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“Nope.” He chuckled as he denied it. “I assure you, this is not my usual m.o., but you were unconscious in a very dangerous part of the city. I couldn’t leave you there.”
“Why not bring me to a hospital immediately?”
There was a moment of hesitation before he answered, as if he were choosing his words carefully.
“You demonstrated an unusual strength, way out of the ordinary for someone of your size and stature. You crumpled a handgun in your bare hands and knocked Antonio Morelli out cold. That’s not exactly normal.”
I looked over my shoulder and glared at him, but I was starting to remember those things happening.
“When I consulted my sister, she suggested the fever was an aftereffect of some major changes occurring in your system. She didn’t think an ER staff would know how to treat you and could have potentially harmed you.” He twirled the rod once and I gasped. “Sorry. We’re almost done.”
“I have a lot more questions.” I inspected the fibers of the pillowcase and tried not to think about the picture I presented. Sweaty, naked, and wrapped up in a sheet with a tiny rod sticking out of my butt, while the most attractive man I’d ever laid eyes on took my temperature in the most embarrassing way possible.
“I’ll get to your questions, Caitlyn.” Kade removed the thermometer and smoothed the sheet down over my ass. “Your fever is down to 100.5. It’s safe to say, you’re out of the woods and on the mend, I think, but you’re not going anywhere just yet.”
“I don’t know if I can look you in the eyes again after you used a baby thermometer on me,” I mumbled, still speaking into the pillow.
“It’s done and over with.” He patted my bottom, the gesture a comforting one instead of creepy. “Finish the rest of the water bottle while I grab you something to wear. I’m guessing you don’t want to wear those micro-shorts of yours right now.”
“I would rather have something comfortable, so I will appreciate whatever you bring me. Thank you.” I wasn’t used to obeying orders, especially from hot strangers, but I was thirsty. Parched, actually. I reluctantly opened the bottle again and took a swig. It tasted delicious, as if I hadn’t drank anything in weeks, and I took several more swallows.
“Easy,” Kade said, coming back into the room with a change of clothes in hand. “You’ll make yourself sick again.”
His tone had an oddly authoritative twang, and I capped the bottle. “I got dizzy.”
“You’ve been unconscious for a few days. Probably going to take a bit to get your bearings back.”
“What?” I jumped up, but teetered. Kade caught me around the waist, but I pushed out of his arms and fell back onto the bed. “Damn it! What’s wrong with me?”
“One thing at a time. Try to listen to what I’m about to say–”
I didn’t want to listen. I wanted to leave. “I don’t really have time for this.”
“Well, you can’t even stand at the moment,” Kade answered sternly. “So for the time being, you’re staying put.”
I stood up to leave again, gathering the sheet around me and immediately fell back onto the bed. My head was still pounding. I was dizzy and lightheaded and my body tingled with a weird electricity, like I could literally feel my blood flowing through my veins. Strangest of all, I wasn’t embarrassed by my lack of clothing. It struck me as odd, since I was in some strange man’s house, and not just any house, but the house of the hottest strange man I had ever met. He moved closer to the bed, and with every step toward me, I swear he got hotter and hotter. It could be my perception after what he had just done, but his dark brown hair fell in a way which made me want to run my fingers through it. He was gorgeous.
“Who are you, Kade? How did I get here? Why do I feel so terrible? Why can’t I stand up without falling?” My eyes narrowed in suspicion. I felt oddly safe here, but I couldn’t account for how physically horrible I felt. “Did you drug me? I feel like I’ve been drugged. Oh my god, you roofied me, didn’t you? And that’s why I woke up naked!”
His eyes darkened with each question and his mouth set into a thin line of displeasure. “One question at a time. And since I’ve already covered some of this, I’ll tell you again, because you aren’t feeling well, and I’m sure your unfamiliar surroundings are adding to your confusion. I picked you up and off a sidewalk in the middle of Devil’s Park after being alerted to your condition. I brought you into my home where I’ve taken care of you for the past seventy-two hours. No, I did not roofie you, nor did I do anything more invasive than taking your temperature rectally. And trust me, that wasn’t my first choice, but I made do with what I had available. Frankly, I’m a little insulted that you even asked such questions. You might try and act a little grateful.”
“I’m grateful.” A pit of ice formed in my stomach while I mulled over his words. Shit. If I had passed out in Devil’s Park, then he saved my life for real. Despite my accusations, I didn’t feel like I had been raped or otherwise taken advantage of. If I had been left unconscious in Devil’s Park, I most certainly would have been raped. Or worse. My gut squeezed as I pondered the possibilities. I was grateful. I was, but I was still naked in a stranger’s house, and I still needed to get out of here and get home. I had bills to pay and a job to do. “Listen, I really appreciate everything you have done for me, but I don’t want to impose any further. I’m really out of my element here. No one has bothered to take care of me in a long time.”
His jaw clenched and relaxed as he processed what I’d told him, and then without a word, he turned and strode out of the room. He even looked sexy leaving. He had simple black pants on, but they outlined the shape of his muscular ass. If I had a quarter, I’d have been able to make it bounce.
Why wasn’t I more concerned about all this? Here I am naked, with a fever in a stranger’s house after apparently being out cold for three days, and I’m musing about bouncing quarters off a man’s ass.
I needed to know where my car was, if my job had called for me, and what exactly had happened seventy-two hours ago. I pressed a hand to my forehead. My thoughts swam a bit when I tried to think. I clenched the sheets closer to my body with my other hand. What a mess I’d gotten myself into.
The man returned a few minutes later and motioned for me to sit up. In his hand, he held a bottle of Tylenol and a fresh bottle of water. “Couldn’t give you anything while you were out. This should help bring the fever the rest of the way down.” Shaking the bottle upside down, he handed me three pills and watched as I took them. Then he grabbed the pile of clothes he had brought earlier, and without a word, he assisted me into soft navy flannel pants and a light gray t-shirt since my head refused to allow me to do anything on my own.
“Thank you for scraping me off the sidewalk, Kade,” I said, trying again to express appreciation to this kind but odd stranger. For a short moment, my heart rejoiced at his kindness, but then my usual paranoia sank back into my brain. He could be nursing me back to health just to sell me on the streets. “I’m sure in that part of town I wouldn’t have lasted long.”
“I swear my intentions are pure, though you don’t know me any more than I know you.”
“I think you know me just a bit better,” I quipped, since he had not only stripped me naked, but stuck a thermometer in my ass, at least twice.
He didn’t react to my argument. “We need to get some food in your system, before we get into all the particulars of the other night,” he said off-handedly.” I came up to check on you, but I was about to make dinner. I can bring you up a plate or we can get you downstairs. Which do you prefer?”
“Will you please carry me to the food?”
“That is the strangest question anyone has ever asked me.” He shook his head, but lifted me up into his arms.
