She wished she could sink into his words. And the arms that were holding her. But they were the wrong arms and the wrong voice.
“I want Bear.”
“I know you do, little one,” Clint said in a soft voice.
“I’m sorry I just vomited in front of you.” God, this was embarrassing. “Please let me have the painkillers. My head is so sore.”
“It’s a migraine?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Did you get these before your accident?”
“No.” She was incapable of speaking more than one-word sentences it seemed. In fact, she didn’t really want to speak at all.
He gently pulled her up into his arms. She didn’t know where he was taking her. She just hoped it was somewhere dark and calm and soothing. Where she could lick her wounds. As if he’d read her mind, he laid her down on her bed. Yes. Thank goodness. Blankets were settled over her. And then something cool was placed over her eyes. She let out a low whimper.
“Just leave that there, sweetheart. Rest. It’s all going to be okay. I promise.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant by that. But right at this moment, she no longer cared.
12
Bear was in a foul mood. Then again, when wasn’t he in a foul mood at the moment? He wasn’t really fit to be around other people. He stomped into his cabin. He knew he should head to the dining hall and get some dinner, but he didn’t feel like eating. He looked longingly over at the bottle of whiskey. Except he’d been drinking too much of that lately, and he wasn’t a man who liked to lose control.
He needed to get himself back to that place where he’d been. Before Ellie. When he hadn’t been this rioting mess of emotions.
Maria’s betrayal had hurt, but it had nothing on the pain of losing Ellie.
He sat on the sofa in his cabin with a sigh and stared down at the phone in his hand. Maybe he should text her. Check on her. Make sure she’d been to the doctor. But what if she hadn’t been? Then he’d have to follow through on his threat to take her. Seeing her again probably wasn’t in his best interests right now.
His phone rang and he thought about ignoring it. But with a sigh, he looked at the screen and saw Clint’s name. Great. Maybe he’d have a job for him to do. Something to take his mind of Ellie.
“Yeah,” he barked down the phone.
“Well, that’s a cheerful greeting.”
“What do you want, Clint?”
“You know, I am still your boss.” There was no anger in the other man’s voice. He was baiting him.
“So, you just called me up to fire me, is that it?” Maybe an argument with Clint would ease some of his tension.
“Of course, I didn’t damn well call you to fire you. Jeez, touchy much? I’m at Ellie’s house.”
It was like a bucket of cold water over his head. Thoughts of Maria came screaming back and he shook them off. Clint had never done anything to lead Maria on. She’d come onto him. He trusted Clint. Even though they both had similar taste in women, Clint would never go after someone who meant something to him. Still he couldn’t help a surge of jealousy. “What the hell are you doing at my Ellie’s house?”
“Whoa. Calm down. It’s not like that. I’m here to help you.”
He rubbed his forehead. It wasn’t the first time that one of Clint’s plans had given him a headache. Or backfired on them all. “Please tell me you didn’t go there in order to get her to see me. Please tell me you didn’t interfere in my life like that. Because you know if you did, I’m going to have to hurt you.”
“I expect you’ll forgive me once Ellie’s in your bed. Or over your knee. That girl needs a good spanking.”
He clenched his free hand then forced himself to relax. Clint was just trying to goad him.
“Why are you at Ellie’s house? And where is Ellie?”
“Well, I’ve just put her to bed.”