asleep. What did that mean? Was he trying to tell me I was bossy? I already knew that.

***

Jimmy meekly took hispain meds when he woke from his nap, and I settled on the other couch to watch TV before his serial yawns signaled it was time to maneuver him into our bedroom.

“Ready for bed, big guy?”

Oh, how I wished I was saying those words under different circumstances. My energy levels were steadily rebounding from my surgery, and with it my hornier tendencies. Jimmy’s broad shoulders stretched the T-shirt he’d come home in. I’d massacred a pair of his sweatpants to fit them over his cast. His rumpled appearance peeled away the façade of professionalism he wore like armor outside the house. The real Jimmy was on display, gooey sweet center and all.

He smiled back sleepily. “Probably for the best.”

I reached out a hand. “Up you go, then.”

He grunted as he levered himself into a sitting position, then used my arm to brace himself standing up. I handed Jimmy his crutches and followed behind as he wobbled like a milk-drunk toddler toward our bedroom.

We both breathed a sigh of relief when Jimmy made it safely to our bed after a pit stop in the bathroom to brush his teeth. I’d paced outside the door, listening for any signs of falling the entire time he’d been inside on his own. The way our luck had been, he’d fall and break the rest of the bones in his body.

He cleared his throat before giving me a heavy-lidded smile. “You’re going to have to help me out here, angel.”

Any angelic qualities had left the building. Jimmy’s light stubble and rakish grin were firing impulses that had nothing to do with inciting virtue. My mouth was dry as I responded hoarsely. “With what?”

Hah. Innocent. Angelic. Not really. Try horny.

Jimmy’s gaze roved over my body in his T-shirt. His shirt was large enough to hide most of my figure, but the soft gray fabric still rustled against my skin like a butterfly caress when I moved. I couldn’t help but shift from side to side, tightening my thighs to ease the sudden ache.

Jimmy reached to the hem of his own shirt, slowly stripping it over his head. I bit my lip to hold back a moan that turned into a sigh. I couldn’t help visually tracing the line of fine hair from the waist of his sweatpants up over his firm chest. Jimmy’s quirked lip let me know he’d caught me. Busted.

I cleared my throat. “You look fine to me.”

Truer words. More than fine. I wanted to ride him like a carousel, tracing the fine chiseled chest. Up and down and round and round until I found that brass ring. My hands itched to touch him.

“Well, I’d be more comfortable if I could get these sweats off. It’s going to be too hot if I sleep in them.”

I’d be too hot if he took them off. Fanning myself would be a dead giveaway. Instead, I rolled my shoulders back to stretch out the sudden tension.

“Sure, I can help with that.”

And a whole heck of a lot more. All he needed to do was ask. I moved in closer, leaning over his prone body and reaching for the waistband of his sweatpants. The soft nubs of the fabric were in direct contrast to his hot skin, and I made the mistake of looking up into his face. Jimmy’s hungry expression as he adjusted his gaze from my gaping T-shirt to my mouth was not lost on me. He was right there. So close. I only had to lean forward an inch and our lips would connect.

Jimmy reached up to grasp my hips, and I held back the plea for him to kiss me with effort. The firm brand of his fingers wrapping around my hipbones made it impossible to focus. Jimmy’s eyes crinkled as a slow smile spread across his face.

“I thought of something else you can help me with,” he said.

His strong hands urged my hips forward until I was seated against his groin, and I could no longer hold back the moan that followed. He’d notched our bodies together so I could feel how hard he was. Ready. He leaned forward, grazing his lips across my collarbone, sending goose bumps to battle with the heat growing between us. He reached for my face, cupping my cheeks to bring my mouth to his. Heavenly. His kiss started out with a gentle sweep across mine, but we quickly lost any regard for gentle. Hard. Driving. Consuming.

I ground my hips against his, enjoying the friction as our kisses deepened and grew more urgent. I leaned back slightly to reach for the waistband of his pants again, and Jimmy groaned. Not pleasure. Pain.