Page 64 of Trapped (Sheppard & Sons Investigations #6)

Ashley

“ C ome here,” Nathan said as soon as I sat in the driver’s seat. He reached over, grabbed my neck and pulled me in for a kiss that was most definitely not suitable for a Sunday morning, or the hospital parking lot.

It wasn’t suitable in the hospital bed either, but that hadn’t stopped him from kissing me senseless any time we were alone over the last four days. Technically, three and a half, but who’s counting?

My lips continued to tingle after I pulled away. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He smiled.

“Good thing I didn’t bring Gran.”

He chuckled. “She would’ve clapped.”

I blushed. Just because he was right didn’t mean I wanted her seeing us making out like horny teenagers.

To say Gran was happy when we announced our engagement would be the understatement of the year.

She would’ve done cartwheels and backflips if she could have.

Instead, she squealed and clapped and hugged us repeatedly.

Gran had insisted on coming to visit John and Nathan every day. Every day, she snuck in homemade snacks, which they loved. Thankfully, Emily had volunteered to stay with Gran during the hours I spent at the hospital with Nathan.

But not today; today I’d dropped her off at SSI before I picked up my fiancé. The word still felt foreign on my tongue, but I liked the sound of it. Nathan was everything I’d wanted in a man, in a partner, but didn’t think I’d ever find.

He was kind, supportive, and generous. Not to mention gorgeous, sexy as sin, and protective as fuck.

“Can we grab food on the way home?” I loved how he referred to Gran’s as home.

We were staying there until we found a place of our own. Gran had argued, insisting we live with her rather than renting until we bought a house. But Nathan was just as stubborn and insisted we needed privacy.

They compromised. We’d rent an apartment, I’d spend my days with Gran while working from home, and we’d have dinner with her most nights.

“Sure,” I agreed. “Are you okay if we stop by SSI first? I need to get something from Meg.”

“That’s fine.” Nathan leaned against the headrest and sighed. “I can’t believe I had to take medical leave two weeks into a new job.” He laughed.

“Are you worried about getting fired?”

“No.” He turned towards me. “Wait, should I be?”

“Of course not. You got hurt saving me.” Not just Nathan but John, AJ, and Jay. Unlike Nathan and John, Jay returned to work the next day, and Blake took AJ home the day after his graft.

Poor AJ, he’d never live down the fact that he now had ass skin on his leg.

Nathan and John needed to stay longer, much to their displeasure. Mary and I bonded as we shared stories of our men complaining non-stop about being laid up in hospital beds. I’d laughed when she said she’d taken John’s phone away, so he’d stop working and get some rest.

Nathan was obnoxiously vocal about wanting to leave. If he’d listened to the doctor and rested, he could have left sooner. But he’d moved around too much and ripped out his stitches. It scared the hell out of me when he’d started bleeding.

“Saving you made every second in the hospital worth it.” He squeezed my hand.

“Didn’t seem that way when you were whining.”

“It’s not my fault I don’t like sitting around doing nothing.”

I mimicked his doctor’s deep voice. “Nathan, healing isn’t doing nothing.”

He held his side as he laughed. “That was awful.”

In the parking lot, I said, “I’ll be a few minutes. You should come in.”

“That works. I can talk to Jamie about coming back on light duty next week.”

“Seriously, you’ve been out of the hospital for less than an hour.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Fine.” I put one hand on my hip and pointed the other at him. “But if you hurt yourself again, I’ll kick your ass.”

His gaze sent shivers down my spine as he looked me up and down. “Noted.”

“Come on, Cowboy. Let’s go.”