“Tut, tut, tut, Mr. Quinn,” Fawn reproved mockingly. “You either sit in the wheelchair and let me wheel you out of here like a good boy, or you aren’t leaving.”
His nostrils flared. “I haven’t been a boy for more years than you’ve been alive,little girl,” he growled. “And who the hell is going to stop me if I decide to just walk out of here?”
“In your weakened state?” Her shrug was completely lacking in urgency or concern. “I’m guessing just about anyone could do it, including me.”
Declan debated meeting the challenge in her expression, but the thought of him possiblylosingthat challenge to a woman half his size by collapsing would be too much for his already-battered ego to take right now.
“Fine.” He threw himself down into the wheelchair, and then instantly regretted doing so when it jolted the wounds on his back, shooting pain through the rest of his body.
After pausing briefly at the reception desk so that he could sign his discharge papers, Declan immediately had even more causeto regret having given in to Fawn’s badgering. The moment she wheeled the chair out of the automatic front doors of the hospital, Declan saw one of the black SUVs from Wynter Security waiting outside for them. A member of his own team was sitting behind the wheel.
Danny Walker exited the vehicle the moment he saw the two of them and came round to the passenger side. “Front or back seat, boss?” he queried as he took the rucksack from Fawn before opening the trunk and placing it inside.
“Front.”
“Back.”
Declan and Fawn spoke at the same time and in complete contradiction to each other.
“Front,” Declan repeated as he stood up so that he no longer felt at quite so much of a disadvantage sitting in the wheelchair.
“Back,” Fawn repeated firmly. “That way, if you start to feel dizzy, you can stretch out on the whole of the back seat during the drive to your apartment.” She moved to open the back door before stepping to the side and standing like an unmoving sentinel beside it, one eyebrow raised expectantly.
Declan had a feeling he was going to get very tired, very quickly, of that reprovingly arched eyebrow.
As if aware of his brooding thoughts, Fawn placed a helping hand on his arm as he stepped up into the back of the SUV. Declan turned to glare at her the moment he had settled himself on the seat.
“Need any help doing up your seat belt?” she offered, completely unperturbed by his scowl.
“No.” Even though it hurt like hell, Declan gritted his teeth and lifted his arm to grab hold of the seat belt and pull it across himself before fastening it. Even that small effort resulted in beads of sweat appearing on his brow.
Something Fawn, thankfully, made no comment on as she closed the door. She got into the front passenger seat and fastened her own seat belt.
Declan raised his head to see Danny grinning at him in the rearview mirror. That grin quickly faded as Declan continued to glare at him through narrowed lids. The other man’s gaze shifted away as he turned on the engine of the SUV and accelerated down the private driveway toward the public road.
“I forgot to ask.” Fawn’s comment broke the silence that had ensued after Danny had driven the SUV out in the busy London traffic. “Would you rather I continue to wear my nurse’s uniform for the next two weeks, or is it okay if I wear casual clothing?” She turned to look at him.
“You gonna go for the sexy nurse’s uniform, boss?” Danny once again eyed him in the driving mirror.
Declan gave him another glare before turning to look at Fawn. “Do you have any casual clothing with you?”
“My bag with my clothes and toiletries is already in the trunk with yours.”
“The two of you met before just now, then?” Declan was surprised at how much he disliked that idea.
Fawn grinned at Danny, a grin he returned. “We said hi a couple of times when he was visiting you at the hospital. Then again ashort time ago, when I came outside to see if the car had arrived to take you home. I dropped my bag off then too.”
“How nice.” Declan inwardly cringed at the underlying rancor he could hear in his sarcastic response. “I’m guessing Fergus must have told you the address of my apartment?” he questioned the younger man as Danny drove unerringly in that direction.
“He told me the building,” Danny confirmed lightly. “But I have no idea which apartment is yours.”
Declan nodded before turning to look out the side window. Well…he pretended to look at the scenery. He was far too aware of Fawn Meadows and her intoxicating scent to concentrate on anything else.
Damn it.
Fawn frowned slightlyat what the conversation between the two men just now had implied. From her previous conversations with Danny, she knew he was one of the members of Declan’s team at Wynter Security. Yet it sounded as if the younger man hadn’t even known the building where his team leader lived until now.
Was that because Declandidhave something to hide?
