But then his expression turned serious. “I still don’t trust him.”
Faolan paused. “Neither do I. But we have…unresolved issues. And he is sorry.”
Cormac didn’t respond, just pushed the wheelchair a little harder than required as they exited the sliding hospital doors.
Outside, Thane’s black Range Rover purred at the curb, the man himself leaning against the passenger side. He straightened the moment he saw them, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie as he walked toward them.
Faolan’s traitorous eyes involuntarily dragged across the breadth of his shoulders, the way the hoodie stretched tight across his chest and biceps, the defined lines that ran down to a lean waist and thick, powerful thighs hugged by jeans that had no right looking that good after three straight days of hospital coffee and sleepless nights. When she mentioned his round-the-clock guard duty, he muttered something about insomnia before changing the subject. He was six-foot-three of tension wrapped in muscle and restraint. Not conventionally handsome, but he was utterly, viscerally compelling. Like a gut punch, every time she laid eyes on him. She couldn’t look away.
Even the scuffed runners and half-zipped hoodie didn’t diminish him. If anything, they drew her eyes to all the small details.
The edge of a tattoo curled out from his collar, just enough to hint at something sharp and intimate. There was tension in his jaw, though he worked to keep his posture casual. His hand clenched once slowly, then loosened. But his eyes? Behind his aviator glasses, she could sense they were locked on her.
She had felt it over the last few days—that strange sense of synchrony again. The way he could sense her moods before she spoke. How he’d brought her warm towels without being asked, and then proceeded to wipe her face despite her protests. The lip balm he silently applied after she had winced from cracked lips. He hadn’t said anything about the physio bruises but had left a soft pair of slip-ons by her bedside. Toast the exact shade of golden she liked. Always the right kind of tea—milk, no sugar. He just knew.
They hadn’t needed to talk much.
And yet, every word they did speak was like a treat to be savoured after a long wait.
“Wow,” she said now, eyeing the Range Rover as Cormac pushed her wheelchair closer. “Compensating for something, are we?”
Thane’s mouth twitched, just barely. “I thought you’d appreciate the leg room.”
“Chivalrous,” she muttered. “How very 1950s of you."
He stepped forward, reaching for her bag, but Cormac beat him to it, cutting in smoothly to hoist the bag and toss it in the boot.
“Thanks,” Thane said flatly.
“I didn’t do it for you,” Cormac replied with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
The tension cracked between them like static before a storm. Faolan sighed. “Fantastic. My honour guard has arrived.”
Thane turned his attention back to her. “You alright?”
“Peachy,” she muttered. “Just waiting for the next episode of Testosterone Wars: Who Can Pee Farther.”
She sighed and reached for the car door handle. Thane hurried to open it for her, but with her arm still wrapped and sore, getting in was going to be tricky. She hesitated.
“I’ll do it,” Thane said.
“I’ve got it,” Cormac barked at the same time.
They locked eyes like two wolves over a scrap of meat.
“You’re not lifting her,” Thane growled.
“You think I’d let you—”
“Christ, both of you,” Frank’s voice broke in from behind them. The physiotherapist had come down to say goodbye, coffee in hand, expression exasperated. “Move.”
Before either of them could react, Frank scooped Faolan up with effortless ease. In one smooth motion, he set her into the passenger seat.
Both men turned like they’d just been robbed of a trophy.
Faolan leaned out the window with a half-smile and said dryly, “If you two are done with your dick-measuring contest, maybe one of you can fasten my seatbelt?”
Thane quickly shut the door with a soft click. Cormac hovered, muttering something about her calling him once she was settled, but Thane didn’t wait for an answer. He slid behind the wheel and peeled out like he half-expected her to open the door and leap out screaming.
