Free Dreams of Ivory by Carrie Ann Ryan

was totaled, her body ached, she wanted a man who probably wanted something different, and now she didn’t really have a place to escape to when things went downhill with Jackson.
    Which they would.
    Again.
    “Seriously, Honor? You’re freaking out over someone touching your stuff, yet you almost died tonight.”
    She closed her eyes and rested her head on the pillow. “I know. I’m an idiot. I can’t believe that guy ran that stop sign and drove off.”
    “I’ll kill him when I find him,” Jackson growled.
    “No, you won’t, Jacks, but thanks for saying it. You might act all growly, but you wouldn’t kill anyone.” At his narrowed eyes, she backtracked. “I’m sure you’d at least maim him though.”
    He shook his head and looked as if he were holding back a smile. “Get some rest, and I’ll come in and intrusively wake you up in an hour.”
    She groaned and turned on her side carefully. “I don’t know if I want to go to sleep knowing you’ll be back as soon as I close my eyes.”
    He ran his hand down her side, and she held back a shiver. She was aching, her side hurt like someone had run her over—close enough—and she hadn’t slept in far too long. It really was the worse time to be thinking about the fact that she was currently on the same bed as the man she used to love.
    Used to.
    There was no way she could still love him considering she didn’t even know this Jackson.
    At least that’s what she kept telling herself.
    “Get some rest for me, Honor. When you wake up, we can talk about what we’re going to do.”
    Her heart raced. “Do?”
    “With us sharing a place. It’s going to be weird since I haven’t lived with anyone in a long time, not to mention I’ve never lived with a woman I think I want to see.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “Think you want to see? Well, isn’t that the most glorious title I’ve ever heard.”
    He shrugged, not looking the least bit repentant. “We said last night that we needed to talk. We’re not in our teens or twenties anymore. I’m not going to ignore the fact that I kissed you like a man who wanted to do much more than that. Hell, I wanted to do much more than that, but we need to make sure we’re on the same page.”
    “I take it you don’t know what that page is.” Considering she hadn’t even known they’d be looking for pages to begin with, she didn’t blame him for not knowing.
    “No, but you don’t either, so we’ll take it slow. The hit-and-run complicates things.” He grinned as he said it so she resisted the urge to throw a pillow at him. Plus she needed that pillow to soothe her aching head.
    “We’ll talk tonight.” Then a thought hit her. “Shit. Tonight. My job. We didn’t call my aunt.”
    Jackson cursed. “Fuck. How the hell did we forget to call your aunt? The entire Cooper clan knows you’re hurt, and we didn’t call your family. I’m sorry, baby.” He got up off the bed, and she reached out to him too quickly, sending a sharp spear of pain down her side. “Hey, don’t move too quickly.”
    She bit her lip and took a deep breath. “Don’t blame yourself for not calling her. I’m not used to relying on anyone or having anyone rely on me. Give me the phone, and I’ll talk to her. Knowing this town, she already knows what happened to me and is waiting for me anyway.”
    He nodded and handed her the house phone on the bedside table.
    Her aunt picked up on the second ring. “It’s about time you called, girlie.”
    “I’m so, so sorry I didn’t call. I have no idea what I was thinking.”
    “You were thinking that you were in a car accident and now have the entire Cooper clan taking care of you. Jordan called me by the way so you don’t have to worry. I know you and Jackson have other things to worry about. Namely this new predicament of his and your job tonight.”
    “Tonight? Oh hell. I forgot tonight was the first night on the job.”
    “Get some rest, and I’ll have Brent take care of it. I’m