by Stacey Lynn
“I look ridiculous,” I said, not surprised at all that he carried me with ease. He was well over six feet tall, and even with my smaller frame in his arms, his muscles showed barely any strain from the effort. “I’ll be fine. Really.”
I knew what a severe injury felt like. I’d had enough of them.
“You’re not,” he insisted as I cringed when I was jostled in his arms. “But you will be.”
His hands burned my skin, his fingertips pressing against my lower back where my shirt had ridden up. Yet I didn’t enjoy it. The pain was increasing, throbbing from my toes up to my knee.
“We’ll get a cab and get to a hotel. I’ve got a friend we can call.” He set me down and pulled me to his side, keeping one arm fully wrapped around my back to support me. With his other hand, he gestured in the air for a cab.
“You have a friend in Chicago?”
“Yup.” He nodded as a cab pulled over. He reached for the rear door and helped me in, as I hopped on one foot, looking ridiculous. Once we were seated, he explained. “David. He was one of my roommates all through Central. He’s just finishing up his residency at Chicago General.”
“Wow,” I murmured, cringing from the pain. It explained how he was so familiar with Chicago. He must have visited David often, based on how well he knew the city.
I listened halfheartedly as Declan rattled off the name of a hotel, a Radisson down on Michigan Avenue, and then he sat back and reached for my hand, giving it a squeeze to get my attention. “You doing okay?”
My mind swirled for a moment. The pain burned, but it was the mention of a hotel room that made my head spin.
“We’re supposed to go to Milwaukee tonight,” I reminded him.
“We’ll go to tomorrow, Trina.”
“But the car…”
“Will still be at the dealership in the morning.” He reached out with his hand and brushed strands of my hair behind my ear. I expected him to let go, but then his thumb grazed the side of my neck and stroked my collarbone.
The grazing touch sent a cascade of emotions through me, along with creating a gentle throbbing between my thighs.
As if he understood what he was doing to me, his lips tilted into a grin and his eyes went to my lips. “We’ll get you checked out tonight if David can get away from the hospital for an hour or so.” His brows knit with concern. “He works all the time, basically. I didn’t think of that.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him, reaching up to his hand, still brushing along my skin at the top of my shoulders. His touch was distracting. “It’s not a big deal.”
“We’ll still have David come look at you.”
Decision made, without any input from me. I fought not to scowl. I wasn’t pleased that he wasn’t taking me seriously, that I was being dismissed, but then his hand squeezed mine and he leaned forward, brushing his lips over my cheek. “I’m just trying to take care of you. I don’t like the idea of seeing you hurt, and I don’t want to take off, in case it’s something major. For my peace of mind, let’s wait until David can look at it. We can spend the night here, take the train early tomorrow morning, and we’re still home tomorrow night, just on a later ferry.”
Something knit itself back together inside my chest while I stared into his large, dark orbs.
It felt as if he were healing me, from the inside out. I knew not all men were like Kevin.
Not all men beat their wives for the smallest infraction. I also knew some were worse than Kevin. He preferred to use his hands. I knew some men did more damage to women than Kevin ever did to me.
What I had never realized until this moment was, regardless of how intimidating Declan sometimes seemed, with his muscles and his size and his obvious physical strength, underneath all that was a good man. A man who was better and kinder than anything I had ever imagined.
He wanted to look after me.
I decided to let him.
I exhaled, letting the stress from the last several minutes out into the air, and my shoulders relaxed, along with the tension in my jaw. “Okay. Like I said, I trust you. Your friend can check me out.”
He scowled. “He can check out your ankle…not check you out.”
I rolled my eyes playfully. “You know what I meant.”
“Yup.” Declan nodded and then grinned. “I meant what I said, too.”
I laughed and looked out the window, watching as we flew through the streets of downtown Chicago. Passing between the tallest buildings I’d ever seen in my life, it felt like we were traveling through a tunnel. As we neared Lake Shore Drive, traffic almost came to a standstill. While other drivers honked their horns and shouted obscenities, I watched the waves of Lake Michigan lap against the shoreline.
My thoughts drifted like the waves, pushing and pulling in conflict with one another.
Because while Declan seemed bossy and gruff, sometimes harsh and demanding, he was the most protective person I’d ever met.
No one, not a single person, ever cared enough to have me seen and looked over when I’d been hurt.
This was a simple accident, one he could have easily pushed me past in order to keep us on our original schedule. Yet he dropped everything in order to ensure that I was okay.
“Thank you, Declan,” I whispered, pulling my eyes off the dark, black waves and bright, white caps. “No one’s ever done this for me before.”
His lips curled almost into a sneer and his nostrils flared. “It’s such a shame,” he muttered, and glanced out the window behind me.
“What is?”
“That you met Kevin and I met Mara before we met each other.”
He glanced down at our hands still entwined on the seat between us, and with his free hand, he skimmed his thumb over the veins on the back of my hand.
“How much less injured and screwed up would we both be,” he said, speaking more to himself than me, “if we didn’t have that past clinging to us?”
I was at a lost for words as he continued tracing the back of my hand, tracing the light freckles on my skin as if they were a connect-the-dots diagram in a coloring book.
I watched him for several minutes, saying nothing. Even if he expected an answer, I didn’t have one.
All I knew was that if I had met him before I ever met Kevin, I wouldn’t now feel so broken, so scared all the time.
I had a feeling that if Declan had walked into my life five years ago, I would have clung to him as if my life depended on it, knowing that I had just found the best man in the entire world.
—
I hobbled into the room, my shoulder tucked in under Declan’s. With one arm wrapped around my waist, he helped hold me up and keep pressure off my injured ankle. He held our small overnight bag in his other hand like he’d done all afternoon.
For a normal man, I imagined this would be awkward, if it were even possible.
For Declan, it seemed like nothing.
That was my last clear thought before I took in the room he had checked us into.
My eyes settled quickly on the bed against the far wall.
The one bed.
A large bed, roomy enough that we could share it without brushing up against each other while we slept.
Yet I knew, as a familiar warmth tingled in the best of places, that was the last thing I wanted—injured or not. I tensed against him at the thought.
His arm still around me, Declan moved us farther into the room. I heard the thud of the bag hitting the carpet and then the loud click of the door closing behind us.
“They only had a king bed available,” Declan said, his tone apologetic.
By the way his eyes roamed over my face, taking in my appearance, he’d misread my thoughts entirely.
Or he’d read them correctly and he was letting me down in a polite way.
Which would be just like the gentleman he’d shown himself to be.
With that sobering thought, I stepped away from him and made the short walk to the bathroom. “Excuse me for a moment.”
I flinched from the pain in my ankle, but hid it as I took several small steps, then stopped when Declan called my name.
Turning to look at him over my shoulder, I watched his eyes flicker from mine to the bed and back again. I caught the slight tightening of his jaw, and then he raised his phone. “I’m going to call David.”
I tilted my chin down and closed the bathroom door behind me as I heard Declan’s deep voice rumble, “Hey, dickhead. How’s it going?”
I laughed softly, and did what needed to be done in the bathroom.
While I was there, I made another decision that was probably idiotic. Using the complimentary mouthwash, I rinsed out my mouth, freshening my breath. I also fluffed my hair, even though with the day we’d had and the wine we’d drunk it still looked disheveled, and not messy in a looking-forward-to-what’s-to-come sort of way.
I was pinching my cheeks, bringing life back into them, when a knock on the door made me jump.
“Just a second!” I shouted, and gave myself one last look in the mirror. I looked like I’d spent the day in the car, stressed about selling that same car, eaten good food, ridden a train, and then almost fallen down a flight of stairs.
Essentially, I looked exhausted and worn-out.
Not bed-worthy in the least. Especially to a man like Declan, whose entire body silently screamed passion and control.
To make matters worse, the realization that we were not here on some sensual couple’s getaway slammed into my gut, knocking the breath from me as another knock vibrated against the door.
“Trina?”
“Coming!” I choked out, and then moved as quickly as I could to open the door. “Did you talk to your friend?”
“I did.” He nodded and flipped his phone in his hand. “He’s working a few more hours. Said if you can hang in there a little bit longer, he’ll stop by on his break.”
“I can. That’s fine, thank you.”
“Are you okay?” he asked, and this time, he lifted his hand and pushed some of my freshly fluffed hair behind my ear.
I leaned into his gentle touch. “I’m fine. Just tired.”
“Of course,” he muttered, even as one side of his lips kicked up before he dropped his hand and took a step back.
“I’ll run to the pharmacy, get you an ice pack and ibuprofen while we wait for him.”
I shook my head. “It’s not necessary.”
“It is. Get off your feet and I’ll be back soon.”
Something else flashed in his eyes, something I didn’t fully understand, but I knew I’d seen that look before.
It was the same thing I saw in his hallway last night when he told me to stop kissing him before he pushed me further than I wanted to go. All my earlier doubt and fear vanished into the thickening air.
I opened my mouth to tell him that that wasn’t possible, when I felt his lips at my ear. “Get some rest while I’m gone, Trina. You’ll need the energy later.”
My jaw fell open. I was too stunned, in the best of ways, to speak. And then I wasn’t given the option, as he turned and I watched his beautiful backside saunter out of the hotel room, the door shutting behind him.
—
“Nice legs,” I heard a male voice murmur.
Another male voice, one I recognized, growled, “Eyes on the ankle, asshole.”
The unfamiliar male voice chuckled, and I struggled to open my eyes, realizing I was being woken up by Declan and his friend David.
“Still. She’s nice. Pretty.” A long pause caused my heart to stall in my chest as I waited for Declan’s reaction, then David continued. “Way better than Mara.”
“Two aren’t even comparable, dickhead.”
At their quick burst of laughter—which I felt in my chest, because I could tell that was a compliment, and that the negative thought about Mara was definitely a good thing—I opened my eyes and made it completely obvious that I’d woken from my nap with an exaggerated yawn and stretch.
“Hey,” I whispered, my throat dry from sleep. Declan was on my side of the bed, standing close. I could sense the other male in the room, but I couldn’t see him. “What’s going on?”
Declan grinned and leaned forward to brush my hair off my forehead. He was always touching me there. I liked the sensation way too much to consider investing in cheap hair ties anytime soon.
“David just got here. He needs to see your ankle before he goes back to the hospital.”
I nodded and shifted on the bed, feeling a warm weight slide off my ankle as I sat up. When I looked down, I saw an ice pack. I turned back to Declan with a questioning look in my eyes.
“You’ve been out for hours. Came back from the store and set the ice pack on you.”
It was not a big deal. Yet it was. Huge. Emotions threatened to overwhelm me at the simple gesture, something that probably wouldn’t seem unusual to anyone who’d had people care about them when they’d been hurt. When I thought my voice wouldn’t be shaky, I grinned. “Thank you.”
But even then the grin and the two words were shaky.
“David, meet Trina.” Declan gestured with one arm and I turned to see a handsome guy standing near the foot of the bed. He was dressed in typical pale-blue doctor’s scrubs, stethoscope still draped around his neck. Not only that, but he was handsome in a clean-cut, nice-guy sort of way. He was tall and lean, square jawed, and had short, sandy-brown hair that could either be light brown or dark blond. It was trimmed nice and short, professional looking. His jaw showed no hint of stubble, telling me that he took the time to look nice and neat. Small lines at the edges of his eyes said he lived a life of either high stress or a lot of laughter and emotion, or possibly both.
His appearance, along with his kind smile, was immediately calming. “Trina, David.”
“Nice to meet you,” David said, walking forward and holding out his hand. “Declan’s told me all about you.”
I shook his hand, noticing his warm, firm grip, before I twisted to look at Declan over David’s shoulder.
“Not everything,” Declan said, and David’s brow furrowed. “Get her looked at, David, so you can get back to work.”
“You have to go back?” I asked, shock evident in my voice.
“On for fourteen hours. This is just my dinner break, but it’s the quickest I could get here,” David replied, moving to the foot of the bed. When he reached out toward my ankle, I flinched away from his touch, anticipating the pain.
I sucked my bottom lip in between my teeth. “Sorry.”
His eyes flashed to Declan’s before coming back to me. When he met my gaze, his light-blue eyes softened. “I’m going to sit next to you and test your ankle. Okay?”
I nodded, still feeling embarrassed, more so now because of the understanding David seemed to have regarding me. I briefly wondered how long they had spoken while I slept, how much Declan had shared with David about me.
I tensed when David gently cupped my ankle in his hand and slowly turned my foot toward him.
I grimaced from the dull pain that began throbbing.
“Hurt?” he asked, his eyes on mine, not on my ankle.
“Just a bit,” I admitted unnecessarily. “But better than before.”
“Have you taken any pain meds?”
“She was out when I got back from the store. Just gave her the ice pack but she’s been sleeping.” Declan filled in the information without looking at either David or me. His gaze was glued to David’s hands on me.
My lips twitched, fighting a smile at his protectiveness, before David turned my ankle the other way. He set it down and I sucked in a breath when his fingers began prodding my skin. He alternated between watching my expression and where his hands were moving.
When he finally stopped examining with his hands and his eyes, I felt like I could breathe again.
I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath until I felt the pressure ease in my chest.
I hated feeling under the microscope.
“It’s
just twisted. Minor sprain, but nothing bad.”
My eyes flickered to Declan’s and I grinned. “Told you so.”
“Better safe than sorry.” His dark eyes showed no hint of amusement, so I wiped the grin off my face and turned back to David.
His eyes showed a great deal of amusement as he watched me. “I think you’ll be fine by the morning. It’s swollen, but not too bad. Take some ibuprofen every four to six hours if you need it, but you should be good to go.”
“Thank you for taking the time to check on me. It sounds like you’re a busy guy.”
He stood from the bed and tugged on the ends of his stethoscope. “I’m never too busy for a friend.” He nodded his head toward Declan without taking his eyes off me. “Plus, this asshole can be unbearable when he doesn’t get his way.”
My lips twitched again and I coughed to smother my laugh. “I wasn’t aware he could be an asshole.”
Behind him, Declan made a choking sound.
David burst out in laughter. “Then it appears you don’t know him well at all.”
My eyes slid to Declan’s and I licked my lips. I couldn’t contain the breathiness in my tone when I said, “I think I know him well enough.”
“Right.” David cleared his throat, his humor obvious. “Then I’m going to take that as my cue to go.”
He stepped toward me, hand extended. “It was nice to meet you, Trina.” When I placed my hand in his, he held it firmly and then leaned toward me, squatting at the same time, until his lips were by my ear. My eyes stay pinned on Declan’s as he scowled, watching his friend dip close to me. “And I’m kidding about the asshole comment. He’s the best guy I’ve ever met. If you need someone, he’s the guy who will take care of you. You got me?”
I nodded, breathless and speechless at the same time.
David wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t feel Declan’s annoyance with his friend rising every single moment David spent close to me.
When his lips brushed against my cheek as he pulled away, Declan growled.