“Fuck yeah. It may not be everything we pictured, but it’ll be everything to us.” His hand finds mine across the table. “Not too long ago you were a med student who’d never thrown a punch. Who let others tear you down. Who’d never seen how fucked the world can be. Now you’re sitting here, picking up on things most people would miss, ready to make sacrifices to protect the helpless.” He wraps his fingers in mine. “You’ve become exactly who you were meant to be. And getting to watch that happen? That’s the best Christmas gift I could ever get.”
I have to blink back the sudden heat behind my eyes. “You’re going to make me cry in the middle of a hospital cafeteria.”
“Good. You’re incredible and I’ll remind you of that every day.” He squeezes my hand. “Now, that resident… Let’s figure out how you can get more information out of her.”
I check the time on my phone once we figure out the beginning of a plan. “I should grab Stephanie’s coffee and get back. See if I can track Jess down before her shift ends.”
“Text me updates. Even if it’s nothing.” He stands when I do, pulling me against him one more time. His voice tickles my ear. “Angel?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll be watching you.”
I shake my head and lower my voice to a sultry whisper. “Good. I like knowing those pretty eyes are on me.” I pull back just enough to meet his gaze, sobering my tone. “I like knowing I’m always safe. That your claim on me is more important than anything else.”
His pupils dilate, and I feel his hand tighten possessively on my hip. “Fuck, baby. You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Not allowed to die on me yet.” I press a quick kiss to his jaw. “Now let me go before Stephanie sends a search party.”
“One more.” He captures my mouth in a kiss that’s definitely too heated for my workplace, but I don’t complain. When he finally releases me, we’re both breathing hard. “Okay. Now you can go.”
“Such apossessivestalker,” I tease.
“Yourpossessive stalker.” He smirks, showing his dimples. “Hour and a half. Then you’re all mine.”
“Promise?”
“Always.”
I force myself to walk away, grabbing Stephanie’s coffee before heading back to the elevators. His eyes are on me the entire time, tracking me, memorizing my every move, making sure I’m safe even in this secure place.
God, I love that psycho of a man.
CHAPTER TWO
DAMON
Holy hell,Blake’s ass looks to die for in her scrubs.
I watch her make her way back to her unit, switching between security camera feeds as she moves through the hospital corridors. Camera 3 catches her waiting for the elevator. Camera 7 shows her stepping inside. Camera 12 picks her up as she exits on the fourth floor.
A slow breath leaves my lips as soon as I see her settle back behind the nurses station, handing off the cup of coffee to her colleague.
Leon’s texts pop up, blocking my view of Blake on the security feed. My first instinct is to swipe them away, but with this development, watching my angel and tracking her special Christmas gift’s arrival will have to wait.
Leon: Blake just confirmed the resident’s name—Jessica Long. Sending a photo.
A second later, a professional headshot of an attractive young woman, probably taken from the hospital’s database, shows up on my screen.
Me: I’ll keep an eye out. I’m locked into the live security feed.
Leon: Perfect. I’ll run facial recognition from this morning to find the target.
Me: And Blake’s working on Jessica… by the end of her shift, it’ll be Blake accepting that offer.
Leon’s quiet for the time being, so I swipe back to Blake. She’s about to enter a patient’s room… where I’ll unfortunately lose her for a few minutes.
Time to multitask anyway.
