Page 43 of Jagger

I watched him walk off and sighed.

She already knew I wasn’t anyone’s hero, but I’d remained by her side, helping with getting additional fresh towels and dropping bloody ones into a hamper provided by the staff members. I’d also handled a few sutures under her guidance. There’d been six victims, one of the guides minimally hurt as well. They had no idea how lucky they’d been that the entire mountainside hadn’t come down on them.

They were also damn lucky there’d been a doctor in the house. She’d even set fractured bones enough to stabilize them until the road was cleared and they could be taken to the hospital. With six of the seven already comfortable in rooms, the guide refusing any rest, Bella was finally hunkered over one of the sinks in the third kitchen scrubbing her hands.

The fact I wasn’t a touchy-feely kind of guy didn’t mean I hadn’t noticed the tension in every muscle. She’d been on her feet since ten that morning, exhaustion already taking a toll on her. She splashed her face, the slight moan tugging at me.

Here I was standing like some fucking goon admiring her voluptuous body instead of offering her some TLC.

When she reached for a towel to dry her hands, there wasn’t one. I grabbed one from the stainless-steel rack, forced to move very close to her since her eyes were closed.

“Thanks.” Her voice was devoid of any emotion as it had been with me the entire day. She was obviously still perturbed with my actions from the early morning.

Maybe I was as well.

She patted her face, drying her hands and tossing the rag before bothering to look me in the eyes. It was the first time since the trauma had begun.

“Thanks for your help today. I really appreciate what you did,” she told me.

“Well, I couldn’t walk away since you were barking orders.”

Finally, she broke out into a smile. “I guess I was. Wasn’t I?”

“Let’s just put it to you this way. You could be a damn good drill sergeant.”

“In the Army?”

“Yeah. Imagine every male recruit following your orders. Dozens of them.”

She folded her arms and leaned against the sink. “I think I like that idea. Army ranger. I bet you’ve witnessed and experienced more wild things than I have. I’d love to hear stories.”

Instantly, the tiny camaraderie that we’d developed felt strained to me, but I ignored it. I’d already told her too much about me, but her smile was driving me crazy. She was just trying to be nice. “You could say that. I’m sure the townsfolk will likely embellish on the glorious stories and scenarios they’ve created about me.”

“Stop worrying about what they think. It’s what you know about yourself that matters. Right?”

“Yeah, but they should learn to keep their fuckin’ mouths shut.” I headed for the door, but her light touch stopped me short.

“Jagger. Just like you weren’t trying to interfere in my past, I wasn’t in yours either. I was just making conversation since weseem to have a difficult time talking to each other. I don’t know why, but it does bother me.”

“What do we really have to talk about? You’re some fancy surgeon here to get away from life for a little while. You’ll head back to your life as soon as you’ve caught your breath.”

“That’s not going to happen, Jagger. I don’t have that life any longer.”

Her voice held so much pain I shifted so I could see her. We’d done everything possible not to learn anything important or life altering about the other. But it was apparent we were both fractured in some ways.

“I get it,” I told her.

“I need to apologize again. I shouldn’t have taken my shit out on you. You’ve been nothing but good to me.”

The way her eyelashes skimmed across her cheeks was strangely attractive to me. What was I saying? Everything about her was appealing from her small nose to her full lips. Trying to stay away from her wasn’t working.

I cupped her face, rubbing my thumb back and forth in lazy motions. “You are something special, lady. Whoever let you go was a flaming asshole.”

At least I made her laugh. She planted her hands on my chest and rose onto her tiptoes, pressing her lips against mine. “You’re pretty special yourself.”

Her whisper tickled my neck. Without thinking, I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her as tightly against me as possible. As I captured her mouth, the tenderness andpassion we’d shared before came roaring back to the surface. I could kiss her for hours and maybe that’s what I’d plan on doing.

The sweet moment was short lived as Zoe crashed the party, her voice full of terror.

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