Page 14 of Scorched

“Jesus, what did I do to deserve such obstinate women in my life?” He ran a hand through his hair and rested his head against the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

Maggie grinned. “You love us, don’t lie.” She poked his shoulder.

A corner of his mouth quirked, but he glared at her. “Sure.”

She giggled again, then patted his hand and stood. “I’m going to go call your sister and tell her what’s going on. She’s probably already freaking out because I haven’t yet. If you’re not right here when I get back, I will not only ask her to help track you down, I will also call Brady, Thomas, and Seb. You won’t be able to hide.”

He waved her off. “Yeah, yeah. I’m not going anywhere. I might not like it, but the doctor’s plan is a good one. I’ll be here.”

“Good.” She picked up her phone. “I’ll be back soon.” Spinning on her heel, she walked out of the room to go break the news to Macy.

Declan clicked through the hospital’s TV channels for the fourth time, hoping for something different. He rarely watched television, and now he remembered why. He turned it off and picked up his phone, opening his internet app to read the news. The gloom and doom he saw didn’t improve his mood.

His door opened, and he looked up, eager for a distraction, even if it was a lab tech coming to take more blood. It wasn’t, though. It was Maggie.

After she talked to Macy, and he was admitted, she left to fetch his toiletries and some clean clothes. She’d stopped at her house to change, too, from the looks of it. He scanned her outfit, which differed from earlier. Black leggings hugged her long legs and a ruby red sweater hung down to the tops of her thighs. Her long, dark hair fell over her shoulder in waves, released from the twist it was in. She took his breath away with her beauty.

“Hi. Settled in?”

He nodded. “I guess.”

“When’s surgery?”

“Seven a.m.”

“That long?”

“They needed time to run bloodwork, and I ate when I got home. But I’m first on the docket in the morning.”

She sat on the edge of his bed. “Well, shoot. I was hoping I could be here, but I have to be in court at nine.”

“That’s okay. Macy will be here. She called while you were gone. Thanks for keeping her in the loop.”

“Of course. She’s the one who roped me into this. And you should also be thanking me for convincing her to stay home this evening and not come hover over you. She was ready to drive up here in her pajamas when I told her what was going on.”

He grinned. “Yeah. She still was when I talked to her. But I could tell how tired she was. She kept yawning while we talked. Speaking of, you should get home so you can finish prepping for tomorrow. I appreciate you bringing me in and then going to get my stuff. Macy could have brought it up with her in the morning.”

“She could have, but then you wouldn’t have this.” She opened the tote she carried and pulled out the book from his nightstand.

Declan took it with eager hands. “Thank you. I’m so bored. TV sucks.” He hadn’t asked her to bring the book, but was so glad she did.

She chuckled. “I remembered you talking about how you would rather read than watch TV. You and Brady are a lot alike in that regard, so I figured you’d want that.”

“I do. You just saved my sanity, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She laid her hand over his.

Warmth spread up Declan’s arm from her touch. He turned his hand over and laced his fingers through hers. Her eyes widened a fraction before she cleared her throat and looked away, standing.

“I should probably get going. It’s getting really late.”

Disappointment shot through him. He’d just said the same thing, so he wasn’t sure why he felt that way. “Yeah. Thanks again for all you did for me tonight.”

“You’re welcome.” She offered him a soft smile. “I’ll stop in tomorrow as soon as I can. I hope everything goes well.”

“I think it’ll be fine, but thanks.”

She hummed a non-answer and backed toward the door, leaving the tote bag on a chair. “Good night, Deck.”

“Night, Maggie.”

He held her gaze until she finally turned and left, then blew out a breath as hard as his ribs would allow. He needed to do something about that woman. About this hum of desire that punched him in the gut whenever she walked into a room. Even broken bones couldn’t stop it.

Declan hadn’t been entirely truthful when he told her why he was against the idea of a relationship with her. It didn’t have anything to do with her chosen profession. The truth was, she scared the ever-loving daylights out of him. She held such a power over him. The more he was around her, the more he wanted to do whatever she asked of him, just to make her happy. Only Macy had that power. His mother had once, but she betrayed him, and he vowed she was the last person he would ever allow to devastate him like that. But if he wasn’t careful, Maggie could do that in a heartbeat.

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