It amazed her how catty women could be, especially when they felt slighted. None of them had been dating Bryce, but judging by the way they acted, you’d think she’d stolen someone’s fiancé.
Not everyone was hostile. A few seemed surprised but indifferent. How she wished Kim or Tasha had been working—they would’ve shut the gossip down fast. Unfortunately, Kim had the overnight shift, and Tasha only overlapped with her for a couple of hours. The charge nurse, Beverly, didn’t exactly come to her defense, although Beth did overhear her hush a few nurses and remind them to get back to work.
But Crystal… Crystal was the worst.
Tall, blonde, and stunning, she’d worked her way through nursing school as a Hooters server and was proud of what landed her that job. She also never hid her flings with Bryce. Today, she was all too eager to remind Beth of them.
“I’m just saying,” Crystal had loudly told another nurse while passing Beth’s station, “without her having the two main assets he likes most, I give it three months.”
Beth’s jaw clenched as her gaze instinctively dropped to her flat chest.
Just when she thought the day couldn’t get worse, the paramedics rolled in two college students. One had a split eyebrow and the other had a possible wrist fracture. They were flanked by two buddies—loud, rowdy, and clearly still drunk from whatever party they had come from.
“You’re cute,” one of them slurred at Beth as she tried to assess the patient. “Can I get your number... and maybe a sponge bath?”
Beth ignored him, focusing on the injury, but their commentary only escalated. The other one leaned close, practically breathing down her neck as he laughed at his buddy’s jokes.
“I hope that blonde nurse with the rack comes in. You know, the one we passed earlier?”
Beth’s tone remained calm and clipped as she stepped back and moved to the doorway. “Can I get some assistance in here, please?”
Within seconds, Bryce and Crystal walked in just as one of the drunk guys grabbed Beth’s wrist, not letting go.
Bryce’s voice was low, deadly calm. “Get your hands off my wife.”
The words cracked through the noise like a whip.
His posture remained relaxed, but Beth saw it—the fury simmering behind his eyes. Without a word, he stepped in and gently tucked her behind him.
She immediately shook off his protective hold, finding it unnecessary.
“I’m fine,” she said, her tone clipped as she stepped right back up to her patient.
Crystal, to her credit, handled the situation like a pro, moving in to assist while Bryce kept the other two guys distracted—cracking a joke, keeping things light, never once losing his cool.
It was only after the guys were wheeled out and the room was clear that Bryce pulled Beth aside to check on her.
“You, okay?”
Beth hesitated. She was fine, technically. But the heat in Bryce’s eyes, the way he had been so protective of her moments ago, stirred something fierce and tender inside her.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, wishing they were alone.
He didn’t say anything else—just leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the scar along her hairline. Right there in the hall, in front of everyone before making his way to his next patient.
The gesture undid her. In the most tender of ways.
Then Crystal spoke.
She’d been watching the sweet exchange between husband and wife, lying in wait like a viper ready to strike the moment Bryce was out of earshot.
“Aww, isn’t that cute? You think he’s all worked up about you?” Crystal’s voice dripped venom, her smile the kind that chilled you to the bone. “Honey, that man is territorial over whoever’s warming his bed—until he’s done with them.”
Beth froze.
“You should’ve seen him go full alpha one night at the club when I flirted with another guy. The way he growled, ‘She’s mine,’ and knocked the poor guy out with one punch?” Crystal gave a dreamy sigh. “Hottest. Thing. Ever. Almost as hot as when he took me back to his place and proved it—in every sense of the word.”
Beth’s world tilted.
