My barrel-chested brother, whose knee is pressed into the doctor’s spinal cord, looks up at me and grunts. “Who?”
“Him! Pretzel Guy!”
“The fuck?” Max looks confused. My brother means well, and I can’t blame him for misreading the situation, what with all the chaos and echoes in this enormous, empty space.
I put my hands on my hips and everyone finally quiets down to listen to me. “Butthead. Do you realize who you are crushing with your giant Hagrid-sized leg right now? That’s ‘Doctor Dave,’ and it looks like he busted his ass to get here because he knew I was in trouble, and I was. Now get off of him and apologize.”
Max grudgingly lets him up and says he’s sorry. I’m relieved to see my giant of a brother hasn’t caused any further injury to my would-be rescuer.
I hear my brother mutter something about how this night has taken a turn for the weird, but I’m ignoring him now. I am purely focused on someone else: the man who made me fall for him.
Chapter Fourteen
Millie
My voice trembles in worry and wonder. “Doctor Dave? You really came here for me?”
His words tumble out dry and ragged. “I told you. It’s David. For you, I’m just David. And I came here for one thing. I need those lips now if you don’t mind.”
My flushed face angles up to meet David halfway, but there’s no need to. His lips capture mine in a searing, knee-buckling, heart-pounding kiss. Our mouths fuse together so tightly it dismantles any last thought I might have had that this is all a dream. His arms pull me close to support me as my body melts into him.
My mind so quickly closes up shop on everything else, I forget the cops are still here.
“Hey!” I hear my brother Max yell, but it’s a distant echo compared to the wet, passionate smooching noises providing all the audio input I can handle.
“Dude, what the fuck do you think you’re doing to my baby sister?” Martin says.
It’s the “baby sister” thing that makes me finally pull away from David’s kiss, even though I really, really don’t want to. David grunts in displeasure and tightens his grip around me as I turn to face my brothers. “Boys, you’re done here. Done babying me. Done telling me what to do. Done scaring men away. And you can run and tell Jay the same thing.”
An admonished Max mutters, “Well, we’re not actually done here. You still need to give us a statement about the incident.”
While I do this, David keeps his arms locked around me, even under the wary gazes of my brothers.
The cavalry eventually packs it in, taking a groggy, confused Pretzel Guy away with them in handcuffs, and David and I are finally alone.
In the glow of the security lights, I examine his bruised body. “What happened to you?” I breathe. I lightly brush my fingers against David’s cheekbones. His publicity photos do not do him justice. I had already formed that opinion on the day I worked security at his charity event a while ago. But up this close? He’s achingly beautiful. Or maybe everything looks different, now that I know his strong jaw, sexy crow’s feet, bad-boy smile, and even these bruises belong to me. The knowledge of this sends a rush through my entire body.
He shrugs. “I rode my bike here. Had to put it down on the ice. Got a little banged up. No big whoop.”
My eyes flash in anger. “It’s a very big whoop,” I say, examining his skin while gingerly holding his face. “And very stupid of you, on this ice. Come on, the linen store is right around the corner. I know they’ve got first-aid kits. It’s closer than the security office. I can fix you up.”
He grumbles and leans his forehead against mine, a move that in movies makes me swoon. In real life, for the first time? I think my ovaries just dropped like fifteen eggs at once.
“I’d rather just go to your place and let you fix me up there,” he rumbles, his breath sending a wave of warmth and tingles across my cheek.
“Sorry, John McClane, but I have to wait for my bosses to show up so I can give them the narrative of everything that happened tonight. But I’m sure we can grab one of the officers and have them dispatch an ambulance for you—”
David cuts me off in another kiss, this one tender and sweet and full of longing. His lips are soft, attentive, and caring. It nearly breaks my heart. I’m the one who should be taking care of this injured, magnificent man right now, but he won’t have me fussing over him; he’s made that clear. David follows the kiss with words and breaths full of trembling and an endearing neediness that tugs at all of my heartstrings. “I’m not leaving you. No matter what.”
Chapter Fifteen
David
My Millie pulls me by the hand toward the towel and bedspread store, whatever the hell it’s called. She unlocks the cage door and lets us both in. We quickly find the bathroom odds and ends, and sure enough, a first-aid kit.
I want to protest out of some odd macho need to present myself as tough, but my affection for this woman keeps me in check. She wants to take care of me, so I should let her.
Sitting facing each other on the end of one of the bedding displays, Millie patches me up.