CHAPTER16
“Why are you ignoring me?” came the grumbled demand from the small woman that he…
God, he couldn’t fucking stop thinking about how close he came to losing her.
“Because you’re a pain in the ass,” Devyn said, focusing on the large gash running down the middle of her back.
“I know,” Andi mumbled sadly into his pillow as he reached for the antiseptic ointment the doctor at the emergency room gave him and carefully applied it to her back, noting the bruises from the metal bar that sliced through her suit and twisted around the zipper and from his attempts to free her.
“Can I tell you something?” Andi asked, only to wince before she could bite it back when his fingertips brushed against her back.
“Of course,” Devyn murmured, clenching his jaw tightly shut as he followed the gash down her back. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she mumbled sadly with a sniffle.
“What were you going to tell me?” Devyn asked, ignoring the way that the antiseptic ointment stung the cuts on his fingers and made sure that he covered every inch of that gash.
“I think the ship was fake,” Andi mumbled as he watched her hand curl into a fist around the comforter.
“I think you’re right,” Devyn murmured, brushing his fingertips along her back one last time as he somehow resisted the urge to press his lips against her skin, needing to make it better for her. “What gave it away?”
“The metal rod that sliced through my suit might have had something to do with it,” she said, only to follow that up with, “Eighteenth-century ships weren’t built with metal rods,” and a sniffle. “I was almost killed by a tourist attraction.”
“You’re killing me with those sniffles, Miss Dawson,” Devyn drawled, reaching for the small stack of gauze pads on the nightstand.
“I know,” Andi mumbled, making his lips twitch as he bandaged her back.
“I see,” Devyn murmured, applying the last bandage. “And is there a reason why you’re doing that?”
“Because you won’t let me work,” she said, making him sigh heavily as he carefully pulled the shirt that she’d borrowed from him back down.
“The doctor told you to take it easy,” he said, watching as she moved to roll onto her back only to rethink that decision and turn onto her side, where she continued to pout.
Sniffling, Andi mumbled, “I was working on something.”
“You’re not working tonight,” Devyn said, leveling a warning glare on the small woman that fucking terrified him when he realized that she wasn’t coming back up before he headed back to the living room only to fucking sigh when he heard it.
“Andi…” he said, sighing heavily as he turned around and spotted his iPad in her hands.
“Wait! I need that!” she said when he plucked the iPad out of her hands only to mumble sadly when he grabbed the notebook on the nightstand just in case.
“Go to sleep,” Devyn drawled as he headed back into the living room only to feel his lips twitch when she said, “I’d really like to go back to my own room now.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Miss Dawson,” Devyn said, tossing the iPad on the couch with a heavy sigh when a knock at the door drew his attention.
“But I’m working on something!”
“No, you’re not,” Devyn said, sighing heavily as he opened the door and found the asshole that had almost cost him everything standing there, wearing a casual smile as he held out a small stack of folders, looking like he didn’t have a fucking care in the world. He definitely didn’t look like he’d spent the last ten hours in a fucking emergency room, losing his fucking mind because no one would tell him anything.