ACE:Las Vegas Bad Boys(52)
When I don’t answer, she adds, “Ace, I know how much Mark cares about you. You’ll look out for him, won’t you?”
It’s clear she doesn’t know about the falling out, and I’m glad. The last thing Janet needs to worry about right now is Mark and I not seeing eye-to-eye.
“Anything for you, Janet,” I tell her.
“My nurses will be mad if I’m not in bed like I’ve promised, so I’ll leave you be, but it was so good to see you, Ace.”
“You too, Janet.” I give her a hug goodbye, noticing how frail she is. There’s no meat on her bones and I wonder how much time she has left. This has gotta be killing Mark.
“Oh, and Ace—keep your head on straight with the ladies. I worry about you.”
“Noted,” I tell her, smiling tightly as she scoots away down the hall.
I quickly text Denise again, telling her to send some flowers to Janet at the hospital.
As I pocket my phone, I see Emmy walking toward me with a doctor. She looks annoyed, and it’s a look I’m all too familiar with, even after just a week of knowing her.
EMMY
My head hurts.
Like, exhausted slash annoyed slash are you kidding me? Hurts like a motherfucker, really.
Hurts like if you tell me one more shitty thing, Doc, I might lose my actual cool.
Not just my pretend cool, not the cool I show most people. I’m talking the for-reals Emmy-cool. The cool I never show anyone, because I’m not usually so messed up in my head.
But right now I feel beyond messy. I feel like a straight-up disaster zone. Stage five tornado. Emergency evacuation. Get the hell out of here, hot-mess.
The doctor introduces himself to Ace, like they run in the same crowd or something.
“I’m Ace Royalle,” he says coolly, looking me over, as if assessing the situation. And by situation, I mean my situation. He must be able to see I’m all screwy.
I didn’t sleep all night or all day, and now it’s five p.m. I ate a bag of Lay’s potato chips around ten this morning, but nothing before or since.
And I know my breath must smell like a legit dumpster. Like, I want to kiss Ace again so bad it hurts, but when he kissed me earlier I was so scared he would realize that I am not some sexy woman, that I’m currently rocking beast-mode.
And right now, as the doctor reaches out to shake his hand, I know that if Ace takes another step toward me before I can thoroughly brush my gums, I may be liable to punch him in the junk just to distract him.
Which, why do I even want him? I mean, besides the fact he gets me wet every time we’re within fifty feet of one another, and besides the fact he is funny as hell and is Alpha-everything. Besides the fact his arms feel safe and his eyes are sincere and his cock is literally drool-worthy. Like, I actually drooled on it when I sucked him off last time.
It is that impressive.
So why did I try to blow him off after he told me he loved me? Why did I tell him I wanted to end things, that things were over, when I called him tonight? Why am I fighting everything I want?
I don’t know. I have daddy issues and who knows what else.
Also, I’m still scared. Of a hundred different things.
And right now, I’m mostly scared that something is still going to go wrong with Janie.
I need for her to recover.
“I’m Doctor Matthews, and I was just trying to explain a few things to Emmy here, but she’s pretty resistant to my ideas.”
“And what ideas are those, exactly?” Ace asks, eying him critically.
Okay, I know I’m trying to step back from all things Ace, but what he just did—looked Doctor Matthews over twice, and didn’t act like he’s god because he saves lives—that’s the shit I love. The shit that gets me horny.
I like the fact Ace isn’t getting off because some fancy doctor is talking to him. He’s acting like a man who has nothing to prove.
“Emmy needs to rest, to take a break from the hospital. She has been here every day off she’s had, for months. She sleeps here most nights. She hasn’t been outside in twenty-four hours.”
My body stiffens at the doctor’s words. I don’t want to leave. I want to be here for Janie’s first words—first everything. We’ve spent years apart, and I just want to have a sister again. A family.
“That’s great to hear, Doctor Matthews; I was thinking the same thing,” Ace says. “In fact, as her boss, I’m giving her paid leave so she can take care of herself.”
Jiggawhat? Ace is supposed to have my back. Not be all buddy-buddy with the doc.
“Um, no. I’ve gotta stay. For Janie.” I scowl at both men.
“The odds of your sister recovering to the point of speaking any time soon—this week even—are unrealistic. Her body is going to need plenty of recovery time, and your presence may heighten the stressors she needs to avoid.”