by Force, Marie
He watched her eyes shift to the prosthetic and appreciated that she didn’t linger there. Instead, she gave him her full focus. “I heard you could use a qualified nurse,” she said with a small a smile.
Quinn appreciated her subtle attempt to make light of the situation. He held out his hand to her, and she came across the room to take hold of it.
She knelt next to the sofa. “Are you okay?”
He wondered if she realized that he could tell she was taking a visual assessment of him as a medical professional rather than potential lover. Once a nurse, always a nurse. However, she was here not as a nurse. She was here because of the relationship they’d been forming over the last few days, and that was what mattered to him. “I’m fine. Sorry to upset everyone.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Lizzie said. “We knew that hole was there, and we should’ve fixed it before now.”
“It was no one’s fault,” Quinn said. “Just a stupid accident.”
Lizzie’s phone rang in the other room, and she ran to get it.
Quinn could hear her reminding Jared of the code to the lock at the building.
“Come home with me,” Mallory whispered. “Let me take care of you.”
Moved by her offer as well as the caring way in which she looked at him, Quinn nodded. “I don’t need to be nursed, but I’d love to come home with you.”
“Good.” She leaned forward to kiss him. “Scared me to hear you were hurt.”
“That’s because you like me.”
“I never said that.”
“Yes, you did.”
“When did I say that?”
“When you came rushing over here in the middle of the night to check on me.”
“It’s hardly the middle of the night. It’s not even midnight.”
“You like me,” he said again with a cocky grin that had her rolling her eyes and calling to Lizzie over her shoulder. “He’s fine. Don’t let him tell you otherwise.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m fine now that you’re here.”
She let out a deep breath when she seemed to realize he was really okay. Seeing the prosthetic standing next to the sofa must have been a jarring reminder that despite the many ways he’d overcome his disability, a simple fall was anything but for him.
He relied on humor to defuse the tension, but he was sure she saw right through that to the strain that still gripped him.
She stayed right by his side until Jared returned with the crutches a few minutes later.
He came into the room, said hello to Mallory and leaned the crutches up against the sofa.
“Thank you, Jared,” Quinn said. “If it’s okay with you guys, I’m going home with Mallory.”
“To your home or hers?”
“Hers. I can’t manage the boat on crutches.”
“You know you’re welcome to stay here, right?”
“Yeah, I know, and I appreciate it.”
Jared gave a curt nod and left the room.
“He’s still pissed,” Quinn said to Mallory.
“Give him a day or two to get his head around it. He’ll be fine.”
“I hope so,” Quinn said, and he meant that. He’d greatly enjoyed the time he’d spent with Jared and Lizzie since he’d lived on the island and had felt closer to his brother than ever. He’d hate to have something like this come between them now.
Mallory helped him up and held the crutches for him while he got his bearings.
He hadn’t touched the crutches in more than eighteen months, and using them now brought back memories he’d much rather forget.
Seeing him standing up, Brutus went crazy, running all around, darting between his legs and making a menace of himself.
Mallory grabbed hold of the dog’s collar. “Easy, buddy. You don’t want to knock Daddy down.”
“Would you, um, get that, too?” He tipped his head toward the prosthetic.
“Sure, no problem.”
He made his way slowly and painfully out of the living room and went toward the kitchen, where Jared and Lizzie were sitting at the table. “Sorry about all this,” Quinn said.
“Please don’t apologize,” Lizzie said. “It’s not your fault.”
“On the bright side, at least we know about your leg now,” Jared said with a bitter twist to his tone.
“Jared—”
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Jared said. “It’s late, and everyone’s tired.”
“Okay.”
Jared walked them out, staying on his left side while Mallory took the right.
This time Quinn stuck to the sidewalk and driveway rather than the lawn, which was what he should’ve done the first time around. It was habit to take the quickest path, and he was still learning that the quickest path wasn’t always the best one when you had a prosthetic.
Standing beside Mallory’s car, he handed her the crutches and got into the passenger side. He had a sudden memory of rehab, where he’d been taught to do the most mundane things, such as shower and get into a car, with only one leg. He’d been doing pretty well pretending he still had two good legs, until one wrong step brought him right back to reality.
Brutus leaped into the backseat and made himself comfortable. Lizzie brought the bag Quinn had packed with the dog’s food and toys when he brought him to their house earlier.
“I never asked you if it’s okay if he comes, too.”
“Of course he can come. I know you guys are a package deal.”
“Thanks for having us.”
“No problem.”
“You say that now…”
“You don’t scare me, and neither does Brutus.” They waved to Jared and Lizzie as Mallory backed the car out of the driveway and headed for her place in town.
“Thanks for coming. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m glad you did.”
“I had to see for myself that you were okay.”
“Because you like me.”
She huffed out a laugh that had him smiling in the dark. Without her coming to his rescue, he wouldn’t have had a single thing to smile about after his fall. But now the fall seemed almost secondary to her running to him when he got hurt, as well as offering to bring him to her house and nurse him.
“So what do these nursing services you offered include? I assume that sponge baths are a no-brainer, but what else can I expect?”
“Ice packs to help with all your swelling issues.”
“Are we still talking about my leg?”
“Depends. Are you having swelling issues elsewhere?”
“I might if you own one of those naughty nurse outfits.”
“No naughty nurses and no sponge baths.”
“I should’ve stayed at Jared’s.”
She gave him a haughty look that he loved. “You want me to take you back?”
“No, thank you. But the sponge bath is negotiable, right?”
Thanks to the streetlights, he could see her roll her eyes. “I expect better from you than this, Doctor.”
“I’m not a doctor right now.” He rested his hand on her thigh. “I’m a patient, and I’m feeling very, very dirty.”
Chapter 19
It was one thing to know he was an amputee and another thing altogether to see stark evidence of it in the prosthesis that had sat on the floor next to the sofa, in the sag of his empty pants leg and in his need for crutches.
Overriding everything else was Mallory’s concern for him. From the second she’d gotten his text, she’d known she would never sleep until she saw him and made sure he was okay. She hadn’t driven there planning to ask him to come home with her. That had slipped out before she could actually think about whether it was a good idea. All she knew was that she didn’t want to leave him, so it had to be a good idea to take him home.
And now, he was showing her he was totally fine in the way he flirted with her, which was a welcome relief even as his hand on her thigh caused secondary issues.
“You’re a very pushy patient. Nurses have n
ames for patients like you.”
“What kind of names?”
“Perv, for one.”
“Ha,” he said on a bark of laughter. “If I’d had a nurse as sexy as you while I was in the hospital, I would’ve been called a perv for sure. Most of my nurses were guys.”
“How boring for you.”
“No kidding. Just my luck that all the pretty female nurses had other patients.”
“Or just their luck.”
“Probably more their luck.”
“I’m sure they were all well aware of the sexy trauma surgeon on their ward. Nurses have been known to compare notes about their patients.”
“What kind of notes?”
“Oh, things like, ‘holy hell, that one is hung,’ to ‘poor guy, not a lot going on down there.’”
“No way.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I don’t think so.”
She started to laugh. “You’d be right. I’ve never had that kind of conversation, except of course when the reason they were there involved that area of their anatomy.”
He shuddered. “I’d rather lose part of my leg than be in the hospital for a penis injury.”
“You’d be surprised how many penis injuries we get in the ER. I’d be happy to tell you all about them if you’re interested.”
“I’ll pass, but thanks for giving me something to think about other than my own predicament.”
“Does this count as a predicament?” she asked.
“Sort of. I mean, I live on a boat, and I can’t manage that on crutches. David said there’s going to be bruising and swelling in the stump, which means the prosthesis won’t be usable for a couple of days. So I’m effectively homeless.”
“You are not. You can stay with me, and you could’ve stayed with Jared.”
“I’d much rather stay with you, if you’re offering.”
“I believe I already offered.”
“For tonight, not a couple of nights.”
“For as long as you need.”
“What if ‘as long as I need’ turns out to be like… forty years?”
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of that. She’d have time later, when his hand wasn’t on her thigh, to figure out why her heart went crazy at the thought of years with him. “Let’s see how tonight goes and take it from there.”
This guy was going to be trouble. Big, big trouble, and the more time she spent with him, the less afraid she was of his kind of trouble.
Mallory pulled into the driveway and got out to retrieve his crutches from the backseat. She had to refrain from offering help she knew he wouldn’t want, and once he had the crutches in hand, she left him to go unlock the front door and turn on the outside lights.
Then she went back out to check on him, retrieve his prosthetic, Brutus and Brutus’s bag from the car.
Quinn was making slow but steady progress on the crutches. “Is it pathetic that my dog has an overnight bag but I don’t?”
“Hardly. I’ll go out to the boat tomorrow and get you anything you need.”
“I need a toothbrush.”
“You’re in luck. I stocked up before I moved and have an extra one.”
He fumbled a bit on the three stairs that led to the porch.
Mallory stood behind him, ready to intercede if he stumbled, but he recovered his balance and made it to the door she’d left propped open for him.
“I’ve forgotten how tedious the crutches are,” he said, his tone tight with frustration and aggravation.
“It’s just for a couple of days. No big deal. Good thing you’ve got those powerful arms to do all the work for you.”
“This is exactly why I became a gym rat after my injury. Upper-body strength is crucial.”
Mallory tried—and failed—not to stare at the play of his arm muscles that were visible even under the Henley shirt he wore. Then she realized she was staring and blinked several times to clear her brain of salacious thoughts about his biceps. Had she ever had salacious thoughts about biceps before? Not that she could recall.
“Come in here and get comfortable,” she said, leading the way to her bedroom on the left side of the short hallway.
“In case you were wondering, this was not the way I intended to score an invite to your bedroom.”
“I wasn’t wondering, but thanks for clarifying.”
He made a sound that might’ve been laughter, but it came out more like a grunt as he negotiated the doorway. “Which side is yours?”
“Doesn’t matter. You take the side closest to the bathroom, which is that way.”
He sat on the left side of the bed and propped the crutches against the bedside table. “Exhausting.”
Brutus curled up on the floor, but kept his gaze trained on Quinn, his concern obvious.
Mallory sat next to Quinn and took his hand. “Temporary setback. That’s all this is.”
“Keep telling me that, will you?”
“Any time you need to hear it.”
“Thanks for reminding me this isn’t the end of the world.”
“No problem. How about some ice for your leg to combat the swelling?”
“That’d be good. Thanks.
“Coming right up.” She kissed his cheek and went to the kitchen to fill a bag with ice that she wrapped in a towel. When she returned to the bedroom with the ice and a bottle of water for him, he was sitting against the pillows with both legs on the bed. “You want to put it over your pants or right on the leg?”
He hesitated and then glanced up at her, looking madly vulnerable. “If you see it, you won’t forget that you like me, will you?”
“Of course I won’t. Don’t forget I’ve seen far worse.”
“I… I haven’t shown it to anyone except doctors.”
“Is this why you’ve been celibate so long?”
Nodding, he said, “I couldn’t bring myself to go there with a woman. Until now.”
“I promise you there’s nothing about your injury or what it looks like that could make me change my mind about whatever is happening between us. I realize it’s the biggest thing to ever happen to you, but it doesn’t make you any less attractive to me. As long as you’re comfortable, so am I.”
He took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips, wincing when his sore lip made contact with her skin. “There’s nothing you could’ve said that would be better than that. I seem to have frequent cause to thank you for being you.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Quinn.”
“Yeah, I really do.”
“So about the ice…”
He took a deep breath, released her hand and reached for the hem of his pants, drawing the fabric up to reveal what was left of his leg.
Mallory took a quick look at the new bruising and swelling, and then applied the ice bag. “It doesn’t look too terrible,” she said. “A few days of ice and crutches and you should be back in business with the prosthetic.”
“I hope so.” He patted the spot next to him on the bed. “I need some hands-on nursing, stat.”
He really was too cute and too funny for her own good.
“Allow me to slip into something more comfortable first.”
“Oh, please do, by all means.”
Mallory went into the bathroom and changed into pajama pants and a T-shirt. She debated whether or not to keep her bra on and decided to take it off because she hated sleeping with it on. As she brushed her hair and teeth, she gave herself a silent talking-to about keeping her head about her in the face of his considerable charm, not to mention his vulnerability, which had really gotten to her.
You may be fighting a losing battle here, she thought, studying her reflection in the mirror. Why exactly are we fighting the battle anyway? This guy is the whole package—sweet, smart, sexy, handsome as sin, funny and flawed in ways I can certainly relate to. Am I so afraid of getting hurt again that I’ll never take another chance? Is that how I want to live?
Mallory shook her hea
d. She didn’t want to live fearfully. She wanted to live fearlessly, and there had been a time in her life, before the rug was pulled out from under her, when the idea of debating a situation like this with Quinn would’ve seemed ridiculous to her.
I want to be more like that girl, unafraid and audacious, willing to take some risks and roll the dice. That girl would’ve dived headfirst into love with a man like Quinn, without taking even one second to weigh the potential consequences. That’s how she’d ended up married to Ryan in medical school, long before they should’ve taken the plunge. How glad she’d been after he was gone that they’d had a few years together. It had been better than nothing.
The same was true now. Whatever this became with Quinn would be worth the risk. She already knew that for certain. She wanted him. He seemed to want her, if the shameless way he flirted with her was any indication. So go for it, she told the girl in the mirror. It’s the Summer of Mallory, after all.
Mallory left the bathroom intending to jump onboard and enjoy the sure to be wild ride with him, no matter where it might lead.
Still propped up against the pillows, Quinn was sound asleep in her bed, the water bottle still in his hand but tipped at a precarious angle.
Smiling, Mallory rescued the water, covered him with a blanket and shut off the light before getting into bed next to him. The wild ride would have to start tomorrow.
Jared was too wound up to sleep, so he returned to the deck and threw another log on the fire. He stared at the flames, processing what he’d learned about his brother tonight. He’d lost part of his leg and hadn’t thought to tell his family. Who the hell did that?
Quinn did. That was how he rolled, how he’d always rolled. The lone wolf who did his own thing, especially after he joined the army and was away more than he was home.
The family had known he’d injured his leg, but that was all he’d told them other than he was fine and dealing with rehab.
Jared had known something was terribly wrong but had respected Quinn’s boundaries. Had that been the wrong thing to do?
Lizzie came out to join him and curled up on his lap. “You’re spinning.”