Page 24 of Never and Always
“Is it bad?”
There was a decent cut, but it didn’t look too deep. “Not too bad. Shouldn’t scar.”
She made a sound and let me finish. I pressed a Band-Aid to the cut.
“Hands next.”
She held up her palms and winced. Yeah, they didn’t look pretty.
I wiped them gently, cleaning and disinfecting them. She winced a few more times, but didn’t complain.
“Everett, I want to thank you.”
My gaze flicked to hers.
“For getting him away from me. I…” She drew in a jagged breath.
“Hey.” I cupped her jaw. “You don’t have to thank me for doing the right thing.”
“Of course. You would have done it for anyone.” She looked down at her hands again. “Anyway, I’m still saying thank you.”
I finished with her palms and slathered them in antiseptic cream. “Probably want to leave them like that for now, but you might need some bandages for work.”
“Right.”
“How are your knees?”
“My jeans took the brunt of it. I think they’re fine.”
“Now, you want me to call the police?”
She froze. “Police?”
I watched her carefully. “Yes. You were attacked. You need to report it.”
“I’m sure it was totally random. He’ll be long gone. What can the police do?”
“Their job.”
“No, I don’t want to bother them.” She wouldn’t quite meet my eyes.
“Did he say anything to you?”
“Not really.”
“That’s not no. What did he say to you, Piper?”
She pushed off the stool. “I don’t remember. He was just an asshole.” She shoved at her hair. “I just want to forget about him.”
This wasn’t the Piper Ellis I knew. Piper liked her rules, especially when it came to fucking uniforms. Her not wanting to report this and take the chance to nab this asshole, smelled wrong.
“You want to tell me what’s going on? Did you know the guy?”
“What? No.” She shook her head vigorously. “Look, thank you. I mean it, Everett. For everything, but you’re off duty now. I’m fine, just a few nicks and grazes.”
I rose as well and crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re lying.”
Her blue gaze narrowed. “Excuse me?”
