Page 26 of Some Like It Deadly
“I understood that, and I respected it.” Armand shook his head. “What if the next bullet isn’t astray? Do you expect me to sit by and do nothing while my enemies target you?”
“That’s a little melodramatic.” Turning away, Richard glanced down the hall. No sign of the doctors, or of Kate. He wanted to know she was all right, to just touch her one more time to be sure. “She didn’t cry.”
“What?”
“She didn’t cry,” he repeated. The fist clenching inside his gut hadn’t eased since he’d seen the blood trickling over his hand. She didn’t make a sound or a whimper—just one swift indrawn breath when they’d begun to apply pressure to her shoulder. Sitting poolside, she’d told him the story about the scar on her shoulder and how she didn’t cry when she’d dislocated and cut it during her fall.I wasn’t a baby,she’d laughed,and I didn’t cry.
Tough, beautiful, composed—she didn’t have to be. But she hadn’t cried when he’d been upset and furious. Instead, she’d told him over and over she was okay, despite the fact that he snapped at her.
“Richard, I don’t want to scale back your security. This is two attempts in a few months and the first time you were out in a public location. The person who ran you off the road was never apprehended.” As modulated as Armand’s tone was, as reasonable as he attempted to sound, the note of fear underscoring it all remained. His best friend was worried about him.
Richard was worried about Kate.
She went everywhere with him.
“Fine, keep your guys on me, but I still want them at a distance and I want a detail on Kate too.”
“Done.”
Curious at the easy agreement on the second part, Richard turned back to study him, but one of the security men allowing a nurse into the waiting room grabbed his attention. “Mr. Prentiss?”
He forgot about Armand. “How is she?”
“Ms Braddock is fine. She’s back in the exam room if you want to come and see her.”
He absolutely did. “I’m going to have to take a rain check for tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“I can wait,” Armand offered, but Richard shook his head.
“I’ll stay here with her or get her home—I don’t suppose one of these guys can get her car?” Unless it was part of the active crime scene.
“Already done.” His friend assured him.
“Thank you—oh, and don’t think this lets you off the hook. I’m still pretty pissed.” But the statement lacked any real heat and the prince didn’t look remotely worried.
“As long as you’re alive to be angry, I’m fine with that.” And no doubt he was.
Shaking his head, Richard strode down the hall and followed the nurse. Two of his suited babysitters moved with him, but if it kept Kate safe—he could put up with his skin crawling due to the constant observation.
She was alone in the room when he entered, a white bandage bright and stark against her tanned skin. “I told you I was fine,” she began as he walked in the door.
“Shut up.” He pushed the door closed, leaving the security outside.
“You and I are going to have a very real problem if you keep that up.” Anger snapped in her eyes and his gaze focused on her mouth.
The fist in his gut eased, but he didn’t miss a beat and simply rephrased the argumentative statement. “I’m sorry, will you please be quiet?”
“No, why do you keep telling me to shut up?” Confusion threaded through her irritation and the second knot of tension in him eased.
“Because every time you start talking, I want to kiss you.” His focus lingered on her mouth and, at her abrupt silence, he let it travel up to meet her gaze. “You scared the hell out of me.”
Instead of answering, she licked her lips.
“Okay, what did the doctor say?”
She raised her eyebrows and he smiled, bracing one hand on either side of where she sat on the exam bed.
“You can answer. I’ll do my best to restrain my urge to kiss you.”
