“Is that why you asked him if he was married?”

He started to pull away and let her hand loose, but she held it. “No,” she said with the craziest feeing in her belly.

“Then why did you?”

She stared at him, her heart beating a little faster. This was insane. She’d kissed the guy a few times, and yet here he was practically demanding an answer from her, but what was even crazier was she felt as if she absolutely owed him one.

Not liking how fast the mood had begun to take a dive, she pulled him to her and ran her fingers through his hair. The way his hardened expression softened with just that touch almost made her smile. “I just had a conversation with my sister the other day. The single one,” she said, caressing his face. “She goes through phases when it comes to the guys she dates. Her latest is guys in the medical field.” Regina laughed softly, feeling incredibly silly. “She told me to be on the lookout for her, and she likes them tall, so . . .” She shrugged. “I remembered, and I guess that dose of morphine made me braver than I normally would be.”

Without saying anything, Brandon stared into her eyes. Then his eyes were on her lips again. She hadn’t even licked them as she now knew could easily distract him. “I haven’t decided.”

“Can you please just let it go?” His questioning eyes were back on hers a little hardened again. “For my sister,” she teased with a smile. “You never know. He may be my future brother-in-law.”

“You’re not going back to see him, are you?”

“No.” She laughed now. “I’m kidding. But please consider giving the guy a break, yeah? I’ll feel responsible if he gets in trouble. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have ever been at his workplace last night to begin with.”

His expression remained hard, and then she saw the tug on the corner of his lips. “Are you gonna have your family come down this weekend?”

They were back to this, and she still wasn’t sure how she should respond. Was he saying he didn’t want her to? That he’d be willing to—wanted to hang out with her all weekend? If so, was it because like her, he was enjoying the company and wanted more of it? Or was he thinking more in terms of how else she’d be showing him her gratification?

He must’ve read her mind because, before she could respond, he added. “I’m free all weekend if you’d rather not tell them about this until you’ve healed a little more.” Squeezing her hand, he smiled. “I’d be a perfect gentleman. I promise.”

Feeling bad that she’d even mentally questioned his motives, but at the same time completely thrilled that he was offering, she shook her head. “I don’t doubt that you would be.” She tilted her head. “Are you sure? Last night I didn’t want to admit it, and I wasn’t even feeling like I do today, but I feel like a total invalid now. I can barely move. I’d hate to be such an incredible weight on you all weekend.”

“Nah,” he leaned in and pecked her. “We’ll just keep you up here all weekend. There’s no need for you to go down until you have to. I can bring up anything you need. The longer you stay off that ankle, the better.”

“But you have to let me pay you, Brandon—”

“Hell no!” he said with a furrow of his brows. Then he smiled again, and, God, she could get used to that smile. “But you can keep thanking me the way you have so far.”

Cradling his face with both hands, she kissed him. “Thank you.” She kissed him again a little longer. “Thank you.” Then she went even deeper, making him as crazy as she was beginning to love feeling him get.

“Thank you,” he said, this time with a groan and leaned her back into the pillows piled up behind her, making her giggle against his lips.

Chapter Thirteen

Brandon

Lying there in his bed, reflecting on the day’s happenings, Brandon couldn’t decide if the turn of events had been a good thing or if he’d f**ked up royally. He kept asking himself the same questions: What the hell was he thinking? What was he doing?

This went beyond wanting to help someone in need. He couldn’t hide what was happening behind that façade anymore. Taking the day off to help her out for the day was one thing, but offering to continue doing so for the rest of the weekend, especially knowing how impossible it would be to keep his lips off hers now, was a whole other monster.

He may as well toss his rulebook—the one he’d lived by for years—right out the window. So far he’d broken every last damn rule in that book. He’d gone back for more after last night’s kiss. He’d practically told her she’d been under his skin since the moment he’d laid eyes on her. If memorizing the way she’d ordered her salad way back at the airport didn’t say he’d been putting way too much thought into her, he didn’t know what did. Hell, he even told her about Sofie, something he hadn’t spoken to anyone about ever. This after spending a day and a half with her?

There was no way he could deny feeling an attachment to her already. When she’d brought up Lansing, reminding him of what she’d asked the guy at the ER, he’d been ready to spit nails. Why? Because just like seeing Rodriguez with her, the thought of her feeling anything for anyone else after just a few kisses had him burning up.

For someone who for years said he’d never show interest in anyone else’s personal life, he’d been utterly immersed when she’d brought her tablet out tonight to show him photos of her Grandpa Boot. She’d then proceeded to show him all her other photos on her tablet of her family, and he’d been equally engrossed. Seeing photos of her when she was a young high school girl fascinated him. He wouldn’t tell her, but she looked even more like Sofie than he first thought. That wasn’t the fascinating part. While he’d felt a bit envious of her normal and happy upbringing, the only photo he’d seen her in where she wasn’t smiling hugely was the one she didn’t know he’d seen in her wallet. Except for when she’d gotten a little emotional about her grandpa, the girl was nonstop sunshine and happiness. It was contagious, and after just spending a day and a half with her, he’d begun to smile and even laugh a lot more.