"Who?"
"The woman you went out with, the one you dropped off the face of the planet for over the past few days."
Jacob felt the stupid smile cross his lips and couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
"Her name is Isabella Manchelli—Bella. She works at Edible Bliss. She’s a pastry chef and a friend."
"Great," Austin said. "But none of that answered my question."
"Keep it down, she’s asleep."
Austin raised a brow. He looked Bella over, taking in the wild hair, the way her mouth was slightly open, and he smiled. "She’s cute." Bella shifted, turned her head over to the other side, and in the process, lifted up briefly enough to reveal more blood in her hair. Austin’s smile faded. "Tell me she’s not hurt."
"It’s my blood. Tell me what the doctor said."
"X‐ray and MRI were negative, no bullet fragments. Mild concussion. You’re going to hurt like a son of a bitch, but while you’re in here you get morphine. You’re probably going to be woken every two to three hours, but the good news is that the nurse on duty is pretty damn hot. Still, the next time you’re going to be stupid enough to stand on the back stoop of a woman who tends to get her men shot at, the least you could do is wear a vest." He paused and looked over Bella again. "So you’re dating her?"
"Why?"
"Why? Because you met her through a singles club. Seems kind of cheesy, man."
"Should I have met her on a bar stool like you meet your one‐night stands?"
"So she’s a one‐night stand?"
Their gazes met and Jacob sighed. "I don’t know. I can’t think straight. Are you on the merry‐go‐round or am I?"
Cord entered the hospital room at a dead run, or more accurately, a limping run on a leg that hadn’t quite healed yet. Eyes a little wild, he stopped short and gripped the doorjamb. "You were shot."
"Yeah," Jacob said.
"You’re breathing."
"Yeah."
"And wasted," Austin added.
Cord let out a slow, careful breath, then sank to a chair. "I didn’t get details, just a text from Mr. Talkative here, and I—" He broke off with a shake of his head and put a hand to his heart. "Christ, man."
"I’m okay," Jacob said. "Though you’ve split into two. You need some help."
Cord just stared at him. "Christ," he finally said again. He hadn’t been back from his last overseas mission all that long and was still a little jumpy. "What I need is whatever you’re on." He turned to Austin. "Prognosis?"
"Hard head still intact, and expected to make a full recovery," Austin told him. "He’s going to be okay, Cord." Cord nodded but still looking shaken, leaned his head back to the wall. Austin turned to Jacob with a raised brow. "Why don’t you tell baby brother here how you’re on, what, date number three? With the same woman. That woman, in fact." He gestured to a still‐sleeping Bella.
That seemed to knock Cord out of his own thoughts. "She must be a walking fantasy or something." He cocked his head. "Kinda hard to tell with the crazy hair."
"Fantasy," Jacob repeated, brain fuzzy. "We knocked out fantasy number one. Need to move on to fantasy number two."
That had both Austin and Cord giving each other a speculative look. "What’s fantasy number two?" Austin wanted to know.
"Her in her apron and nothing else."
Cord grinned, the hauntedness and hollowness gone from his gaze. "Those must be some good drugs."
Austin took in Jacob’s expression and shook his head. "Oh, Christ."
"What?" Jacob asked, his eyes at half mast now. They were closing on him
without his permission.
"You’ve got that look, the same stupid, love‐struck look that Cord had right before he admitted he’d fallen for Lexi."
"Hey," Cord said. "True, but—hey."
"I’m pretty sure I’m just high," Jacob said in his own defense.
"I actually hope that’s true," Austin said. "Because if you fall, too, that leaves me hanging out here all alone, and even I can’t handle all the single women in town by myself."
Cord grinned. "You can try."
"You still have Wyatt," Jacob said, reminding Austin that their other brother was still single. "He’ll be home soon enough."
A shocked silence echoed between them as Jacob’s words said sank in. "Wait a minute," he said. "I didn’t mean that Iam falling."
They all turned their heads to stare at a still deeply sleeping Bella, and Jacob’s
gut tightened. His heart tightened, too. Typically when he looked at her, his dick tightened, as well, but nothing there. Damn meds.
A little snuffling whimper escaped from Bella, and Jacob stroked her arm with his hand. "Shh," he said. "It’s okay now."
Her frown smoothed out and she let out a shuddery breath.
And just like that, his dick twitched. Good to know he was in fine working order after all.
Austin was staring at him. "You’re soft around her."
"Soft?" He begged to differ.
"You know what I mean." He looked at Bella and then shook his head. "What does she see in you?"
Jacob sighed. "Thanks for coming by."
"But go away?"
"That’d be great."
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