by Marie Force
“So what do these nursing services you offered include? I assume that sponge baths are a no-brainer, but what else can I expect?”
“Ice packs to help with all your swelling issues.”
“Are we still talking about my leg?”
“Depends. Are you having swelling issues elsewhere?”
“I might if you own one of those naughty nurse outfits.”
“No naughty nurses and no sponge baths.”
“I should’ve stayed at Jared’s.”
She gave him a haughty look that he loved. “You want me to take you back?”
“No, thank you. But the sponge bath is negotiable, right?”
Thanks to the streetlights, he could see her roll her eyes. “I expect better from you than this, Doctor.”
“I’m not a doctor right now.” He rested his hand on her thigh. “I’m a patient, and I’m feeling very, very dirty.”
Chapter 19
It was one thing to know he was an amputee and another thing altogether to see stark evidence of it in the prosthesis that had sat on the floor next to the sofa, in the sag of his empty pants leg and in his need for crutches.
Overriding everything else was Mallory’s concern for him. From the second she’d gotten his text, she’d known she would never sleep until she saw him and made sure he was okay. She hadn’t driven there planning to ask him to come home with her. That had slipped out before she could actually think about whether it was a good idea. All she knew was that she didn’t want to leave him, so it had to be a good idea to take him home.
And now, he was showing her he was totally fine in the way he flirted with her, which was a welcome relief even as his hand on her thigh caused secondary issues.
“You’re a very pushy patient. Nurses have names for patients like you.”
“What kind of names?”
“Perv, for one.”
“Ha,” he said on a bark of laughter. “If I’d had a nurse as sexy as you while I was in the hospital, I would’ve been called a perv for sure. Most of my nurses were guys.”
“How boring for you.”
“No kidding. Just my luck that all the pretty female nurses had other patients.”
“Or just their luck.”
“Probably more their luck.”
“I’m sure they were all well aware of the sexy trauma surgeon on their ward. Nurses have been known to compare notes about their patients.”
“What kind of notes?”
“Oh, things like, ‘holy hell, that one is hung,’ to ‘poor guy, not a lot going on down there.’”
“No way.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I don’t think so.”
She started to laugh. “You’d be right. I’ve never had that kind of conversation, except of course when the reason they were there involved that area of their anatomy.”
He shuddered. “I’d rather lose part of my leg than be in the hospital for a penis injury.”
“You’d be surprised how many penis injuries we get in the ER. I’d be happy to tell you all about them if you’re interested.”
“I’ll pass, but thanks for giving me something to think about other than my own predicament.”
“Does this count as a predicament?” she asked.
“Sort of. I mean, I live on a boat, and I can’t manage that on crutches. David said there’s going to be bruising and swelling in the stump, which means the prosthesis won’t be usable for a couple of days. So I’m effectively homeless.”
“You are not. You can stay with me, and you could’ve stayed with Jared.”
“I’d much rather stay with you, if you’re offering.”
“I believe I already offered.”
“For tonight, not a couple of nights.”
“For as long as you need.”
“What if ‘as long as I need’ turns out to be like… forty years?”
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of that. She’d have time later, when his hand wasn’t on her thigh, to figure out why her heart went crazy at the thought of years with him. “Let’s see how tonight goes and take it from there.”
This guy was going to be trouble. Big, big trouble, and the more time she spent with him, the less afraid she was of his kind of trouble.
Mallory pulled into the driveway and got out to retrieve his crutches from the backseat. She had to refrain from offering help she knew he wouldn’t want, and once he had the crutches in hand, she left him to go unlock the front door and turn on the outside lights.
Then she went back out to check on him, retrieve his prosthetic, Brutus and Brutus’s bag from the car.
Quinn was making slow but steady progress on the crutches. “Is it pathetic that my dog has an overnight bag but I don’t?”
“Hardly. I’ll go out to the boat tomorrow and get you anything you need.”
“I need a toothbrush.”
“You’re in luck. I stocked up before I moved and have an extra one.”
He fumbled a bit on the three stairs that led to the porch.
Mallory stood behind him, ready to intercede if he stumbled, but he recovered his balance and made it to the door she’d left propped open for him.
“I’ve forgotten how tedious the crutches are,” he said, his tone tight with frustration and aggravation.
“It’s just for a couple of days. No big deal. Good thing you’ve got those powerful arms to do all the work for you.”
“This is exactly why I became a gym rat after my injury. Upper-body strength is crucial.”
Mallory tried—and failed—not to stare at the play of his arm muscles that were visible even under the Henley shirt he wore. Then she realized she was staring and blinked several times to clear her brain of salacious thoughts about his biceps. Had she ever had salacious thoughts about biceps before? Not that she could recall.
“Come in here and get comfortable,” she said, leading the way to her bedroom on the left side of the short hallway.
“In case you were wondering, this was not the way I intended to score an invite to your bedroom.”
“I wasn’t wondering, but thanks for clarifying.”
He made a sound that might’ve been laughter, but it came out more like a grunt as he negotiated the doorway. “Which side is yours?”
“Doesn’t matter. You take the side closest to the bathroom, which is that way.”
He sat on the left side of the bed and propped the crutches against the bedside table. “Exhausting.”
Brutus curled up on the floor, but kept his gaze trained on Quinn, his concern obvious.
Mallory sat next to Quinn and took his hand. “Temporary setback. That’s all this is.”
“Keep telling me that, will you?”
“Any time you need to hear it.”
“Thanks for reminding me this isn’t the end of the world.”
“No problem. How about some ice for your leg to combat the swelling?”
“That’d be good. Thanks.
“Coming right up.” She kissed his cheek and went to the kitchen to fill a bag with ice that she wrapped in a towel. When she returned to the bedroom with the ice and a bottle of water for him, he was sitting against the pillows with both legs on the bed. “You want to put it over your pants or right on the leg?”
He hesitated and then glanced up at her, looking madly vulnerable. “If you see it, you won’t forget that you like me, will you?”
“Of course I won’t. Don’t forget I’ve seen far worse.”
“I… I haven’t shown it to anyone except doctors.”
“Is this why you’ve been celibate so long?”
Nodding, he said, “I couldn’t bring myself to go there with a woman. Until now.”
“I promise you there’s nothing about your injury or what it looks like that could make me change my mind about whatever is happening between us. I realize it’s the biggest thing to ever happen to you, but it doesn’t make you any less attractive to me. As long as you’re comfortable
, so am I.”
He took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips, wincing when his sore lip made contact with her skin. “There’s nothing you could’ve said that would be better than that. I seem to have frequent cause to thank you for being you.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Quinn.”
“Yeah, I really do.”
“So about the ice…”
He took a deep breath, released her hand and reached for the hem of his pants, drawing the fabric up to reveal what was left of his leg.
Mallory took a quick look at the new bruising and swelling, and then applied the ice bag. “It doesn’t look too terrible,” she said. “A few days of ice and crutches and you should be back in business with the prosthetic.”
“I hope so.” He patted the spot next to him on the bed. “I need some hands-on nursing, stat.”
He really was too cute and too funny for her own good.
“Allow me to slip into something more comfortable first.”
“Oh, please do, by all means.”
Mallory went into the bathroom and changed into pajama pants and a T-shirt. She debated whether or not to keep her bra on and decided to take it off because she hated sleeping with it on. As she brushed her hair and teeth, she gave herself a silent talking-to about keeping her head about her in the face of his considerable charm, not to mention his vulnerability, which had really gotten to her.
You may be fighting a losing battle here, she thought, studying her reflection in the mirror. Why exactly are we fighting the battle anyway? This guy is the whole package—sweet, smart, sexy, handsome as sin, funny and flawed in ways I can certainly relate to. Am I so afraid of getting hurt again that I’ll never take another chance? Is that how I want to live?
Mallory shook her head. She didn’t want to live fearfully. She wanted to live fearlessly, and there had been a time in her life, before the rug was pulled out from under her, when the idea of debating a situation like this with Quinn would’ve seemed ridiculous to her.
I want to be more like that girl, unafraid and audacious, willing to take some risks and roll the dice. That girl would’ve dived headfirst into love with a man like Quinn, without taking even one second to weigh the potential consequences. That’s how she’d ended up married to Ryan in medical school, long before they should’ve taken the plunge. How glad she’d been after he was gone that they’d had a few years together. It had been better than nothing.
The same was true now. Whatever this became with Quinn would be worth the risk. She already knew that for certain. She wanted him. He seemed to want her, if the shameless way he flirted with her was any indication. So go for it, she told the girl in the mirror. It’s the Summer of Mallory, after all.
Mallory left the bathroom intending to jump onboard and enjoy the sure to be wild ride with him, no matter where it might lead.
Still propped up against the pillows, Quinn was sound asleep in her bed, the water bottle still in his hand but tipped at a precarious angle.
Smiling, Mallory rescued the water, covered him with a blanket and shut off the light before getting into bed next to him. The wild ride would have to start tomorrow.
*
Jared was too wound up to sleep, so he returned to the deck and threw another log on the fire. He stared at the flames, processing what he’d learned about his brother tonight. He’d lost part of his leg and hadn’t thought to tell his family. Who the hell did that?
Quinn did. That was how he rolled, how he’d always rolled. The lone wolf who did his own thing, especially after he joined the army and was away more than he was home.
The family had known he’d injured his leg, but that was all he’d told them other than he was fine and dealing with rehab.
Jared had known something was terribly wrong but had respected Quinn’s boundaries. Had that been the wrong thing to do?
Lizzie came out to join him and curled up on his lap. “You’re spinning.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Not at all. It was a surprise to both of us.”
“I just keep going round and round about why he would keep such a big thing from us. Did he think we wouldn’t understand or want to support him or be with him?”
“Maybe he just wanted to be left alone, and this was the best way to make that happen.”
“Two years ago, maybe so, but he’s been here for months and had plenty of chances to say, hey, Jared, by the way, I ended up losing the bottom half of my leg. He never did that.”
“We’ve never told him that we’ve been trying to get pregnant and having no success.”
“Yet.”
“Yet. But it’s been months, the same months he’s been here, and we’ve never told him that.”
“So what’s your point?”
“Some things are just private, even between siblings.”
“Losing a leg is private?”
“To him, yes.”
“I don’t get it,” Jared said with a deep sigh.
“You don’t have to. It’s what he wanted, and it was his business to share or not share, just like us trying to get pregnant is our business to share or not share.”
“I guess.”
“Sweetheart, look at me.” When she had his attention, she kissed him. “I get that this was a shock. It was for me, too, but please don’t let it cause a rift between you and your brother. It’s not worth it. No matter what, we can’t undo the past. Now you know what really happened to him. Go forward from here.”
“My Elisabeth with an s is not only gorgeous, she is wise, too.”
“So you agree?”
“I agree. He must’ve had his reasons for not telling us, and whatever they are, they’re his reasons.”
“Exactly. And to his credit, look how well he’s recovered that we never suspected his leg had been amputated. Other than a slight limp, you’d never know he’d ever been hurt.”
“That was true until tonight. I feel terrible that he fell because of the hole you told me to fix.”
“What have you learned from this?”
“Fix the holes so no one gets hurt.”
“No! Listen to your wife. She’s always right.”
He laughed. “I walked face-first into that one.”
“With your eyes wide open. Can we talk about Mallory rushing over here to get him?”
“That was a bright spot in an otherwise awful hour.”
“I like them together. She’s good for him.”
“I don’t want to talk about them.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Us. Kiss me, sweet Lizzie.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and did as he asked, leaving him dizzy with longing for her, which was nothing new. Every time she came near him, he wanted her.
Nuzzling her neck, he whispered in her ear. “Wanna fuck?”
Lizzie laughed the way she always did when he said that.
“Is that a yes?”
“When do I ever say no to you?”
“Um, other than that one time you famously said no to my proposal?”
“As we’ve discussed many times since then, I never actually said no.”
“That’s still up for debate, love.” Sliding his arms under her, he scooped her up and carried her inside, stopping only to close the door with his foot while she flipped the lock and shut the lights off.
He carried her into their bedroom and put her down on their bed.
She held out her arms to him, and he gladly let her wrap him up in her love. “Are you okay?”
“I am now. Thanks for talking me down.”
“Any time. That’s what I’m here for.”
“That’s not all.”
“What else?” she asked, smiling suggestively.
“To be my best friend and the love of my life.”
“Jared,” she whispered, placing her hands on his face. “Sometimes I still can’t believe that we get to spend the whole rest of our lives together.”
�
�Believe it, baby. You’re all mine.”
Chapter 20
Tiffany Taylor got up before the sunrise and longed for the coffee that used to jump-start her day pre-pregnancy. Now she had to settle for non-caffeinated tea that didn’t do a thing to jump-start anything. It did, however, soothe her upset stomach, so that was something.
She’d been dreading this day for weeks now. She was due to meet with the prosecutor trying the assault case against her ex-husband, Jim Sturgil, who was also her daughter Ashleigh’s father.
Thankfully, Maddie had invited Ashleigh to sleep over with them last night. Tiffany didn’t need to worry about her little girl as long as she was with Maddie.
She curled up on the sofa, the one Blaine had gotten for her after Jim left and took all their furniture with him. Through the big sliding doors that led to her deck, she could see the sky turning pink from the sunrise. Normally, she loved this time of day, the calm before the storm of life with a toddler.
The baby she carried moved inside her, making her belly flutter from one side to the other. Blaine loved to watch that happen. He was endlessly fascinated with their unborn child and couldn’t wait to meet him or her in person. They’d decided not to find out what they were having, which was fine with her.
In an otherwise peaceful time in her life, today’s visit with her past was an unwelcome intrusion. She deeply resented the actions of her ex-husband that had led to her having to testify against the father of her child. That was the last thing she wanted to do. Though Jim had brought all this on himself, would Ashleigh believe that when she was old enough to find out that her mother had helped get her father convicted of a felony, ensuring he’d be disbarred, too?
By now, Blaine was more Ashleigh’s father than Jim had ever been, even before he lost his mind and left her and Ashleigh for reasons that were still unclear to Tiffany. What did it matter now anyway? She was happily remarried to Blaine, expecting his child, and Ashleigh had adjusted to their new family situation, accepting Blaine as a father figure even as she wrapped him around her tiny little finger.
