Page 34 of A Cowboy's Claim
She paused in the middle of straightening the bedsheets. “What? Why?”
Declan folded his arms over his chest, tension radiating from his big frame. “Because when I saw where you were headed, I decided I should have a little more information. I called the clinic. Edison told me about your emergency knockout trick to use if things go south. And then Edison told me that if youdidhave to use your syringe, the last place you want to end up is explaining it down at the hospital.”
It wouldn’t be pleasant to explain, but Sydney considered the risk worth the increase in safety.
“So, you used the drugs, and I called the office. Edison offered to babysit your pin cushion until he recovers. Which means if Rodney is running a fever, he’ll have a nurse. And if he’s sick enough to need the hospital, Edison will haul his ass down there tomorrow.”
She couldn’t argue from a medical point of view, but the fact Declan had made those decisions without asking her?—
None of it made sense. Inside, an uncomfortable sensation tangled her guts. The echo of past decisions made on her behalf for her “own good.”
First, though, how had he known to show up when he did? Suspicion rose.
“What areyoudoing here?” Sydney demanded.
“Saving your ass,” Declan snapped. “I’m gonna go clean up that disaster zone I just saw so Edison doesn’t have to deal with it.”
He walked out before she could say another word.
Edison showed up so soon afterward, he had either left the instant Declan talked to him or had driven like a mad man. Probably both.
He paused in the doorway, clicking his tongue as he examined the shivering body in the bed. “Please tell me Mr. Greenlee was talking about little blue men or something equally outrageous before you took him down like a rabid animal.”
“He pulled a gun,” she admitted with a sigh.
“Oh, sweetie. No.” Edison winced. “Well, that would explain the very rigid shoulders on Mr. Big and Broody out there. Just remember, you’re safe, he’s safe, and after you two work out whatever is messing with your brains, I really want that still to be true.”
A little of her fury faded. “You okay here by yourself?”
“Kevin is joining me,” Edison assured her. “From the looks of Mr. Greenlee, I think the fever will knock him out of commission for a little while longer. He won’t be doing any more Elmer Fudd imitations today.”
“Thanks for this.” Sydney accepted the hug Edison offered.
“You bet. Now go home.”
She paced into the main cabin slowly, but there was no sign of Declan. Clean dishes were stacked in the drying rack, and the living room had been put back to rights.
His truck was gone. Asshole. Just like him to leave when she wanted to give him a piece of her mind.
She drove home feeling equal parts guilty and angry, which meant when she discovered Declan parked outside her house, she had a fine head of steam built up.
Time for a reckoning. There was only one way he could have shown up at Greenlee’s the way he had.
She stomped up the walkway to where he sat in the porch swing as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “You’re tracking me.”
“Of course I’m fucking tracking you. I told you I would. So are Petra and Tansy. Hell, for all I know, Aiden and Jake have your location on GPS as well.”
She didn’t like being tracked. Didn’t like being handled.
But damn if part of her didn’t feel safer knowing someone had her back.
Still, he should have asked. “But they didn’t show up,again, somewhere I’m trying to hold a professional visit.”
“Nope. You’re right. So how was that visit going, darling?”
She paused, knowing the situation could have ended badly. “Thank you for helping today.”
His eyes flashed. “You need to stop putting yourself in danger.”
