Distracting someone from pain and discomfort with a jarring question was a good trick when he used it on someone else, but he couldn’t say that he cared for being on the receiving end of it. He looked out the window, then back at her. Her eyes were focused down, carefully examining his wound. It was easier to look at her when she wasn’t looking back. It didn’t stop him from looking at her all the time, of course. But this was oddly nice. And for once, he wasn’t stuck on the words. “That was mostly thoughtlessness. I was being selfish.”
“Selfish how?”
“I…” In for a penny, in for a pound. “I don’t know what to do about the fact that you unsettle me.”
“I—” She jerked her head up. “I unsettle you?”
He grimaced. Classic Neanderthal move, he realized.
She sighed. “Hold tight. I want to clean this out a bit, get a better look.” She grabbed more supplies. Just like with Bailey, her movements were spare and precise. An expert just doing her thing, effortlessly. Owen knew how much practice that took.
“Becca really likes you.” And there it was again. The fact that Kerry was his daughter’s midwife, and that needed to be their entire focus. He changed the subject. “Do you think it might be okay with some steri-strips?”
“To be clear, I’m not licensed to provide medical advice to a grown-ass man, and I think you should go to a hospital and see a doctor.”
“Advice heard, considered, and politely declined.”
She laughed gently. “Politely?”
“I stand by that.”
Touching his fingers again, one by one, she silently considered his request. “Do you care about a scar?”
“Nope.”
“Then yeah, probably steri-strips are fine. I don’t have any glue in my kit, but that’s another option—”
“At the hospital, I know.”
“Just had to get that in there.”
“Seems to me that when Bailey didn’t want to go to the hospital, you were just fine with that.”
“And yet…” She tipped her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “Where did she end up going?”
“Touché.”
“The bleeding has basically stopped. I don’t see any reason not to let it heal on its own. Off the record, I think you’re fine to tape it up.”
“Would you do me the honours? Not in any professional capacity, of course.”
She laughed. “Of course not. How about as a friend?”
He jerked his head up. Her gaze was warm and locked on his face. “As a friend,” he repeated. “That sounds pretty good.”
“So…” Her touch was feather light as she tended to him. And she didn’t elaborate on that single, trailed off word.So.
He could imagine a lot of sentences that started that way, and most of them weren’t great. Instead of letting his imagination do its worst, he prompted her. Might as well get it all out on the table. “So?”
“I think I need to tell Becca about this, just to be completely transparent with her.” She lifted her head. “Also, because I’m not a medical professional tending to your hand, just a friend, I want you to know you don’t have any expectation of confidentiality here.”
He laughed out loud. She was so damn earnest. “Okay.”
“Andif we’re friends, I need to remind you that your daughter is my patient, and shedoeshave confidentiality—”
“I remember.” He barked it out, then his cheeks flushed. Why was he always so rough with her, so clumsy with his tone and his words, when she was just being nice? He ruined every conversation they had.
A knock on the window interrupted their conversation. Kerry rolled the glass down and accepted their lunch from the waitress.
