Chapter 30
“ Y ou’ve got to eat, baby,” Hayes coaxed her.
“You haven’t eaten,” she informed him, staring down at the food on offer for breakfast the next day.
It looked disgusting and she didn’t consider herself a fussy person. But it looked like reconstituted eggs with overcooked bacon.
“I’m pretty sure that this bacon could plug the hole in my sneaker.” She held it up, wrinkling her nose.
“Then I’ll go get you something else. What do you feel like?”
Instantly, she felt terrible. Complaining wasn’t really her. She wasn’t going to ask him to go out and get something else for her.
“No, no, it’s fine,” she told him hastily. “I’ll eat it.”
Even if her stomach turned just looking at it.
“No, you’re not. You’re right, it’s disgusting. You’re not going to get better eating stuff like this. What do you like? Pancakes? Sausages and eggs? You should really have protein to help you recover.”
“This is protein,” she said, poking at the eggs.
Were they eggs if they came out of a box?
Box eggs? Yuck. She hid that thought, though.
She shouldn’t be ungrateful. Someone else prepared this food for her that she didn’t have to pay for .
. . well, that wasn’t true. She’d probably be paying this bill off for the rest of her life.
. She couldn’t let Hayes pay for this no matter what he thought. “I think.”
“Okay, we need to talk.” He pushed the tray to one side and took the fork away from her, setting it down on the plate.
“Hey, that’s my breakfast!”
“That is not your breakfast. And you need to listen to me.” He sat on the bed, facing her.
Once again, he’d helped her to the toilet. Which basically involved him doing everything except actually peeing for her.
Hayes grasped hold of her chin gently, tilting her head back so he could stare down at her.
“You deserve everything you desire. I know you won’t agree with me because that’s just who you are.
I want to give you whatever you want as long as that doesn’t clash with my need to keep you safe and healthy.
So if my baby wants some damn decent food then that’s what she gets. Got me?”
“ Your baby?”
His face softened. “My baby.” Reaching out he brushed his fingers through her hair. “I’m going to take care of this today.”
“Take care of this?” she asked, reaching up with her good hand to feel her hair. “Oh my God! It’s a mess! A disaster!”
And she hadn’t showered in days.
She expected him to tell her that it was fine or to try and placate her but he merely grinned. “It really is.”
She stared at him. It was so rare for him to smile and when he did . . . Lord, gorgeous didn’t even come close to covering it.
Sexy. Handsome. Beautiful.
Nope. There wasn’t a word to describe when Hayes smiled other than truly breathtaking. And she wanted more.
Yep, she was greedy.
“And I probably stink. I’m so sorry. It might be best for you to move away from me.”
Okay, now he didn’t look amused. “What have I told you about putting yourself down?”
“It’s not putting yourself down if it’s the truth!” she protested. “I haven’t showered in days. I’m not sure how I’m going to manage with this. And this.” She waved a hand at her arm and then at her face.
Which she still hadn’t seen.
Ew. And when was the last time she’d brushed her teeth? She swung her legs to the side, away from him.
“Whoa. Where are you going?” he asked, grabbing her hip gently.
She held a hand up over her mouth. “To brush my teeth.”
“Baby.”
“My breath must be awful! Oh my God! I’m so sorry I’m a mess.”
“Hey, look at me. Look. At. Me.” There was a sternness in his voice that had her turning to him.
“Stop this nonsense, hear me?”
“Stop this nonsense?” she repeated. “Is that . . . is that meant to be soothing?”
“Why would it be soothing?”
“Well, because when someone is in the hospital, I’m pretty sure you’re meant to be soothing. Especially when they’re having a meltdown over their breath smelling like a badger who’s gone on a two-day bender. And their hair looks like the nest of a woolly mammoth.”
“Your breath does not smell like that. And I don’t think woolly mammoths had nests.”
She narrowed her gaze. But her hair did look terrible. She could tell even if she couldn’t see it.
“I’m starting to get grumpy about how often I’m having to tell you to stop putting yourself down. You don’t want to see me grumpy.”
“I don’t . . . see you . . . grumpy?” she managed to get out. “Are you . . . have you lost your mind?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re always grumpy!” she told him. “It would be more of a shock to see you in a good mood.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that so? Hmm, would you rather I went back to grumpy?”
“Oh, I don’t mind. I like you either way. You’re cute when you’re grumpy. Although you’re even cuter when you smile.”
“I’m not cute at all. I’m a man. Men aren’t cute.”
To her shock, she actually felt like smiling. She didn’t think she’d felt like smiling since this had all happened.
“Sorry, manly man,” she told him. “I’ll try not to call you cute again.”
He gave her an arrogant nod. “See that you do that.”
There was a knock on the door and he gave her a stern look. “Stay right there. Remember the rule about not getting out of that bed without my help.”
He was so bossy.
It was awful.
And you’re lying, because you love it. Because no one has ever fussed over you and ordered you to stay in bed and let them help.
Ever.
It was wrong of her to lap it up the way she was. But just this once maybe she could be selfish.
He opened the door, and to her surprise, Donovan walked in carrying a white bag.
“That was quick,” Hayes said. “I only messaged you a few minutes ago.”
“Oh, I already had the food and was on my way. Figured Devi didn’t want to eat the crap food here. She needs some good hearty food in her.” He winked at her.
“Don’t wink at her,” Hayes snapped.
What the heck? Was he angry with his friend?
“Hayes, don’t snap at Donovan. He brought us food.”
“Oh, I didn’t bring him food,” Donovan told her.
“This is for you and me, sweetheart. He can go get his own.” He walked toward her and dumped several bags of food on the bed by her feet.
Then he removed the tray of breakfast she’d been given by an orderly and set it aside before laying piles of food out.
There were pancakes, fluffy scrambled eggs, sausages, potatoes, and two breakfast burritos.
“Dig in, sweetheart,” Donovan told her. “Oh, I have maple syrup and butter for the pancakes, too. Here you are.” To her shock, he sat on the bed facing her.
“Get off her bed,” Hayes snarled, walking behind him to grab his shoulder, almost as though he planned to shove him off.
Worry filled her. They weren’t going to fight, were they?
Donovan winked at her again. Then he climbed off the bed after grabbing a breakfast burrito and sat on the chair next to the bed.
“Aren’t you supposed to be relieving Kent and guarding the door?” Hayes muttered.
He was?
“Is that necessary?” she asked.
“It is,” Hayes told her firmly. “So this bastard should be out there doing his job.”
“Hey!” Donovan protested. “I should be allowed to eat.”
“Eat while standing outside,” Hayes ordered as he sat on the bed and reached for the knife and fork that was wrapped up in a napkin. He unwrapped them and started cutting up the sausage. “Go!”
Donovan grumbled but winked at her again. “I’m right out there if you need me, sweetheart.”
“You know, Kent was quiet and stayed out in the hall,” Hayes said.
“Well, that’s Kent’s problem,” Donovan said. “I’m a much more hands-on sort of bodyguard.”
Hayes stood and stared at Donovan threateningly. Donovan got up with a laugh and left.
“Hayes,” she said quietly.
“Yes?” He forked up a piece of sausage.
“You shouldn’t speak that way to your friends. It’s not very nice and what if he gets angry at you?”
He paused and studied her. “Baby, we’re work colleagues, not friends.”
“Oh.” Okay. It didn’t seem much better, though. “You could be friends. Maybe if you were a bit, um, nicer.”
Hayes snorted. But then he stared at her face. “You’re worried about this?”
“It’s good to have friends. And I . . . I want you to have friends.”
She didn’t want him to be lonely. And she sensed that he’d been lonely for a long time. She understood that it was likely due to May’s death. But there was a small possibility that it was also due to his . . . prickly personality.
“But to do that you might have to be, um, well, a bit, um . . . well, less . . .”
“Less me?” he said.
“What? No! I would never say that.”
Then she thought she saw his lips twitch and she glared at him. “You’re teasing me.”
He held up a finger and thumb. “You don’t need to worry about me, baby. I have friends.”
“Who?”
“Zeke. Been friends with him for years.”
Devi waited for him to say more. “Is that it?”
“Yeah, what? I need more than that?”
“Well, I suppose it’s a start. But perhaps more would help. You just need to be . . . well, maybe don’t snarl at them. It’s very lonely without friends.”
“Fine. If I get myself some friends, will you stop worrying?”
“Um, I suppose. But this really isn’t about me,” she told him. She didn’t want him doing this for her. He should do it for himself.
And then maybe he wouldn’t be so sad anymore.
He got to his feet and strode over to the door. “Donovan!”
“Um, yes? You know I was just teasing before, right? I’m not actually interested?”
“We’re friends now, got it?”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. Did he really just do that?
“We are?” Donovan asked, sounding confused.
Which was a very reasonable way to feel she thought since, you know, most people didn’t just bark out that they were your friend.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you can flirt with Devi. Do it again and I’ll punch you.”
She gaped at Hayes as he returned to sitting on the bed, facing her.
“He wasn’t flirting with me!”
“Of course he was. Bastard flirts with everyone.”
“Then it shouldn’t matter to you that he flirts with me.”
He gave her a stern look. “Nobody flirts with you. Especially not my friends.”
“And you can’t just tell someone to be your friend. I know I’m no expert in making friends, but even I know that much.”
He grunted. “Don’t know why not. Gets shit done quicker. Now, open up.”
He held the fork to her lips.
“What . . . what are you doing?” she asked, staring at the sausage. She’d figured that he was going to eat it.
“Trying to damn well feed you before this food gets cold. I sorted the friend thing. Now we need to get some food into you before you start fading away.”
He was impossible.
“What if I wanted the pancakes?” she asked.
“You can have some after you eat the sausage. Eat.”
“So bossy.” She took the piece of sausage, though. Because she was starving. “Beginning to see why you don’t have friends.”
Instantly, she felt awful. What was she thinking? That was mean when she really wasn’t a mean person. In fact, she detested mean people.
But to her shock, he threw his head back and laughed. “Yeah, baby. That’s why I don’t have friends. But now you want me to have friends, well, I guess you’re going to help me make sure I don’t run them off.”
“That could be a full-time job,” she muttered, making him grin again.
Seriously.
She was completely addicted to those smiles of his. It was like her life hadn’t been complete until he’d smiled.
He cut up some pancake and held it up to her. “What about the syrup and butter?”
“You don’t need that stuff. Full of sugar and fat.”
“But that’s the best part!” she protested. “What’s the point of eating something without sugar and fat?”
“Baby, it’s not good for you. It will rot your teeth and spike your blood sugar.”
“Hayes, you are not taking away my sugar and fat. That’s what I live for!”
Urgh.
What the fuck was he doing?
Shaking his head at himself, he picked up the small tub of maple syrup and poured it over the pancakes. “Say when.”
“Well, that was easy,” she commented. “That’s enough. Thanks.”
“What was easy?” he asked.
“Getting you to put syrup on my pancakes,” she told him as he added butter and started cutting them up.
“Yeah, well, you deserve pancakes with butter and syrup. And God knows you’ve lost weight you couldn’t afford to lose.
Should be feeding you whatever you want to eat, not complaining because it’s bad for you.
” Then he shot her a look and pointed the fork at her.
“Not that you can eat this all the time. No vitamins or nutrients in this.”
She was staring at her lap, her shoulders slumped.
Fuck it.
How did he completely fuck this up every time he opened his mouth?
Well, to be honest, he’d never been good at social interactions. When he hadn’t been working, he’d been happy to be with just May.
That wasn’t helping him now.
What had he said that upset her? Was it about having lost weight?
Shit.
Reaching out, he gently grasped hold of her chin. “You are and will always be incredibly beautiful. No matter if you lose weight or your hair is crazy, whether you’re in a hospital bed or one of those fancy dresses. Always beautiful.”
She stared at him through glossy eyes.
“No crying, though,” he grumbled.
“You can’t order someone not to cry,” she informed him.
He held up a piece of pancake for her to take. Satisfaction filled him as she ate it.
“Sure I can. Just did.”
“Well, just because you ordered me not to cry doesn’t mean I won’t cry.”
“Are you crying?” he asked before picking up another piece of sausage to feed her.
“No. But maybe that’s because I don’t want to cry.”
Uh-huh. Sure it was.
“I can feed myself, you know.”
Well, that was debatable since she only had one hand.
“I mean, as long as you cut it up for me first, which is kind of embarrassing.”
“Why is it embarrassing?” he asked.
“I’m being fed like a child.”
“So? I like taking care of you like this. If you’d let me, I’d feed you by hand for every meal.”