Page 13 of Sutton's CEO

“I hit the counter on the way down,” he said by way of explanation. “He barely nicked me with the bat.”

“Oh, well, that would explain the gash.” I replied as I started to apply pressure. The cut wasn’t nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. He wouldn’t even need stitches. I also knew that head wounds tended to bleed a lot.

“Should we call someone?” Earl came back in, scratching his left butt cheek and holding the kit in his right hand.

“Animal Control?” Mr. Williams suggested deadpan.

I pinched his arm, hard. His very firm, very muscled biceps, if we are being specific. I felt a jolt of energy zip from my fingertips straight to my lady bits. I liked touching his bare skin.

I allowed myself to take in the way his white t-shirt stretched nicely over his muscular chest. Shit, if I wasn’t careful, I would soon be drooling.Hot damn!Who would have thought that the overly stuffy Mr. Williams would have all these delicious bad boy muscles underneath those preppy clothes?

Mr. Williams didn’t even flinch when I pinched him. He didn’t wince when I cleaned up his wound, nor did he complain when I put on the bandage. He was a very good patient, but I wasn’t sure if he would accept that as a compliment or not, so I kept it to myself.

I did say, “I am terribly sorry this happened.”

“It will heal soon enough,” he said gruffly.

“But I would feel better if it hadn’t happened.”

He looked at me dryly, “Have you ever gotten a cut, Miss Landry?”

“Of course, I have,” I retorted.

“Bumps, bruises,” he continued, “scrapes or tears of any kind?”

“Yes,” I said, a little bit of irritation slipping in. What was he getting at?

“So, have I,” he said tersely. “Accidents happen.”

He was right. They certainly did happen. Although, I am not sure that getting attacked with a bat by my elderly neighbor in the wee hours of the morning was your typical run of the mill accident. However, that was another thing I chose to stay silent about.

I gathered up all of the things I had been using. I threw away the soiled items and gave the first aid kit back to Earl.

Just as I went to get Mr. Williams a glass of water and something for his head, he grabbed my arm. Again, that surge of awareness flashed through me. I was tired as fuck and beyond cranky, but shit if the man didn’t have the ability to melt my panties at the softest of touches.

“Yes?” It may have come out sharper than I intended. Mr. Williams made me extremely nervous, and we were both tired.

“Thank you,” he said under his breath, almost as if it were forced from his lungs.

“For what?” I turned, folding my arms and glaring at him. “For making you come to Otterville Falls to fetch me? Or for forcing you to wait through my entire shift? Perhaps because of the way I let you sleep on my terrible couch? Oh, I know! It’s for bringing you into my home and letting an elderly man assault you. You are very welcome, Mr. Williams.”

His lips twitched and a small smile managed to break through.

Suddenly my irritation faded as quickly has it had risen.

“You are a menace,” he said with a twinkle in his eye that I wasn’t used to being there.

“You aren’t going to be suing me and the misses, are you sir?” Earl asked shakily.

I choked back a laugh at Mr. Williams’ expression of horror and disgust. I imagined that there was nothing Earl possessed that would be the slightest interest to Mr. Williams.

“Err, no, Earl. You were just protecting Miss Landry. I understand.”

I felt a surge of kindness towards Mark. In that one sentence, he had managed to make Earl feel like a king.

Honestly, Earl was more likely trying to protect the beer that he kept in the bottom of my fridge. His wife Martha wouldn’t allow him to have any there. But I wasn’t going to interrupt this tender moment with silly things like the truth.

“You are a fine gentleman, sir!” Earl said with enthusiasm. Then, and I kid you not, Earl, wearing dingy underwear, executed a sort of half-bow salute.

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