Page 19 of Rugged Fox

His tone was the last straw. I climbed out of the hospital bed. Screw the results. They hadn't found anything with anyone else, so the chances of mine being different were minimal.

"I don't have time for, nor do I want, an overbearing man in my life. I hired your company to set up security at my house, not invade my life, so pardon my French, but fuck off. You accomplished your job. This right here"—I circled my finger around the room and the hospital in general—"wasn't part of the deal."

I could see my words ticked him off but I no longer cared. I was hungry and tired. I wanted to be home with my son because the truth was, I needed to see with my own eyes that he was okay. The text messages from Lyla were no longer cutting it.

I barely registered the man who came into the room with Easton until he laughed. It was the hearty kind that matched his face. He reminded me of a modern-day Santa Claus.

"No wonder Hendrix warned me. I can see why the team likes her already."

"Maverick, right?" The picture in the local newspaper didn't do him justice. In person, his eyes were softer and he had a smile that welcomed even the most skittish person.

When he nodded his agreement, I continued. "No offense, but I don't care that your team likes me. Maybe on a different day I would, but not today. I've had a long twelve-hour shift that can best be described as a clusterfuck. I was ready to go home when my boss asked me to cover an extra hour for a friend. That got thrown to hell when I went to the nurses’ station and found cookies from God knows who. Now it's two hours past the end of my shift, I haven't eaten since this morning and I really want to go home and see my son. So no, today isn't the day to care who likes me."

I pushed past both men but stopped when Dr. Williams stepped through the open doorway. "Oh, good. Please tell me I can leave?"

Dr. Williams was one of my favorite doctors. He was about twenty-five years older than me and had been married to his wife for close to thirty years. Unlike some other doctors who liked to flirt with the younger nurses, Dr. Williams was nothing but professional to everyone he encountered.

"Ms. Whitlock. You will be happy to know that all your test results did, in fact, come back negative, so yes, you can leave. I'm told your shift is over, so feel free to check with the night supervisor to make sure there's no other paperwork you need to fill out, but otherwise have a good night."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Williams."

He left just as quickly as he arrived, and I didn't need to be told twice. Without a single glance back, I headed straight for the nurses’ station. I kept my discussion with the night supervisor brief, but all the while, I felt the heat of Easton's gaze on my back.

He could burn a hole into my back all he wanted. I wasn't about to give him any more of my attention at this point.

With permission to leave, I grabbed my stuff out of my employee locker and headed for my car. I thought ignoring Easton would clue him in to the idea I didn't want to talk, but alas, I was wrong. He was waiting for me as soon as I stepped out of the locker room.

"Is there something I can do for you? I thought I made it clear you didn't need to be here."

This snarky attitude wasn't like me, and for a brief moment, I felt bad. I was a nice person. I normally went out of my way not to be rude to people unless they were rude to me first. Not once since meeting Easton had he done anything to deserve the bitchiness he was getting.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm not sure what brought you here but I'm fine. I get that someone threatened me tonight and I know I need to deal with it, but I don't have it in my wheelhouse to do that right now. So please just let me go home and see my son."

"Okay."

"Okay?" My hand dropped, along with my mouth. Did he really just say that after everything I unloaded on him? I fully expected an argument, so color me surprised and unsure of what to say.

Easton chuckled. "I fully plan to follow you home, and consider yourself warned that your package now comes with personal surveillance, but yeah. Okay. I can understand just wanting to get home and see your son."

I spun away without arguing or responding. If Easton wanted to follow me home, then so be it. I could deal with that after I got some food in my belly and a full night of sleep.

CHAPTER TEN

Easton

I followed Kati to her house and thought more about what she said back at the hospital. She was a true mama bear who only cared about one thing—her son. As it should be. It made me realize there was another reason I needed to keep my distance. I was a complication she clearly didn't need.

And yet the moment I had heard about the incident at the hospital, I had known it had to be related to her situation. If it hadn't been for Mav insisting we wait for more information from the sheriff, I would've arrived at the hospital within minutes. Just like Kati needed eyes on Lucien, I needed to see for myself that she was alright.

I couldn't explain it. I didn't want to justify it. It was a compulsion and luckily Mav didn't give me shit about it. I'm not sure I would've cared if he had.

I was pulling up to her house when the in-dash screen notified me that I had an incoming call. I steeled myself for the shit I knew I was about to get.

"What's up, Hendrix?"

"How's our girl?"

I had to do a double take. The voice on the line sounded like Hendrix. The name on the screen read Hendrix. But the question was completely out of the norm for my friend.

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