Page 21 of Bound By Destiny
“What don’t you understand about the wordrecovery?” I snarl, winding my arm around Destiny’s waist without even thinking twice about what I’m doing. “She needs to be alone.”
Caleb’s brows jump on his forehead, and I hate the disappointment that flashes in his bland gaze when he sees me. Who is this guy? A boyfriend?
“In that case you were the first to do wrong,” he points out with a smirk. “Not me.”
What a smart aleck. I hate know-it-alls. Well, apart from Destiny, because on her it’s kind of cute.
I lift my chin and shoot him a cold glare from above. “I’m the nurse.”
The man looks at me from head to toe, blue eyes glimmering with disbelief. “Really? Never seen a nurse quite like you.”
My fingers itch to punch the sneer off his face. “Destiny belongs to me.”Damn it. What’s wrong with me?“As a patient, I mean,” I hastily correct myself. “She belongs to me as a patient.”
For reasons that I’d rather not delve into, Destiny’s look of relief at my last few words makes me boil inside with irritation.
“Right,” the blonde says slowly with a confused frown. “Well Mr. Nurse, if you’d kindly give Destiny and me a private minute or two, I’d appreciate it.”
Like hell I will. You won’t be spending a private second with her until my last breath, which is probably a few centuries in the coming.
And yes, even I realize I may be going a little overboard with this stranger whose only fault is to look like the kind of guy a pretty woman like Destiny would date.
“Nurse,” I grunt in a ridiculously strained voice. “Can’t let the patient out of my eyesight.”
The man rolls his eyes to the ceiling. “What if Destiny and I stood right there,” he suggests none too gently as he points to her living room, “while you keep an eye on her from a distance.”
Before he can even finish, I’m already shaking my head. “I always have to stay within a one foot radius from her. It’s necessary because of her condition.”
He opens his mouth to protest, but Destiny is first. She wiggles out of my grasp, and all of a sudden my hands feel oddly empty.
“Oh for Heaven’s sake, Dane,” she hisses to me. Then turning her attention back to the vile creature in her doorway, she says: “I really appreciate your concern Caleb, but I’m much better already. I’ll probably be back at the office next week.”
Despite the obvious dismissal in her tone, “Caleb” doesn’t budge an inch. If anything, the annoyance I put in his eyes softens, and he looks as Destiny almost imploringly.
“I wish you didn’t make me say it in front of this ogre, but Destiny…” My fists clench, ready to bludgeon a man to death for a woman I have no claim over. “I came because I want to give us another chance.”
Pure rage fires in my chest and I lunge forward to strangle Caleb, or throw Caleb out the window, or do whatever causes the most bodily harm to Caleb. Fortunately, Destiny cuts me short with a finger on my lips. The softness of her index is enough to make me stop in my tracks.
“Stay still,” she warns sternly. “And Caleb, I think you were pretty final last time. I…” Her voice breaks. Pain? Anger? “What Dane said was true. I need some time alone right now. Alone from you.”
The blonde looks like he’s about to say something, but one glance at me keeps him quiet.
“We’ll talk at work soon enough.”
The door couldn’t close fast enough.
“Who was that?”
Destiny sighs and walks away. “None of your business.”
I have no idea why, but soon I’m tracing her footsteps. “You guys dated, didn’t you?”
She halts suddenly, takes a deep breath, and turns around. Hurt lingers at the bottom of her violet depths, somber and wretched as crushed velvet.
“By the way, you’re right.”
I cock my head, confused. “I often am, but why?”
“I thought you were playing the part of a lonely and grieving rancher.”
