Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men 1)

According to Officer Mikrut, Eva had been lucid enough to pull her cell phone from her purse, dial 911, and warn them Jeremy would probably be at the college looking for me right before she lost consciousness. That’s why they’d already been on campus when the first errant shot was fired outside my calculus class.

“Did you finally get hold of her parents?” Mason asked, kissing my hair.

“Yes. They’re on their way now.” Aunt Mads and Uncle Shaw had left for one of Uncle Shaw’s work conferences the night before. “They had just gotten off the plane in Phoenix when I reached them.”

“And what about Alec? If she’s really carrying his baby, don’t you think he’d want to know about this?”

I tensed, a little miffed he wasn’t as sure Eva’s baby was Alec’s as Eva had claimed it was. But then, I knew he wasn’t exactly an Eva fan.

“It is his baby,” I hissed, “and, no. He broke up with her after finding out about it. I’m not calling that dick unless E. asks me to.”

“Okay, okay,” Mason assured me in a placating voice. “I’m sorry. I just—”

“It’s fine.” I curled closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. I hoped E. didn’t hate me for blurting out her secret to Mason, but I’d been freaking at the time, worried about her life and her child’s life. He had assured me he’d keep quiet until she wanted the news made public. But I wasn’t so sure there would be any news after today. Even if Eva survived, what were the chances of her baby making it too? “I just hope they’re both okay.”

“They will be. The cop said she was shot in the shoulder. That’s nowhere near the fetus.”

“But—”

“Shh.” He stroked his hand down my spine.

I closed my eyes, soaking up his unquestioning support. I didn’t know how long we held each other like that, with me wrapped up on his lap and our faces tucked close together.

When I heard footsteps drawing close, I lifted my head to see a doctor approaching. “Oh, thank God.”

But the man under me tensed. “Shit.”

I glanced at him, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

Just as I spoke, the doctor glanced into the nearest waiting room. “Mercer family?”

“Here.” I leapt off Mason’s lap, forgetting his strange behavior, until he reached out and grabbed my fingers as if to draw me back to him.

/>

The doctor turned toward us and faltered in her step when she saw him. “M-Mason?”

His fingers tightened around mine as the woman’s gaze skipped questioningly from him to me and back to him again.

And suddenly, I understood.

I whirled to him and slugged him on the arm. “You have got to be kidding me. A doctor? A frigging medical doctor?”

He looked as if he were going to be beaten with a whip as he shied back, his face pallid and petrified. “I…I’m sorry.”

The doctor jerked backward as if she was going to run off.

“Hey!” I sliced her a killer glare. “Aren’t you going to tell us how Eva is?”

She paused and cleared her throat, coloring slightly. “Of course. Sorry…” She nervously pushed her platinum blond hair out of her face, making the sleeves of her white coat droop down enough to reveal the Michael Kors watch strapped around her wrist.

Damn, why did all of Mason’s ex-clients have to have such good taste in fashion?

“Miss Mercer is stable,” she said. “Her vitals are strong and she’s awake and lucid.”

“And the baby?” I blurted out.

Dr. Slut nodded. “Still has a heartbeat.”