“It was a graze,” Levi says. “Just took a chunk of flesh out. It’ll heal.”
“Who did it?”
“Perp,” Levi says with a shrug and yawns as he falls onto the bed. He’s snoring before Jace can ask any more questions.
“Damn it,” Jace mutters, looking at Levi with worried eyes. “I’m sorry I missed the call.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad I was around to go get him. I didn’t realize your parents were on vacation.”
“Belize,” he says with a nod. “And Wyatt and Lia left for L.A. this morning.”
“That’s what he said. I’m going to run upstairs to get my thermometer.”
Jace nods, and I rush upstairs and back again in less than twenty seconds. “His temp is normal.”
“We’ll watch him for fever,” Jace says. “But if the hospital cleaned him up, he should be okay.”
“We’ll watch him anyway,” I agree and pat his shoulder. “Let’s let him sleep.”
“You must be feeling better,” he comments as we walk into the kitchen.
“Much better today,” I confirm. “I’m just a little tired and achy, especially in my hips.” I rub them and rock back and forth. “Probably from all the lying around I did. But I’m not throwing up every ten minutes.”
“Thank God.” He pulls me in for a big hug and replaces my hands on my hips with his own, rubbing firmly. “I hate it when you’re sick. Let’s not do that again anytime soon.”
“Deal.”
“Now we have Levi to take care of, at least for today. And believe me when I say, he’s going to be a dick when he wakes up.”
“Not good at being injured, huh?”
“No.”
“He wanted me to take him home, but I refused. I didn’t think he should be alone on the medication.”
“Good call.” He sighs and rubs his eyes. “I got a call from the hospital.”
“And?”
“I have a meeting with them on Monday morning.”
“That’s, like, a week away.”
“No, it’s a few days away,” he says with a laugh. “You lost a few days there from being sick. It’s Friday afternoon, sweetheart.”
“Oh.” I frown and shake my head. “Well, that sucks that you have to wait all weekend to find out what’s going on.”
“What’s two more days?” he asks with a shrug. “If you’re feeling up to it, I’d like to take you out to dinner tomorrow night.”
“Sounds good. In the meantime, I’m fixing tacos tonight.”
“Sounds great.”
“Real food actually sounds good. I’m taking that as a good sign.”
“Me, too.” He pulls me in and kisses me soundly for the first time all week. “I’ve missed you.”
“You’ve been with me every day.”
“Not the way I want to be.” He tugs me closer and slides his hand over my ass as he presses his erection to my belly.
“Your brother is injured in the other room.”
“He’s asleep,” he reminds me. “Knocked out cold. And we have plenty of time before dinner.”
I smile, take his hand, and lead him upstairs. “How will we ever fill the time?”
“I have plenty of ideas, sweetheart.”
~Jace~
“I can’t believe my car died,” Joy grumbles next to me, scowling out the window of my Audi as I drive her to work.
“I don’t know why you haven’t replaced it yet,” I say lightly. “You’ve had that car forever.”
“Six years,” she says with a sigh. “I was trying to eke out every drop of life it had.”
“I’d say you accomplished that. I can go with you to buy a new one tomorrow.”
I have plans for tonight. Big plans. Well, I will have big plans after I drop her off.
“I guess I don’t have a choice,” she says and swallows hard. “Also, isn’t this flu supposed to be gone? Why am I still a little nauseated?”
“It can take up to two weeks to make its way through your system.” I frown over at her and press my hand to her forehead. No fever. “Maybe you should stay home.”
“No.” She shakes her head adamantly. “No way. I need to work. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to hurt your feelings because of your work situation—”
“I get it,” I reply. “Trust me, I get it.”
“I’ll be fine. I asked Susan to pick up some ginger ale yesterday, and I’ll just sip on that. Are you going to be okay with the puppies?”
“Of course.” I pull into the parking lot of her clinic and smile at her as she unclips her belt. “Have a good day, dear.”
She snorts out a laugh. “I’ll call you when I’m ready to come home. It’ll probably be around seven.”
“Sounds good. Don’t forget we’re going out for dinner tonight. I love you.”
She smiles softly, the way she always does when I tell her I love her. “I love you, too. Have a good day.”
And with that, she hurries inside, and I shift into planning mode.
I call Noel, listening to it ring through the speakers of my car as I pull away from the clinic.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Noel, it’s Jace.”
“What’s up?”
“I need your help.” I take a deep breath, trying to keep the butterflies at bay. “I need to come up with a plan for this evening.”
“For what?”
“I’m going to propose to Joy.”
There’s silence on the other end. It makes me frown. “Noel?”
“Well, I just think that’s the sweetest thing.” She sniffles. “I’m so happy for you both. And I’m relieved that you finally came to your senses and realized that you were made for each other.”
“Focus,” I say with a smile. “I need you to help me come up with a plan.”
“Okay. Come over to my house, and we’ll figure it out.”
“Thanks.”
I end the call and drive to Noel’s, which isn’t too far away from Joy’s house. She’s waiting on her porch for me with a sappy smile on her face.
“You’re going to be my brother-in-law.”
“Are you going to be mushy about this? Because you’re no help to me like this.”
“Hey, my sister only gets engaged once every thirty years or so,” she says with a smirk. “Let me enjoy it.”
“I was thinking that I could rent a helicopter tour over the Sound or something.”
She frowns. “Joy gets motion sick.”
“Oh, right.” I push my fingers into my eye sockets and sigh. “I knew that. I don’t know why this is making me stupid.”
“Because you want to get it right, which I think is fantastic. Do you want some coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
She brews me a cup, and we’re quiet as we try to think of the best way to do this.
“It’s raining today,” she says.
“I know, which rules out anything outside.”
“Don’t you have something that you love to do together? Like a favorite restaurant, or something like that?”
“Yeah, but that seems cliché.”
“You also can’t be cheesy,” she says as she sets my coffee in front of me with sugar and cream to doctor it up myself.
I take it black.
“That’s why I’m here,” I remind her.
“You could send her on a scavenger hunt all over town to places that mean a lot to you both and then you’re waiting at the end with the ring.” She smiles, pleased with herself.
“I have today to figure this out.”
“Why did you wait until the last minute?”
“I didn’t. I just know that today is the day I want to propose.”
“You’ve had fifteen years to figure this out,” she mutters and sighs. “Okay, how about this? You get a prescription bottle, and you have them make a label that says the prescription is Will You Marry Me? and that the ailment is love.”