I snort. “Of course, you’d know since you’ve been reading my mind this whole time, which I must say I find a bit rude...”
“Actually, it’s from your ID.”
He grabs my ID, which is hanging from its strap off a peg on the wall, on his way to the couch. Of course. I’d had the badge shoved in my pocket when the plane went down. I give him a sheepish grin.
He tosses it to me. “You work for a research laboratory?”
“Yes.” I nod.
“What kind of research?”
“Mostly biology.” I stare at the plastic card in my fingers, frowning at the photo where unruly strands of my honey brown hair stick out from the sides, one of my eyes appear slightly smaller than the other and my lipstick looks unevenly applied. “Why do I always end up looking horrible in these ID pictures?”
I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear, pausing as I see a bit of blood on it.
I frown. I must look worse now, what with my hair needing a rake and my clothes stained with blood and in tatters. And to think I was judging Sebastian on appearances earlier. Talk about the teapot calling the kettle black.
He sits on the couch beside me. “So, you’re saying you could never read anyone’s mind before?”
I glance at him. “Now, someone’s interested.”
“Just curious.”
I sit back. “No. Like I said, it must be because of my injury.”
I tap my head.
“Speaking of your injury, I should check on that.” He moves closer.
“What?” I sit up, waving my hands. “No, I’m fine. You don’t...”
His eyebrows crease.
“You’re thinking I’m being a pain in the ass again, aren’t you?”
He snorts. “For someone who’s never done this before, you’re learning fast.”
I chuckle. “Finally, a compliment.”
“That wasn’t...”
“Fine.” I move closer to him, closing the gap between us. “Do what you have to do.”
I sit still, gazing into the fire across me as he unwraps the bandages. The strip of gauze starts to fall into a pile on my lap.
I take the end between my fingers. “Thank you, by the way, for saving me.”
“You needed help. I couldn’t ignore that.”
I tap my fingers on my knee. “Are you a doctor, by the way?”
“No. But I know first aid.”
I frown. “Not to insult your first aid skills or anything but didn’t you think I needed a doctor when you found me? Didn’t it occur to you to bring me to the nearest hospital?”
“The nearest hospital is nearly a hundred miles away,” he says, still unraveling the gauze. “I was going to bring you to the hospital as soon as the weather improved if...”
The end of the gauze drops at the same time Sebastian’s jaw does.