Page 9 of Power Play

“I’ll talk with Austin.” Max walked away, but Dane stayed.

“It isn’t a deep wound. I’ve put antibiotic cream on it, and I’m going to bandage it up.” Regina wrapped the sub’s leg. “You’ll need to keep it clean. Do you have antibiotic cream at home?”

Dane watched Regina work. Slow, steady, and capable. Was she a doctor or something? Her voice was soft when talking to the sub, but she also made sure the bandage was secure.

“Yes.” Melanie’s voice was a little shaky.

“Good. Tomorrow morning, take the bandage off and put some on, and let the wound breathe for a while. If it looks inflamed or swollen, give me a call. I don’t think that’ll happen. It should go away after a few days.”

“Thanks, Regina.” Melanie touched Regina’s shoulder. “Austin didn’t mean to do it. The flogger got away from him, and it wrapped.”

Dane watched Regina’s face soften. “I’m aware. I just hate to see anyone hurt.” Regina put everything back into the first aid kit. “Sit here, and I’ll get you some juice. You could use it.” She stood with the first aid kit in her hand.

Surprise crossed her face when she saw Dane standing there. “I’ll put that away for you while you get Melanie something to drink.” He held his hand out for the first aid kit.

“Thank you, Sir.”

Dane heard a bit of a bite to the Sir and almost grinned.

“I got it from the kit by the scene,” Regina said.

Dane nodded. He’d seen where she’d grabbed it, and Max had told him where all the first aid kits were, along with supplies to clean up a scene. He’d noted them when he walked to the scene with Max earlier. When he returned to where Melanie sat. Austin was there with his arm around her shoulders, and the couple talked softly with each other.

Good. Melanie wasn’t afraid of Austin, and he was making sure she was okay. Regina walked up to them, set the bottle of juice on the table, and moved away. When she approached Dane, he held out his hand. “Will you talk with me, please?”

Chapter Four

Regina couldn’t see a reason to refuse. With a nod, she placed her hand in his. Strong fingers closed over hers. For a man who ran a gallery, he was well built. Regina barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Yes, she noticed his sculped upper body and trim waist. But there was muscle there as well.

She’d also noticed that when Melanie called out the club safe word, Dane ran to the stage, even though the DMs and Max were already there. He also helped Melanie off the equipment. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as she thought he was.

Dane found an unoccupied sofa in one of the quieter areas of the club and gestured for Regina to sit. She did, and he followed. “Are you in the medical field?”

“Why do you ask?” Why was she so suspicious of him? She couldn’t say. Maybe it was the way he’d ordered her around earlier.

“The way Max called for you. The way you talked to Melanie and told her to call you if there was a problem.”

“I’m an RN.” Most in the club knew she worked at the local hospital.

“Why did you become a nurse?” Dane had turned toward her with an interested gleam in his eyes.

“I wanted to help people.” She studied him. There wassomethingabout him.

“You couldn’t go to school in Chicago?”

Regina sighed. She usually didn’t get into this with strangers, but she and this man did have a history even if it was brief one. “My family didn’t like the idea of me becoming a nurse.”

Dane frowned. “I know your brother went for a business degree; why would a nursing degree not be the same?”

She laughed. “Not in my parents’ eyes. Business was good. It increased the family wealth. But their daughter being a nurse…” She shook her head. “They didn’t want their little girl around sick people, nursing those who needed help. There was no money in it, and they couldn’t marry me off to a rich man and increase the family coffers.”

“I see.” Dane raised his hand, then hesitated. “May I?”

“Sure.”

He brushed his fingers over her cheek. “They had no idea what a gift you are to people.”

Regina blinked. “You understand?” Why did that surprise her? Maybe because she assumed he was cut from the same cloth as her brother and her parents.

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