Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
“I’m fine.”
“You need to eat. You haven’t eaten all day,” Ian told her.
“Is there something wrong with my food?” Jack asked from where he now sat on the island. “Promise it’s not poisoned.”
“Of course I don’t think it’s poisoned. I’m just not hungry anymore.”
“Your stomach is still growling,” Ian pointed out. “You are going to eat.”
“Who died and made you the boss?” she asked.
“No one needed to die to make me the boss. I’m your bodyguard, which makes me your guardian. Which means you do as I say. Now, eat.”
Her mouth opened. Closed.
There were no words. None. Which was frankly alarming since she’d always been quite good with words.
“Beck and Hux are my guards.”
Something filled Ian’s face and it took her a moment to recognize that look. He looked happy.
Weird.
“Beck and Hux have been pulled away to other duties,” Jack said.
“What? Why?”
“They’re needed elsewhere, so now we’re here,” Ian told her. “Which means I am the boss of you and you will eat.”
She frowned. “I don’t think so. Beck never forced me to eat.”
“Well, perhaps he should have paid more attention to you. And then you wouldn’t be sitting here, pale, exhausted, and bleeding.” Ian frowned.
“Such a drama queen,” she muttered.
“What was that?”
Yeah. Maggie wasn’t repeating that. She wasn’t dumb.
8
Jameson studied the small woman sitting at the table.
Ian wasn’t wrong. She looked pale and exhausted. And while he might have exaggerated about the bleeding since it had mostly stopped, she still needed close watching.
“You really haven’t eaten since this morning?” he asked, moving his fingers to her wrist to take her pulse. It wasn’t a big deal to skip a few meals.
“It’s fine. I often go for long hours without eating. I’m used to it.”
Okay, that he didn’t like. “You’re used to it?” He studied the tips of her fingers. They were shriveled. She was clearly dehydrated.
“Ah, yeah. Sometimes I can go all day without eating. I’m really fine.” She watched him closely as though she couldn’t believe he was real.
He had to tamp down the urge to preen.
Jameson knew he was being an idiot. He was thirty-six-years old. This girl had to be at least ten years younger than him. He couldn’t let her clear admiration go to his head.
She was just a baby.
“No, you’re not fine,” he said in a much firmer voice than he’d intended. “You are dehydrated and tired. Now, eat your food.”
Ian grunted, clearly glad that he was backing him up. Jameson felt a surge of rightness. It had been a long time since he’d felt this protective of someone.
Since he’d felt the urge to take care of and dominate a woman.
Then her lower lip trembled and he had to fight the need to tell her that she could do whatever she wanted as long as she didn’t look at him with such devastation.
Bloody hell. What was wrong with him? He was a doctor. And for years, he’d been a Daddy Dom. He was used to being firm, to doing what was best for someone, even if they might not necessarily see it that way.
Yet one trembling lip and he was willing to give this girl whatever she desired.
“I need sleep,” he muttered.
“Oh no, you’re tired?” she asked.
Funny, all devastation had been wiped off her face. Had she been playing him?
Little brat.
He wiped that thought quickly from his mind. He had no idea if she was a Little or not. And he wasn’t going to find out.
She’s a patient.
Nothing more.
“I’m fine,” he said coolly.
Maggie gave him a confused look.
“I’ve just worked a fourteen-hour shift since one of our doctors is off sick. So I was looking forward to going home to bed.”
“And you got called here to deal with my tiny scratch,” she said understandingly, pulling her foot from his lap. “I get it. You should go home and rest. All this needs is a Band-Aid. Like I said.” She glared at Ian.
She was a brave Little thing to take on Ian. Grown men had been known to cower when he frowned at them.
Ian glared back at her. She just wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue at him. Jameson let out a surprised bark of laughter.
She turned to smile at him happily.
Fuck. What was he doing?
It must be the lack of sleep. Because he had the weird urge to pull her onto his lap and hug her tight? And at the same time, he wanted to scold her for hurting herself.
It was peculiar.
Yes, he definitely needed to go home and get some sleep.
“Did you just stick your tongue out at me?” Ian barked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jack started whistling. Jameson glanced up to see the other man staring hard at Maggie. Generally, Jack didn’t find much interesting. But the way he was looking at Maggie . . . hmm, that was unusual.