Murders & Romance: A Psychic Detective Romantic Mystery (Isaac Taylor Mysteries Book 5) by Lashell Collins (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📗

His smile suddenly faded.

“What happened?”

Julie launched into an animated retelling of the events, and Lance stared at Sidney.

“He hit you?”

He stepped closer and reached out to touch her face.

Sidney jerked away, glaring at him.

“Your face is beginning to bruise and swell, Sidney. Let me do my job and check you out. Okay?”

“You really should let him look at you, Sidney.” Ann’s voice was full of misplaced remorse. “Donald is very heavy-handed. I know. He broke my jaw once slapping me that way.”

Ann turned her embarrassed gaze to the floor. Then she ushered her kids back into the kitchen.

“I’ll wait for the cops out front,” Julie said, pointing to the door.

Sidney nodded and then, abandoning her purse and cellphone, walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Her hands were still shaking.

Lance followed with his black medical bag and sat down beside her.

He gently moved a curl from her face. Then he lightly touched a spot near the corner of her right eyebrow.

Sidney flinched at the contact, surprised at the pain. It was the first she’d felt, and she knew that meant the adrenaline was wearing off. The whole right side of her face began to throb, and it burned like it was on fire.

“Ah!”

“Sorry. You’ve got a small cut there that’s beginning to swell. He must’ve got you with a ring.”

He opened up his bag and got to work holding a cotton ball there, applying pressure to stop the bleeding she hadn’t realized she was doing. Then he added a dab of ointment on the cut, and placed a small bandage there.

“It won’t need stitches. Probably won’t even leave a scar, okay?”

Sidney nodded, and met his gaze. She allowed herself a moment to study his face. He was actually a very attractive man when he wasn’t being creepy.

“Looks like he really did a number on you.”

Something about that comment irked her, and she cocked her head, giving him an ‘oh really’ glare.

“Actually, he did this damage with just one backhanded punch.”

Lance moved on to the bruise at her cheek.

“Good thing he didn’t have time for more. A little ice should help the swelling, okay?”

His tone was condescending, and Sidney side-eyed him.

“That one punch was all I let him have before I knocked him on his ass and pulled my gun on him.”

Lance’s eyebrows shot up, and then he grinned.

“Well, I bet that surprised him.”

“I guess.”

“Then you saved the day.”

Sidney shook her head.

“No, I didn’t. I should’ve insisted that he stay put until the cops got here. I mean, I was the one with the gun. I shouldn’t have let him get away.”

“I think Ann would say that you saved the day. You’re being too hard on yourself.” He put his things away in his bag. “But I get it though. I tend to do that too when I’m feeling down or depressed.”

He stared into her eyes, and Sidney wondered what he was talking about. What did he know about the way she was feeling?

He stared so long and so intently that Sidney suddenly felt uncomfortable sitting this close to him. She turned away, and Lance reached out and touched her chin, turning her face back toward him.

She thought he wanted to look at her wounds again. Instead, he leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips.

Sidney pulled back instantly, then she physically scooted away from him.

“What the hell are you doing?”

He smiled, oozing charm.

“Well, it’s called a kiss, but if you have to ask, then I guess I did it wrong.”

“You shouldn’t have done it at all.”

“My bad,” he grinned. “I just thought we were sharing a moment here.”

“Then you read the moment very wrong. We’ve just had a troubling domestic incident in this house, and I’m not in the proper headspace for your moves right now. Not to mention the fact that I’m engaged to be married, and you know that.”

“Whoa.” Lance held up his hands. “First of all, I was under the impression things weren’t going so well in your relationship.”

“Well, you got your facts wrong too! I’m sure that happens a lot when you creep into doorways and eavesdrop on private conversations. But since we’re on the subject… even if things were bad in my relationship — which they’re not — that still wouldn’t give you the right to force an uninvited kiss on me.”

She stood and walked away from him.

“Okay. Calm down.” Lance stood too. “It was obviously just a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? Do you misunderstand your patients at the hospital and lay kisses on them?”

“No, of course not. But I thought we were kind of feeling each other here. Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a little? I mean… maybe you’re upset with yourself because you wanted me to kiss you. Did you ever think of that?”

Sidney turned on him.

“Are you listening to yourself, doctor? We’re standing in a women’s shelter right now. A safe place for women who’ve seen all types of abuse from their domestic partners. A place that works diligently to empower those women to stand up for themselves, and you’re trying to tell me that I don’t know my own mind?”

The smile slowly slid off Lance’s face.

“Next are you going to tell me that I’m being hysterical? Or that I was asking for your advances? Maybe my clothing was too suggestive, or I somehow made you act like an ass?”

“Sidney, I didn’t mean to…”

“I think you should go do whatever it is you came here to do, and leave me alone now.”

She glared at him, and Julie ushered two uniformed police officers into the room.

“Sidney, these officers need to speak with you and Ann.”

Sidney heard her, but her focus remained on Lance. Until she heard Isaac’s voice in the entryway.

“Sidney!”

“Isaac?”

She started for the door when he burst into the room with Pete behind him.

Sidney rushed into his arms.

“God, baby, I texted you back, and I called, but you wouldn’t answer.” Isaac squeezed her tight. “I was going insane.”

“I’m sorry. I seem to have lost