Much to Lincoln’s relief,Wendy was the nurse in charge of Shayne in the ER. She’d always been nice to him. Either her kindness extended to today as well, or she was so used toseeing Lincoln around, she didn’t question his presence. It didn’t matter what her reasoning was as long as he got to stay. Several times, he’d clenched his hands into fists to hide the way they shook. He’d known for a while now that his hours were out of control, but he really needed some sleep. What if he’d killed this man? He’d glanced down for half a second to change the station on his radio and now here they were. While Shayne had been in x-ray, Lincoln had answered to the police on the matter. He’d landed a ticket and—no doubt—his insurance would drop him after this one. None of it was as important as what could’ve happened. It also didn’t explain why he couldn’t walk away. His truck barely had a scratch and his brother had dropped it by the hospital an hour earlier. Lincoln could leave. There was nothing holding him there, except something was, or rather someone—Shayne.
As Lincoln suspected, Shayne had cracked two ribs. Thankfully, he hadn’t broken them, but it would take a while for them to heal. He’d also sprained his ankle from the force of slamming on the brakes. There was a small cut beneath one of his eyes that required two stitches and several small abrasions over the rest of his body. Too bad none of those things touched his hotness level one iota. The man possessed the lightest blue eyes Lincoln had ever seen. Since they were coupled with dark-brown hair that curled at the ends and a body that was…damn, Lincoln couldn’t tear his gaze away. Lincoln patiently waited while Wendy finished scrubbing the final cut and left them alone before resuming his flirting. It was terrible. He couldn’t stop.
“Cracked ribs, huh? Guess I’ll have to take it easy on you. Don’t worry. I have faith in my skills.” Shayne’s chest expanded as he took adeep breath. It drew Lincoln’s gaze, nearly causing him to hum with delight. He cleared his throat, attempting to swallow it down. “How hard is it to breathe right now?”
“They have good drugs here.”
“That’s a non-answer if I ever heard one,” Lincoln said on a chuckle.
Shayne smiled. It did something to Lincoln’s chest. Even the man’s lips were amazing. Maybe it was the adrenaline still racing through his system, making him insane. Lincoln really wanted this guy. It was borderline insanity. Damn. Seriously. He could do some naughty shit to this dude. No matter how he struggled with his brain, hoping to make it behave, it wasn’t happening. If nothing else came from today’s carnage, he was getting to know Shayne better. Meeting him had been a collision of fate.
A wicked smiletouched Lincoln’s lips and an unholy light entered his eyes, making Shayne want to hear his thoughts. “You’re supposed to keep a sprained ankle elevated,” Lincoln said, pointing out the obvious. He didn’t wait for Shayne to respond. His expression could only be described as sinful delight as he added, “Lucky for you, I have strong shoulders.” Shayne blinked. Maybe he had a concussion. Surely Lincoln didn’t mean what he thought. “You didn’t hit me, and you didn’t say no. Is that a maybe?”
“Um.” Shayne cleared his throat. The last thing he wanted was to misunderstand. “Was there a question in there somewhere?”
Wendy reappeared, interrupting them. “Good news. They’re going to let you go home. I have your discharge papers. We just need to find you a new shirt since we had to cut yours off.”
Lincoln shot to his feet. “I’ll find something.” He was gone before Shayne could protest.
“That man is outrageous,” Shayne said before he could call it back.
Wendy blinked and glanced around the room. “Who? Dr. Linette? He’s the dullest person I’ve ever met.” Wendy covered her mouth when she obviously realized she’d spoken aloud. Shayne got it. It happened to him all the time. She dropped her hand, sounding horrified. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”
It was on the tip of Shayne’s tongue to ask who in the hell she was talking about until it dawned on him she meant Lincoln.He was a doctor?It piqued his curiosity. “You know Lincoln?”
Wendy nodded. “Sure. He’s the attending physician here.”
Huh. “Does that mean he’s in charge?” At this point, Shayne was simply making conversation. Inside his head, he was mulling everything over. As far as he could tell, there wasn’t a single boring thing about Lincoln, but this woman knew him better.
Wendy dipped her chin as she typed something into the computer next to Shayne. “He keeps the ER running smoothly. Funnily enough, all it usually takes to keep the residents on task is one look from him. This place would fall apart without him.”
She gave Shayne’s leg a pat, thankfully, missing his injuries. “I set your discharge papers over by the sink. As soon as someone shows up to take you home, you’re out of here. I’m sure you’ll be…”
Lincoln sailed in, cutting Wendy off mid-speech. He waved a white T-shirt in Shayne’s direction “Are you ready to go?”
Wendy glanced between them. Shayne could see the pieces coming together and to all the wrong conclusions, or the right ones depending upon who the woman asked. It couldn’t have been more obvious she was also remembering the dull comment. Wendy stopped short of slapping herself across the forehead, but Shayne thought—going by her expression—it was understood.
“I’m going to…go, yeah.” Wendy motioned toward to the door is if ensuring Shayne understood what the wordgomeant.
Lincoln barely spared the woman a glance. “Thanks, Wendy.”
There was something in his tone. It gave hint to the less-than-outgoing version of Lincoln Wendy had painted. He was different with Shayne. The knowledge melted away the last of his reserve. For some reason he couldn’t explain, Shayne hated that other people didn’tsee the same Lincoln he did. It seemed tragic in some way, and he’d only known the man less than a day. “Thank you, Wendy,” Shayne said, a bit too bright. “You made me feel right at home.” At his over-the-top gratitude, Lincoln focused on the nurse.
The smile he’d, so far, given only to Shayne made an appearance. “Be honest. He was a bad boy while I was gone, wasn’t he?” Lincoln shook his head. “I can’t leave him alone for long.” When Wendy simply stared at him, her shock evident, Lincoln became even more outrageous. “Come on, you can tell me the truth. I have to spank him, don’t I?”
Wendy’s expression went two steps beyond hilarious. Shayne imagined the woman’s reaction would’ve been the same if Lincoln’s dick had been hanging out while speaking to her. There was blushing, stuttering, and an obvious attempt at pretending nothing out of theordinary was happening. For someone who’d lost his job, been hit by a truck, cracked two ribs, and sprained his ankle Shayne was having the time of his life.
It wasn’t asif Lincoln’s ears weren’t working. There was a voice inside his head, screaming for him to remember he’d have to show his face at work tomorrow. He could hear every word coming from his mouth, but he couldn’t stop. There was no reason or logic behind it. It was Shayne. For the first time in a long time, Lincoln felt normal. Maybe it seemed a ridiculously simple thing for most, but he hadn’t felt alive in a long time. It was Shayne’s face when Lincoln pulled him from the remnants of his Challenger. It had done Lincoln in. Shayne hadn’t been freaking out or scared. There wasn’t an ounce of shock or confusion marring his features. He was accepting, like nothingbad happening to him surprised him any longer. It was another damn day filled with bullshit. Lincoln recognized that expression. It was the same one he saw every time he looked in the mirror.
Stuttering an awkward goodbye, Wendy finally left them alone. When Lincoln focused on Shayne once more, he found a tiny grin hovering on his lips. A spark ignited in his chest. The man was too damn beautiful for an ugly life. Lincoln wanted to know Shayne’s bullshit. Then, he wanted to make it better.
“I need to get dressed.” It took a second for Shayne’s words to penetrate the image of having him nude. He tried not to smile. Really. He did.
“You’re not going to be able to do that alone with those ribs.” It was him. Lincoln never behaved this way. Shayne was the exception to every rule. An evil smirk pulled athis lips. Lincoln felt it happen. He couldn’t stop. He was practically leering at the man. Shayne growled. It was an endearing sound.
“Let’s just get this over with.”
“It won’t take but a minute.” Lincoln reached for the door handle.
