I nodded.
He was carrying a new pitcher of water, identical to the one sitting beside the bed. He gestured toward it. “The nurse gave me some fresh water with ice. It’s probably better than the tap water I gave you,” he said sheepishly.
I was embarrassed to realize I would have drunk sewer water if he were offering it to me.
I watched as he poured me a new glass and transferred the straw from the old cup into the new one and extended it to me. I took it, though curling my fingers around it proved to be harder than I thought, but I did it, proud that I didn’t wince at the pain of my skin stretching over bone.
He regarded me through those crystal-blue eyes as I drank down half of the water. It was icy cold and felt like little needles against my throat, but I continued to drink, my body greedily demanding more.
When I was finished, he took the cup without me asking and placed it on a table that he wheeled right up near my lap.
“You’re a fireman?” I asked. “You’re the one who…?”
He nodded. “I’m a firefighter.”
“You threw me into a pool.” I scowled.
He grinned. “You were on fire.”
“Well, there is that,” I allowed. Talking to him was entirely too easy. Looking at him was entirely too easy. I couldn’t forget the reason he was here. “You saved my life.”
“All in a day’s work,” he said, giving a little shrug.
“Should I call the nurse?” I asked.
Alarm wiped the barely there smirk off his face and stiffened his posture. He leaned a little closer, those eyes sweeping over my body. “Are you in pain?”
“We might need something for swelling,” I replied. “I’ve never seen anyone’s head grow so much so fast.” Was I flirting?
Oh my God, I was totally flirting.
Relief filled his eyes and he grinned. His teeth were bright against the dark of his scruff. “Think she’d give me a sponge bath too?”
The image of him naked and dripping wet with water had the stupid monitor beeping all over again. I hated that stupid thing.
He glanced between me and the monitor, a sly smile curving his lips. When the nurse came in and pressed the button and checked the screen, he winked at me.
He winked.
That small gesture had me clenching my thighs together beneath the scratchy blankets.
After the nurse warned him about too much excitement (I was going to die of embarrassment), we were alone again.
“I have to say…” His eyes gleamed. “You are much more amusing when you’re awake.”
“This isn’t the first time you’ve been here?” I said, all trace of flirting aside.
“I’ve been a couple other times.”
“A couple?”
He shrugged nonchalantly.
“But why?” I blurted before my manners could rear their ugly head.
He seemed to balk at that question, like he wasn’t really sure what to say or how to say it.
“I get it,” I told him. “It’s like some fireman follow-up policy? Checking in to make sure the victim is okay?”
“Yeah, just following up.”
I nodded. “As you can see, I’m going to be fine.”
“You told the doctor someone tried to kill you.”
“Well, I didn’t tie myself to the chair and light my house on fire.”
His fists clenched at his sides, like my words made him angry. The muscles in the side of his jaw ticked—a movement I found very distracting.
“Who would try to kill you?” he asked after a few moments.
“That’s exactly what we would like to know as well,” said a new voice as someone swept into the room.
It was two cops. One female, one male. I had no doubt in my mind that whenever they interrogated someone, the blonde played the good cop and the short, stalky man played the bad cop. “Katie Parks?” the man asked, looking at me.
“Yes.”
“We’re here to discuss the events from four nights ago.”
“That’s my cue to leave,” the fireman said from my side.
I would much rather talk to him than the police.
“And you are?” the female police officer said, pulling out her pad and pen like she was going to write it down. I knew she wasn’t going to. She just wanted to know his name. I really couldn’t blame her.
“Holt. Holt Arkain”
His name sizzled me like a bolt of lightning straight to the heart. I’d never heard that name before, but it fit him so well. Strong yet rugged… casual yet unique.
“You’re the guy who pulled her from the fire,” the male cop said.