Free Experimenting With Ed by Katie Allen

been buried against his back for the whole trip to his house, Claire had no idea where she was. She realized with building panic she was completely dependent on Ed to get her home. She didn’t even know what his address was.
    “Don’t be scared,” he told her, and his harsh command only made it worse. At her flinch, he shook his head. “I meant you can’t walk. I’ll take you to a hotel. Just let me take care of your feet first.”
    Her racing heartbeat slowed as the logic of his words penetrated and she eased back onto the counter. “Thank you,” she said quietly, and he gave a short nod, his jaw muscles tight as he cleaned the blood from her feet.
    There was a thick silence in the kitchen as he worked and Claire chewed her lip. Now that the flash of panic had eased, she felt silly and a little guilty for how she’d acted. The guy had saved her life twice now and he was, at this very moment, wiping blood off her feet. How could she be scared of him?
    “I’m sorry,” she said, reaching to touch his bent head.
    He looked up, meeting her eyes for a long moment. Finally, he nodded and shifted his gaze as he picked tweezers out of the first-aid box. He crouched and, holding her foot still with one hand, yanked something out of her heel.
    The sharp pain made her gasp and easy tears filled her eyes, blurring Ed and the object caught in the tweezers. She blinked rapidly, determined not to be a baby and cry over such a small hurt.
    “Okay?” He stood, watching her face closely.
    “No,” she told him, her voice wavering. “I lost my job, my boss tried to kill me and my new boyfriend is… I don’t know what my new boyfriend is!” She ended with a wail, giving up the effort to be brave and hold back the tears.
    He stared at her, a touch of panic in his eyes. Putting the tweezers and whatever had been embedded in her foot on the counter, he reached a hand toward her but hesitated before his fingers touched her face.
    All her doubts and fears about what he could do—what he was —were shoved aside by her exhaustion and pain and overriding misery. Throwing her arms around his neck, she buried her face in his hard shoulder and sobbed. Her feet hurt, she was tired and she just wanted to cling to Ed and cry, so she did.
    “Mouse.” He patted her back awkwardly. “It’s okay. Don’t cry.”
    That just made her wail louder. “Bu-but I wa-want to cry!”
    “Okay,” he said, definitely sounding panicky now. If Claire hadn’t been bawling, she would’ve laughed. “Okay, you can cry.” He patted her again.
    Gradually, her tears eased off and only the leftover hiccupping sobs remained. She kept her face against his shoulder.
    “I need to put antiseptic on your feet,” Ed said a little tentatively. Claire just shook her head against him, not wanting him to see her face. After that kind of crying, she knew she’d be puffy and red-eyed and pathetic looking.
    He cleared his throat. “I don’t want the cuts to get infected.”
    Claire sighed. “Fine.” Pulling back, she dropped her arms from around his neck and stared at her bare knees. He crouched again and dabbed something on the soles of her feet that stung like hell. She stared fiercely at where the hem of her dress lay against her thighs, determined not to even flinch at the pain. She’d already acted like enough of a crybaby for one night.
    Ed finished and quickly cleaned up, tucking the first-aid kit back in the cupboard. Standing in front of her, close but not touching, he looked at her, his jaw muscle working again.
    “Did you want to go to a hotel now?” he asked.
    She shook her head. At the offer, the final dregs of her fear faded. Besides, the last thing she wanted was to get back on that motorcycle right now. “Can I…?” Her voice cracked. “Can I stay here?” When he didn’t answer right away, she hurried to continue. “Just ‘til morning, I mean. Then I’ll get out of your hair. I could sleep on the couch—”
    He kissed her. Cupping