Free Along Came a Husband by Helen Brenna Page B

the better.”
    “Then you’re in luck.”
    “Oooh.” Sarah fanned her face. “You two must be as different as night and day.”
    Yeah, that pretty much summed it up. “Jonas is adopted,” Missy said, digging her hole even deeper, but no one would ever believe Jonas shared even a teaspoon of Missy’s blood.
    Sean gave a short shake of his head and looked away.
    “What?” Sarah asked, looking back and forth between Missy and Sean. “What’s going on?”
    “Nothing,” Missy said, stabbing some romaine off her plate and quickly stuffing it in her mouth.
    “How did you manage to meet Missy’s brother before us?” Hannah asked.
    “Right place at the right time, I guess,” Sean said.
    “So when do we get to meet him?” Hannah asked, Sean’s sarcasm zooming full speed over her head.
    “Oh, it’s—”
    “I have to work tonight,” Sarah said, her wheels turning. “Why don’t you bring him along to happy hour tomorrow night?”
    “I don’t—”
    “That’s a great idea,” Hannah interjected. “Missy, you can’t keep him all to yourself.”
    As if she’d want to. In fact, she’d been planning on staying away from her house as much as possible until Jonas vacated the premises. There was no way she was bringing him to Duffy’s.

    C AREFULLY , J ONAS EASED the padding off his bullet wound and a jolt of pain seized him. He sat on the edge of the bed and gritted his teeth. Missy’s doctor boyfriend had said the dressing should be changed at least once a day, but the mandate was proving difficult to manage on his own.
    The cat, who had been following Jonas around for the past hour, batted at a piece of string dangling from his bandage. Jonas reached out to pet him and felt the pain in his side dim ever so slightly. “What do you want with me?”
    The front door opened, and he reached for his gun on the bedside table. Keys landed on the counter. Missy. Her gift shop had to have closed up hours ago, so he had no doubt she was trying to avoid him.
    Too bad.
    “Missy?” he called, setting the gun down. “I need your help.”
    “With what?”
    “My bandages.”
    Her slow footsteps sounded down the hall. “Where are you?”
    “Upstairs.” Refusing to sleep in her room again, he’d moved all his things to the guest bedroom.
    She came up the steps. Tentatively, she glanced into the room. Her gaze skittered away from his bare chest to take in the medical supplies he’d set out on the bed. When she saw the cat lying next to him, she said, “I thought you didn’t like cats.”
    “He doesn’t seem to appreciate that fact.” Jonas pushed the damned thing off the bed and then motioned at the bandages. “I can’t do this myself.”
    Sighing, she walked into the bathroom and washed her hands. On her return, she ordered, “Lie down.”
    Without a word, he complied, easing himself onto his back with his wounded side closest to the edge of the bed. Her hands touched his skin and he closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Any minute, she’d no doubt rip off what remained of the tape stuck to his skin. He tensed.
    Instead, to his complete surprise, she gently eased off the bandage. He should’ve known she wouldn’t intentionally hurt him. Not Missy. Missy with the gentle touch. Missy, whose hands had been the first thing that had drawn him in.
    He swallowed, trying to take his mind off the first night he’d met her. “So I’m your brother, huh?”
    “That’s the best I could come up with.”
    “Who’s adopted?” he asked, chuckling. “You or me?”
    “You.” Her hands paused in their work, remained still on his skin. Soft. Warm. The heat of Missy’s hands sank deep below the surface of his skin.
    To this day, Jonas had never felt anything quite like the feeling of her touch on his body. As if they were somehow one with each other, she and she alone had the uncanny ability to calm or arouse him with one touch. With one touch he knew her thoughts, her feelings. Since the very first night