Reed and Charlotte are friends at this point in the book.  Reed has a girlfriend that isn’t threatened by his new “fat” tenant.   One night Charlotte gets home from work and sees Reed being assisted into his house by two guys.  She first thinks he must have tied one on, but realizes he has been hurt.  As a nurse, she goes over to offer her help.  Reed has been injured at a job site(remember he owns a construction company), and she tells the friends she’ll watch out for him.  Here is what happens…

EXCERPT:

Charlotte remained in the room, applying ice packs for thirty minutes every four hours, and checking to make sure his leg was elevated properly.  During one of the ice pack sessions, he began to stir, waking up enough to realize the pain he was in from the injury and broken ribs.

“Oh shit!  This hurts like hell.” He hissed through gritted teeth at the pain he felt all over his body.  Charlotte, who had gone to get a glass of water, was walking back into the room and heard his remark.

“Hey, Reed.  It’s Charlotte.  Take it easy.  I’m here with some pain medication.  Try not to move.” She rushed around to the side of the bed where he was lying.  She set the glass of water on the nightstand, and opened the bottle of painkillers.  She took one out and placed it beside the water, then put her hands over his to calm him.  She could tell he was still woozy, and wanted to be very careful with him.

“Reed, I’m going to lift you up enough to give you some more pain medication.  It will help you stay more comfortable.  I don’t want you to go too long without it.  We need to keep it coming until the worst is over.  I’m going to ease you up and give you the pill now.” She leaned over him and slipped her arm underneath to lift him up.  As she did, her breasts were right over his face.

“I’ve thought about this more than once you know, but I wasn’t incapacitated at the time.  God, you smell good.  All clean and soapy.”   Reed easily confessed his thoughts while still under the influence of strong painkillers.

Charlotte laughed her warm, throaty laugh, and held the glass for him to drink water with the pill.   “You smell good yourself, Jackson.  I gave you a bath before I tucked you in.”

“Sorry I missed it.  You didn’t take advantage of me, did you?  I wouldn’t have minded, Charlotte.” He grabbed her wrist as she eased him back onto the pillows.

“No, Jackson, I didn’t take advantage of you.  In fact, Tyler and Joe were watching me the whole time, just to be sure I behaved myself.” She laughed again as she took his wrist in her hand to check his pulse rate.

“That sounds kind of kinky, Hamilton.  I would never have figured you for the dangerous type.” He groggily flirted with her as she put a thermometer in his ear to check his temperature.

“You’d be surprised about a lot of things I’m into, Jackson.  Now stop your fantasizing and go back to sleep. ”

Check back this evening for another excerpt and a recipe for Southern Pecan Pie!