Page 36 of Ride or Die (The Body Shop #5)

As soon as my eyes cracked open, I was rolling onto my feet, eager to check on Lucia.

Had I noticed Kierce in bed next to me, I might have hesitated. Damn it. Too late to climb back in now.

“She’s stable,” he told me, watching me flit around for fresh clothes when what I really needed was a shower. “Aretha has been keeping me updated.”

“She’s a smart one.” I yanked on a clean tee and pajama shorts I found on the floor and called it done. “Coming with me?”

A smile on his lips, he slid his fingers through mine. “Try and stop me.”

Unable to help myself, I brought his hand my lips and brushed a lingering kiss on the back.

Cheeks warm from the impulsive action, I led the way out of my apartment and up to Josie’s.

We walked in on Harrow leaning over the chair where Aretha sat, the pair in quiet conversation.

“Frankie.” Aretha whipped her head toward me and shot to her feet, rushing to embrace me. “You’re awake.” She pulled back to search me from head to toe. “How do you feel?” She sniffed my hair. “You smell a little burnt.”

“Sleep did me a world of good.” I jerked my chin toward Lucia, who had opened her eyes. “How’s she?”

“Not dead.” She cut her patient a warning glare. “Not for lack of trying.” She waggled a finger at her. “You are not to get out of this bed for the next forty-eight hours. Minimum. I’ll drop in twice a day to check your progress, and my card is on the nightstand if you need me between visits.”

“I can get a hotel room.” Lucia winced as she attempted to sit upright. “I don’t want to impose.”

“This apartment is vacant.” I grinned when Kierce furrowed his brow at me. “Feel free to use it.”

“Vacant, huh?” Matty invited himself in through the door I hadn’t shut yet, scowling at Kierce. “You and I need to have a talk, man to man, about your intentions toward my sister.”

Eager to shift his focus away from us, I baited him. “Where are Josie and Carter?”

Harrow glanced up from his phone, coughed into his shoulder to hide a laugh, then shoved it into his pocket.

That wasn’t suspicious at all.

“On that note, I’m out.” Aretha chuckled under her breath. “I’ll see you crazy kids later.”

“I’ll, uh, walk you.” Harrow massaged his nape as she stepped past him. “Would you like to go?—?”

The door slammed behind him, robbing me of the rest of the question, but I could guess.

“They’ll make a cute couple,” Matty decided and then yawned. “I can’t hold my eyes open.”

“Go rest.” I nudged him toward the door. “You’ve earned it.”

As soon as he made his exit, I turned to Lucia, who stared past me to Kierce.

“He stays.” I nodded when he went to the kitchen to pour me a drink.

“I might never let him out of my sight again.” I rolled my lips in, wishing I hadn’t blurted that out.

“Anyway.” I cleared my throat, only coughing a little.

“Ithas is gone. You don’t have to worry about him. He won’t bother you again.”

“Thanks, kid.” A heavy sigh moved through her, leaving her slumped against her pillows. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“You’ve been working toward this goal for a long time. I couldn’t have done it without you. You’re welcome to stay longer, after you’ve healed, I mean, if you want a quiet place to think on what comes next.”

“I wish I could, but my handler is breathing down my neck to get back to work.”

“Ah.” I dipped my gaze. “I get that.”

The offer had fallen out of my mouth before I could catch it.

I hadn’t expected her to accept it, so I don’t know why her rejection hit so hard.

It wasn’t like I had ever wanted a mother, so it was silly to get upset over losing one I barely knew.

Especially when I was grateful she had come through for me when it counted the most.

“You guys do Christmas?”

“Christmas?” I jerked my head up to find her watching me. “Yeah.”

“I could swing by then.” She tugged the sheet through her fingers. “Drop off a present or something.” She cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t hang around and make it awkward. I just thought?—”

“Yes,” I blurted before she changed her mind. “That would be great.”

“Good.” A subtle warmth softened her eyes before they slid shut. “Good.”

Wincing from the burn, I pulled out the thumbtack and set it on the nightstand to let her know I had made my choice. To forget. To quit looking back. To only move forward from now on.

I jumped when Kierce set his hand on my shoulder, but I let him guide me out of the apartment onto the landing and press a plastic cup into my hand. Lucia needed to rest, and I didn’t want to wreck our tentative holiday plans by hovering over her like a creeper.

As I sipped, a warm breeze swirled hair into my eyes that Kierce tucked behind my ear.

With a fingertip, he traced the curve of my cheek. “You gave away my apartment.”

“About that.” I sawed my teeth over my bottom lip. “I was kind of hoping you would move in with me.”

“Move in.” His eyes sprang wide. “With you.”

“Damn it. I knew I should have asked first. I just thought, after everything?—”

“Yes.” His lips crashed into mine. “I will move in with you.”

Caught up in the moment, I didn’t stop him in time, but I shoved him back quick. “Toothbrush.”

Morning breath had only compounded the ickfest happening inside my ashy mouth.

A low growl vibrated in his chest, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t like this slightly feral side of him.

Without missing a beat, he scooped me up and tossed me over his shoulder, the plastic cup tumbling from my hand and down the stairs ahead of us.

“Hey,” I squeaked out, not minding the view one bit. “Is this really necessary?”

“Yes,” he rumbled, voice tight, focused on getting us to my apartment and through the door.

After punching in my keycode, which he had long since memorized, he strode toward the bathroom and deposited me in front of the mirror. Then he leaned a shoulder against the doorway, staring me down as if he fully intended to watch me brush my teeth.

“A little privacy?”

“No.” His eyes glittered like galaxies. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

A flush rose up my nape, but us Marys had spent plenty of years with a single bathroom or no bathroom between us.

That meant throwing elbows and stomping feet to get your turn.

This wasn’t that. Kierce wasn’t vying with me for use of the facilities.

He was simply watching. It might have weirded me out, well, weirded me out more , if the heat in his eyes hadn’t ignited a similar flame low in my gut.

Quickly, and with as little mess as possible, I scrubbed my teeth clean then rinsed and spat.

Arms folded across his chest, fingers tapping his upper arm, Kierce asked, “Feel better?”

“Much.” I threw some sway into my hips as I approached him, planted a hand on his abs, and rose onto my tiptoes to blow in his face. “Minty fresh.” I grinned as muscles flexed under my palm then shoved him stumbling back. “See you in a few.”

Slamming the door, I locked it fast, cackling when I heard him growl on the other side.

Growly Kierce was fast becoming my favorite.

I showered in record time, brushed my teeth again, just to be safe, then emerged from the bathroom on a cloud of steam dressed in a clean tee and shorts pajama set plus my underwear.

Because I was mean like that. And maybe I wanted Kierce to work for it. Not that he would have to work hard, but still.

“I shaved,” I informed him, hooking my leg around his upper thigh. “I’m as smooth as a dolphin?—”

Kierce gripped my hips, lifting me over his shoulder, and marched to the bed. He unslung me, tossing me onto the mattress. I bounced once, landing in the center. I spluttered a wild laugh that died in my throat as he climbed up my body until his knees bracketed my hips.

“I want you.” His gaze roved over my body like he couldn’t decide where to start. “Do you want this?”

“I’ve been wanting to tear into your pants like a candy wrapper for a while now,” I confessed with a faint rasp that drew his focus to my mouth. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

Leaning down until our chests brushed, he trailed his lips across my jaw. “I remember.”

Snapping out of the moment, I pushed back on his shoulders. “What do you mean?”

There was no way of knowing how long Kierce would get to keep his memories, or me mine, but fear cut through my desire that he had recalled something that changed his mind. About this. About us .

“I remember how to do this.”

“This?” I gave the cocktail of desire and worry a moment to clear. “Oh.” A frown cut my mouth. “Oh.”

Did that mean he was thinking about having sex with someone else? Now? Using his memory like a how-to manual? No. That was just silly. Paranoid. I didn’t think about old lovers while I was in bed with a new one. Unless the sex was bad. Oh, God. Did he need help from visual aids to get through this?

Dammit.

I was psyching myself out.

“You don’t sound pleased about it.” He studied me. “I thought it would come as a relief.”

Until I lost the chance to play tutor, I hadn’t realized I had been looking forward to it.

It would have been fun. For both of us. I would have made certain of it.

But I couldn’t help noticing a boost in his confidence that hadn’t been there when we fooled around the previous times. That was a good thing.

“I’ll take you any way I can get you.” I rested a hand over his heart. “I’m just overthinking it.”

“Mmm.” Those bright eyes pinned me in place as he trailed a finger from my nose, over my lips, past my chin. “Do you honestly believe I could think of anyone else while I’m here, with you?”

“You read me too easily.” I mashed my lips together. “Am I that obvious?”

A smile teasing the corners of his mouth was all the answer I got before his focus shifted lower.

Slowly, he transformed his left index finger into a black claw. I nodded the okay, and he hooked it into my shirt collar, shredding it down the middle. Fabric pooled at my sides as he made a second cut to free me of my bra.