“What are you sorry for?”
“You’ve been here all night and I’ve dragged you and Nick into this mess with Katie and I’m upset and crying women are never attractive…”
“Claire?” he interrupted.
“Yes?”
“Shut the fuck up.” His words were soft and kind and made me laugh. “I think it was Jackson who employed my company to do the security for you and Katie and I seem to remember you weren’t happy about it. You’re attractive even when you’re crying but I’d prefer it if you didn’t and I’ve been here all night because there was no way I wanted to leave you.”
I heard the door open and saw a doctor walk in, this time a woman who looked around the same age as me.
“Claire Callaghan?” she said. “I’m Dr Parmer. I hear you’ve had a settled night.”
I nodded. “My head hurts still.”
“It will do. Keep taking the painkillers. In a couple of days, it should have subsided. Can I have a look at the stitches please?” She continued to examine me, Killian giving space and pretending to be focused elsewhere but I knew he was taking everything in, because that was what he did.
“Okay,” Dr Parmer said, glancing through my notes. “I’m happy for you to go home. However, if your symptoms worsen, you need to head straight back. You also need to rest. You’ll get better quicker if you rest more now. Do more, and it’ll take longer for your brain to recover. It’s bruised. It needs your energy to heal and it’ll get more of that if you spend less energy doing other things.”
“I understand.” I sounded like a small girl who was being reprimanded by her teacher.
“Good. Your antibiotics and painkiller will be here soon, then you’re good to go,” she said and then turned to Killlian. “She’ll need someone with her for at least the next twenty-four hours, forty-eight if possible.”
He nodded. “They’ll be someone with her,” he said.
“Good.” I saw the doctor’s eyes linger at little too long on him, taking in his arms and chest. His dark blonde scruff had grown and his hair was mussed having slept in a chair, but that clearly wasn’t a deterrent. I leaned tentatively towards him, placing a hand on his bicep. Automatically, he wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed the side of my head gently and the doctor headed towards the door.
“Take care,” she said. “Make sure to follow the instructions on the antibiotics and painkillers.”
“Thank you,” I said back.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Killian said with a half laugh. “Was that your version of marking your territory?”
I kept my expression passive. “She was eyeing you up.”
This time his laugh was loud and his smile was broad. “A lot of women eye me up, Claire.”
I smacked his thigh and he laughed again.
“You’re jealous!”
“I’m not.”
“You are. I quite like it though. Now I know why you were extra horrible that one time I brought a date out to Sunday lunch.”
I remembered that day too well. He’d been back home for just over a year and while I heard stories from my brothers about his hook ups, I hadn’t met any of them. We’d all gotten together for a hungover Sunday lunch, everyone except Callum who had been away somewhere, India, I think. Close family friends had been there too, including Killian who brought a girl he’d been seeing for a few weeks. The pain I felt right now in my head was bad, but that had been worse. Since then, I’d dreaded the Sundays when we all met up, especially if I knew Killian would be going, worrying if he’d have a plus one with him.
“She was clinging all over you,” I said, feeling defensive. “And you did nothing to put her off.”
He laughed again, now holding me in his arms. “That’s because we were dating. And if I’m right, you’d been seeing another lawyer at the time.”
“I didn’t waft him in front of your face though,” I said. I had never taken revenge. I didn’t know at the time if he still had feelings for me, or if the ten years he’d spent in the Marines had killed off any emotion he’d felt, but I had no desire to inflict any more hurt.
“And I appreciated that. I thought you were over me; else I wouldn’t have brought Ella. I saw the look on your face half way through the afternoon and figured it was a bad plan,” he said, no laughter in his voice now. “I think it was then that I figured we had a chance of trying again.”
“That was two years ago, K,” I said. “You waited two more years?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know there was a cut-off point.”
