You Own Me (Owned 1)

The man turned back to Vic. “If you can't handle this, take her to a hospital. There's no need to play doctor if you're just going to make her worse.”

Vic folded his arms, eyes growing dark. “I won't.”

“See that you don't. If there are any problems, you have my number.” The man gave me a long calculating look then walked out the door.

It was too exhausting to keep my eyes open, so I closed them. Much better. I felt a dip in the bed and then Vic's voice was close to my ear.

“Lenny?”

I groaned in response. I wa

s really getting sick of this damsel in distress shit. The minute I got out of this ridiculous situation and my brain returned to normal size, I was going to take kickboxing lessons. Krav Maga, rock climbing, cooking classes, Muay Thai—you name it, I'm taking it.

“Lennox, I'm going to get you better.”

Yeah, sure, said the guy who put me here.

Sort of.

I mean, I put myself here and then he kind of put me back.

I opened my eyes again and whispered, “You have rage issues, Vic.”

He smiled at me and my stomach did that flip-flop thing, yet this time it might have been the nausea. “Yeah, I do.”

I struggled to sit up, ignoring the black and white spots my eyes were seeing.

“Sit down, you need to rest,” Vic said, trying to gently shove me back down.

“No.” I kept pushing my way back up, through him and the eye spots. “I'm sick of resting. I'm done with this head injury.”

“You don't get a choice,” Vic said.

“What are you going to do? Push me down again and give me another one?”

Vic immediately took his hands off me. I felt bad for a minute, but that feeling went the way of JNCO jeans. I folded my arms, refusing to lie back down. Maybe, however, I could try and ease the tension between us. “I refuse to be babied, Vic. I'm sick of being the damsel in distress.” That's putting it lightly. Having to run away from a crazy man really makes a person feel weak and out of control. I don't need to feel even more out of control.

Vic peered at me, his eyes softening. “Will you at least stay in bed?”

“Fine, but only until tomorrow.” I sighed and lay back into the pillows. “Then we have to drive back.”

Vic clearly wanted to say something. He was chewing the inside of his mouth and gazing at me with such ferocity I thought his eyes were going light on fire. Hot, black, coals set right below his eyebrows. “Alright,” he conceded.

He didn't really get a choice in the matter. I had work that needed to be done next week, so I was leaving Sunday regardless. But, I was going to let him think that he had a say. It seemed to make him happier. I preferred a happy Vic to a raging Vic.

“I'll go get you dinner,” Vic said, rising.

“No, I can get it,” I responded, making a move to rise. Vic whipped his head back so fast I felt that I would get whiplash.

“You're staying in bed until tomorrow.”

I scowled. “What if I need to use the bathroom?”

“I'll bring you a bedpan,” Vic replied, dead serious.

My jaw dropped open and then I started to laugh. Full on, gut-bursting, laughter.

“You can’t be serious!”