Page 149 of Damaged Protector

He scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to anyone about this.” Like Cam, he said without actually saying it.

Blaire placed a hand on his bicep. “I would never do that. I take patient privacy very seriously.” Her gaze narrowed when she noticed we were holding hands.

Shit. I tried to pull away, but Hawk’s hand was holding mine prisoner in his huge grasp.

The pretty doctor’s eyes ping-ponged between the two of us, and she lowered her voice. “Do you two know what you’re doing?”

I answered. “Yes, and it’s only a temporary thing.” And I wished it wasn’t.

“Okay,” she said, caution ringing through the single word before she kissed both our cheeks. “I just got out of surgery, so I’m going to head home. Let me know if you need anything.”

As she turned to leave, she stopped and looked over her shoulder at Hawk. “And by anything, I don’t mean anything to do with your penis.” A reluctant grin spread across her face. “After tonight, I already know entirely too much about that.”

Chapter 42

Three nights later, an alarm blared and startled me from a deep sleep. I rolled onto my back and reached for my phone, instantly alert. A drowsy Mallori reached behind her and laid a hand on my bare stomach.

“Few more minutes,” she mumbled.

Unlocking my phone, I felt my heart rate gallop when I saw the alert.

Tornado Warning.

“Fuck, Mal. Wake up, baby.” I flicked on the lamp, and she groaned as I rolled off the bed. “Come on. We’ve got some bad weather coming.”

That woke her fully, and she sat up, the sheet pooling around her waist. “What is it?”

“Tornado,” I said quickly, holding her hand and helping her off the bed. As I led her to the closet, my thumb scrolled the weather app.

Fuck, this is not good.

The wind outside whipped, and I heard something crash. “It’s almost on us,” I told her, looking up from my phone to see her eyes wide with fear. “Put on some of my clothes. I’ll be right back.”

Panic lined her face. She grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my arm as a loud crack sounded outside. “No! You have to stay in here!”

I grabbed both sides of her face and kissed her hard on the lips. “I have to get the cat.”

Mal slapped a hand over her mouth and nodded as tears streamed down her face. “Be careful.”

“We’ve got about two minutes. I’ll be fine,” I assured her, grabbing a pair of shorts and hopping on one foot and then the other to get them on.

Sprinting to her room, I found a restless Coconut mewling from the bed. She hissed when I picked her up, sensing the danger that was coming.

“Shh, I got ya, furball.” I quickly grabbed a pair of Mallori’s tennis shoes and returned to my closet.

She was wearing one of my T-shirts, and her pretty, tear-stained face melted when she saw me. “You’re okay!” She threw herself at me, and I pulled her close with the arm not holding the kitten. “You saved her. You could’ve been killed.”

I kissed the top of her head. “I’m fine, baby. Here, take your kitty and put your shoes on while I get some blankets down.”

“You took time to get shoes?” she asked indignantly as I pulled a Maglite, blankets, and spare pillows down from the top shelf.

“If there’s damage when we walk out of here, I don’t want you stepping on glass or anything else dangerous,” I explained. “Any time there’s a tornado, grab a pair of shoes if you have time to do so safely.”

Now that I had Mallori in the most secure location in the house, I dialed Shark’s number and put the phone on speaker as I crammed a green plaid blanket into the corner. “Sit,” I ordered Mal a second before Shark answered.

“On it. We’re in the closet,” my friend said in a clipped, efficient voice. Due to the damp soil composition in Texas, houses didn’t have basements, so an interior, windowless room was the safest place.

“Us too. And the others?” I tucked pillows on either side of Mal, who was backed into the corner with the cat cradled in her lap.

---