Bad things had happened to her ever since she’d met Andy. Was he the reason?
She pulled her hand away and was pleased when he didn’t try and grab it back. Instead, his back straightened, and the smile that had been teasing his lips disappeared.
“What did you think just then?” he asked quietly.
Did she say something to him?
She hadn’t been able to see what he’d done when he’d chased after the nurse. He seemed to be moving slowly, and every now and then he rubbed a hand down his side as if he was hurt.
Perhaps him chasing the nurse was all part of the act. Her parents had left her alone with him, believing he was a good guy.
What if he wasn’t?
What if he was responsible for everything that happened to her?
What if he was just waiting for the opportunity to kidnap her?
Panic clawed her throat, and she struggled to breathe. Her heart rate monitor was beeping a rapid tattoo.
“Narelle! Do you need the nurse?” He moved to grab the buzzer to call the nurse, but she slapped his hand way.
“Stop! Don’t touch me!”
Where were her parents?
Chapter
Thirteen
The look of fear in Narelle’s face was palpable, and Andy had no idea what caused it. Her reaction to when he went to call the nurse confused him. A few seconds ago, she’d been happy for him to hold her hand. There were times she’d sought him out, as if needing his comfort. Now it appeared that she wanted nothing to do with him.
He stood, holding his hands up as he backed away from the bed, the chair scraping along the floor behind him. “Okay. I’m moving away. Do you want me to go?”
As much as it would kill him to do so, he would, if that was what she wanted. If she never wanted tosee him again, he would heed her wish. No matter how hard that would be for him.
“I—umm.” She licked her lips and then shook her head. “Is it you?”
“Is what me?”
“Are you the reason I’m here? Did you try and kidnap me in Bali? Did you cause my accident? Are you working with the nurse who tried to drug me?”
There was a lot to unpack there, but what stood out the most to him was her comment about the attempted kidnapping in Bali. If he didn’t already believe someone was after her, then his new information cemented it even further.
“No. I swear. I’m not involved with any of that.” She didn’t look convinced, and he didn’t blame her. His words were an automatic response. He would have to do more to convince her he wasn’t involved with any of the things that happened to her.
“I don’t know if I believe you. All this stuff happened to meafterI met you. You have to admit it’s suspicious.”
When she put it like that, he couldn’t blame her for jumping to that conclusion. “You’re right, it is suspicious, and I’m not sure how to convince you that I’m not responsible. I can’t explain why I was at the intersection at the same time as your accident.”He pulled his shirt from his trousers her eyes widening. “I got jumped when I was chasing the nurse. I didn’t see who it was. Or what they hit me with, but it was with enough force to knock me off my feet and wind me.”
He hadn’t looked at the bruises forming, but at Narelle’s gasp, they had to look bad.
Him being bruised badly wasn’t anything new. He’d taken a fair beating at the hands of Lauren’s ex, Patrick.
“Are you okay?” Her concern gave him hope that she was beginning to believe him.
“I’m fine. I really don’t know how to reassure you that you are safe with me. Except that you are. I wouldneverhurt you.” Perhaps if he laid himself bare to her, it would go a long way in turning things in his favor. “I like you, Narelle. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since our night together. It would’ve been so easy for me to get Wilt, our computer expert, to try and find you, but I didn’t, because I didn’t think it would be fair to you. I was trying to get beyond why you were always in my thoughts, when the accident happened. Seeing you injured was a punch to my stomach. I prayed you were okay, because if you weren’t…” He broke off and shook his head, not wanting to relive those moments when he thought she might have been dead. “From the second you walked out my hotel room, I wanted to chase after you and get your full name and number, but I didn’t know if you felt the same way, so I stayed where I was, and kicked myself for not taking a chance.”
For endless seconds, Narelle didn’t say anything.
