Page 79 of Embattled Ever After

Harper’s head swayed back and forth as if he wasn’t so sure.

“Is there anyone back there now?”

“Yeah, Palmer’s back there, getting marching orders,” Flynn told her, crossing his long legs in front of him. “Duncan said to have you come back as soon as you get here.”

Well, at least that was something. If she boiled all her emotions down, she guessed she was just chapped that he’d told her to go home. Basically, he’d discounted all the hours of waiting and fretting she’d done for him.

Maybe she could chalk up his contrariness to the pain he was in.

Alex knocked on the room door and let herself inside.

John looked up from the tablet in his hands he’d obviously been typing notes into, and gave her a grimace. Or was it a smile? Her gaze shifted to Duncan. He sat a little more vertical today, but there was a glower on his face. His expression lightened a little when he saw her, but he gave her his cheek, not his mouth, when she leaned down to kiss him. Alex was a little shocked, but she covered it. She hated this distance that had developed between them and wasn’t sure how exactly to fix it.

She reached out to touch his wrist. “How are you doing?”

He forced a pain-filled smile. “I’m doing great,” he lied. “They got me up today.”

Alex cringed, wanting to fuss over him. She hated the thought that he was in so much pain. “That’s good, though. It really is.”

Duncan sighed and nodded. “I know it is, I’m just not a good patient right now.”

No doubt. It looked like he was going through work withdrawal already too. “I can leave you guys to your meeting…”

“Nah,” John told her. “I think we’re about done.”

“Yeah, we’re done.”

“Did Shannon go back to work today, John?” Alex leaned against the wall, a little leery to let John leave just yet.

“Yes, she did. She said she needed to, especially since Dunc wasn’t going to be there. Honestly, she ought to be the one running the company right now. She probably knows more than Chad or I do.”

“It can be a joint effort,” Duncan told him. “Let her know what you need and she’ll help you do it.”

“Tell her I’ll call her later,” Alex told him as he pulled open the door. With a jaunty salute, he rolled out.

Alex looked at Duncan, worried at the reserve she could see in his eyes. “What’s going on?” she asked him, tired of dancing around whatever was going on in his head.

“I appreciate you coming back in, but you didn’t need to. I’m fine here.”

She cocked her head, wondering if they had all somehow missed seeing the concussion that had scrambled his brain. “I know I don’thaveto be here, but Iwantto be. I know we agreed to take it slow, but I don’t understand this distance.”

Duncan looked out the window, as if thinking about something. “I know we agreed to see where this went, but that was before all this happened.” He waved a hand at his prone form. “It’s not fair to you to hold you here.”

She gave him a curious look. “How are you holding me here?”

Aggravation creased his face. “I don’t want you staying with me because you feel guilty or some shit.”

“I don’t feel guilty,” she told him firmly. “I’m glad I was there when it happened.”

He glowered, crossing his arms over his chest as if he felt defensive. “I don’t know that I like you being here right now.”

Alex reeled back in pain and shock. “Why would you say something like that to me?” She could feel her eyes filling with tears and she cursed. This wasn’t the way she had expected today to go.

Something vulnerable shifted in Duncan’s eyes and it took him a long time to answer. “Why would you want to stay?”

She looked at him incredulously, wondering if she’d heard him correctly. She took a minute to get her words in order. “Because I love you, you big dope. Why else would I be here, willing to put up with this ridiculous off and on game? You’ve sucked me into your life and I have no desire whatsoever to leave. Do you seriously want me to walk out that door?”

“No I don’t want you to walk out the damn door,” he growled, “but I don’t want you to be dragged down by this, or me. I’m looking at weeks of recovery, maybe more.”

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