"Any head injuries lately?"
"For me or the guys I've fought?" He grinned. "Naw. I'm solid."
"Any skin infections?"
"Nope."
"Been ill recently?"
"Touch of the clap, but penicillin took care of that."
She tapped the clipboard with a pen. "You want me to write that down?"
"Hey, take a joke, babe."
She met his glare with one of her own. "Push me and I'll document everything you say. Communicable diseases, real or suspected, are cause to pull fighters from the bout."
"You pull me and that would be the last thing on Earth that you ever did, babe."
A weird sensation, like a flutter of a gauze curtain, formed between her and Linc. Then, with a stab of a headache into her temple, the feeling was gone. Stress reaction, maybe?
"Everything okay?" the inspector spoke up. He looked at Mariah.
"Hey, just two old friends joking, man." Linc snorted. "Carry on, Doc."
She held out her hands. Damned things were trembling. "Show me your hands."
He offered his giant paws and she flipped them over, checking each side for tender spots or broken bones.
Extending two fingers from both her hands, she said, "Squeeze." Most normal fighters gave a gentle pressure. Not this jerk. Damned if he didn't crank down on her like a sadistic vice grip. She bit back a cry. "Okay."
After signing the bottom of the page, she set down the clipboard. "You're cleared."
"Good." He turned back. "Hey, what's the deal with you and that pansy-ass, Vaughn Taggart?"
Stifling the urge to roll her eyes, she said, "There's no deal."
"Good, because you should know that Wyatt is here tonight."
"The same jerk who pointed a gun at me when I tried to care for his sick mother?"
"He was only showing affection and concern for your safety. He really has the hots for you." Linc grinned. "It's mutual, right?"
"In what alternate universe is thataffection?"
"Oh." Linc's thinking face almost made her laugh. "He said you two have a thing going."
"Uh, no. Maybe in his dreams." The thought of being in the same space as Wyatt turned her stomach almost as much as hanging around Linc. Worse yet, the thought of Wyatt coming here as a ploy to see her again made her grind molars.
He rubbed his thick jaw. "Funny, when he found out you were working this event, he begged to be my corner guy." Dusting off his hands, he smirked. "Well, this evening is going to be awkward for everyone, isn't it?" Linc grinned, and a weird red flare in his irises came and went. Then another flash of a headache shot across her forehead. Before she could examine a connection between the two things, he snipped, "See you in the ring, babe."
Hopefully not. Thank goodness there was another doctor working with her tonight.
"Next," she managed to say, rubbing her temples.
The air shifted as the door opened and closed, and the spicy scent of shaving cream wafted past her. She suppressed the flutter beneath her ribs. No way could she show Vaughn how much his presence affected her.
But for the love of God, could he put a shirt on already? One glance at his smooth, tattooed chest made her face tingle. Not to mention how she quivered as the ridges of muscle rippled when he walked toward her. His right bicep had spirals of tattooed thorns done so well, it looked like the barbs pierced his skin.
