Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
MAGNOLIA
T he following week, sitting at my desk, I frowned at the multitude of changes to the budget Bane had handed me earlier, asking me to update it. This client was frustrating him to no end. Bane was grumpier than usual, which was pretty damn grumpy. He hadn’t even commented on the flowers that arrived, the pretty bouquet bright and cheerful. He’d shot them the same disparaging look as usual and ignored them.
His mood was also due to the fact that I refused to move in with him yet, and he was almost surly at times. I wanted to enjoy the time at the house while I could. Spend some evenings with my memories. I loved my nights with him, especially waking up beside him, his strong, warm body next to mine, plus the inevitable, pleasurable sex that happened when he woke up. But everything was happening so quickly, I was trying to make sure I didn’t get swept up in the Bane-hurricane.
Besides, I had to admit, I still liked ramping him up. Watching him glower at me as I got ready to leave at night without him, thoroughly enjoying his intense, passionate kisses as he tried to persuade me to change my mind. I also hid my amusement when he would show up at my place, a bag of ramen or Chinese in hand, insisting he had to make sure I was eating. Offering to help pack things up in order to hasten my departure from the apartment. I had agreed during a prolonged and mind-scrambling orgasm to let him hire movers to take all the boxes and furniture from the attic and move it to his storage area the other night. The fact that he’d had it done in twenty-four hours shouldn’t have surprised me, yet it still did.
A loud curse interrupted my musings, and I looked up, peering into Bane’s office.
“Goddammit,” he roared, kicking at the desk.
Curious, I got up and bravely approached the lion. “Something wrong?” I asked.
“This bloody desk,” he replied. “I was reaching for something in the drawer, and I got a massive splinter in my hand.”
I reached for his hand he was holding, inspecting the “massive” piece of wood. He had a sliver under his skin, the area around it red with irritation. A second piece was beside it, the end sticking out.
Keeping the amusement out of my voice, I instructed him to sit and went to the bathroom, getting out the first aid kit. I sat on the desk, holding his hand under the light. Using the special tweezers I had put in the kit, I probed the area, trying to ignore his squirming.
“This will go faster if you stop moving.”
“You’re hurting me, Myers,” he grumbled.
I bit back a laugh. I had hardly touched him. “Sorry.”
I grasped the end of the smaller sliver and pulled. It came out fairly easily, hardly any tugging needed on my end.
Bane grunted in annoyance. “Can you leave my hand intact? I need it.”
“What a baby you’re being,” I admonished. “Big, bad wolf Bane, taken out by a sliver.”
“Am not,” he muttered.
“Are so,” I replied with a low laugh. “Now, sit still. This one is gonna take all my concentration.”
I grabbed a needle, and he watched anxiously as I heated it with a match then carefully picked at the skin to be able to get to the end hidden under the top layer. He grumbled and muttered the entire time, gripping my thigh.
“Okay, I’m gonna try to get it now. It should come out clean,” I lied. It was deep and the end jagged. I hoped I could get it with one pull.
I looked at him. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
“Scream if you have to,” I assured him, pressing down around the wood.
“I don’t need to— Jesus fucking Christ, Myers !” he yelled.
“Got it!” I said triumphantly.
He glared at me, standing from his chair and towering over me. I took his hand, dabbing an alcohol wipe over it, then adding a Band-Aid. “All done.”
He kept glaring, and I lifted his hand to my lips and kissed it. “There,” I crooned, desperately trying not to laugh. “All better now.”
His eyes darkened. “Not quite,” he growled and grabbed me, pulling me up to his chest and covering my mouth with his, kissing me passionately. Much too passionately for the office. But as soon as his lips touched mine, I was lost. To his scent, his heat, his mouth. His tongue tangled with mine, and he groaned low in his chest. I clutched his shoulders, gripping him tight, gasping when he pulled back.
“Now it’s all better.”
I blinked up at him. He smirked down at me.
“I have a meeting to get to, Nurse Ratched. Otherwise, I’d show you how it feels to have something hard driven into you.” He kissed me fast. “I’d make you scream too.”
“Not at the office,” I said, summoning my primmest voice.
He laughed, clearly amused. He bent, pressing his lips to my ear. “If I touched you right now, Myers, we both know how wet you’d be. How ready for me.” He nipped my lobe, then stood back, pulling me from the desk.
“Now, back to work on that budget. I need it for two o’clock.”
Then to add insult to injury, he swatted my butt as I sidled past him. But I felt his erection.
I had a feeling he was going to be a little late for his meeting, waiting for it to die down. So I wiggled against him, making him groan.
Two could play at that game.
“Enjoy your meeting,” I teased.
“You’re going to pay for that, Myers.”
“I hope so,” I replied with a wink.
He began to laugh, unable to stay annoyed. I loved that I had that effect on him.
Bane picked up his laptop, straightened his shoulders, and buttoned his jacket. He walked past me, not stopping. “We’re going to dinner tonight,” he informed me. “I have reservations. Seven. Wear one of your pretty dresses. I’ll pick you up.”
Then he was gone, not giving me the chance to reply. I knew he would go to the boardroom downstairs and sit for a few moments, gathering his thoughts before the client and his partners joined him. When he came back, he’d be starving, needing coffee and a sandwich, then throw himself into work before the next meeting.
I wondered where we were going. He rarely asked me to wear something special. I mentally went through my wardrobe, picking out the right dress. No doubt this was part of his romancing the hell out of me. He’d been very attentive the past week and, this weekend, had made me breakfast in bed again. He’d bought me flowers twice, the blooms brightening up the condo. My Monday flowers had appeared earlier, larger than normal, the scent filling the office. He was trying so hard to show me how much he cared, and I appreciated it, constantly trying to tamp down the sadness of the unspoken words. I told him I loved him every day, and he seemed to like hearing me say it—especially when we were wrapped around each other at night. And when I went back to my apartment and he called, he waited to hang up until I said the words. I hoped if I said them enough, one day, he’d say them back.
My biggest fear was that he never would.
My phone rang, and I was distracted as I answered. “Hello.”
“Ms. Myers, it’s Garden Villa, calling about your father.”
“Is he all right?” I asked, panicked.
“He’s had a fall and has been taken to the hospital.”
“I’m on my way.”
I paced the waiting room, anxious and upset. All I knew was my dad was here, the doctors were checking him out, and that he’d fallen in his room and been found, unconscious, by a staff member. I had been told to be patient—twice.
I looked down at my phone, tracing the screen. I wanted to call Alex and tell him what was happening. To hear his voice soothe me and tell me everything would be okay. To let me know he would drop everything right now and come be with me.
But it was business hours, he was in an important meeting, and I couldn’t do it. Be that girl who panicked and called her boyfriend—fiancé—to come hold her hand. Until I knew what was happening, I could handle this.
My name was called, and I hurried over to where a doctor stood. He greeted me with a serious expression. “Your father has dislocated his shoulder, broken his arm, and has a concussion. We’re going to stitch up his head, fix the shoulder, set the arm, and we need to keep him in for observation.” He paused. “It could have been a lot worse. If he had fallen differently, he might have broken a hip, and I’m not sure he’d survive surgery.”
I swallowed, my throat thick and the tears threatening. “How long will he be in?”
“We’ll reassess in the morning. We need to make sure there’s no brain swelling—it was a bad tumble. He’ll need watching over when he returns to the home. I’m going to suggest he be moved to a smaller ward with more care.”
“Can I see him?”
“He’s in pain and very confused. I suggest you wait until after we set his arm, so that we’re able to give him something to help with his pain and transfer him upstairs to the ward. We have to be careful due to the concussion.”
“Of course.”
“Someone will come get you, but it might be a while. We’re pretty slammed here. As soon as we know the ward, you can go up and wait there. It will be more comfortable.”
“Okay.”
He left and I sat down, my legs not able to hold me up. The next level of care in the home was more expensive. Not that it mattered since if that was what he needed, then it had to happen. I would have to contact the home and discuss it with them.
Knowing I was going to be here a while, I slid my phone from my pocket, deciding I needed to call Bane. I paused as a wave of dizziness hit me, and I had to let my head fall on my chest for a moment. I hadn’t eaten today. I would rest a minute, call Bane, then get something to eat. A sandwich from the cafeteria would help.
“Magnolia?”
I looked up into the kind eyes of my doctor. Hannah Wilson had been my caregiver for almost ten years. Close to retirement, she had a head full of white hair and twinkling dark eyes.
“Are you all right?” she asked. “Your father?”
I explained to her about Dad, and she nodded as she listened. “Sadly, falls tend to adversely affect those already dealing with memory issues.”
“I know.”
She tilted her head, studying me. “Are you all right? You’re very pale, Magnolia. Is your anemia acting up?”
“Oh, I don’t think so. I mean, I had the blood work done a few months ago that you ordered, and you said my levels were good. I’m taking my supplements,” I assured her.
She frowned, not looking pleased, picking up my wrist and taking my pulse. “While you’re here and waiting, and I’m in between patients, how about we draw some blood and check? We don’t want another deficiency happening.”
“I shouldn’t go far.”
“And you won’t,” she said firmly. “I’ll tell them at the desk, and you’ll be gone half an hour, tops. I’ll do a quick finger jab to check and send away a sample for verification.”
“Okay,” I agreed, knowing she wouldn’t take no.
I followed her down the hall, and she had me sit. “Have you eaten today?”
“No. I got the call and came right here.”
She swabbed my finger and jabbed it, taking the sample and testing it. “A little low,” she murmured. “But not as bad as I’ve seen with you. Okay, we’ll do a full work-up. Some results will be back right away and the rest in a couple of days. You can come see me, and we’ll go over the results.” She sat down with a form. “And eat some meat, please.”
“Okay,” I said with a smile. Bane would love steak for dinner.
“Are you sexually active?”
“Um, yes.”
“We’ll do a pregnancy test, then.”
“I’m on birth control.”
“Still, just to be sure. Just another check on the form.”
Ten minutes later, I was back in the lounge, the blood drawn. Dr. Wilson had given me a sandwich from the fridge in the doctor’s lounge, insisting I eat it, along with a container of milk. “Better than the horrid coffee here.”
I sat down and nibbled on the sandwich and drank the milk, feeling better once I had consumed some calories. Remembering I needed to call Bane, I grabbed my phone, groaning when I realized I had no battery life left.
A nurse appeared and told me I could go up to floor four and wait. I headed up, hoping to find a charging station. Before I could inquire, I was allowed to see Dad, and I forgot about everything else as I followed the woman into his room. He was asleep, a nasty-looking bruise covering half his face, the bandage white against the dark discoloration. His arm was casted and in a sling, and I could see other bruises forming on his skin. I sat beside him for a few moments, watching his chest rise and fall in steady, even breaths. I held his hand, feeling how cool his body was, and I went to get another blanket to cover him.
I stayed for a while, then returned to the waiting room, unsure what to do. I was surprised when Dr. Wilson appeared and sat beside me. She looked serious.
“Is everything all right?” I asked, a new pit of worry forming in my stomach.
She took my hand. “I have some results, Magnolia.”
“And?”
“You’re pregnant.”