Page 28 of Desire Me
King was nodding. “Probably from the bar. Not sure how, but if he’s so intent on finding her that he followed her to the hospital, this is more than a random hit-and-run. He didn’t just not see her start across the road, run her over, then flee the scene in a panic. This was deliberate. He didn’t accidentally choose her—he knew she would be on that road. He was waiting for the opportunity. Which means he followed her that night. It also means taking her back to your apartment would be a big mistake.”
Saint wanted to kick his own ass. How had he not followed that trail of thought to its logical conclusion? “So what do we do about it?”
“We come up with an alternate plan,” Dain said. “In the meantime…” He closed the lid on his laptop, gathered his phone and a notebook, a pen. Saint felt his heart rate kick up when Dain rounded his desk and headed for the door. As he jerked it open, he threw a look over his shoulder. “Let’s go. We’ve gotta hunt to start.”
Chapter Fourteen
Release day.
As much as Rae was desperate to leave behind the white walls and lack of privacy that came with staying in a hospital, the thought of walking out the door for the final time was making her stomach churn. It was why she’d foregone breakfast. Eating anything would mean a revisit, she was sure, and she didn’t need anything else to worry about. The man pushing open her door was worry enough.
“Rae.”
Saint’s smile was always so soft when he said her name. At least most of the time. Sometimes he just had a gleam in his hazel eyes, a hunger that took her breath away and made her want to dive under the covers to hide—with or without him, she wasn’t certain. It wasn’t a nasty look like some men had given her on the docks, just an honest want that scared her for a very different reason.
The record scratch that sounded in her brain added to the heaving in her stomach, and she was out of the bed in an instant. Saint didn’t question her, simply took her in with a single glance, then assisted her stumbling advance until she collapsed before the toilet. Nothing came up, of course—and weren’t the dry heaves a fucking joy. They didn’t stop for long minutes. Thank God Saint had the decency to retreat until she’d gone quiet. When he peered back around the cracked door, it was to catch her with one arm draped along the toilet seat, her head resting on top. The most embarrassing position yet, and he’d seen some doozies since they’d met. Or since he’d found her again, she guessed.
It had been an eventful two weeks.
“Okay?” he asked, not commenting on her literal toilet-bowl hug.
Do I look like I'm okay?She kept the sarcasm to herself—he didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of her nerves—and forced herself upright. “I need a shower.”
His look was understanding, and for some reason that made her want to scream. He lifted a duffel bag from the floor, presumably where he’d dropped it. “I brought you some clothes.”
She tried desperately to focus on the idea of not wearing a hospital gown anymore instead of the faces that had flashed in her mind a few minutes ago. Faces associated with a place she couldn’t name but could picture clearly for a second before it all disappeared.
While her mind was wandering, Saint had obviously been watching, because he dropped the bag again and moved to sit beside her on the bathroom floor. Rae swallowed protests about germs and fluids when he gave her a warning look. “You are not okay,” he said firmly. “Physical or mental?”
“How did you know?” she asked quietly.
“Because I deal with people in stressful situations a lot.” His gaze was steady, his voice firm without a hint of pity. “I’d have to be brain dead not to realize this has to be terrifying for you. You’re going home with a man who is essentially a stranger, with no other anchor in this world except a handful of people you can’t remember past a few weeks ago, and you’re still not at a hundred percent physically, no matter how much you front.”
And I’m remembering things I don’t understand and can't hold on to.“On second thought I could stay here a couple more days.” Her smile was weak; she could feel it even if she couldn’t see it.
“’Fraid not.” He stood and reached for her carefully like he always did, as if afraid he’d startle her.
Forcing herself to put her big-girl panties on—or at least get cleaned up so she could put them on—she reached for his hand. Kept her grip firm to match his despite feeling like a wet noodle. And ushered him back to the door when he turned toward the shower. “I can clean myself up, Saint.”
He frowned back at her, but his only protest was, “Fine, but I’m coming in once the curtain is closed in case you fall.”
“No peeking.” She smirked, desperate to regain some sense of normalcy between them.
As he closed the door behind himself, she heard, “You take all the fun out of things.”
“Remember that the next time you want to contradict me,” she called after him.
Remi arrived just as she exited the bathroom, a pair of basic khakis and a white tee having replaced her hospital gown. The clothes felt off, as if they didn’t belong to her, though they were freshly washed and fit just fine. She carried a pair of brown socks with the wordsShit Happensalong the toes—how appropriate—to the bed and kicked off the slippers Leah had brought her some time before her short-term memory had stabilized. Speaking of Leah…
Remi was obviously on the same wavelength because, before she could ask, he gestured toward the door. “She should be here any minute. She needed to finish a couple of things before her break.”
Rae’s smile was genuine. “Thanks.”
While she slid the socks on, Saint brought over a pair of bright blue tennis shoes that looked brand-new. “These might be a little stiff,” he told her as she took them from him. “The ones you were wearing before had to be replaced.”
Would everything feel new? she wondered. The only familiar things were this room, her hospital-provided clothing, and the slippers Leah had brought. She couldn’t remember anything Saint had handed her, and the thought of continuing to face so much that was unknown… She swallowed hard.
Saint sat next to her, and she realized there was something else that was now familiar: him. The weight and heat of him beside her, the broad hand warm on her lower back as if he knew she was getting unsettled all over again. Probably wanted to avoid a repeat of her earlier performance. A glance his way and their eyes met, his intense with concern and heat. She dropped her gaze, unable to endure the power of that stare.
