In the Blink of an Eye

The heavy sensation that rushed to where his thigh sank between hers made her forget all about defending herself. How many times had she kissed her pillow and dreamed it was Mac Taylor?

If she wrapped her arms around his waist or lifted her lips, she could turn their position into an embrace.

If.

An instinctive rush of self-consciousness stole into her mind, killing the thought before it could take wing. Lying on top of her, could he gauge the dimensions of her figure? Could he remember the freckles that made her plain? The shape that made her easy to overlook?

I’m not just your last chance. I’m your only chance. A nightmare from long ago whispered into her subconscious mind.

Sturdy. I like that in a woman. Not exactly Dr. Casanova’s slickest line. But she’d fallen for it, anyway.

Julia squeezed her eyes shut against the ugly voices inside her head and tried to pull herself back to the present.

“Jules?” His terse, ruined voice demanded a response.

To be this close and know he thought of nothing but besting her, nothing but rebelling, nothing but proving a point, kept her from giving in to her hopeless fantasies.

She sought out reason, the way the Mac she’d had a crush on all these years would.

“In what way exactly do I have the advantage?”

His sightless eyes zeroed in on her crisp articulation. She felt an answering stiffness work its way into his arms and legs.

And then she was free.

Of course she was free. He’d come to his senses, after all.

Eventually, every man did.

He sat on the edge of the bed and Julia crawled to a seat beside him. She hid her disappointment, sternly reminding herself that she was his nurse, not an old flame. Hell. She barely qualified as an old friend.

She straightened her sweater and smoothed a wisp of hair above her ear. “If you want to identify the chemicals, I’ll help do the research. But my first priority is your health. You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of anything else.”

He buried his face in his hands and rocked from side to side as if suddenly caught up in a wave of dizziness. “I’m useless. Out of control and useless. There’s a crime to solve, and I can’t do it.”

Julia tried to follow his mood swings. She rose to her feet beside him and planted her fists on her hips. He was way too stubborn. Way too down on himself. She shook her head, battling through her own frustrations so she could deal with his.

“How well did you know Jeff Ringlein?”

“You, too, huh?” Julia folded her arms and glared back at his accusatory smirk. She didn’t know what crime consumed him so. She was just trying to help him work his way through whatever was putting his recovering eyesight, and maybe even his life, in jeopardy. His broad shoulders lifted in a weary shrug before he finally answered her. “I took him under my wing when he joined the department. He was a nice enough kid. I tried to be a mentor to him.”