Then he grinned at her, that perfect, lopsided Maverick grin that made her knees shake. The man was too damn lethal to be around.
“Well, to tell you the truth, Coop had an appointment to get to and he dumped me off here. I need a ride home,” he said with a pout. An actual pout!
“I’m working,” she told him. “You should call up someone.”
He slumped down with another wince, and she began to wonder if he really was in pain. If he was, then she was being terrible.
“The nurse who was just in here said you were just about to get off shift,” he pointed out.
Damn. He was right. Her shift ended in about ten minutes. It would be better if he didn’t know that.
“I hate to put you out, though. I guess I could call a cab,” he said as he fumbled around with his good arm.
He moved quickly then, hopping down from the exam table, which put him directly in front of her with only about two inches separating them. Her breathing stopped, and she felt herself go a little dizzy. The effect he had on her was beyond confusing.
She tried to take a retreating step back, but his good hand shot out and steadied her. Panic filled Lindsey. She went immediately into fight or flight mode.
“It’s okay, sugar,” he said soothingly as his fingers loosened on her arm and he began to gently rub her bare skin.
Without trying to be too obvious about it, Lindsey stepped back, and was grateful when Maverick let her go. His touch wasn’t nearly as terrifying to her as other people’s were, but that thought scared her even more. She didn’t want to feel comforted by Maverick. That would only lead to very bad things.
“So . . .” he said, drawing the word out. “Should I call that cab?”
His voice was so deflated Lindsey found herself saying something she would surely regret.
“I’ll give you a ride home,” she told him.
The instant smile that lit up his face told her in no uncertain terms that she’d been played. But what could she do about it? It wasn’t as if she could take it back.
“Thanks, sug. I could be violated since the hospital has drugged me,” he told her as he moved over to the chair and picked up his shirt—not bothering to put it back on, just holding it with the good hand.
“I highly doubt that,” she muttered as she sent a glare his way. “Do you need help putting your shirt on?”
As much as she wanted that magnificent chest covered up, she didn’t want to be the one to help him put it on. There would be far too much contact in doing so, and she had a feeling Mav would really milk the situation.
“Nah. I’m a bit warm right now anyway,” he told her as he moved to the door and pulled it open. He was suddenly in a hurry to leave. “I’m sure you can clock out a few minutes early since you have a patient to deal with,” he added.
“Why don’t you go and wait in the lobby. I’ll meet you there,” she told him. In reality, she was thinking she could make a call to Stormy and see if her best friend would be willing to pick him up. She could claim an emergency at work to get out of it.
“I’d rather just stick with you,” he told her, not budging from his position in the doorway.
“You can’t be back in the ER,” she pointed out, wanting to get out of the room, which seemed to be getting smaller and smaller by the second, but not wanting to brush by him.
“I’m a patient,” he pointed out.
Blowing out a breath, she finally decided she needed out of the room. He still didn’t move when she reached him, and she had no choice but to squeeze by him. At the last second, he shifted, and her entire body slid along his for a few seconds as she stepped through the doorway.
Looking up, she saw the spark in his eyes that told her he was very aware of what he was doing, and though Lindsey was about the least violent person in the universe, she had a strong urge to smack the look off his face.
She just moved forward instead, with him closely on her heels. Lindsey didn’t fail to notice the look of her female peers as the two of them moved back to the nurses station. He leaned against the counter, engaging a few of the staff members in conversation as she finished up her paperwork for the day and then clocked out.
Taking longer than necessary didn’t seem to bother Maverick in the least. When she was all out of procrastination excuses, she sighed as she looked back up at the man only to find his intense eyes gazing directly at her.
“I’m ready,” she said before looking back down.
“Perfect. I’m starving,” he said, stepping right up to her side as she made her way to the break room.
“I’m going to grab my stuff and then take you directly home,” she said firmly. If he thought they were stopping for food, he was crazy.
“Oh, I’m not going home. Coop said I could crash at his house a few days. Doc said I can’t drive on the pain meds.”
Lindsey didn’t say a word as he followed her into the break room where she grabbed her jacket and purse. Her teeth were clenched as he walked from the hospital with her, not seeming to be under the influence of pain meds at all by his confident gait.
She really didn’t like the idea of him staying with Cooper. That was far too close to Lindsey’s temporary home for her liking. Just knowing he was sleeping up at the main house was going to make it difficult for her to get any rest at all.
Maverick tried engaging her in small talk on the drive home, but she gave him terse answers that didn’t aid in the conversation at all. Her rudeness didn’t diminish his good mood in the least.
The man was unshakeable.
When she drove past the gate at Cooper’s, she pulled up to the main house, but Mav just shook his head.
“Go ahead and park at the cottage. I’ll walk up,” he told her.
“That’s okay. Why don’t you get out here?” she urged.
“Nah, it’s a beautiful day and it’s not far at all.”
He didn’t budge from his seat, and Lindsey knew it was useless to continue the argument. With another long-suffering sigh, she backed out and then went around the house and down the short drive to the cottage, where she parked.
Lindsey was out of the car quickly, but still, Maverick was by her side almost instantly. She was ninety-nine percent sure the man wasn’t on any pain meds. He was moving far too stealthily.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later,” she told him pointedly as she began moving to her cottage, where she planned on locking the door behind her.
“I need to talk to you about something before I head up to the house,” he said, striding easily alongside her.
“I’m really tired, Mav. I’ve had a long day,” she told him.
Most people wouldn’t push the issue. Mav certainly wasn’t most people.
“Then we can sit,” he said, grabbing her key right from her hand and moving to her front door. He had it unlocked and open before she could even blink. Then, without waiting for an invite, he stepped inside and moved to the kitchen.
Of course he knew her cottage well. It was owned by his brother, and he’d stayed in it many times.
“Good. Fresh lemonade,” he said as he pulled out the pitcher from the fridge. “I need to get something in my stomach. Those meds are starting to mess with my system,” he pointed out.