Page 13 of Spade

“I’m going to have your nurse come back in to take your vitals. If you need anything else or have any questions, please let me know.” Spade thanked the doctor while Cynthia continued to stare him down. He’d hate to brake it to her, but she didn’t intimidate him as he did the first time they met. In fact, he found her little scowl adorable.

“Did you really stay here with me last night?” she asked.

“Yep, and that fucking chair just about broke my back,” he said, nodding to the chair in the corner of the small room. She looked at the chair and then back at him.

“Well, if you stay again tonight, you’ll have the same issue. Why not go home and get some sleep? I’ll be fine here. Thank you for bringing me to the ER. I really appreciate everything that you’ve done for me.”

She didn’t know it yet, but he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d gladly sleep in that God-awful chair again if it meant staying by her side. “I’ll stay,” he insisted.

She shook her head at him, “The chair it is then,” she said.

“You know,” he started, “your bed could be big enough for the both of us,” he said. From the look on her face, she wasn’t very happy about that suggestion.

“Not a chance,” she spat, “I told you that I’m not dating anyone, Spade. I said that I appreciate your help, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to sleep with you.” The thought of Cynthia sleeping in his bed ran through his head and Spade had to stifle his groan.

“We’d be sharing a bed—nothing more. I’m not going to ask you to date me afterward,” he insisted. He wasn’t sure, but Cynthia’s expression looked as though she was a little disappointed that he said that. But that was just wishful thinking, right?

“I’m good with the chair,” he lied. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to put up with Cynthia pushing him away. She had already made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t interested in him when she made up a boyfriend. But Spade must have been a glutton for punishment because he wanted to stick around and let her keep on denying her feelings for him. She was stubborn, but he was sure that she was worth waiting for. If he had to wait on her forever, he would.

Spade had spent most of the day on the phone with Razor, trying to figure out who drugged Cynthia. Getting his boss involved might not have been his best idea, but Razor used to be his partner. They had gone into many dangerous, undercover situations, so this case should be a piece of cake. Of course, Razor told him that he was too close to the case and that he should sit this one out, but there was no way that he was going to do that.

As his Captain, Razor liked to give him shit. It wasn’t that long ago that they were partners, and when Razor offered to handle Cynthia’s case himself, as a favor to Spade, he was grateful, but there was no way that Spade would let him kick him off the case.

When Razor insisted that he get to interview Cynthia as soon as she woke up, he foolishly agreed without discussing it with her first. He was pretty sure that was going to piss off Cynthia, but he had waited until the last minute to tell her about the interview.

As soon as she woke up, he texted Razor to let him know that she was awake, and he promised to be over within the hour. One thing he knew about his Captain—he was always on time. It was now or never for Spade to tell her about their soon-to-be visitor.

“Um, I have a little confession to make,” he breathed, sitting on the edge of her bed.

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” she grumbled, sitting up in bed.

“It’s nothing bad,” he insisted. “My boss wants to come in to ask you a few questions—if you’re up to it.”

She shrugged, “If you think it will help catch who did this to me, I’m all for answering all his questions.”

“Great, because I didn’t know how to tell you this, but he’ll be here in a few minutes. He’s in the lobby, waiting for the okay to come up here,” Spade admitted.

“You waited until the last minute to tell me about his visit?” she asked. “How long have you known that he was stopping by?”

He flashed her a smile, “Since you were asleep yesterday. He said that he wanted to talk to you once you were awake. I called to tell him that you had woken up and the doctor gave me the go-ahead to let him come in to talk to you.”

“Oh,” she breathed, “you checked with my doctor before telling Razor to come in?”

“Yes, I wasn’t going to let him just show up here if you weren’t medically ready to see him,” he said.

“That’s sweet,” she almost whispered. He really hadn’t thought about it that way, but if that got him brownie points with Cynthia, that would be good with him.

As if on cue, Razor knocked on her door and Spade pulled it open. “Hey, are you ready for me?” Razor asked.

“Yep,” Spade said. “Just go easy on her. She’s still a bit queasy.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to pick her up and spin her around the room or anything like that, man.” Razor walked over to Cynthia and held out his hand. “Razor,” he said.

“Is that really your name?” she asked.

“Nope, but it’s what you can call me.” She nodded and Razor pulled a chair to the side of her bed. “I just have a few questions.”

“Shoot,” Cynthia said.

---