by KB Winters
I gave Ian credit. He’d dropped the attitude. “No,” he said. He sounded remorseful; I hoped he was. “I was in too much pain when the guys brought me in. You’re the first person I’ve seen since the surgery.”
“You should probably call them. No one knows if you were targeted, but since all your friends seem to be fine, it’s a good bet.” And here I was taking care of him, giving him advice again. “Unless your friends did this to you?”
“No. They wouldn’t do that. Can you just stop yelling at me? I don’t feel good.”
I shrugged. “Okay, Ian. You do you. And keep your ass in this hospital bed where you belong.”
His deep chuckle sounded behind me. “Yes, ma’am!”
Little brothers were put on this earth for the sole purpose of torturing older sisters, I was a firm believer in that.
I now had a deep appreciation for people who buried themselves in work to forget about the crappy state of their lives. It wasn’t just effective, but there was the added benefit that they’d have more money, become better at their jobs, and find other ways to fulfill themselves. At least, that was how I felt after about twenty straight hours of sitting behind my computer with only a couple bathroom and food breaks.
I’d caught up on all my emails and only had to wait for replies from clients and potential clients. I’d completed the first draft of a website overhaul, a new business logo for letterhead and business cards, along with putting the finishing touches on posters and album covers for an indie rock band. It felt good to be so far ahead of schedule that I could stop worrying about meeting deadlines and maintaining my schedule. In fact, I had time to start working on another facet of my business to bring in residual income.
There was plenty of satisfaction to be had in a job well done, particularly when that job paid my bills and gave me enough income to spring for things like chef’s knives and vintage comic t-shirts. “Yep, I’m living the life,” I crowed sarcastically to my homepage.
It was hardly true, but it had only been a day since I’d promised a redo on my life, and real change took progress. But after binge working from the moment I left the hospital, I was proud of myself that I hadn’t thought about Shae or Ian in more than twenty hours. That was real progress and nothing to be ashamed of.
If there was any cause for shame it was that I was almost thirty years old with no real friends to speak of and no romantic prospects. It was an even greater shame that the best sex of my life was with the cockiest, most arrogant man I’d ever met. But when life kept handing me jerks, I finally came to the point where I had to refuse them, so I threw myself into work and decided to live a celibate life.
“A future to look forward to,” I groaned and pushed my laptop away and stood to stretch my stiff muscles. My body desperately need a steaming hot bubble bath, and I intended to give it to her along with a tall pitcher of margaritas. I let hot water fill the tub along with a lavender bath bomb while I made my pitcher of cocktails.
As soon as I dipped a toe into the hot water, my tight muscles began to relax. I sank all the way down into the fragrant bath and exhaled.
Then the phone rang. I’d set it on the hamper next to the tub in case a client called back.
“Yeah?” I said when I picked it up, bubbly water dripping off my arm.
“Ivy? It’s Candace.” Those two words were all I needed to stand up and step out of the bathtub.
“What’s wrong with Ian?”
“There was a head injury that the doctor didn’t think looked serious. But when Mr. Anders attempted to get up on his own and fell, it caused a bleed in his brain.”
“A brain bleed?” I didn’t need a medical license to know that was bad. Life threatening bad. “How did that happen?”
“Maybe you saw the laceration on his head. It was from some kind of blow that we treated as a cut, after x-rays of course. But the fall aggravated it. There must have been underlying swelling and well, it would be best if you could return to St. Mary’s.”
My gaze slid to the untouched margarita sitting beside a few bath candles and a lavender scented pillow. It would be hours if not days before I got to enjoy any of it.
“I’ll be right there,” I said, reaching for the towel. At least this time I could drive myself.
I made it to the hospital in record time, mainly because I zoned out and barely remembered the trip. The next thing I remembered was walking into the lobby with a glare for Macy as I made my way to the ICU. Candace, Dr. Doherty and another doctor waited for me.
“I’m so sorry, Ivy.” Those were words you never wanted to hear from a medical professional. I braced myself for the worst.
“Has something else happened since we last spoke?”
Candace shook her head but it was the other doctor, young and far too handsome to work in a real hospital, who spoke up. “The patient—”
“Ian. His name is Ian.”
The doctor sighed, impatient as all get out, and I knew his type right away. Arrogant with no time to remember details like the names of the people he cut open.
“Ian’s brain began to bleed due to the swelling so we had to place him in a medically induced coma, which should help with the small puncture to his lungs caused by the fractured rib.”
Lung puncture? When were they going to tell me about that? Things just got better and better. “Medically induced,” I mused. “How long will that last?”
Dr. Arrogant said, “It depends, but this is the best thing for these types of injuries. The body needs to heal and to do that it needs sleep. But we will monitor your husband—”
“—brother. Ian is my brother, Doctor.”
“Right. We’ll monitor him around the clock and when the swelling goes down, we’ll slowly decrease the sedation as he improves. I promise that we are doing everything we can for Ian.”
That much I believed. Guys like him loved the ego stroke of saving difficult patients. I said, “Thank you, doctor. Thanks to all of you for your help.” Once they were gone, I made my way back to Ian’s room where he looked more fragile than ever.
I couldn’t help but feel like this was my fault, especially since I was off having wild sex with the wrong man while my brother was getting the shit beat out of him. I knew it was an illogical thought to have, because Ian didn’t want me hanging around. However, realistically? A lifetime of feeling responsible for him didn’t disappear overnight.
“I’m sorry, Ian,” I whispered close to his hear. With the whir of all the machines keeping him alive, he couldn’t have heard me. This was all such a fucking mess and all I wanted was to curl up under my blankets and pretend life was perfect.
But it wasn’t. It was far from perfect. Some might call it an outright mess. But I couldn’t curl into myself and pretend none of this was happening. I had to do something, and I decided to start by calling the police to see if they knew anything they weren’t telling me.
I rinsed my face with cold water in the bathroom connected to his room, smoothed my jeans and t-shirt, and went out into the corridor.
I turned a corner to find a quiet spot to make a phone call and with one word, all my resolutions went out the window.
“Ivy?” That voice sent my nerve endings vibrating.
I looked up from my phone and there he was.
“Shae,” I said, my voice trembling. “What are you doing here?”
His smile bloomed as he lifted a hand and ran two fingers through a lock of my hair. “I came to see you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Shae
Arms crossed with a blank look on her face, Ivy’s blue eyes penetrated my gaze with enough ice to freeze the whole state of Nevada. “Why?” she said without any of the joy that erupted the last time we spoke. “I’m pretty sure we cleared up everything we needed to the last time we saw each other, Shae.”
She was feisty today, and I already knew why.
“How’s your brother doing?” After Shamrock interrupted dinner, I spent the night doing a little recon on Frank
and Gio. Those dumbasses didn’t know their heads from their asses, flashing cash all over the dirtiest, scuzziest strip joints in town. Not that I had anything against any strip joints, I didn’t. The Connelly family dabbled in the tits and ass just like any other respectable business would, but the low end girls could be bought. Easily. It had taken less than a grand a piece to find out what those assholes were saying while the girls worked for their tips. I’d found out a lot, which had delayed me getting to Ivy.
“What business is it of yours, Shae? No, don’t answer that. Just tell me what you hoped to accomplish by coming here?” She was pale and her clothes looked like she’d dug them out of the bottom of the dirty clothes hamper. On top of that, her messy hair told me she’d left home in a hurry.
“I’m sorry, Ivy.” She just looked at me with contempt. Everything about her body language screamed at me to fuck off.
“There’s no need to apologize, Shae. We had fun together, but you and I want different things. No harm, no foul.” Ivy’s walls were firmly in place. She was ice cold where I was concerned, and it was my own damn fault. But why did I care so damn much?
“You say that, Ivy, but you’re lookin’ at me like I kidnapped you or something.”
She smiled, slightly amused and shook her head. “You might not be used to this Shae, but not everything in this entire world is about you. In fact, I’ve hardly thought of you since I last saw you.”
“Hardly? That means I’ve crossed your mind.” I leaned in and smiled at her, tracing the line of her jaw with my finger. “That’s promising.”
“You don’t want to know what I was thinking, trust me.” She skirted around me and went to the large desk where the nurses gathered. “Can I get another blanket for my brother, please?”
Okay, I got the message. Fuck off, but not before I took care of some business. “Look, Shamrock was looking for me the morning after we spent the night together, and he followed you back here.”
I knew she wouldn’t like hearing any of it, but I needed her to know everything.
“You had me followed? Un-fucking-believable! You’re a piece of work, Shae whatever the fuck your last name is.”
I smiled again and that only seemed to piss her off more. “Connelly. Shae Eoghan Connelly.” I held my hand out with a wide grin that I knew she would be unable to resist. For some damn reason my whole body relaxed when she placed her small, delicate hand in mine. “Nice to meet ya, sweetheart.”
“You too.” She let me hold her hand in mine. “Shae Eoghan Connelly.” Looking up at me, I saw every gear turn in her pretty little head until everything clicked into place.
“Patrick Connelly is your dad? The casino magnate?” She smiled but it was bitter and unamused. “It all makes sense now. Rich boy slumming it on the down low.”
With a huff of disappointment she brushed past me again and walked to a patient’s room. I assumed it was her brother’s.
I followed because I couldn’t not follow her, but I avoided looking at the battered form in the bed. I vowed to get the Milano’s for the mess they’d made of Ivy’s brother. He was collateral damage and didn’t deserve this. Then I wrapped my thoughts around Ivy.
“Listen, Ivy,” I said. “It wasn’t like that.” Wasn’t it though? She was just a fine piece of ass I wanted to bury myself in.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. We had our night together. It was nice. You can move on with a clear conscience, Mr. Connelly.”
“My conscience is always clear, but I don’t plan on going anywhere, sweetheart. Besides all that, we need to talk.” She looked down at where I gripped her arm and then back up at me.
“You should really be careful where you put your hands. Someone might take offense.”
Maybe so, but we both knew the truth. “You love it when I put my hands on you. Don’t deny it.”
“I liked it, past tense. Now if you don’t mind, my brother is in a medically induced coma, so I have something to worry about other than some rich playboy who isn’t used to rejection.”
My brows arched. “Is that what this is meant to be, rejection? If so, you should probably step up your game, sweet cheeks.”
She smacked my hand away from her. “Don’t call me that, damn you.”
As fun as it was to play with Ivy, we needed to talk. “Shamrock overheard your brother’s friends talking to the cops. He was the only one attacked.”
That was weird on its own, but when combined with all the other shit that had been going on lately, it was cause for concern.
“That’s what I heard, too.” Ivy wrapped her arms around herself in a protective gesture, and I wondered if she was protecting herself from the truth, or from me.
“I don’t know what it means, and I don’t really want to think about it right now, Shae. I just want my brother to get better.”
“I know, and that’s why I’m here. I know a few cops, and I called in a favor to see if they could find anything.” That had gone about as well as I’d expected it to, but I accepted their ribbing because it was the cost of doing business, along with the literal cost of doing business in Rocket without being hassled by the cops.
“And?”
“And I haven’t heard anything yet, but I wanted to check on you and Ian. Make sure you were both all right.”
“Thank you and yeah, we’re both as fine as can be expected. He’s in a medically induced coma and I’m here, praying to God that he fucking wakes up because I’m selfish, and I don’t want to be left alone in this world.”
She hugged herself even tighter and dammit, my heart went out to her.
The Connelly clan was nothing but tight. We looked after each other, and we got all up in each other’s business, pissed each other off, but we always had each other’s backs. I couldn’t imagine not having them. Being alone? That would fucking suck.
“You’re the opposite of selfish, Ivy. And there’s nothing wrong with not wanting to lose your family. Even when they are annoying and ungrateful.”
Her smile appeared, soft and amused. “Thank you, Shae. And thanks for calling in that favor. Let’s hope something comes of it.”
The resignation in her voice said she didn’t believe it, but she hadn’t given up yet.
“No thanks necessary, Ivy. It was my pleasure.” I didn’t know why I even gave a damn, but I did. It was a novel feeling, and one I decided not to look at too carefully for the moment.
“You don’t need to charm me, Shae. We’re not right for each other. Remember?”
I knew she thought that, but she didn’t know that I thought she was totally wrong. “Want to go grab some crappy cafeteria food?”
“Nope.” She grinned and I knew I had her.
“Crappy diner food?”
“Fine, but I can’t stay away for very long.” She cast another glance over her shoulder at her brother, tears clouding her eyes before she turned back to me. “I think something greasy and fattening is just what I need.”
“I can think of something else you need even though you insist on denying both of us.” I wasn’t known for my patience, but I could be a damn saint if need be. When I wanted to be, and right now, in this moment, I wanted it real bad.
Ivy rolled her eyes and bumped my shoulder before she walked to her brother and brushed his hair from his face.
“I’ll be back soon, Ian. Feel free to wake up before I get back.” She kissed her fingertips and placed it on his forehead. Then she pulled the blanket up to his shoulders before joining me by the door.
“Let’s go get food. Only food,” she clarified with a flirtatious smile.
“Thanks for dinner. Apparently chicken fried steak and buttery mashed potatoes were just what I needed to feel halfway human again.”
Ivy stood in front of me, hugging herself tight. She was still holding on to that protective gesture, and it bothered me even more after we’d spent more than an hour together at the diner.
“It was my pleasure, Ivy.” That was fucking truth of the matter
. I liked this chick, liked hanging out with her, and I really liked fucking her. Hell, I wanted to do it again and again until this gnawing need for her was gone.
My family had a lot of shit on our plate, at the top of that list was dealing with the goddamn Milano family, and I didn’t have time for that kind of distraction fulltime. I hustled her out the door after paying the bill and we headed back to the hospital.
Her laugh was filled with disbelief. “Yeah, you enjoyed eating greasy diner food with me? I thought we weren’t lying to each other anymore, Shae.” Damn, it was that sexy, coy grin that got to me.
“We’re not,” I leaned in to her shoulder until I could smell the strawberry milkshake on her breath. “And I did. You’re good company and that food hit the spot. The only thing missing is a post-meal orgasm.”
She threw her head back and laughed. One of those big laughs that shook her whole body, especially her tits hidden beneath a soft green hoodie. “I’m sure you’ll have no problem taking care of that. Later.” She stepped away, but I wasn’t letting her get away that easily, and I moved in front of her.
“It is later. Right. Now.” Looking into her big blue eyes, so dark they were nearly black under the yellow lights of the hospital parking lot, I leaned in, ready to take the kiss I’d been dying for since she bumped into me at the hospital.
But she stepped back. “And I need to go check on my brother.”
“I’ll walk you up,” I told her and pressed my mouth to hers. Her lips were as soft as I remembered, thick and full, pliant. I was a greedy bastard, and I needed more, so I pushed in, fusing our bodies together against the red brick of the hospital back wall. I kissed the hell out of her until her arms were wrapped around me tight and her tongue slid against mine.
Ivy moaned and I deepened the kiss, devouring her mouth because it was savory and spicy and sweet and goddamn addictive. She moaned again and my dick went hard. I pressed it against her until she crawled up my body in an effort to get closer to me. “Dammit, Shae.”