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The nurse that had been on shift today walked in, Gypsy’s discharge paperwork in her hands. She was pretty. I’d thought so the first time I saw her. Long chestnut hair, bright green eyes, and perfect, glowy skin that looked completely natural. I couldn’t find a single thing I didn’t like about her. But that changed the moment she looked at the man beside the door and recognition sparked in her eyes.
“Ace?” Her lips tilted at the corners, face brightening as he nodded in her direction.
The way she said his name with such familiarity bothered me. Who was this woman, and how did she know him? My eyes turned green with envy as claws I didn’t know I had sprouted from my fingertips. How ridiculous. I was not a jealous woman. Never in the history of ever had I cared one iota about what a man did or with whom. I’d never even had so much as a boyfriend. And Ace definitely wasn’t my boyfriend. So why the hell did I feel this way?
I studied him for a reaction, noting the way his eyes grazed over her with a recognition that made my stomach squeeze. Ace had mentioned to Gypsy once he had a girlfriend, but I was certain he was either lying or delusional. I’d seen him many times at Lucian’s house and on the random occasion he decided to pop up in my life on a whim, but I’d never once seen him with a woman. I didn’t even think he had the time for a relationship, given how involved he’d been with helping Lucian recently. Now, I couldn’t be sure. This woman looked like she knew him on a personal level, and I didn’t like it.
Heat soaked into my skin as I tried to find a steady piece of ground. Why did I feel so shaky? It was like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. She leaned up on her toes and whispered something in his ear, and he nodded. His eyes moved to me, and I licked my lips. My mouth was drier than the scorched earth of the Nevada desert.
Kylie, the nurse, walked over to Gypsy and started prattling on about her discharge, but my eyes were locked onto Ace. I couldn’t pry them away if I tried. The familiar sting of betrayal pricked at my nerve endings. It made no sense, though, because Ace wasn’t mine. In the grand scheme of things, I barely knew him. He had been nothing but a roadblock to my freedom. A grunting beast of a man hell-bent on ensuring I had zero fun in my life. So why did it feel like I’d been stung by this development?
I didn’t know if he could sense the roiling storm of emotion brewing inside me, but those feelings only amplified when he studied me. Eyes that were normally as smooth as cognac bled into a shade of hot dark whiskey. They were animalistic, predatory. A threat and a promise. But when Kylie spun on her heel and headed for the door, her step faltered as her gaze moved back and forth between us. My eyes collided with hers, and the slightest flicker of surprise flashed over her face as she took me in. A torrent of emotions sped through her pale eyes so quickly, I couldn’t keep up.
Did she see me as a threat?
Before I could find the answer to that question, she regained her composure and disappeared down the hall.
“We ready?” Ace grunted.
Lucian nodded, disengaging the brake on Gypsy’s chair before he wheeled her toward the door. I followed in a daze, not quite certain of anything. My eyes were glued to the expansive back of the man leading the charge, his stride steady and certain. Ace walked with the confidence of a man who could handle anything the world threw his way. There was a noticeable swagger in his step, but it wasn’t fueled by arrogance. He was intense by nature, a consistent one hundred and ninety proof. But I doubted he was even aware of what he must look like to everyone else. I doubted he even cared. He was in his own world, completely untouchable by everything else around him, and for that I envied him.
At the end of the hall, we piled into the elevator and descended in silence. The space smelled like disinfectant with a hint of leather and diesel. I knew the latter notes were all Ace, but as my eyes drifted to the bronzed skin of his throat, I wondered what he smelled like there. And worse yet, what he tasted like.
I forced my gaze away as the elevator signaled our arrival to the ground floor. Gypsy’s eyes teared up again as we said our goodbyes, and she demanded a hug from me even though I’d see her in a matter of minutes.
