Page 55 of Sentinel's Kiss

Chapter 13

Ashley yawned and turned to cuddle into Josh’s chest. He was so snuggly warm. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

“Good morning, handsome,” she said, blinking up at him. He smelled like soap and his hair was a little damp. “Did you take a shower?”

“Yeah, I went out for breakfast too.” Josh pointed to the Dunkin’ Donuts bag and the two coffees.

“What time is it?”

“Just after ten,” he said.

“Oh man.” She sat up. “I was really out.”

“You must have needed it.”

She tucked the sheet around her arms. Josh tugged it down.

“Don’t cover up those.” He trailed his fingers over her breasts.

“Not before coffee.”

“Okay,” he said, leaning in and giving her a kiss that almost changed her mind. She licked her lips, loving the taste of him on her tongue and admiring his gorgeous ass when he walked over to get her coffee.

The front view was amazing as well, even if he was only half aroused. As Ashley continued to stare, it perked up.

“Coffee first,” he reminded her, handing her the cup.

“Yeah,” she whispered, wanting to trace every inch of him with her fingertips. But she behaved herself and turned on her phone. It had run out of battery power last night, but after charging overnight, it should be full.

Sure enough, it was, and she had three messages.

The first was from her producer with a rundown of the latest news stories she could cover this week. The second was from Detective Munson asking her to call him as soon as possible. The last was her mother.

“Ashley, your father has had another heart attack. I need you to come to Southampton Hospital as soon as you can.”

The message was from late last night.

Josh rescued her coffee before it fell out of her nerveless fingers. “What happened?” he asked.

“We’ve got to go home.”

—

Josh must have broken all the speed records because they made it to the hospital in two and a half hours. They parked with the valet.

“You don’t have to come up,” she said, slamming the Jeep’s door and rushing to the main entrance.

“Yeah, I do,” he said, holding her elbow when she would have stumbled.

“Thanks.” She leaned against him while the reception nurse told her what floor and room her father was in. She had tried to call her mother, but her mother’s cell went right to voicemail. They took the elevator up several floors. As it stopped at a few other floors in between, she blew out a sigh and shifted impatiently. Josh wrapped his arm around her.

“It’s going to be all right,” he said.

“How do you know?” Ashley could hear the tinge of hysteria in her voice. She hated hospitals. Even when she broke her leg, she couldn’t wait to get out and would have limped out of there if her mother had turned her back for a moment.

“Because I’m here,” he said.

She gave a shaky giggle and hugged him tight. She had to admit, it didn’t suck to have him next to her. When they finally got to her father’s floor, she forced herself away from his comforting arms. He gave her a wink.