Page 20 of Rogue Survivor
After a half servingof chips and a bite of cheesy grits, Veronica falls asleep. Connor wraps his arm around my shoulders and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I should go. Let you get some rest too.”
“Have you ever tried sleeping in these chairs?” I shift, my back protesting the movement. “If she weren’t being discharged tomorrow, I’d ask for a cot, but I can manage for one night.”
Connor moves behind me, and his strong fingers dig into my shoulders.
“Oh, God. That feels amazing.” Closing my eyes, I let his touch ease some of the tension I’ve carried since Leah’s first phone call. “Where did you learn how to do that?”
“A lot of physical therapy.”
His lips brush the shell of my ear, and goosebumps race down my arms. Our timing is horrible. I shouldn’t be so attracted to this man with my daughter lying in a hospital bed two feet away. But my body doesn’t seem to care.
All too soon, he stops, smoothing his hands halfway down my back until he stops right above the band of my bra. “If you needanything, Isabel, promise you’ll call me?”
I peer up at him, and his hazel eyes are dark with need. “I promise. And I won’t disappear on you again. I’ll text you when we get home tomorrow.”
“Good.” Shoving his hands into his pockets, he backs toward the door. “I’ll make some calls about Mitzi. Can you send me her last name?”
“Nelson. Mitzi Nelson.” I can’t let him go without kissing him. I don’t care that it’s wildly inappropriate. Ilikethis man, and I need him to know it. “I’ll walk you out.”
“I can find my way. Tell Veronica I’m glad I got to meet her.” He’s out the door in seconds, and I hurry after him, catching him halfway to the elevator.
“Connor, wait.” Stepping in front of him, I screw up my courage and wrap my fingers around his biceps. “What you did for us… The food, helping Veronica, just…being here…”
“Ain’t nothin’ special, darlin’.” His smile could melt the polar ice caps. And knowing what those lips feel like? After Veronica’s healed—and I find some way to lock her in her room for the rest of her life—we’re going on a proper date. One that doesn’t have to end at the stupidly early hour of 9:00 p.m.
“It’s special to me.” I lever up on my toes and drape my arms around his neck. “You’respecial.”
Connor tangles his fingers in my short hair, his gaze so intense, I want to look away, but can’t. And then he kisses me. The heat of his mouth on mine? The way the hard muscles of his chest shift against me? My nipples tighten, and in this brief, perfect moment, all I want is him.
Until a scream pierces the din of the busy hospital.
“Veronica!” I jerk out of Connor’s embrace and run. He matches my pace, and as we reach the door, alarms start blaring at the nurses’ station.
A man dressed in a pair of green scrubs and a mask stands over Veronica’s bed, a syringe in his hand. She’s fumbling for her IV with her left hand, but the cast foils her movements. My heart leaps into my throat. “Get away from her!”
The man slaps my daughter across the face, then tosses the syringe into the sharps container on the wall. Connor shoulders past me, spins the guy around, and drives an uppercut into his chin. The crack is so much louder than I expect, even with alarms going off all around us. Blood dribbles from the man’s lips, and he snarls. “Fucking asshole.”
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” Connor mutters and balls up his fists again.
But one of the nurses rushes in, then screams. The momentary distraction lets Veronica’s attacker sweep his leg out to catch Connor in the knee. With a groan, he goes down, hard.
“Connor!”
He lunges, trying to grab the attacker’s ankle, but the man’s too quick and sprints out the door after shoving the nurse against the wall.
All I can think about is my daughter. She’s dazed, but still trying to reach for the needle taped to the back of her hand. “M-mom…help…”
A second nurse barrels her way into the room. “Ms. Lopez, stand aside,” one of them orders, but I know what my baby girl needs. That IV. Out of her. Right now.
I don’t pause, don’t warn her, don’t even think about it. Just rip the needle out so quickly, blood splatters the blankets. “Get a doctor. Now!”
Scrubs guy put something in her IV. If I wasn’t fast enough…
Yelling. Someone’s yelling. Connor. I can’t let go of Veronica’s shaking hand, but I blink hard and try to focus.
“Call the police. Right fucking now,” he roars.
“N-no…” Veronica slurs. “Mom, no. He can’t…”
