Free Nickolas-1 by Kathi S. Barton Page A

and he’s not your type anyway. Let me see this piece of glass so that he and I can get going.”
    “No. I want you to leave. I...you won’t be nice, and I hurt too much to hold my mouth closed. Please, you leave. I’ll...I don’t know what I’ll do, but I want you to leave.” He noticed she was leaning against the doorjamb and her foot was up behind her.
    “Damon is busy. I’m going to take the glass out, glue it closed, and you’re going to tell me where you think you’re going dressed like a street walker on a Wednesday night.”
    She turned around and hopped back into the kitchen, of course not answering him. She did that a lot; he thought—didn’t answer when he asked her something. Well, damn it, she wasn’t walking away now.
    Nick walked into the room and nearly hit the floor. He looked down and was startled by the amount of blood on it. He looked up at Morgan, who was trying to climb up onto the sink, when he noticed that the blood was pouring from her foot, her shoed foot. And sticking right out of the top and bottom was a hunk of glass glossy with her blood. His heart went into overdrive seeing her hurt. The need to cradle her in his arms and to keep her safe, paramount.

    “Mother fuck! What did you do?” He picked her up at once and settled her on the counter with her foot in the sink. He ignored her protests about being touched and gently lifted her foot up to get a closer look.
    The glass was approximately three inches long, about an inch wide, and about four inches high. He looked at her and nearly crumbled with shame. She had been crying, and she still was.
    “It hurts. Can you take it out? I have the glue Ms. Tansy said to glue it with.
    If you could get it out, I can do the rest so you can go to your mom’s.” Nick hated himself more in that moment than he had ever hated himself before. He pulled out his cell phone and called Damon.
    “I need you up here right now ! And bring your bag of tricks. She’s hurt badly and I think she might have lost a great deal too much blood.” CHAPTER SIXTEEN

    “Come on, darling, lean back. I need to numb this area before I can remove this. Lean back against Nicky for me.” Damon was talking to her softly and gently. Nick, however, couldn’t speak at all.
    They’d wanted to carry her down to the offices once Damon had seen the wound, but she screamed as soon as he lifted her again. Her eyes were glazed with pain and he couldn’t make her scream again. The sound ripped through his heart. The glass had gone straight though her shoe, as he had first seen and it was still bleeding. She had told him when he’d gotten his heart out of his throat that she’d dropped a glass last night and had thought she’d gotten it all cleaned up. Then when she’d been rushing around today, she’d stepped onto it and it was in her foot before she knew it.
    “I do not want to lean back against Nicky, nor are you going to numb my foot. If you do that, then I won’t be able to walk, and I have to be to work in an hour. Just rip the fucking thing out so I can glue it shut and we can all be on our merry way.” She was crying again. Nick wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to punch someone for it.
    “There isn’t any work you can’t put off until Monday, if then. I don’t want you in the offices, now shut up and let him numb you.” Nick reached out to pull her against his chest to steady her, and she slapped his hands away.
    “I’m not working for you tonight, you jackass. I have to go to Mick’s and work. And I am going; I need the money. Surely one of you three men can pull that out, can’t you? Please just do it.” Damon looked at him with a frown. He didn’t know who Mick was either and started to say something.
    “You work at Big Mick’s? Cool, are you a stripper? ‘Cause I gotta tell you, if you are then...” Nick only took a step toward Byron. Just one, and he shut up.
    “You are not a stripper! I won’t have it. And why do you need the money?
    Am I