“Brent. And I’m so sorry about what happened. It was an accident. I swear I’ve never laid a finger on a woman,” he says earnestly.
“It’s fine,” I wave off his apology, just wanting to make my escape. “If you can just show me where to sign out.”
He grabs a clipboard from the small security office. “Here.” He hands it to me with a pen, and I scribble my signature in the space provided on the sheet of paper.
“Okay, so can you buzz me out now, please?” I ask, looking at him expectantly.
“If you’re looking for your car, Mr. Lock had us move it to the underground parking lot,” he says, referring to Tanner.
“Of course, he did,” I mutter under my breath.
It seems like breaking out of this building is a damned sight harder than breaking in. All I want to do is climb into my car and drive away from this place so I can lick my wounds in private.
I’m so caught up in feeling sorry for myself that I don’t notice Brent moving away to the security office until I hear him speaking on the phone.
“…she’s down in the foyer with me, Mr. Lang. I was just about to escort her to her car.”
“No!” I hiss, shaking my head like a castrated chicken and waving my hands in his face. “I don’t want to see them!”
“Yes, she seems a little…upset, sir,” Brent says, eyeing me warily.
Great! So much for slipping out unnoticed. I cast my eyes around, looking for an escape route. I spy the sign for the stairs leading down to the parking lot and make a beeline for the door.
“Miss! Wait!”
I ignore him and keep walking, pushing the door open as I hear the ding of the elevator behind me. The staircase down to the parking lot looms in front of me, and I take a step forward.
“Mags!”
I can’t help myself. I turn at the sound of Theo’s voice, coming to a sudden halt just as Brent comes flying through the door behind me. He barrels into me, knocking me off-balance. My arms cartwheel as I teeter on the top stair, and I feel myself falling backward. Then, everything goes black…
My brain feels like it’s been put through a spin cycle. Or maybe Thor’s been throwing his mighty hammer around in here like a lunatic.
“Maggie?”
“Did she say something about Thor?”
“Shit! Maybe she’s got brain damage. We should get the doc back in here.”
My heart flutters in my chest. I’d recognize those voices anywhere. I crack my eyes open, groaning as the light bounces off my optic nerves. I blink and try to focus.
“Maggie?” Noah asks, leaning over me. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes, Noah, I know who you are,” I croak. What’s wrong with my voice? My lips are dry, and my mouth feels like a cesspit.
“Thank God!” he says, leaning down to kiss my forehead.
“Hey, Slugger. You gave us a scare,” Theo says softly, moving into my line of vision.
“Where am I?” I make the mistake of lifting my head to look around and then groan as the room wobbles and spins. I glance down at my hand, clasped firmly in a large male one, and trace it up to Tanner’s handsome face.
“Just lie still, baby. You’re in the hospital,” he says, lifting my hand to his mouth and placing a kiss on my knuckles.
“What happened?” I whisper, looking between all three of them. “I remember Barry knocking me off balance and then…nothing.”
“Brent,” Tanner corrects, almost growling the security officer’s name.
“The only reason his ass isn’t fired is because he saved you from falling all the way down the stairs,” Noah explains, his expression grimmer than I’ve ever seen it. “But you still smacked your head hard on the top step. The doc says you have a mild concussion. They want to keep you overnight, just to make sure there are no complications.”