Turbulent Desires(6)

"Good. There's a nurse there who I know can heal me all up."

The sad thing was that Mav knew her schedule. Whether she wanted an  angel on her shoulder or not, she'd had one since the attack. But this  angel wasn't willing to sit in the shadows any longer.

"Next time we're in the ring, you better bring your game," Cooper told  him, changing the subject, which Mav was grateful for. He wasn't a  feeling-sharing kind of guy.

"Sarge is gonna kick my ass," Maverick muttered as they pulled into the ER parking lot, and Cooper turned to look at him.

"Not worse than I already did," Cooper told him with a wink.

"Don't be getting all cocky on me, brother. I didn't have my head in the game," Maverick growled.

"Whatever. I'm going to be telling this story for years to come," Cooper assured him.

"You can start tonight 'cause it looks like I'll be out of commission  for at least a few weeks. Guess who gets to be doing all my meal  prepping?" Mav taunted him.

"I don't want your ugly mug at my place," Cooper said as he came around  the side of the car just as a nurse came out with a wheelchair.         

     



 

"Tough. You broke me, and now you get to take care of me," Mav said.

Then he turned to the pretty young blonde, who looked like she couldn't  have been out of nursing school for more than a few days. "Howdy," he  said, pretending to tip an imaginary hat.

Her pale cheeks blushed and she seemed to forget how to speak. Mav just  winked at her as he smiled. He was used to having that effect on women.  He loved women, loved them in all shapes, sizes, colors, and varieties.  Women were his hobby.

"She's a little young even for you," Cooper said with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm just being polite," Mav told his brother before looking back at the  young nurse. She was too young for him, but that didn't keep him from  flirting. "What's your name, darling?"

She stammered something, but then they were in the ER and he was given  paperwork and the pretty young nurse was hustled off somewhere else. His  attending nurse ended up being old enough to be his grandma, but that  didn't stop Mav from giving her his winning smile and making her  wrinkled cheeks turn pink.

Yeah, he loved the ladies-ladies, plural, being the key word. Mav wasn't  the type to settle down with just one fish when the sea was full of a  variety and bounty of them. He was happy for his brother Cooper, and  absolutely adored Stormy, his brother's wife. But matrimony wasn't for  everyone-certainly not for Maverick.

He was young, able, and ready to sow a lot more oats. And if that were  all true, he didn't understand what in the world he was doing pursuing  Lindsey with such single-minded absorption.

"Can you get Lindsey for me? She usually attends to my wounds," he told the sweet nurse named Alice.

"She's almost off shift, but I can see if she's with a patient," Alice responded.

"I appreciate that," Mav told her with a wink that had her cheeks blushing again.

She practically ran from the room, and Mav sat back, trying to look as  pathetic as humanly possible. He would milk the broken bone for all it  was worth. Ten minutes passed and Mav began to get a bit nervous. He'd  sent Cooper home, planning on getting a ride with Lindsey. He hoped she  hadn't ditched him.

The door finally opened and Lindsey stepped through, her eyes on the  chart in front of her. She shut the door before she looked up. Mav had  to fight from smiling as he reminded himself he needed to appear weak  and helpless.

He wasn't leaving without getting her to agree to either help him or go  out with him. He could barely keep from smiling when she finally glanced  up and her expressive eyes shone with shock.

Yeah, he made her nervous. But it was in a very, very good way.





CHAPTER FIVE

The sudden thundering of Lindsey's heart had nothing to do with fear.  Well, maybe some fear, but as she looked up and spotted Maverick sitting  on the exam table, his shirt off, and a sling on his arm, her throat  closed and she couldn't seem to tear her gaze away.

Her first instinct was to rush up to him. Her second instinct was to run  away as fast as she could. For nearly a year, she'd managed to avoid  him as if he was infected. She knew he could make her feel things she  felt she had no right to feel anymore. She knew he wouldn't ever give up  on her.

That last part was too much for her to handle. She'd given up on herself  and didn't feel anyone should believe her capable of being anything  other than a blank face in a crowd. She didn't want to stand out-didn't  want to face emotions.

Blending into the background just wasn't possible with Maverick around.  The man drew attention to himself and anyone who happened to be within  ten feet of him.

"Morning, sugar," he said when the silence between them had stretched on for far too long.

The smooth, easy cadence of his voice made her throat tighten and her  heart thunder even more than it already had been. She sucked in a breath  of air, which was a mistake because then his scent infused her, making  the desire to approach him that much stronger.

Of all the hospitals he could have come to, why did he have to appear in her tiny one? Well, that was easy-to torture her.

"You requested me," she finally said, her eyes narrowing as she locked her emotions down tightly.

"Of course. I wanted the best," he said with a wince that immediately had her going into full-on nursing mode.

She moved forward and tried her best not to look at his magnificent  chest. Why in the world was he shirtless? There wasn't a need,  especially since he already had a cast on.

"It looks like you've already been taken care of," she pointed out.

"I needed a second opinion," he told her. "It really hurts."         

     



 

At his last words, she looked at him with suspicion. She'd seen Maverick  and his brothers brawl for fun, getting scrapes and bruises, and she'd  never so much as seen him flinch. Was he snowballing her? She felt  guilty at the thought. A bruise was a lot different than a broken bone.

"Um, it's pretty obvious you have a broken arm. I don't see that a second opinion matters at this point," she told him.

Then he grinned at her, that perfect, lopsided Maverick grin that made  her knees shake. The man was too damn lethal to be around.

"Well, to tell you the truth, Coop had an appointment to get to and he  dumped me off here. I need a ride home," he said with a pout. An actual  pout!

"I'm working," she told him. "You should call up someone."

He slumped down with another wince, and she began to wonder if he really was in pain. If he was, then she was being terrible.

"The nurse who was just in here said you were just about to get off shift," he pointed out.

Damn. He was right. Her shift ended in about ten minutes. It would be better if he didn't know that.

"I hate to put you out, though. I guess I could call a cab," he said as he fumbled around with his good arm.

He moved quickly then, hopping down from the exam table, which put him  directly in front of her with only about two inches separating them. Her  breathing stopped, and she felt herself go a little dizzy. The effect  he had on her was beyond confusing.

She tried to take a retreating step back, but his good hand shot out and  steadied her. Panic filled Lindsey. She went immediately into fight or  flight mode.

"It's okay, sugar," he said soothingly as his fingers loosened on her arm and he began to gently rub her bare skin.

Without trying to be too obvious about it, Lindsey stepped back, and was  grateful when Maverick let her go. His touch wasn't nearly as  terrifying to her as other people's were, but that thought scared her  even more. She didn't want to feel comforted by Maverick. That would  only lead to very bad things.

"So . . ." he said, drawing the word out. "Should I call that cab?"

His voice was so deflated Lindsey found herself saying something she would surely regret.

"I'll give you a ride home," she told him.

The instant smile that lit up his face told her in no uncertain terms  that she'd been played. But what could she do about it? It wasn't as if  she could take it back.

"Thanks, sug. I could be violated since the hospital has drugged me," he  told her as he moved over to the chair and picked up his shirt-not  bothering to put it back on, just holding it with the good hand.

"I highly doubt that," she muttered as she sent a glare his way. "Do you need help putting your shirt on?"

As much as she wanted that magnificent chest covered up, she didn't want  to be the one to help him put it on. There would be far too much  contact in doing so, and she had a feeling Mav would really milk the  situation.

"Nah. I'm a bit warm right now anyway," he told her as he moved to the  door and pulled it open. He was suddenly in a hurry to leave. "I'm sure  you can clock out a few minutes early since you have a patient to deal  with," he added.

"Why don't you go and wait in the lobby. I'll meet you there," she told  him. In reality, she was thinking she could make a call to Stormy and  see if her best friend would be willing to pick him up. She could claim  an emergency at work to get out of it.