Wicked Attraction (The Protector) Read online

  The doc frowned and looked taken aback. “Two years. But—”

  “Are the scans taken of my fiancée noticeably different than her previous records? By that I mean,” Ewan said calmly, “does she appear to have any new injuries or damage to the brain that were not noted in her old notes?”

  “The abnormalities are consistent with her previous records, but—”

  Again, Ewan cut her off. “You didn’t see anything else? Nothing new?”

  “Any abnormality in the scans is enough reason to keep a patient for observation,” the doc snapped, straightening and squaring her shoulders.

  Ewan tapped another message into his comm and gave the doc a steely grin. “I’m taking her home. I’ll hire private med staff for her and make sure she gets the care she needs.”

  “You can’t—”

  “According to the medical director of this hospital, I can.” Ewan lifted his comm to show the doc the screen.

  Nina couldn’t read the message there, but apparently the doc had no trouble because she pursed her lips. “Of course. Do what you want. Sign her out against med advice, that’s your right. I’m done here. I don’t need to take your abuse.”

  “Then I suggest you get out,” Ewan told her in a hard and unflinching tone.

  The doc left the room, closing the door behind her. Nina had watched this entire exchange with slightly raised brows and an elevated pulse rate that had nothing to do with her injuries. She’d seen Ewan in action a few times, but this time had been on her behalf, and there was no denying that she liked it.

  “My hero,” she told him.

  Ewan grinned. “Peter Barons and I sit on a few boards together. He’s the medical director here. C’mon. Let’s get you home.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Ewan had not expected Nina to be a very good convalescent, but she turned out to be surprisingly amenable to his caretaking efforts. After bringing her home, he’d settled her in the master bedroom with the media remotes, a stack of reading material, and comfortable pillows, along with a silly menu of options that he’d printed off his computer.

  “Foot massage?” Nina raised an eyebrow and wiggled her toes from under the blankets. “My feet might be the only part of me that don’t hurt.”

  Ewan sat on the edge of the bed to rub a hand along her thigh. “I’m happy to massage anything else you need.”

  “How about my lips?” She tapped her mouth lightly. “I can always use a massage there.”

  He kissed her, gladly, but keeping the pressure gentle. He couldn’t stop himself from nuzzling her neck before he pulled away, but although he’d gladly have spent more time inhaling the scent of her skin, all he had to do was look at the pattern of bruises on it to remind him that she’d been badly injured only two days ago. She pulled him onto the bed with her. They lay quietly together for a few minutes.

  “What can I bring you to eat? How about some soup?” Ewan said after a few minutes had passed, mostly to keep himself from falling asleep. He wanted to make sure she was taken care of before he gave in to the exhaustion. Sleeping in the chair next to her hospital bed had been next to impossible, and he was aching for sleep.

  Nina chuckled, letting her head fall back before she shook it and looked at him with such a look of amusement and adoration shining in her gaze that it warmed every part of him. “How about a rare steak and a baked potato and some cherry pie?”

  “If that’s what you want,” he agreed.

  She laughed again and reached to stroke her fingers along his cheek. “Adorable. I’ll come down to the kitchen. I don’t really like to eat in bed.”

  “You stay put,” he said, realizing at once it was a useless command. She’d only seemed like she was going to let him take care of her. “Nina. Please. You should rest.”

  “Ewan,” she said, “I’m fine. A little banged up, but this is nothing. Really.”

  He sighed. “I knew it was too good to be true, you staying in bed and letting me take care of you.”

  “Oh, you can take care of me in bed, all right,” she told him with a naughty grin and wiggling eyebrows, making him laugh. “But I need to eat first.”

  He tossed up his hands. “Fine. But I’m cooking. You sit and look pretty.”

  “Yes,” she cooed, “because that’s exactly my goal in life. To sit quietly and look pretty.”

  She kissed him with a little more heat, then pulled back with the same shining gaze to cup his face with both her hands. Holding him still to study him, she said in a low voice, “Thank you.”

  “For taking care of you?”

  Nina nodded. “Yes. But also just . . . thank you, Ewan. For helping to make this work. Me and you. Us.”

  A pang flashed through him that she felt she needed to thank him for what ought to have been something she could take for granted. “I want this to work. I want you.”

  “Kiss me.”

  He did. They breathed together for a moment or so. Ewan closed his eyes, sleepy but happy to be with her. He drew in her exhalation greedily until she giggled, and he opened his eyes. “I can’t get enough of you, Nina. I love the way you smell. The way you taste. I love everything about you.”

  “Good. Let’s keep doing this, then. Every day, better and better. What do you say?”

  “Yes. Forever.” He nuzzled at her cheek and then kissed her mouth again.

  Nina nodded. “Yes. Forever.”

  * * *

  It had taken some convincing to get Ewan to allow her to follow him to the kitchen so he could feed her, but Nina hated eating in bed—too many crumbs. And besides, as much as it was clear he wanted to dote on her, to take care of her, she really didn’t need him to. Her body had already kicked in to start healing the injuries from the accident. Even her blood pressure problems didn’t seem to be bothering her anymore. One thing, though, still niggled at the back of her brain.

  “Did anyone else come visit me?” she asked between mouthfuls of the delicious rare and better yet, real, steak.

  Ewan had not poured them glasses of wine, a fact she noticed with amusement but didn’t comment upon. He thought she shouldn’t drink in her delicate state. She loved him for that.

  “No. I don’t think so. You weren’t there very long, and even though I wasn’t there when you woke up, something I’m still mad about”—he shrugged at her noise of protest—“it’s true. I should’ve been there.”

  “Maybe I should have waited to come out of my unconscious state until you’d come back from the cafeteria,” Nina countered as she stabbed another bite of meat.

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  She waved her fork at him. “So is this idea that you somehow failed me because your stomach was empty.”

  “No,” Ewan repeated after a moment, rolling his eyes but smiling. “Nobody else came to visit you.”

  “The nurse said my brother had been in to see me.”

  Ewan frowned and shook his head. “You don’t have a brother.”

  “I know that,” Nina said. “So who came in to see me? And when?”

  “Maybe someone stopped by before I was able to get up to your room. They had me filling in a lot of information downstairs before I could get up to you.”

  Nina frowned. “That’s stupid, I have a medchip implanted. Why didn’t they just scan it?”

  “I don’t know, but I had to fill out a whole bunch of information in order to . . .” Here he coughed into his fist and looked away from her.

  “In order to what?” Nina asked him when he was clearly not going to finish his sentence. She put down her fork with a small clatter. “Ewan, what did you do?”

  “I wanted to make sure that all the expenses were covered, so you didn’t have to worry about anything.”

  She laughed softly. “According to my contract, you’re required to cover the costs of any medical expenses I incur during the course of my assignment with you.”

  “Yes, but you don’t work for me anymore. Did you forget?”

  She had, sort