“No.” His eyes turn soft. “I don’t mind. I’m glad she asked. It means I don’t have to leave my room to check on her.”
I look down at my shoes, overcome with emotion. The only person who’s ever loved Maisy as much as me has been Declan. Sure, I have a few friends who care about her and me, and she has friends herself, but this is different. This is deeper than mere friendship.
I know I must sound like a broken record, but I still look up and say tearfully, “Thank you. You’ve given her and me both something so precious.”
His gaze moves past me for a moment before he brings it back. “So have you,” he says gruffly. I hold still when he lifts his hand and
grazes his fingers over the scars on the underside of my jaw. His eyes narrow when they follow the movement before moving down to the ones on my collarbone. “We’re going to talk about this later.”
My fingernails bite into my palms, and my stomach muscles tense. I’m not surprised he found out—I knew it was only a matter of time—but I had hoped it wouldn’t be for a while yet. I kept the extent of my attack from him for a reason. I knew it would only cause more problems. He wasn’t to blame for what those three guys did, but solely for the way he treated me beforehand. He broke my heart and stomped on it with no explanation at all. That’s what I blamed him for. That’s what I still blame him for.
I give him a short nod. His fingers linger on my collarbone for several seconds. The apprehension I felt when he first touched me turns to something else. Something sensuous and seductive. Something that makes it feel like all the air has been sucked out of the room. Did someone turn up the heat, because I’m suddenly feeling way too hot.
My breath catches when Judge’s fingers take a turn. They move from my collarbone to the center of my sternum. His eyes flicker up to mine, and the look in them now has my heart thumping heavily in my chest. Heat and passion, a combination that used to always make me want to drop to my knees in front of him. I haven’t felt desire for a man in years.
“Ahh… I see you’re awake.”
I jump. Taking a step back, Judge’s hand falling away from me, I turn to the nurse as she rounds Judge’s bed. I cross my arms over my chest and hope my cheeks don’t give away the feelings coursing through me. Judge’s eyes are still locked on mine, so I spin away from him back to Maisy’s bed.
“How are you feeling, Mr. Beckett?” Judge grunts something I can’t understand. “Any pain?”
“No,” he answers.
“That’s good, but don’t get used to it. You’ll be feeling it soon enough.”
I keep watch over Maisy as the nurse speaks to Judge for a few more minutes. Once she leaves, I don’t turn back to him, and he doesn’t say anything else. I pull up a chair and sit down, my hand playing with Maisy’s fingers.
My thoughts stay on Judge and the old feelings I can’t afford to feel for him again. I don’t know how much time passes before I feel Maisy’s fingers twitch in mine. I stand up quickly, my eyes snapping to her face. Her brows wrinkle and her lips tip down into a frown.
“Maisy, baby? Can you hear me? It’s Mama.”
Her eyes move back and forth beneath her eyelids before they crack open into slits.
“Mama?” she says with a scratchy voice.
“I’m right here.” When her eyes open more, I smile down at her. “Hey, you.”
Her hand moves to her lower stomach where her incision is. “It hurts, Mama.”
An ache forms in my chest. “I know it does, baby, but it’ll get better.” I reach over her head and press the call button on the remote lying on her pillow. “We’ll let the doctor know you’re in pain when he comes to check on you. He’ll be here soon.”
She nods. “Is… Judge in here?”
I step to the side and look at the second bed. “He’s right—”
I stop, my mouth dropping open when I see Judge struggling to get out of bed. I let go of Maisy’s hand and rush over to him.
“What are you doing?” I grab his arm to try and stop him. “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”
“I’m fine,” he grunts.
“Judge, you just had your stomach cut open. Stop being tough. You’re not okay.”
Some things never change. The man was hardheaded back in the day too.
“Then help me get up,” he snaps. “This isn’t going to keep me from seeing Maisy.”
My heart melts at his demand. He can see her perfectly from his bed, which is only ten feet away from hers, but he wants to be closer. How can I deny him that?