Cassie gawked wide-eyed at the man she'd been chasing for an interview for the last several weeks. She'd wanted to get his attention, but hadn't wanted him to run her over in order to do it. She suddenly had to fight the giggle that wanted to escape.
"I've had many women fall at my feet, but never jump out in front of my moving vehicle," he said with a cocky raise of his brows. The mixture of arrogance and horror in his expression was too much for her, and she couldn't help the laughter from escaping. Both he and the nurse looked at her as if she needed to be transferred to the mental hospital. Heck, she thought, she may need to be.
"I'm so sorry," she said between breaths of air. "I really don't know why I'm laughing. This isn't funny in the least. I … I just don't know what else to do," she gasped. The laughter started to die down as the pain in her body seemed to throb in pulsing rhythms from the shaking. She felt as if she may pass out.
She took a moment to really look at Max. She'd never actually met him in person. He was tall, much taller than she'd originally thought. He had to be at least six foot three, maybe four. His hair was dark, shining in the pale room, and expertly cut, not too short, nor too long. There was an endearing cowlick that caused his otherwise perfect hairstyle to seem a bit ruffled.
Her eyes traveled over his face, noticing the five o'clock shadow that only added to his rugged good looks. He was disturbingly attractive in a way that would easily make women throw themselves at him, or possibly his moving vehicle. She knew she wouldn't have done it on purpose, though. An interview wasn't that important to her. She continued her unabashed perusal of him, noting his strong cheekbones, pursed lips, and then lower, to his broad shoulders, contained in his midnight blue suit that was tailor made for him. If she had to come up with one word to describe him, it would be, delicious.
He started to cross the room as if he owned the place. For all she knew, he could own it. The Anderson Family owned half the city, and then some. They were an incredibly powerful family, but they were known for the good things they did in their community and around the world. He came up to her bed, his midnight blue eyes connecting with her own startled blue ones. His lips turned up in a lazy smile, as if he could see into her mind and knew exactly what she was thinking. It must be nice to be so confident, she thought.
"Max Anderson, but I'm assuming you already know that from your expression," he said as he stuck out his hand for her to shake. She took it automatically and gasped as his strong fingers tightened around hers. She could practically feel a live pulse traveling from his hand, up her arm, and straight to her stomach. She had to fight the shiver as he held on far too long to be appropriate. He was playing with her, which she was more than aware of. She shook her head to clear it and lifted her head, as much as the bed would allow. She wasn't a weakling and wouldn't cower to him.
"Cassie McIntyre, but I'm sure you're already aware of that," she said with a confident smile plastered on her face. She tugged her hand, letting him know it was time to release her. His smile grew at her tone.
"Why does that name sound familiar?" he asked, as the smile started to fade. She could see that he was trying to figure out exactly who she was. She'd left at least a dozen messages with his secretary, and she was a bit offended he hadn't picked up on her name right away. She guessed she had her answer as to how he felt about the interview she wanted to do with him.
"Probably because I've been trying to get an interview with you for a couple of weeks," she said. She watched as he put it together, and then his smile disappeared as he looked at her with suspicion. She didn't cower to him, but looked right back. She wasn't going to say anything, but she knew he was thinking the accident wasn't an accident after all.
"When did Ms. McIntyre come out of the coma?" Max suddenly turned his full attention to the nurse, who seemed apprehensive at the sudden change of mood in the room. She didn't know exactly what was going on between the two of them, but she knew something had changed.
"Not too long ago, Mr. Anderson," she said. She turned and fled the room. Traitor, thought Cassie.
"I'm going to let you get some rest, then we'll discuss this matter further," Max said. He'd managed to compose himself and gazed at her with a blank expression.
"Wait," she said, stopping him before he reached the door. She waited until he reluctantly turned around. He didn't say a word. "I don't remember what happened. Can you please tell me?" she asked. She hoped if he told her it would jog her memory. He paused long enough that she was beginning to think he was going to ignore her question and simply walk from the room. Finally, he sighed and took a step closer.
"I was driving near the park and suddenly you were just there. I looked away for a moment and then felt a thump. Apparently you flew through the air. You hit your head on the pavement and blacked out. I've never been so terrified. I thought you were dead."
He said the entire story with zero emotion in his voice, as if he were discussing the weather. She didn't know if he was doing it like that so not to upset her, or if he was just a cold-hearted jerk. How could anyone talk about hitting another human being so emotionlessly?
She tried to figure out what she would've been doing in the road. She wasn't a careless person, and she didn't jump out in front of oncoming traffic.
"I didn't do this on purpose, if that's what you're thinking," she finally snapped as he continued to look at her with the same expression, the one that she was really starting to hate.
"I don't know if it was intentional, or not, but the accident has caused a lot of unnecessary stress for you and my family, so we need to get things straightened out as quickly as possible. Look, I can see how badly you're hurting right now. We'll finish this discussion after you've gotten some rest."
Cassie gaped at him in a bit of awe. He was so used to having his own way that he spoke as if she'd be happy to agree with anything he said. What irritated her the most was that he was right. She was exhausted and finding it difficult to keep her eyes open, let alone concentrate on the conversation.
She had a feeling she'd need her brain functioning at full speed if she had any chance of matching him in a verbal battle. On top of everything else, her body was starting to ache beyond what she could handle and she really needed some more pain medication but she didn't want to admit her discomfort in front of him.
"That will be fine," she said, dismissing him. She adjusted herself and felt red-hot pain shoot down her legs at the slight movement. She couldn't prevent the wince that overtook her features.
"You need some more pain medicine," he said and strode to the door, calling to her nurse, who immediately showed up and went over to a table to get some medicine ready.
"I'm fine," she said through clenched teeth. If she opened her mouth any wider, she knew her teeth would chatter together, giving her away.
Max couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She was the most stubborn, frustrating, irritating woman he'd ever had the displeasure of having to deal with. She didn't want to admit her pain, though it was obvious she was ready to pass out. She had backbone - that was for sure.
His gut clenched when he thought about the moment his car slammed into her. When she lifted into the air, it was like time paused and everything moved in slow motion. He felt the bile rise in his throat, even thinking about the moment her delicate body fell to the ground and he'd spotted the blood oozing out of her in several places.
He wouldn't leave her alone until he was assured she'd be okay. He didn't know if she'd purposely jumped in front of his car or not, but he would get to the bottom of it. No matter what, though, he had hit her, and he was responsible for making sure she walked out of the hospital much more intact than how she'd come in.
He watched the nurse administer the pain meds through her I.V. and then smiled, watching her eyes droop as the medicine did its job.
"I'll see you soon," he said before he stepped through the door. He paused once he was out of sight. He wanted to turn around and go right back in, but forced himself to start moving forward. He wasn't going to form any emotional bonds with the woman. Once he knew she'd be okay he'd never have to see her again.
He walked down the hallway, pushing her firmly from his mind and forcing himself to focus on business. He had time to figure out the mess later.
Chapter Two
Cassie would wake up throughout the day but only for minutes at a time. She would guzzle some water and try to eat what the nurse put before her, but she still was in a lot of pain and would quickly fall back to sleep into blessed oblivion, only to wake up too quickly. She finally fell into a deep sleep about ten that evening and didn't wake until morning.