I do. I really, really do. Working nights is killing me and I’d love to be able to stop.

“Well yes, but . . .”

He looks back to me. “Then help me out here.”

“You want me to work for you? With you? Here?”

He snorts. “You make that sound like the worst thing anyone has ever suggested to you.”

“Blade,” I say softly as he tears an alcohol wipe open with his teeth and wipes my knee gently. I flinch. “You have a lady. I thought we were going to avoid doing . . . this.”

“Yeah,” he says, still wiping my knee. “I do have a lady and I love her. Stop fretting. You told me it was done so we need to move on. I’m not going to go there, but if you’re not comfortable say no.”

He loves her.

He. Loves. Her.

That hurts. I do my best not to let it show. Thankfully he’s studying my knee.

“Okay,” I finally say. “But I go to school at different times. If you’re cool with me coming in when I’m not there, I’ll do it.”

He looks up now, narrows his eyes, and says nothing but, “Great.”

Great. That’s it? That was easy.

“And you want me to start . . . when?”

“Tomorrow. Eight. I’ll pay you good money, enough for you live on.”

Oh. Great. I hadn’t even thought of that.

“Okay, and what do you want me to do?”

He drops the bloody wipe and gets another one. “Paperwork, filing, accounts . . . things like that.”

I don’t know a mass amount about those things, but it sounds easy enough. I did do some classes in school so I think I can pull it off. Google will help me.

“Okay.”

He nods and wipes my knee until it’s clean. “Jesus, you really took some skin off.”

I laugh. “That’s what happens when you’re running like a stick has been poked right up your ass.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, you were like a bat out of hell.”

“What’s the verdict, doctor?” I say, watching his fingers moving over my skin. “Will I need to amputate?”

He looks up at me with a grin that stops my heart. I can’t wipe my own smile, so he can’t see the pain that causes. “There’s a good chance. How will you ever live without this baby?” He wiggles my leg in his hands.

“It’ll be a long, hard journey.”

He shakes his head with a smile and gets back to work. I sit back, watching his fingers work, and I can’t help but love how amazing they feel on my legs. His touch is gentle and he moves with grace. He quickly patches my left knee up and moves to the right. He takes my skirt and slides it up higher, and my breath hitches. He looks up at me from under those thick lashes and I have to look away in order to avoid eye contact.

“This is a nice skirt.”

Oh boy.

“Ah, thanks.”

He runs, yes runs, his fingers down until he reaches my knee again. He starts cleaning it up. My heart is pounding so hard I can hardly breathe, but I keep it together as best I can. When he’s done, he leans back and cleans up. I watch as he puts the first-aid kit away. I let my eyes slide down over his ass in those ripped jeans. Yum. The door opening causes me to jump and I turn around to see Peyton standing in the doorway, holding bags of Chinese food. Her eyes flick to me, then to my knees and her eyes widen. “What happened Aria?”

I look down. “I fell on the road. My car broke down just a few blocks down.”

“Oh, that looks like it hurts. Lucky Blade’s garage is so close.”

“Yeah,” I murmur. “Lucky.”

“Hey baby,” she croons to Blade.

Yuck. I need to leave.

“Hey honey.”

Honey. Stab me.

“I brought Chinese.”

Exit left, Aria.

“I’m going to go,” I say, standing and stumbling forward before catching my footing. “Thanks Blade.”

I rush out the door like, well, a bat out of hell. I rush out the front and realize that I have no way to get home. Fuck my life. I guess a cab it is. I shuffle through my purse to find my phone when a hand touches my shoulder. I squeal and spin around to see Blade. He’s staring at me with an amused expression on his face.

“You want me to give you a ride?”

I’d like very much for him to ride me.

Snap out of it, Aria.

“Um,” I say. “No, that’s okay. I’ll call a cab.”

“It’s fine, it’ll take me five minutes. Peyton has an hour.”

“Oh, okay well thanks.”

“Give me a minute, I’ll grab my keys.”

He turns and jogs off and I wait like a tool on the sidewalk. When he gets back, he leads me to his truck and we climb in. He starts the drive home.

“How’s school going?”

I shrug. “It’s fine.”

“Fine?”

I look to him. “Yeah, fine. Studying is never cool.”

He laughs. “Nah, you’re right about that.”

We sit in silence, and when he pulls up at my house I turn and smile. “Thanks, and I’ll, ah, see you tomorrow?”

He looks at me. “Yeah. Later darlin’.”

Darlin’. This man is killing me.

“Okay, well, bye.”

I climb out of the truck and rush off.

What did I just get myself into?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

One week later