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“You wanna watch something on TV?” he asks, getting into bed next to me wearing a pair of dark blue, almost-black boxers.
“No, but you can.” I scan his big beautiful body, his thick biceps, toned chest and abs. Once he’s in bed with the sheet around his waist, I look at his hands. His hands have made me feel beautiful, and cherished, have made me feel loved and sexy, and have been nothing but gentle with me. But I know without a doubt they could inflict pain on someone if he wanted them to.
“Did you beat up Dr. Hofstadter?” I ask, and his head dips down toward me, his eyes going guarded, his body going alert. “Please don’t lie to me if you did do it.”
“Angel.”
“Harlen,” I whisper, and he rolls until he’s half on top of me then tangles his legs with mine.
“Yes,” he replies, and my eyes slide closed. “I won’t apologize for what I did to him, Angel. He deserved to know how it felt to have hands on him that he did not want, that he did not like. He needed to know his voice would not be heard no matter how loud or how much he pleaded for help.”
Bile crawls up the back of my throat from his words. Hofstadter did that to at least one woman, and who knows if there are more? There could be countless more women who felt that their choice was taken from them, felt backed into a corner because of what he did, what he told them he would do.
“I won’t apologize,” he repeats.
I open my eyes and meet his gaze. “He deserved that,” I whisper, and his eyes slide closed while his forehead comes to rest against mine. “You’re right. He deserved to know how it felt.” I slide my hand up his side to rest against his neck, and his eyes open. “I… I just wish you would have told me.”
“I should have told you,” he agrees, touching his mouth to mine. “I’m sorry I didn’t.”
“Okay,” I say, hearing the honesty in his voice, and he pulls back to look at me.
“That easy?” His eyes search mine. “We’re not going to fight about this?”
“I understand why you did it. I’m not happy you did it, but I get it, since if I could have done it myself, I would have. I just…” I pull in a breath, letting it out while moving my hand to his cheek. “Next time, just talk to me so I’m prepared.”
“There better not be a next time,” he growls, and I hear the warning in his voice, that warning sending a shiver down my spine. I hope for Hofstadter’s sake there really isn’t a next time.
“You’re kinda scary,” I tell him softly running my hand up his chest to rest on his shoulder.
His hand comes up to cup my cheek, and his fingers glide softly across my skin. “I’d never hurt you.”
“I know.” And I do know that. I know it with every fiber of my being.
“I’d never let anything hurt you,” he adds, and I raise my head up off the bed and place my mouth against his.
“I know that too.” The moment our lips meet, I touch my tongue to his bottom lip and he takes over the kiss. Then he proves what I already knew to be true. His hands have the power to make me feel a million different things, all of them good.
***
“I’m not drunk. You are.” Willow laughs, pointing at me, and I shake my head, grinning at her.
“No, you are!” I giggle, lifting one of the pillows off the couch, shoving my face into it, and laughing so hard my sides hurt. It’s safe to say we are both drunk, but after drinking two bottles of wine, anyone would be. I needed this. I needed to eat junk food, drink too much and relax and laugh with my sister. I needed to forget about what happened last week when I thought I was being followed home. And I needed to forget about what’s going on at the hospital.
I’ve talked to Amy a few times since the first time we met and over coffee one day, I finally told her what I overheard her saying. She was visibly shaken as she informed me that she went to HR and filed a complaint along with three other nurses, who had similar things happen with Hofstadter, and none of them have heard anything back.
When I told Harlen this news, he was pissed… or more pissed than he already had been. He called Evan, my dad, and Cobi, and told them they needed to get in contact with Amy and find out who the other nurses were. I learned after his phone call with my dad that Dr. Hofstadter’s family is on the board at the hospital and that his uncle is CEO. That was news to me—big scary news. That information means that not only does Dr. Hofstadter have power because he’s a doctor, but he also has it because his family will no doubt look out for him.
