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Connor tried to shrug it off, but it turned into a wince as the sutures pulled at his raw skin. “Don’t really know. Last time we were alone together I put my foot in it pretty good, and I wasn’t too keen on you waving sharp objects at me.” His lips twitched in a humorless smile. “Tommy seemed the lesser of two evils.”
I shook my head, fighting off a smirk. “You’re an idiot.”
“When it comes to you, I’m beginning to understand that.” It wasn’t quite an apology, but it was a start. My mouth opened and closed. This was a conversation that we desperately needed to have, but I was exhausted, and Connor still looked like death warmed over.
I brandished the syringe of antibiotics at him. “All right, pretty boy. Roll over.”
Connor made a face. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
“You’re running a fever and your body is still trying to fight off an infection. It’s either this, or a hospital.” I cocked an eyebrow. “Think of it as payback for being stubborn.”
“You just want to see my ass.” He tried for a cocky smile, but it was more of a grimace. Weakly, he rolled over on his side, his arms trembling with the effort, and I tried not to ogle that fine specimen of male posterior too much.
Well, maybe I wasn’t as successful as I thought. Damn, he was fine.
I made Connor drink another bottle of water to much grumbling about how bossy I was, but he was luckily able to keep it all down. He lay limply against the pillow and shivered as I wiped his face and neck with a damp washcloth.
“…feels good…” Connor blearily opened his eyes and frowned. “Why’re you being so nice to me?”
I paused, the washcloth hovering over his burning skin. “I don’t like to see others in pain,” I said in a small voice. “Even when they’re injured doing something I hate.”
Connor didn’t say anything else, he just continued to watch me through half-lidded eyes. It was the first time I had voluntarily mentioned his work, and as far gone as he was, it didn’t escape his notice. His eyes blinked open, and he caught my hand.
“I’m sorry, Cass. I never should have said those things to you, gotten in your face like that…it was cruel.”
I wonder how much it cost him to say that. He looked genuinely sorry, and the last bit of my armor fell away. I laid a cool cloth across his forehead and looked down at him sadly, cupping his cheek with my hand.
“It was,” I admitted, “but I know why you said it. You were scared, and you were just trying to protect me. And I’m not exactly without fault here, either.”
His eyebrows raised slightly, but then he groaned. “Sloane got to you, didn’t she? I told you she could sniff out marital trouble like a bloodhound.”
My lips curled. “She did, but she helped me realize some things about myself…and you.”
“Like…”
“Like we need to talk. But later,” I announced. “I’m not having an important discussion when you’re half delirious. It can wait until tomorrow. Right now, you need to rest.”
His eyes drifted shut in a long, slow blink, lips parted as if there was a question on the tip of his tongue he was working up the courage to ask. He looked smaller, almost childlike in his unaccustomed vulnerability, and I couldn’t make myself move closer to the door. I didn’t want to leave, I realized.
“Do you…” I faltered, then rephrased my question. “Is it all right if I stay? Just to make sure you’re all right though the night, I mean.”
His eyes widened fractionally, but his features otherwise relaxed. “S-Sure. Yeah. I was…yeah.”
Connor scooted over and pushed down the blankets on the other side. This man who made brutal life and death decisions, who could get other men to do whatever he wanted with a single glare, who I had always assumed was a cold, heartless bastard just like everyone else in his profession…he was embarrassed to ask for a little comfort.
I slipped beneath the sheets and winced at the heat radiating from his feverish skin. We lay there, side by side, shoulders nearly touching but not quite. The only sound was the muffled sound of traffic down in the streets and our quiet breathing.
“Cass?” Connor’s mouth opened and closed. I could see the outline of his throat bob in the darkness as he swallowed thickly. “Thank you for taking care of me, and…and for staying.”
I huffed. Less than twenty-four hours ago, I hated him, and right now my emotions were a fragmented wreck, my head spinning over the turn the evening had taken.
“You’re welcome.”
19
Connor
Igroaned,rollingontomy side and trying to find a cool spot on the pillow. My tee shirt was drenched in sweat, yet I was still cold, shivering miserably under a thick layer of blankets. Cool hands against my forehead, a soft voice in my ear, waking me to take more medicine. Cassidy's beautiful eyes, full of concern for me as she monitored my temperature, laying cool cloths against my brow and helping me drink when my hands shook too badly.
