Free Cook County: Lucky in Love by Crystal-Rain Love Page B

burst from her ankle to shoot straight up her leg.
    “Morning, baby,” Lucky’s thick morning drawl brushed over her ear as his arms came around her waist from behind.
    She blinked back tears as his soft lips tickled her shoulder and started on a trail that went down her arm before dropping to her waist and thigh. She couldn’t let on that she was in pain. It was too early for him to know about her illness.
    Cammie held her breath as he slid lower under the covers, kissing her hot flesh. She glanced at her arms, thankful there were no red bumps or lines. No tell-tale signs. She only had to ignore the pain in her ankles and he wouldn’t know anything.
    As he slowly made his way lower, her skin started to sting where he planted his kisses. She bit her lower lip as tears stung her eyes.
    Suddenly, Lucky stiffened and muttered a curse before sitting up, his eyes wide as he pulled the cover off of her.
    “My God, baby. What’s wrong with you?”
    Cammie looked down at her body and saw what had scared him.
    Her right ankle was swollen to twice its size.

Chapter Eight
    A sob tore out of her throat as she quickly pulled the cover back over her, hiding the swollen ankle along with the red, rash-covered shin it was attached to. The other ankle wasn’t swollen yet, but judging by the ruddy color, it would soon be if she didn’t take her medicine.
    How could I have forgotten?
    “Cammie, what’s going on? Why do your legs look like that?”
    “Ugly?” she blurted before she could stop herself. She knew he wasn’t being insensitive, but she was under full attack by insecurity. She’d been so careful to hide her disease. No one except Grandma Opal and her doctor had ever seen the physical signs of her illness, and Lucky was the last person she’d wanted to see her like this, sick and imperfect.
    “Never that.” Lucky leaned forward and cupped her face with one of his rough-skinned but gentle hands. “You could never be ugly, but I gotta admit…my stomach’s in knots right now. I’m no doctor, but I know that isn’t good. What is it, honey, and what can I do to make it better?”
    Tears cascaded faster down Cammie’s cheeks and she scrubbed at them in vain. She hated asking for help, admitting weakness. This wasn’t the way she wanted Lucky to see her, but there was no way she could get out of bed by herself judging by the pain shooting through her leg.
    “Can you run me a hot bath?” she managed to get out after taking a deep breath to halt her sobbing. “The hot water helps with the pain.”
    Lucky stared at her for a long moment, a hundred questions in his eyes, before nodding and quickly pulling on his jeans that had been tossed aside the night before and leaving the room.
    Cammie used the bed sheet to blot her watery eyes as she heard him starting the bath for her. She’d barely ceased crying when he returned and swept her up into his strong arms and carried her, silently, into the bathroom. Wordlessly, he lowered her into the bathtub and grabbed the scrunchie she kept on her spacesaver.
    “What else do you need?” he asked as he secured her hair with the scrunchie, making a simple ponytail to keep it dry.
    “My medicine,” Cammie answered reluctantly as she sank down into the tub, welcoming the wet heat that quickly set to work, easing the pain in her lower body. It wouldn’t be enough, though. She needed to take the blasted pills. “In the medicine cabinet.”
    Lucky crossed over to the sink to retrieve the medication. Cammie cringed as she heard his quick intake of breath. She didn’t even want to think what thoughts were going through his mind as he took in all the pill bottles. “The brown horse pills. I need two.”
    He glanced at her with eyes full of sorrow before turning back to peruse the shelves. It took him a moment, but he managed to find the big pills and shake two out of the bottle before replacing it and closing the cabinet, hiding the sight of all those pills. Unfortunately, she