“I’ve never seen you like this. What is it about her that makes you so persistent? Is she a chal enge, is that it?”
Wade’s emotions were too close to the surface on this, and he snapped. “You need to back off, Cherry.”
“Watch it, Harrison,” Dante said, interjecting for the first time. He wrapped an arm around Cherry’s middle, pul ing her back against him.
Dante sent him a look of warning over Cherry’s head, and Wade got the message loud and clear.
“Damn it, I’m sorry. I’m pissed that she’s hurt. Pissed I wasn’t there to stop it. Pissed that she didn’t confide in me sooner. She’s been dealing with this prick for two months, and al this time she never said a word.”
Cherry placed her palm against his cheek. He instantly relaxed. “She’s opening up to you now, and that’s al that matters. Just be careful with her. I don’t think she knows how to handle al your . . . attention. She’s a bit innocent when it comes to men, I think.”
He’d noticed that as wel . The first time he’d asked her out to dinner, she’d stammered and blushed like a teenager being asked to go to prom. He’d wondered then just how experienced she was and why someone hadn’t snatched her up already. When she’d turned him down, he’d tried again. Each time she’d declined he’d had the feeling she wanted to say yes, but for whatever reason couldn’t al ow herself. Was it because of the stalker?
Answers would come later. For now, he needed to calm Cherry’s mama bear instincts. “I promise to treat her with kid gloves. Everything wil be fine. You’l see.”
Cherry nodded and started to speak, but the door to Gracie’s room opened, and the doctor stepped out. He looked at the three of them and smiled. “She’s doing fine. I’m writing up a prescription for the pain, but as soon as her paperwork is finished she can go home.”
“That’s great news. Thanks, Doctor Shelton.”
“She wil need to see an orthopedist, and she’s going to need some help with that wrist, of course.”
“We’l take care of it,” Wade said.
“Good. I’l leave you to her.”
This was it. Soon she’d be out of that sterile room and home where she belonged. And he’d be watching over her twenty-four hours a day. He only wished she’d agreed to staying with him. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as an image of Gracie, sprawled out on his bed, naked, those pretty green eyes of hers ful of heat, fil ed his vision. Oh, yeah, he was real y the noble guy helping a friend in need. Right.
He clutched the little slip of paper and watched her leave the hospital in a wheelchair, friends al around her. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her, but it’d been necessary, right? She needed to learn her place. She would quit that disgusting job now. He’d had nightmares imagining her working at a place where men and women got naked and al owed a complete stranger to touch their bodies. She was too good for a place that catered to such heathens.
She smiled at something, and his heart skipped a beat. God, she was beauty personified. Even injured she was his regal princess. Her red hair, shining like a fiery halo in the sun, framed a perfect oval face. His love. His perfect Gracie Lynn.
He’d wanted to go to her after the accident, but he’d known it wasn’t time. It was too soon. Their time would come; then she’d be his forever.
As he started the car and began to pul out of the parking space, a movement caught his attention and he stopped, stared. The large, linebacker-looking man pushing Gracie Lynn’s wheelchair stopped suddenly and leaned close. His hand rested on Gracie Lynn’s shoulder.
There was something in his expression, the way he looked at her, as if he had a right to her. He’d seen him before, of course. He was always coming in and out of that horrid little massage therapy office. When Gracie Lynn smiled up at the man, his skin turned clammy, and he clutched the steering wheel.
“No, no, no. She wouldn’t betray me. Not my sweet love. Not my Gracie Lynn.” It was nearly noon before he became aware of the tears, spil ing unchecked down his cheeks.
4
Gracie shifted her arm, trying to make her wrist more comfortable. It had the opposite effect, as the smal movement caused pain to shoot clear to her shoulder. She winced, but tried not to let it show. She already felt ridiculous. Wade was so strong, so capable, and she had a feeling he’d be able to handle a broken wrist with his eyes closed. She looked out the windshield and saw their turn coming up. “Turn down the next road on the right.”
Wade slowed and made the turn. He was being extra cautious in deference to what she’d been through, she knew. She started to tel him there was no need to worry, she was fine, but when they came to the S curve her heart skipped a beat. Images flashed in her mind. She remembered slamming her foot on the brake, her fingers clenching onto the steering wheel, and the horrible realization that she was about to crash. She’d thought for sure she was going to end up in the ravine. Instead she’d hit a big oak t
ree. Head on, she remembered now.
Wade slowed his black pickup truck to a crawl. “This is where it happened, huh?”
She could feel his gaze on her, but she couldn’t seem to look away from the destroyed weeds and brush where her car had torn a path into the woods. “Yeah.”
“It’s okay, Gracie.” His soothing tone calmed her nerves. “You’re stil in one piece; that’s al that matters.” He reached over and patted her on the hand.
She turned and stared at him. The tenderness in his expression melted away some of the tension. “Thank you, Wade.” She paused before adding, “For everything.”
“We’re going to find out who this guy is, sweetheart. Soon, I promise.”
He was so sure in his ability to track down her stalker and make the world a safe place again. Gracie had the feeling that if anyone could do it, Wade Harrison could. As they started moving again, she forced her mind to concentrate on her mental list of things she would need to take care of. Like checking with her neighbor, Mrs. Swinson. She needed to see if the older woman could help her out for the next few weeks while her wrist healed.