Page 9 of The Two Last Moments

“Are you planning an escape?”

“I’ll go withno. I do promise not to bite anyone’s face. Especially not yours.”

His laugh is louder this time. Richer. Yet still gentle. Looking at him, all big and muscular, I wouldn’t expect anything about him to be soft.

“You got a little too specific there at the end. But I’ll take my chances.” He loosens the straps at my wrists and ankles. Then he winks. “Our secret. Don’t snitch on me to Julie.”

“I would never. You can buy my silence with a cheeseburger. And fries.”

He presses a hand to his broad chest. “Now I feel taken advantage of.”

I try to sit up, and that’s a mistake, because my head pounds and the room spins. “Oh. That’s not good.” Lightning fast, Danny’s hands are gripping my shoulders and propping me up. His touch is warm, and his ocean-blue eyes areright there, inches from mine.

“Careful. No escape attempts yet. You’re not well enough for that.” He eases me back against the pillows. He’s sitting on the mattress now.

He’s bigger than I even realized. Big enough to dwarf me. But his touch is so gentle, it’s like a whisper.

“I wish you would tell me what happened,” I murmur.

His thumbs caress up and down my skin before he sits back and lets me go. “Like I said, you’re in the hospital. You’ve been here since last night. It’s…” He checks his phone. “Wow. Past lunch time. No wonder you’re asking about cheeseburgers.”

“But what happened last night? The accident?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure how much I’m supposed to tell you. This kind of thing isn’t my specialty.” He stands up to stretch, revealing a stripe of golden stomach and more dark-blond hair. He tugs his shirt down over a pair of running pants, muscles flexing beneath the fabric as he moves.

“Whatisyour specialty?”

“I’m a medic and a firefighter.”

“Is that why you were there when I got hurt? You responded to the accident?”

“You remember?”

“Just…” Two moments swim up again from the darkness in my mind. “There were lights. Bright lights. And then…”I’m going to help you, okay?“You.” My eyes dart up to meet his. “You saved my life. Maybe that’s why I’m attached to you.”

“But that doesn’t happen with most people I save.”

“Oh.” Yep, I’ve officially entered creeper territory.

He chews the inside of his lip. “I wasn’t on duty. I’m on an extended leave from work, actually, for family reasons. I live near where it happened. I was out for a run, saw what was going down. Tried to stop it, but I couldn’t. I’m sorry.”

“What was going down?”

He tilts his head. Doesn’t answer.

“Come on. Tell mesomething. Did I have a phone? Or a purse or anything?”

“You did have a backpack. I looked for it after I called the ambulance, but it had disappeared.”

“Did somebody take it?”

“I don’t know for sure.”

“But there’s a lot more you’re not saying. Right? Do you think I can’t handle it?”

He’s still contemplating his response when a doctor walks in.

“I’m going to return that phone call from a few minutes ago,” Danny says to me. “I’ll be right outside, okay? You can call for me if you need me.”

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