by Cynthia Eden
“Why did you come here?” Tess stood, as if rooted to the spot, just a few feet away.
“Because I was bleeding. I thought the ER was a good place to go.”
“No.”
“No?” He lifted a brow. “You shouldn’t come to the ER when you’re bleeding?”
She surged toward him. “You came here, to this hospital, because you wanted to see me. You even asked one of the nurses outside to assign you to me. You charmed her, and you got me put in this room with you.”
“Did I charm her?” James considered that. “I can have my charming moments.”
“You can also have your asshole moments.” She put her hands on her hips. “What are you doing?”
“Listening to a grumpy, but beautiful doctor?”
She stared.
He sighed. “Fine. I wanted to see you. In your natural environment, so to speak.” He waved vaguely. “And I asked for you because I didn’t want to get that asshat from the other night. What was his name…Goddamn?”
“Goddard.” Her hands were still on her hips. “You wanted to see me?”
Yes. “I called twice. You didn’t answer. I was worried that I’d pissed you off the other night, so I wanted to tell you, face to face, that I’m sorry. For whatever the hell I did wrong, I’m sorry.”
She glanced down at the floor.
Even in those atrocious green scrubs, she was gorgeous.
“You left right after the pizza. Caught a cab and vanished.” Even though he’d wanted to take her home. “You were barely talking to me before you cut out. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Her lashes slowly lifted. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“No?” Then tell me why you shut down. Tell me why you shut me out.
She bit her lower lip.
He pushed off the exam table. Moved so that he was right in front of her.
“I’m not who you think,” she whispered.
Oh, sweetheart. I know exactly who you are.
And he’d come there, with blood on him, because he wanted her to know who he really was, too.
“I’m not fancy. I’m not fine dining. I’m not the rich lifestyle.” Her breath came faster. “I grew up with nothing. Less than that. And I still lock down every time I’m at a table and there’s too much food or too much silverware because I feel like a fraud and I don’t fit in and all I want to do is—”
His chest ached.
But she stopped. “Forget I said that.”
Hell, no, he wouldn’t.
The door burst open. Marilyn was there, but her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were frantic. “I need you! Now!”
“I have to go.” Tess whirled. “I’m sorry!”
No. He didn’t want to lose her. “Tess!”
But she raced away with Marilyn.
***
“He’s as high as a freaking kite,” Marilyn warned as they raced down the corridor. Tess could already hear the shouts and commotion from up ahead. “God Complex was supposed to be attending but he left Julia in there, and Sean rushed in to back her up.”
Julia and Sean were both outstanding nurses.
“The patient is freaking out, and he needs a doctor right—”
They rounded the corner. Burst into the exam area.
The patient was massive. Big in bulk and height, and he’d just thrown Sean across the room.
“Security!” Tess shouted.
At her shout, the patient—wearing torn jeans and a ripped, black shirt—spun toward her. His eyes were bloodshot. His pupils the size of pinpricks. His nostrils flared.
And he charged.
He lunged right for her. There was no time to do anything. He grabbed her and locked his hands around her throat.
He yanked her up against him. “Bitch, you won’t have me strapped down! You won’t—”
“Let her go. Right the hell now.” The snarling, lethal voice cut right through the patient’s roar.
Tess’s eyes darted to the left. That was James’s voice. He was steps away, in the doorway. Devin was there, too, and another nurse and—
The man’s hands tightened on her throat. She couldn’t breathe! Her fingers clawed at him.
“I fucking warned you.” James lunged forward.
The patient tossed Tess down, the same way he’d tossed Sean. She hit the floor and scrambled back up, just in time to see James drive his fist into the wild patient’s stomach. A left to the stomach. A right hook to the jaw. And the patient went down hard. He crashed onto the floor, and James shoved his hand in the guy’s hair. James yanked back the fellow’s head. “Weren’t you ever taught how to treat a lady? You never put your hands on a woman like that. Never.” He drew back his free hand and curled his fingers into a powerful fist, obviously intending to—
“Freeze!”
Security had finally arrived.
Tess’s hands still clutched her burning throat. “He’s…not the bad guy.” She shook her head. “James…let him go.”
But he didn’t.
She strained her throat to say, “It’s the…the man in the black shirt. He’s the one who attacked me, he’s—”
The patient’s eyes rolled back in his head. His whole body started seizing. Jesus.
She shot forward. Began calling out orders as she pushed James back so that she could get to work on the man who was ODing in front of her.
She forgot everything else. Everyone else. Her hands were rock steady as she attended him. As she fought to save him.
A low keening tore from his throat.
“It’s going to be okay,” she assured him as her neck throbbed and burned. “I’ve got you.”
***
She was trying to save the man who’d just choked her. James stood behind Tess and watched her with a clenched jaw as blood dripped down his wrist. Tess was intent and focused, and he didn’t think that she even realized he was there.
“Medical personnel only!” Now the prick was in there—Goddard—shouting orders and pointing his stubby finger at James. “Everyone else, out!”
James didn’t move, not yet. He had a warning to give. “You should probably keep a fucking security guard in here. Because if she gets hurt again, I’m kicking your ass, too.”
The prick blinked at him. Gaped.
Marilyn moved in front of James. “You tore open your stitches.”
He shrugged.
“Let me fix them. Come on. We’ll go back to your exam room.”
He didn’t want to leave Tess. What if she needed him again?
Marilyn touched his shoulder. “The security personnel will stay, no matter what Devin says. She’s good. Tess will be safe.”
Tess didn’t look back at him. She was too focused on the man who appeared to be foaming at the mouth right then. “What’d he take?” James asked.
“We have no clue at this point. Hopefully, Tess can help him.” Marilyn nudged him forward. “You have to go now. Your blood is dripping onto the floor.”
I want to stay with her.
But he backed off. Headed into the hallway as hard tension filled his body. “Screw the stitches. I’m fine.”
“Of course, tough guy, I’m sure you are.” Marilyn shook her head. “But I’m going to do my job and I’m going to patch you up. Because if I don’t and Tess finds out that you left here, bleeding, she’s going to worry about you. She’ll probably turn up on your doorstep, determined to treat you herself.”
He lifted a brow.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” She sighed. “But I’m still stitching you up.” She clutched his shirtfront and hauled him after her. He could have resisted. For the moment, he didn’t. This was Tess’s friend, and she could give him more insight to Tess. And Tess was safe. The security guards had remained in the room.
They should have been in there from the word go.
“Tess can show up at your door for plenty of other reasons,” Marilyn continued in a casual tone. “Doesn’t have to be because you’re bleeding.
”
They were back at the exam room. She headed in first, and he followed. As soon as the door shut behind him…
Marilyn dropped her semi-caring nurse act. “What the hell is your deal?”
He waited. He knew he was in a proceed-with-caution scene.
“Why are you with my friend?”
That was an easy one. “Because I happen to think she’s sexy as hell.”
“Okay. Good answer.” She tapped her foot. “You attacked the guy who outweighed you by at least seventy pounds, and you didn’t hesitate.”
“Why would I have hesitated? What does his weight have to do with anything?”
“Didn’t look like that was your first fight.”
“It wasn’t.”
“You own a club.”
“Technically, I own a few clubs.”
Her blue eyes were challenging. “You might as well have ‘bad boy’ stamped on your forehead.”
“Nah, that would be too obvious.”
Her lips twitched. But then her face smoothed. “I like the way you rushed to save her.”
He’d just reacted, hadn’t thought. Tess had been in danger, and no one would hurt Tess. “If the bastard lives, I might break his fingers so he understands that you don’t ever put your hands on a woman.”
She laughed. Then… “Oh, God, are you serious?” Her eyes became saucers.
He smiled at her. Not a particularly warm smile.
She grabbed fresh gloves from the dispenser. “I can’t tell if you’re serious or not, and that is freaking me out.”
He tended to often freak out people. Part of his charm.
“Tell me…tell me that you will never hurt my friend.”
That was easy. “I will never hurt Tess.”
She grabbed his arm. Swabbed with some disinfectant or alcohol pad or something. “Tell me that you’re not dangerous.”
Now he chose his words carefully. “I’m not dangerous to Tess.” Was that good enough?
Marilyn gave a firm nod, so he supposed his promise had, indeed, been good enough.
“Is the area still numb? You need another shot?”
“Stitch away. I don’t care about the pain.”
“Tough guy. I suppose you think that’s hot?”
He didn’t really think about it one way or the other.
“It was rather hot the way you saved her. I’m sure Tess will appreciate it, you know, when she’s not trying to keep that guy alive.” She went to work on his wound once more. “And you got to play the hero right in front of Dr. Goddard’s face. That man is such an ass. He’s been nosing around Tess from day one. It’s time he figured out that he has no shot with her.”
See…this was why he’d gone back to the exam room. Tess’s friend was giving him good intel. Intel that hadn’t been in the report provided by Barnes. “I’ll be sure he gets the message.”
“Hmm.” Her head tilted to better study his wound.
The needle slid into his skin. “Tess has had a hard day.” He freaking strangled her.
“Tell me about it. But you know, it was even worse a few days back. Wait.” She looked up. “Was that last week? Time moves so fast in the ER.” Marilyn shook her head and went back to work.
“What happened?”
“She had a sixteen-year-old boy die on her, and, Tess always takes the deaths hard, but for it to be a kid…”
Fuck me. That must have been the night she showed up at my club with shadows under her beautiful eyes.
A low sigh. “Anyway, let’s just call it the job from hell and be done with it, huh?”
“What can I do to make her feel better?”
Her stare slowly lifted. Held his. “If it’s only some random hook up, why do you care?”
“Who told you it was random?”
“Tess doesn’t look for relationships. She doesn’t do long term.”
“Why?”
Her lips parted.
Come on. Tell me—
“You’d have to ask her.” The needle slid in again.
James gave her points for being a good friend to Tess.
She worked in silence the rest of the time. Then as she finished up, Marilyn revealed, “Tess really likes chocolate fudge. It’s her one weakness.”
“Thank you.”
A jerky nod. She put up the supplies. Ditched the waste. Pointed at him. “If she comes to you tonight, handle her with kid gloves.”
“She won’t have to come to me tonight. I’ll be waiting for her.”
***
Her shoulders sagged as Tess headed down the hallway. Tension gathered in her neck—or, hell, maybe that wasn’t tension. Maybe it was the pain from the bruising that had started. She felt like absolute hell.
“Where is my brother?”
Her head lifted. She’d just made it to the ER waiting room. A man in an expensive suit, with close-cropped, light brown hair, loomed in front of the check-in desk.
“He was brought in over two hours ago! I just freaking found out, and I want to see him, now!”
“Who’s your brother?” The administrative assistant was as cool as you please. Unfortunately, in the ER, dealing with frantic—and pissed—families was an all too common occurrence. When people were scared, they often acted angry. “I need a name.”
“Frederick Waller. He’s about six-foot-four, three hundred pounds. He…” His voice lowered but Tess had crept closer. “He was brought in because I think…he took something that he shouldn’t have.”
Tess released a low breath. “Excuse me?”
He whirled to stare at her. He didn’t look a thing like his brother. His eyes were a pale, clear green. No sign of the bloodshot red that had filled Tess’s patient’s gaze. This man’s face was clean shaven, his suit neat and obviously tailored. “I treated your brother. I’m Dr. Tess Barrett.”
His gaze slid over her. Went to her neck. Lingered. “What happened to you?”
“Your brother.”
His stare flew back up to hers.
Should she have been more tactful with her response? Too late. She was out of tact and energy. “He’s stable, for now. But we almost lost him tonight. He’s in recovery, and I’m sure that you will be able to see him shortly. I have to say, your brother needs help. Serious counseling and intervention, and I hope you get that help for him.”
His attention shifted back to her neck. “Those are finger marks.”
“Yes. He attacked me and a male nurse before he began to seize.”
“Seize? Oh, hell.”
“He almost died tonight. In fact, his heart did stop. We got him back. He has a second chance. I hope he can use that chance wisely.”
His lips thinned. He shook his head. “He’s had a million second chances. Never does a damn thing with them.” He offered his hand to her. “I’m Morgan Waller. And thank you.”
His hold was warm and strong. She shook his hand once, then pulled back.
“He’s my half-brother,” Morgan admitted, the words gruff. “Always told my dad I’d look after him. But some people don’t seem to ever learn, do they? There’s only so much you can do for them.” He straightened his shoulders. “Fred is one of those people. I’m sorry he hurt you.”
“You done, Dr. Barrett?” The question came from the admin who’d been watching them.
She was so done. Tess nodded briskly before she told Morgan, “Someone will take you back to see your brother soon. Please just take a seat in our waiting area until then.”
The admin shot her a relieved glance.
Tess shuffled forward as she headed for the exit. As soon as those doors parted, and the cool air hit her…
Paradise. The air soothed her overheated skin and even made her neck feel better.
Her gaze darted around the lot. Was it wrong that part of her hoped that a limo was waiting? Or, hell, didn’t even have to be the limo. She just…
Wished that James was there.
But it was late—far after her shift should have ended—an
d he wasn’t there. She didn’t know when he had left. She needed to get home and collapse. Tess headed for her reliable Jeep.
“No prince charming tonight?”
Devin’s voice stopped her.
“Though the way he acted, I’d hardly call the guy a prince.”
Her spine snapped straight as she whirled toward him. “I didn’t see you jumping in to help when the guy’s fingers were squeezing my neck.”
He notched up his chin. “I was about to help you. Your thug beat me to the punch.”
“Thug?” Was he serious?
“Heard he came in with a knife wound. Don’t you think you should have reported that to—”
“Why the hell am I always finding you around my Tess?”
James? Her head swung to the left. The quick swing made her neck ache, but she ignored the ache because James was there. He strode briskly from the parking area. And he—did he have a bag in his hand? He did. A white bag that he lifted toward her as he closed the distance between them and brushed a kiss over her cheek.
“Sorry I was a few minutes late. Wanted to make sure the fudge was nice and fresh for you.”
He’d gotten her fudge? She took the bag—all greedy fingers—and tore it open. The rich, blissfully chocolate scent filled her nostrils. “I love you.”
“I’ll remember you said that.”
Her stare snapped up. “Um, I didn’t mean—”
He simply nodded.
Her hold tightened on the bag. “I love fudge. How did you know?”
“A friend told me.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. Then he glanced over at Devin. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“I was leaving the hospital. I wasn’t following Tess. I don’t need to follow women.”
“And you don’t know how to step in when they’re being hurt, either, do you?”
“I was going to—”
“What the fuck ever. Listen up, buddy. You ever just stand there while someone attacks Tess, and I will make you wish you’d never been born.”
Devin rushed forward. “You’re threatening me. Me?” He puffed out his chest.
James held his easy pose. “I don’t threaten. I act.”
“Thug! You’re nothing but some—”
James laughed.
Devin glared at him, then focused on Tess. “You saw him in action.”