Page 31 of Hired Husband

For his part, Isaac didn’t even flinch. He glanced down at the snake like it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience while it continued clamping down on his forearm like it was a puppy that had finally sunk its teeth into its new favorite toy.

“Seriously?” he asked, calmly rising to his feet and carrying the snake to the door like this happened to him every other week. “You’re making me look bad, buddy.”

I stared after him. “Are you… are you serious?”

He glanced at me over his shoulder, those twinkling blue eyes still completely calm. “What?”

“It’s eating you!”

“Nah, it’s just scared.” He left my apartment like he’d just had a cup of tea and was on his way out for the day.

I glanced at Hassan, who’d at least finally lowered the broom. “That man is not normal,” I told him.

The doorman shrugged. “We should see if we can help Mr. Thayer.”

I let out a heavy sigh and fell into step behind him, choosing to take the stairs since Isaac seemed to have taken the elevator. Imagine being trapped in a steel box with that thing.

A shiver rolled down my spine at the mere thought, but when I spilled out into the courtyard that led to the back gardens, Isaac was still as cool as a freaking cucumber, crossing the lawn to a patch of bushes near the wall. He crouched down on the grass, and as soon as it either sensed, felt, saw, or smelled the greenery—I had no idea how snakes went about making decisions—the little bastard released his arm, vanishing into the plants less than a moment later.

Isaac chuckled and stood, looking ridiculously smug as he turned to look at me. “There. See? Problem solved.”

I took a pointed look at the blood running down the ridges of muscle in his forearm. “I disagree. It very much left a problem behind.”

Hassan had already pulled out his phone and he waved it at me. “I’ll call the doctor. He’ll be here⁠—”

“There’s no need for that.” Isaac accepted a handkerchief from one of the gardeners with a grateful smile, wrapping it loosely around the bite. “I promise. If it was venomous, I would be dead already.”

“You’ve been bitten by a snake,” I said. “You need a doctor.”

“What I need is soap and a first-aid kit. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to buy one of those yet.”

“You’re a bloody mess and you’re looking a little pale, but all you want is a first-aid kit?”

“Yeah,” he said easily. “Do you have one?”

I sighed, but under the circumstances, it was the least I could do. “Sure, but if you die on my couch, I’ll never forgive you.”

He chuckled, holding his free hand up in some kind of promise or salute. I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be, but it seemed to mean something to him. “I won’t die. Scout’s honor.”

“Right. Okay.” As I followed him back into the building, I glanced at the side of his face, that sharp profile definitely a little sharper today. “Does it hurt?”

“A little.”

“Promise you won’t die?” I asked, a little quieter now. For some reason, I was desperately worried even if he didn’t seem to be. “I’m not sure I can trust a scout’s honor.”

“You can.” When he glanced back at me, at least his eyes seemed clear. A little shiny, which made me think he was in more pain than he was letting on, but there was warmth in them too. “I’ll be fine, Jasmine.”

“How can you be so sure?”

He shrugged, following me into my apartment where my kitchen island quickly became a treatment station. “Well, I’m not a hundred percent sure, obviously, but I’m fairly certain I would’ve been feeling much worse by now if I’m wrong about the type of snake it was.”

“How do you know so much about snakes?” I asked as he watched me unpack the first-aid kit, his gaze still surprisingly calm.

“I don’t,” he said, then nodded at a little bottle. “Saline first.”

“Then how did you know which one that was?” I picked up the bottle of saline, trying to keep as calm as he was as I followed his treatment instructions. “What if you’re wrong?”

I rinsed the bite carefully, but thankfully, the bleeding had already slowed. When I glanced up at him again, his jaw was clenched tight, but he hadn’t made a sound to indicate I was doing it wrong.