“People that are trying to stop patients from escaping every time they turn around, you pain in the ass!” Ice retorted angrily.
“Pain in the ass?” Honor gasped in outrage, looking around for a heavier projectile. “I’ll show you a pain in the ass,” she shouted, finally locating a worthy missile in the form of her half eaten dinner plate.
Grabbing Ice by the arm, he physically shoved him from the room. “He’s leaving, Honor,” Zeke soothed as he pushed his protesting sibling out of harm’s way. “So is Jake,” he added, jerking his thumb toward the door to give Jake the all clear. “It’s just you and me now,” he said, promptly closing the door behind the two traumatized babysitters.
Furious, Honor’s reddened cheeks glowed as she shook her head. “I canNOT believe you, Ezekiel! How could you? How could you have made that doctor keep me in here when you KNOW how much I despise hospitals?”
“Sweetheart…”
“No! Don’t you DARE try to coddle me with careless endearments and cheap words. You deliberately had me held here, you… you… ERGHHH!!! I can’t even think of a name bad enough to call you!”
“Give it time. I’m sure it’ll come to you eventually,” he offered with a guilty smile. Leaning back against the now firmly closed hospital room door, Zeke watched as Honor closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath, her flushed face slightly sweaty from exertion. “You okay?” he asked quietly after a moment when it seemed she was breathing a bit steadier.
“No,” she snapped. “I’m not. Evidently, I’m your prisoner. What I wanna know is why? And it better be a real good reason, Zeke.”
“Because I thought being here was for the best,” he stated with simple honestly.
Honor’s eyes flashed dangerously before narrowing. “Wrong. Answer,” she hissed before smoothly ripping the IV from her arm with one vicious jerk of her fingers.
Straightening quickly, Zeke’s jaw dropped, unable to believe how impulsively foolish Honor was being. “Damn it! What the hell do you think you’re doing, Kitten?” he exploded, circling the bed in two steps to jerk her hand into his, snatching a handful of the sheet from the bed to press to her bleeding hand.
Waiting until he was distracted by the sight of her blood, Honor moved quickly to firmly grasp Zeke’s groin, tightening her grip in a way that let him know she meant business. “I’d say that I’m makin’ my stand, Sheriff. I’d suggest you stop getting in my way!”
Sucking in a sharp breath as her fingers twisted slightly around his manhood, Zeke was flabbergasted. Did the woman that couldn’t speak the word ‘penis’ out loud actually have him by the literal balls? A quick glance down into the general area of his short and curly hairs confirmed that she did. “Baby, how ‘bout you turn me loose before you do a kind of irreparable damage you might regret later?” Zeke suggested tightly.
Chin lifting defiantly as she rose on her tiptoes to go nose to nose with him, Honor smiled sweetly. “Oh, I assure you, sweetie, I’m not gonna regret a single, solitary thing when I rip your stones off and send ‘em bouncing down the hallway.”
Astonished at her behavior, Zeke dropped his gaze to study her face. Yep, she looked like the same mostly sane woman he’d left here this morning. The long, silky hair was the same. The compact body was as smokin’ hot as ever. And she still had the prettiest face in the world as far as looks went. No, it was her attitude that had changed drastically during the hours he’d been apart from her. Sure, when he’d left this morning, she’d been irritated by the last few days of being kept penned in her hospital bed, but nothing he couldn’t handle. She was certainly nothing like the unholy handful of femininity that stood twisting his testicles into a knot now. It seemed like the sweet, shy girl that was beloved by the entire town of Paradise was long gone and in her place was a tiny tornado hell bent on making him into a eunuch.
Prying her hand from his crotch, Zeke gently wrestled Honor’s arm behind her back as she squirmed against him. “Honor, honey, I know you’re mad…”
“Mad? You think I’m mad, do you?” Honor replied in a voice that while it might have seemed to have been spun with sugar, actually held quite a bit of venom. “Why ever would you imagine that, Sheriff?” she asked caustically, arching one ash blonde eyebrow as she reclined her head to look up into his face. “Could it possibly be because you now realize that your days of deceitful trickery are OVER?”
“I wasn’t tryin’ to either trick or deceive you, Honor,” Zeke declared impatiently. “I was doing my level best to keep you safe.”
“Oh, horse hockey!” Honor spat angrily. “You were trying to micro-manage my life and you have no danged right to do it,” she accused. “Listen here, Sheriff Ezekiel Kinkaid Monroe, I am finished with this foolishness. I’m goin’ HOME!” she informed him on a roar as she smacked a closed fist against his solid chest. “It is the second week in December, and I have better things to do than sit in this hospital room twiddling my thumbs.”
“You’re recovering from surgery that very nearly killed you, you hard-headed ball of fury. I wouldn’t exactly say that the time has been wasted,” Zeke countered angrily.
“I just can NOT believe your audacity,” Honor declared, shaking her head slowly as she frowned at him.
“You can’t? Which part can’t you wrap your mind around, darlin’? The part where I’ll do whatever I need to do in order to keep you alive and yelling at me? How ‘bout the part where I want you to have the medical attention you need since you STILL can’t stand for long periods of time,” he growled, helping to ease her sagging body into a sitting position on the side of the bed. “Swear to God, babe, it’s a good thing I love you as much as I do. Otherwise, I’d be tempted to strangle you.”
“I’m want to go home, Ezekiel. Tonight,” Honor demanded tightly as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Please get me out of here,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I don’t like it here. There’s too many memories and all of them are bad. If you love me and know me as well you claim to, you’ll know that I’m not just bein’ obstinate. I can’t stand being here anymore. I feel like I’m losin’ my mind.”
Just like that, Zeke felt less than an inch tall. He’d been so concentrated on keeping her safe, that he’d lost sight of how important it was that Honor felt secure in her surroundings. It was more than obvious to him now that it was time to come up with a new plan. Kneeling in front of her, Zeke lifted a hand to tuck a hank of Honor’s hair behind her ear. “Okay, Kitten. We’ll get you out of this joint tonight. I’ll talk to the nurses and get your paperwork started, but you’ve gotta know that you can’t go back to the farmhouse. You aren’t strong enough to be left on your own yet. So, you tell me, where do you wanna go?”
Swiping the back of her hand underneath her nose, Honor met Zeke’s clear gray eyes. “You’ll get me out of here? Really? You mean it?” she asked in a tiny hopeful voice.
He couldn’t help it. Seeing that innocent face staring back at him, he quickly leaned forward to gently brush his lips against hers, thrilled when she stayed still and allowed the kiss. He got barely a taste of her, but he didn’t want to overwhelm her. Besides, that brief touch was enough to give him faith. Resting his forehead against hers, Zeke nodded. “There’s gonna be rules, Kitten – lots of rules, but yes, I mean it. Now, tell me, where do you want to stay while you’re doing your healing? You’ve got options. Aunt Orla. Your sisters’ places. My place.”
“Is your brother still staying with you?” Honor asked tersely.
Zeke’s lips twitched. He was really gonna need to get the lowdown on what went on between his girl and his brother. “Temporarily,” he replied evenly, watching her face.
Honor’s nose curled. “Then your house is out of the running.”
Zeke chuckled. “Judging by the goose egg on Ice’s forehead when he left, I kinda figured that,” he teased.
“I swear, he had it comin’, Zeke. That brother of yours needs to put a country mile between me and him if he has any sense at all
– which I highly doubt because he’s an insufferable, overbearing authoritarian oaf with absolutely NO social skills to speak of! Do you know that he actually had the nerve to tell Maggie that she needed to pull the Prada out of her ass and loosen up when she suggested that I might need a little break from him and his snide attitude! I thought she was gonna shove the heel of her stiletto right through his thick skull. And if I’d known that he was gonna tie my wrists to the bed while I shut my eyes for a little rest this afternoon, I’d have cheered her on.”
Trying like hell to keep the smile off his face, Zeke slowly blinked. “And why, pray tell, did my brother feel it was necessary to restrain you?”
Honor shifted on the bed nervously. “It was a misunderstanding.”
“Uh huh? Gonna need a little more information to make an informed decision about that, Kitten.”
“Fine,” Honor snapped. “I might have waited until Jake ran out to the cafe to make Harmony’s bank deposit and Ice was in the bathroom to go for a little walk.”
“A little walk?” Zeke echoed, staring at the woman who currently refused to meet his eyes. “Don’t keep me in suspense, babe. Where exactly did this walk take you?”
“The East parking lot,” Honor mumbled.
Zeke’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why in the hell would you take a walk to the parking lot?”
Honor’s lips twitched from side to side as she picked at a loose string from the white blanket on the bed. “I might have had a cab waiting down there,” she muttered huffily. “I would have made it, too, if stupid Jake hadn’t picked that frickin’ moment to come back.”
Zeke nearly choked on his laughter. “So, you’re pissed that my brother and Jake ruined your escape attempt? You know better than to try to run off, Honor Grace. Especially with everything going on. You probably took ten years off his life when he realized you’d flown the coop,” he chided gently.
“I wouldn’t have needed to try and escape if you hadn’t kept me locked in here like some criminal,” Honor argued petulantly. “I DO have rights.”
Zeke scoffed and shook his head at her.
“Anyway, when Jake dragged me back up here, Ice was fit to be tied. That fool had security notified and everything. You’d think a toddler had wandered out the door instead of a fully grown woman. At any rate, your bossy brother huffed and puffed for over an hour, callin’ me all manner of things.”
Zeke’s eyebrows raised at that. “Oh, he did, did he?” he asked, his voice deceptively soft.
“Spoiled. Inconsiderate. And stupid, Zeke! I am NOT stupid,” she growled, her back stiffening as she recalled Ice’s harsh words.
“No, you aren’t,” Zeke stated softly, his jaw clenching as he began to plan the ass-kicking his only sibling would be receiving.
“That’s when I threw the vase. He got quiet after that. He even tried to apologize, but I didn’t wanna hear it. I know I scared him, but that still no excuse to call me stupid. Or crazy,” she added belatedly, lifting her gaze back to Zeke. “Honestly, I thought you could be a domineering pain in the behind, but after spending the afternoon with Ice, I have a whole new appreciation for you.”
Zeke chuckled. Maybe instead of an ass-kickin’, he needed to buy his brother a six pack of beer. “Well, I’ll endeavor to use Ice as a last resort from now on when it comes to guard duty for you. How’s that?”
Honor nodded. “I’ll forgive him. Eventually,” she added meaningfully.
“As entertaining as that story was, we still need to decide where you want to spend the next few weeks,” Zeke reminded her.
“Abel and Patience suggested that I come stay with them at their new place. They’ve got plenty of room and even have a bedroom on the ground floor that I can use. I’d get to spend time with my new niece and nephews, too. Maybe give the new parents a little bit of a break.”
“As long as you don’t overdo it. You’re still recovering, too, Honor,” Zeke admonished sternly. Her health was his top priority. “Do you think you can pace yourself if you stay there?”
“It’s not like you won’t have at least one person bird-doggin’ me everywhere I go, so in the interest of savin’ us all some time, I’ll say yes.”
“Good girl,” Zeke murmured, brushing his lips against her forehead as he rose from his knees in front of her. “I like the idea of Abel and Patience’s place. There’ll be plenty of room for me, too,” he dropped in conversationally, enjoying the way Honor’s breath caught in her throat and her eyes got wider.
“Wh-what?” she stuttered.
“You heard me,” Zeke offered easily. “You didn’t think that you were gonna get out of here and everything would go back to the way it was, did you? I told you, Kitten, I’m done fuckin’ around where you’re concerned.”
“I…you…Zeke, no!” Honor finally managed to blurt. “You can’t!”
“I can, and I will,” Zeke declared firmly, propping his hands on his hips as he stared down at her. “In fact, I’m going to step out and call Abel after I get those nurses workin’ on your discharge papers,” he continued with a nod as he pulled his cell from the pocket of his flannel shirt. “Start getting your things together, Honor. I’ll take care of everything else,” he said over his shoulder as he headed for the door.
“What? No. Zeke, wait! You can’t do this,” Honor urged, rising as she tried to intercept him.
“It’s already done, Honor,” Zeke dismissed her, closing the door on her protests while he grinned from ear to ear. He’d clearly knocked his Kitten for a loop with the announcement that he wouldn’t be simply dropping her with her sister and leaving. Which might be a good thing. Maybe keeping Honor off balance was the key to advancing their relationship. Either way, Honor McKinnon was going to have to get accustomed to having him around for a good long while - - like for the rest of their lives.
~**~
Things had moved swiftly after a quick chat with Honor’s nurses. His woman’s doctors had no problem releasing her into Zeke’s care, sending the patient home with a handful of prescriptions and an order to rest heavily for the next two weeks. Honor hadn’t been happy about the directives to take it easy, but she’d been so eager to put the hospital in her rearview that she’d have agreed to supper with the Devil if it got her out of there quicker.
A twenty-minute drive later, they arrived at Abel and Patience’s new place, a sprawling house on a large expanse of land. Clearly, Abel was putting down roots with his new family, and Zeke found himself momentarily envious. One day, he hoped to be able to do much the same thing with the woman he loved. In the meantime, much to Honor’s embarrassment and Patience’s amusement, Zeke had insisted on carrying her, bridal style, of course, up the stone steps and across the threshold of the Turner home. Thankfully, Aunt Orla had already prepared one of the guest rooms for Honor’s use that morning and after a minimum of fuss, he’d gotten his girl situated in bed.
Per Zeke’s request, Abel had made sure to move an oversized loveseat into the room opposite Honor’s bed. A quick, but grateful look at it confirmed that it was going to be a hell of a lot more comfortable than that torture device of a recliner he’d been sleeping in at the hospital. After a flurry of hugs, kisses, and goodnights, he’d gotten Honor still enough to drift off to sleep. He’d sat across from her bed for most of the night, staring at her while he contemplated what his next move should be, both personally and professionally. And when his eyes had gotten heavy and they’d fallen closed for the last time of the night, he’d been no closer to answers on either score. He was gone before she opened her eyes in the morning.
For three days this went on before his woman caught on to the fact that he wasn’t leaving her at night, and he considered it a personal best for keeping things from Honor. Usually, she would have seen through him from the beginning, but injury and pain medication had slowed down her response time, and her mind wasn’t quite as agile as it usually was.
For the last few days, he’d headed to Patience’s place as soon as he fi
nished work at the station, joining the family for dinner and nights filled with shuffling the Turner triplets from person to person. The highlight of those evenings was watching Honor’s face light up every time she stared down at whatever baby she held in her arms, and he knew he’d do whatever it took to see that beautiful look flood her face when she looked down into the eyes of their own kid one day.
When bedtime arrived, he’d help Honor to her room, made sure she took a pain pill that would allow her to get some sleep, and wait on the loveseat while she showered and changed into a demure nightgown. After she finished, he’d help her into bed and kiss her goodnight, flipping off the lights and pulling the door almost closed behind him.
Then, he’d retire to the dimly lit living room where he waited for her to fall asleep. Usually, Abel joined him and they shared a late night nightcap while they discussed the lack of progress being made both on finding who was responsible for running Honor and Patience off the road and on Angela Hastings’ murder investigation. Angela had been Abel’s fiancé years ago before he’d learned she was a faithless slut and dumped her. Hell, Angie had fucked most every man in town, married or not, at some time or another, and Zeke was ashamed to say that she’d even been his onetime playmate for a night. It would probably go down as the single worst mistake of his life, but he’d been young, dumb, and horny and Angie had been willing, single, and available at the time. Hormones had overridden good sense for him. At any rate, he’d quickly seen what kind of woman she was underneath the gorgeous body and pretty face, and Zeke hadn’t gone back for seconds. Abel, however, had fallen into her honey trap, hook, line and sinker. It had taken the poor bastard years to figure out what everybody else had known all along. Attorney Angie Hastings possessed a whorish heart and a mercenary mind.
She hadn’t deserved a bullet in the head, though.
And that’s how she’d died a few months back. The attorney who’d been in town from Atlanta to represent Diego Fuentes during his father’s drug trial had been executed in cold blood in the I Don’t Care Cafe’s parking lot, and her killer was still at large. And Zeke couldn’t help this sinking feeling in his gut that the two crimes - Angie’s murder and Honor’s car wreck - were connected.
Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) Page 8