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“Then I’m the one who handed her butt to her since I fired her already,” I quipped with a forced smile, hoping to calm James down a little.
“You’re cute, baby, but losing her job isn’t enough of a punishment if her negligence hurt you.” After checking my ankle, he swept me into his arms and stalked outside. “And I’m gonna talk to your brother about blacklisting her after we’re done at the hospital. Getting you checked out is my number one priority.”
“I don’t need to go to the emergency room,” I insisted, twining my arms around James’s neck as he carried me to his car. “It’s just a twisted ankle.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” His hazel orbs were filled with concern. “You could’ve broken or sprained something.”
I shook my head with a sigh. “I’d be in way more pain if that was the case.”
“Even the smallest amount is too much,” he growled, gently lowering me into the passenger seat after one of the workers opened the door for him. “Nothing should ever hurt you.”
“You can’t protect me from everything,” I chided.
“I wouldn’t bet on that.”
He didn’t give me a chance to react to that warning before rounding the front of the vehicle to climb into the driver’s seat. I waited until he pulled into traffic to request, “Please don’t take me to the hospital. I really don’t want to sit around waiting to be seen when I probably just need a compression bandage and a couple of over-the-counter pain relievers.”
“I’m sorry, baby, but I need to hear a medical professional tell me that’s all you need.” He reached over to squeeze my thigh. “But the good news is we shouldn’t need to wait since I’m a major donor to the nearest hospital.”
I scrunched my nose. “I really wish doctors still did house calls because even if I’m seen quickly, I still have zero desire to go to the emergency room.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
My brows drew together. “What?”
“I’ll have a doctor come to the house, and as long as they don’t think you need to go in, we can skip the trip to the hospital.”
“Really?” I pressed my hands together and blinked up at him. “You can do that?”
“Fuck, yeah,” he confirmed with a nod. “It’s one of the perks of being a billionaire…just about anything is possible.”
I didn’t know how he managed it just by firing off a few text messages, but the doctor was waiting for us when we arrived at his Winnetka house. With a portable x-ray machine that proved I’d been right—it was just a twisted ankle. Not that James cared. He set me up in the middle of his big bed and waited on me hand and foot.
I’d never had someone treat me like I was delicate porcelain, but I loved how protective James was being. Especially because it didn’t extend to when we were having sex…once I got him to lose control.
10
JAMES
“Wow.”
I glanced up from Samantha’s hand, which I’d been idly playing with while trying to decide how to give her the ring I’d designed.
Tate Finch, the center for the Chicago hockey team, the Challengers, was walking onto my private jet, and his eyes were trained on Samantha. He strolled over and stuck out his hand. “Hey there, beautiful. I’m Tate Finch.” He brushed his slightly longer black hair off his face and smiled, showing off perfect teeth—most of them were fake…he fucking played hockey for a living—and twin dimples in his cheeks.
“Samantha Heath,” she replied.
I intercepted her hand as she reached out and glared at my friend. “Mine,” I growled. I wasn’t worried about the pretty boy stealing my girl, but I also couldn’t seem to rein in my jealousy and possessiveness where Samantha was concerned.
Tate’s black eyebrows rose over his bright blue eyes as he looked back and forth between Samantha and me. I could understand his shock. He’d never seen me with a woman, much less this obsessed with one.
Tate was from Long Island, but he’d joined the Chicago Challengers right around the same time I’d moved there. I’d worked with the owner of the hockey team and met Tate through him. Eventually, he became like another brother to Jeremy, Jason, and me. He’d also hit it off with our friends from home, as if we’d all known each other our whole lives.
Samantha rolled her eyes. “Muzzle your inner caveman, James,” she quipped.
Grinning, I leaned my head down to whisper in her ear. “But you like my inner caveman.” She shivered, and her cheeks bloomed with color.
Lacing our fingers together, I rested our hands on my knee and relaxed back into my seat. We were headed to Milwaukee for my monthly poker night with my brothers, Landon, and some other friends. Tate had decided to come at the last minute and was hitching a ride on my plane.
