“Anything I need to keep an eye on?” I asked when he finished applying the gauze, then rolled vet tape around my feet and ankles.
“There’s one cut in your arch that is deep. Make sure it doesn’t get red or puffy. Here,” he said, finding a pair of slipper socks in the drawer, and tossing them at me.
“Um, what the hell is this?” Ama asked when she came back in, pushing a pale-looking Noa.
“Zayn is a medic, apparently,” Dixon said, looking as confused as Ama did.
“Wait… really?”
“I’m a man of many mysteries,” Zayn said, back to his usual fun, light, playboy demeanor. But I’d seen the man underneath that and under the careful, calculated arms dealer. There was someone else beneath all that. Someone with scars. With stories. I couldn’t help but wonder if we would ever learn them.
“Then why did you make me clean up that cut on your hand last month when you can take care of it yourself?” Ama asked.
“And deny you the pleasure of my company? I could never be so cruel.”
Ama let out an airy laugh.
“Okay. Well. One less thing for me to do, I guess. So, Noa’s ankle.”
“Is it broken?”
“There’s a small hairline fracture. Nothing I’m too worried about. We’ll get her a boot so she can walk, but I’m going to urge you to walk as little as possible while you heal. No running,” she added with a pointed look at me.
Yeah.
I guess my littlepreferencewas known to everyone.
“I have an idea,” Zayn said. “Why don’t you heal on one of my boats?
“One of?” Ama asked, shaking her head.
“I fear the yacht is taking this little… inconvenience as an opportunity to get some repairs. But my trawler and sailboats are both anchored in Miami. It would eliminate the possibility of doing much walking. And you can anchor offshore for safety.”
I glanced at Noa, seeing the same look of interest on her face that I felt. Because that did seem a lot safer than another building somewhere. No one could walk up on us. And the boat could be piloted away in case of an emergency.
“I think we might take you up on that,” Noa said.
“Splendid. I will go make sure it is filled with everything you two might need.”
With that, he was out the door.
“Medic?” Ama asked, brows pinched.
“I know, right? The man is an onion,” Dixon said.
“You sure he did a good job on your feet?”
“Aside from his bedside manner and lack of a numbing agent, yeah, I think he knows what he’s doing.”
“And you got a tetanus booster last year, so you’re all set. I just have to grab a boot and a brace—for when you’re not wearing the boot—for you, and you guys can head out. Not to be rude, but you two look like death warmed up.”
“I can imagine,” Noa said, grimacing. “I think a day or two on a boat might do us wonders.”
A day or two alone with her? Without someone trying to murder us? Yeah, I couldn’t think of anything better.
Of course, that wasn’t exactly how things happened, though.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
