Heaven Sent by Rochelle Alers Page A

pair of boxers. ThenI’ll see about getting you something to eat,” she stated firmly.
    He flashed another dimpled smile. “Thank you.”
    She emptied her purchases on the foot of the bed, picking up a pair of plain white boxers. “I didn’t know your size, so I picked up a thirty-six.”
    Arching a sculpted, black eyebrow, David stared at her. “Excellent guess.” He closed his eyes as she drew back the sheet and slipped the underwear over his feet and inched it up his legs. Raising his hips slightly, he facilitated her covering up his nakedness.
    The heat in his face had nothing to do with his injury or the extra exertion. For the first time since laying eyes on Serena Morris he was embarrassed. She knew that she aroused him—there had been no way for him to conceal it—and whenever she gazed upon his nude body he knew she was now aware of him not as a patient but as a man.
    Opening his eyes, he stared at her staring at his thigh. He knew what had garnered her rapt attention. “It’s a bat,” he explained.
    “I can see that,” Serena acknowledged, staring at the distinctive outline of a bat tattooed on the inside of David Cole’s upper thigh. “Why a bat?” she questioned, pulling the sheet up and folding it back neatly over his belly.
    “I played with a jazz band in my former life. It was called Night Mood. We dressed in black, hung out all night, and slept during the day. I had affected the habit of not going to bed until I saw the sun break the horizon. The other guys got into the habit of calling me Dracula. When we returned to the States after a two-month tour of Europe we decided to get tattoos. All of the other guys selected cats.”
    It was her turn to arch her delicate eyebrows. “Why the thigh, David?” The outline of a bat with its wings outstretched was positioned where his member rested against his hard thigh.
    “I didn’t want it visible so that I’d have to consider having it removed one day.”
    Serena gave him a skeptical look. “Is that the only reason?”
    “Should there be another one?”
    “I think so, David Cole. I think you were so vain that you didn’t want to mar your body where someone would see it.”
    “Someone?”
    Gathering the bowl and shaving materials, she gave him a sidelong glance. “Women.”
    “How wrong you are, Serena,” he drawled in Spanish. “
Una mujer
. Yes,” he confirmed when seeing her expression of surprise. “You are the
only
woman who has seen it.”
    She went still, staring at him and seeing amusement in his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re—”
    “I prefer
women
,” he confirmed, interrupting her. “It’s just that I don’t make it a practice of sleeping with a lot of them.”
    “That’s unusual coming from a musician.”
    “Former musician.”
    “Okay,” she conceded, “a former musician.”
    “Knowing this, does that change your impression of me?”
    “No. It still doesn’t change the fact that you’re obsessed with your looks. I don’t know if anyone has ever told you, but you’re a vain peacock.”
    Instead of refuting her statement, he laughed,the sound following her out of the room and down the hall.
    Serena laughed softly to herself. David Cole was vain. And sexy; sexier than any man she had ever seen in her life. He was what Latin women called
muy guapo
. He was one
fine
man.

Chapter 10
     
    D avid sat up in bed, his back supported by several pillows, while Serena fed him spoonfuls of a flavorful chicken soup with rice and vegetables. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he began eating. He ate all of the soup and drank half a cup of tea. His lids soon fluttered wildly as he fought against listlessness making it almost impossible to keep his eyes open; within minutes he fell into a deep, comforting sleep.
    He never knew when Serena eased the pillows from behind his back and shoulders and placed them under his head. He also was not aware that she leaned over his prone form for several seconds before