Page 18 of Sexy Summer Flings (Bear Mountain Rescue 2)

If he was thinking straight, he’d have known it was a bad idea to grab Trent by the front of his shirt and pull him in so he could growl, “You go anywhere near her again and I’ll—”

“Dr. Gracin!”

Hunter spun around to find the hospital director, Allison Fairchild, standing behind him.

“My office. Now.”

It hadn’t taken Trent long to sweet-talk one of the nurses to let him into Penny’s room. As he sat down next to her and took her hand, she groggily opened her eyes.

“What happened?”

“You fell off the bar and hit your head. I brought you to the hospital to get checked out.”

“My head? Is that why it feels like elves are tap dancing on my brain?”

He chuckled, relieved that she could joke. Before he knew what he was doing, he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. “You scared me, kitten.”

“Sorry. Won’t happen again.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking maybe we should exclude alcohol from our next date.”

“Probably best,” she said, sleepily.

He squeezed her hand. “Just rest up. I’ll be here watching over you.”

“Hunter…”

Trent’s jaw clenched as she said his name so softly. Was she asking for him? Or did she think Trent was Hunter?

Either way, he didn’t like it and wasn’t quite sure why it bothered him so much. The dude was a sanctimonious jackass, but he’d met the type before.

Maybe I like Penny.

The thought was like a sucker punch to the gut. He’d liked women, and even had a few serious girlfriends, but the reason he avoided relationships was so he wouldn’t get tied down too young. He was only twenty-eight. The last thing he wanted was to fall in love and get married before he was thirty, like so many of his friends had. And half of those love matches had ended in disaster.

She moaned softly and gripped his hand. Her eyes scrunched up as though she were in pain and it killed him that it was his fault.

Leaning over, he whispered, “Shh, I’m here. I won’t leave you.”

Several hours later, Hunter practically ran down the hall toward Penny’s room. Between Allie’s reprimand about professionalism, and the emergency surgery he’d gotten sucked into, he hadn’t had a chance to be with her since he’d examined her. Winter had assured him that Penny was fine, but Hunter wanted to see her for himself.

He opened the door with a heave and the sight before him made his heart squeeze painfully.

Penny was sitting up in bed, smiling at Trent. He was holding her hand.

She was turned toward him, her face lighting up, the way it usually did wh

en she saw Hunter.

It was in that moment that Hunter realized that he’d taken it for granted that Penny would always save that look just for him.

And it was a devastating blow.

Suddenly, she realized he was standing in her doorway. “Hunter,” she said. “Hi.”

He cleared his throat as he approached the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m pretty tired, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. Winter gave me something for the pain.”

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