Page 4 of Billionaire Bad Boy Daddy

I stop in my tracks when my eyes land on one of his tattoos. Small, against his rib cage. A painful place to get a tattoo.

But that’s not what catches my eye.

I notice it because I have the exact same one in the exact same spot.

That’s impossible though. I mean, what are the chances someone I haven’t seen in five years ends up in my emergency room? Besides, there are so many new tattoos on his body that weren’t there when I knew him. American traditional anchor on his pectoral and a quotation on his lower belly, amongst others.

I guess five years would be enough time to get tatted like this, but –

“Dr. Delgado?” Resident Amina calls me back to attention.

I clear my throat. “Yeah, let’s…” I draw my eyes up to the man’s head. “Let’s get this helmet off. Careful.”

“Probably saved him a lot of head trauma, huh?” Amina says, pointing her finger at the dent in the helmet.

“At least he had the sense for that,” I say.

She goes to the head of the bed and tucks her fingers under the helmet.

Without thinking, I gravitate toward her, watching. My feet are out of my control. I’m drawn, compelled closer.

Another resident joins Amina, supporting the man’s neck as she pulls the helmet off. She shimmies it back and forth carefully, not wanting to cause any further damage.

My heart throbs in my chest.

It can’t be him. It just can’t be.

“Oh my God…”

I look away.

“Do you know who this is?” Amina nearly shrieks.

I close my eyes. Please let it be anyone else. Anyone else with a tattoo of scraggly ocotillo on their ribs.

“This is Rex Redford. You saved a rockstar’s life!!”

I bite the inside of my lower lip so hard I’m close to drawing blood. And with painful slowness, I allow my gaze to fall on the man’s face.

Without thinking, I suck in a breath. It lands in the center of my chest. I think my sternum might crack in half.

It’s definitely Rex. I’d be a fool not to recognize him from the gossip magazines and television appearances. The messy dark hair, sharp chin, the scar on his left eyebrow that makes it look like he shaves it. Not to mention the lank of his body. Still bony and lithe.

But he’s not Rex Redford to me. He’s Rex. The Rex I spent a month of my life with five years ago, his last hurrah before fame and my last hurrah before I had to grow up.

Before I had to grow up and…

I think I’m going to be sick.

A hubbub is breaking out around me. Nurses and doctors and EMTs, all distracted from their work and fawning over the latest patient to enter the Ocotillo General ER.

He’s stable. They know what to do. They won’t miss me.

I slink down the hall and through the door to the outside. The rain is pounding against the parking lot pavement. Rare in a desert like ours. The thunder rolls. My mind goes to Leo. And my eyes fill with tears.

This wasn’t supposed to happen like this. None of this was supposed to happen, actually.

I was never supposed to see Leo’s father again.

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