Lightning Strikes (The Almeida Brothers Trilogy #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

crash.”
    “I’m fine,” Jack stood from the bed and moved to the bathroom.
    Nina followed, lingering in the doorway and watching as he turned on the sink, caught sight of himself in the mirror, and breathed deep.  Turning his head to get a better look at the gash, he winced at the sight, holding his fingers just an inch away from the bloody mess.
    “It looks kind of bad.”  She winced as if the cut was on her own head, backing away from the doorway when he turned off the sink.  Keeping the light on in the bathroom, he followed her back into the sleeping area where she began hurriedly laying out disinfectants and adhesives on the edge of the bed.
    She motioned to the mattress.  “Let’s get a look at it.”
    “I’m a big boy.  I can do it myself.”
    “Before I was a cocktail waitress, I was a nurse’s assistant in a geriatric facility.  I know how to treat it so it won’t leave a scar on that face of yours.”
    “This face of mine?”
    “It’d be a real shame… that face of yours… all scarred up.” Her eyes fell.  “Will you just sit and let me help you?  God.”
    Jack did what he was told.  He came to the edge of the bed and sat in front of her, running his palms along his thighs, watching as she hurried back into the bathroom and washed her own hands.  His gaze followed her when she came back to the tin.  She fished out a few things and proceeded to rub her hands with a disinfectant wipe, even making sure to get it under her fingernails before shuffling through the supplies she’d laid out.
    “There was this one patient at the facility named Mr. Timbs.  We called him that because he refused to wear any pair of shoes except his camel colored Timberlands.  I guess it was his way of holding onto his youth.  He was ninety-nine, refused to use his walker, and was constantly, constantly falling flat on his face.  I learned pretty quickly how to hide the evidence so I wouldn’t get blamed.”
    Jack made a noise but didn’t respond.
    “Now that I think about it, maybe you could use a few scars,” she said, softly.  “You’ve got one of those faces.  The kind of face that’s pretty enough to put you in competition with any woman you date.  No woman wants to be in bed with a man who’s prettier than her.”
    “I am not… pretty.”
    She laughed.  “Sorry.”  He was pretty, however, and clearly in denial about it, so she let it go.  Ripping open a disinfectant wipe, she began wiping at the blood on his forehead, going through five packs before she gave up.  “You know what?  You should take a shower.  There’s so much blood I don’t even know where to begin, and I don’t want to use up all of our supplies.  Knowing this hotel, it’s probably all we’ll have to work with.”
    Jack looked toward the door of the bathroom while a frown collected between his eyebrows.
    She noticed.  “I’m sure you only shower in Evian, Aries, but you’ll have to make an exception just this once.”
    Jack took the blow with a smirk.  A shower actually sounded amazing, even if it meant braving the unfiltered gunk that was sure to come sputtering out of the spout in that bathroom.
    He stood from the bed, making his way to the bathroom.  “I’ll be right back.”
    “Make sure you get that gash soaped up really good.  And Aries?”
    He stopped in the doorway of the bathroom and turned back to her; eyebrows lifted high and bottom lip trapped between his teeth.
    “Can you pass me a towel first?”  She wrung her hands together, biting her own lip.  “I saw a laundry room at the end of the hall.  I’m going to throw my clothes in, and I’ll need something to cover up with.”
    “You’re going to traipse around this roach motel in a towel?”
    “Are you showing concern?”  She covered her heart.  “I’m flattered, but no need to worry.  I’m a big girl.”
    He held her gaze across the room but didn’t move.
    She lifted her own eyebrows.
    With a sigh, he stepped into the