Chapter 41
“ Y ou are not doing this. We’re leaving.”
Devi shot him a shocked look.
Hayes knew he was acting like a lunatic. But he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
It was particularly ironic when he was the one who had pushed her to come here. She hadn’t wanted to and he’d coaxed her, promising her ice cream afterward. She’d practically danced around for joy after that.
It didn’t take much to make her happy. Something he was quickly realizing. She loved gifts, but she didn’t want big, extravagant things.
Ice cream or a pair of fluffy socks was met with wonder.
Offers to pay for her transport costs for her pottery were met with panic.
Of course, what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.
“Let’s go.”
He wrapped an arm around her and turned her away.
“Umm.” The male physical therapist who had just come out of the back room to get Devi spoke up. “Where are you going? Is there something wrong? I can assure you that Devi is in good hands.”
Good hands. Right.
Let those hands touch his girl? He didn’t think so.
That guy was so gorgeous even he could see that and he wasn’t into men at all.
No. Nope.
Not fucking happening.
Good hands. He snorted.
“Hayes, you’re acting like a lunatic,” Devi whispered to him, standing on his foot.
Shit.
“Baby, you’re on my foot,” he told her gently. Her feet usually tripped her up, not him.
“I know,” she told him. “I’m trying to stop you from walking away from the appointment that you insisted I come to.”
“Now, you’re leaving. We’ll find another therapist.”
“Is there something wrong? Do you need to see my credentials?” the far-too-attractive therapist asked.
Fuck.
“Hayes, stop it,” she said, before turning to the other man. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but you don’t have to show us anything. Except maybe where the toilet is. Sorry. I have to go.”
“Baby, why didn’t you say so,” Hayes said. “Where’s the toilet?”
That last part was barked at the other man who gave him a narrow-eyed look. “It’s through there.”
“Come on, baby.” He swept her up into his arms and carried her to the door. Then he set her down. “Stay.”
Hayes checked the bathroom and found it was a large room with one toilet and a walk-in shower.
“There’s no one in there. I could have told you that,” the physical therapist told them with some bewilderment in his voice.
“Sorry, he’s a bit overprotective,” Devi told the other man, whose name she didn’t even know yet. “He thinks I might be in danger and he’s acting as my bodyguard.”
“Oh, that’s right. You’re staying at JSI because of some gang members giving you trouble, right? You’re in no danger here, though. There’s no one else here but us. I’m Leighton, by the way.” He gave her a soft look.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Hayes told him as he glared at the other man.
Nope.
This wasn’t happening.
That guy was looking at her with far too much . . . tenderness.
He wasn’t being professional at all.
Hayes moved his gaze to Devi. “And I’m not just her bodyguard. Come on, baby.” Sweeping her up, he held her against his chest, then shut the door in the other guy’s face.
Not. Happening.
“Right. Go potty,” he said as he placed her in front of the toilet.
“I don’t have to go, you lunatic,” she said to him. “I needed a moment to speak to you and I knew that you, being a completely crazy person, would insist on coming in with me.”
“You lied to me?” he said in a shocked voice. “That’s against the rules.
“The rules don’t apply when you’re being a lunatic.”
“The rules always apply.”
“Hayes! Why are you being weird about my physical therapist?”
Fuck.
How did he explain this without sounding like a lunatic?
“I don’t like him.”
She put her good hand on her hip. “You don’t like him? You just met him!”
“Yes, and I don’t like him.”
Devi ran her good hand down her face. “Hayes, you’re the one who wanted me to come to this therapy. I didn’t want to come. And now you’re saying I can’t do it because you took a dislike to the therapist? I don’t understand.”
Right.
Because he wasn’t going to explain the full reason he didn’t like the guy. That would make him sound like a jealous fool.
Hayes sighed. “I just . . . I don’t like seeing you in pain even though I know you need it.”
That part wasn’t a lie.
“And he’s also younger than I thought. I don’t know if he’s qualified.”
She narrowed her gaze at him, her face filled with suspicion. He didn’t blame her.
“You did the research on him yourself. You know that’s not the case.”
Fuck.
She had him there. Too bad there hadn’t been any photos of him in any of the articles he’d read online.
“Look, if you don’t want me to use him, I won’t. There was another physical therapist you thought was good, right?” she asked.
Yes, but she was over an hour’s drive away.
Fuck.
“We’ll stay,” he said. “I’m just . . . I don’t know. Just don’t smile at him. Or touch him. Or let him touch you.”
“Hayes! He has to touch me, you crazy man.”
Hayes growled. Right. Of course he did.
That didn’t mean he was going to like it.
Devi didn’t know what had come over Hayes. Every time poor Leighton put his hands on her, Hayes growled.
“Again, I’m sorry about him,” she said to Leighton.
“He’s taking guarding your body to a whole other level,” Leighton said. “Are you . . . do you feel safe with him?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes, of course. Hayes would never harm me. All he does is look after me. To the point where I feel guilty because I’m not doing anything for him. I tried to clean the bathroom this morning and now I’m banned from all housework until my arm is better.”
She still didn’t understand him. At all.
To her shock, Leighton smiled. “Well, all right then. That, I understand.”
“You do? Because I sure don’t.” She sighed as she stared down at her arm. It felt like they’d barely done anything and she was exhausted and in pain.
Hayes suddenly stepped forward and pulled her up into his arms. “That’s enough. She’s exhausted and hurting. We’re leaving.”
Leighton just nodded. “I agree. You did great today, Devi.”
“I don’t feel like I did anything at all. It’s going to take ages for me to get better, isn’t it?” She was never going to be able to do pottery again.
Michelle had promised to talk to the gallery owner about canceling her exhibition. She didn’t know what to do about all of the items Michelle was storing. Perhaps she could sell them at that shop in Denver.
It felt like all of her dreams were going up in smoke. Because of fucking Derick. It was kind of wrong to think badly about the dead, right?
Sympathy filled Leighton’s face. “I’m not going to lie to you; you’ve got a long road ahead of you. But it’s only been nine days since you were hurt. We will get there. You and I.”
Hayes growled again.
“And your . . . bodyguard.”
He put a weird emphasis on that word, but Devi decided not to think too much about it.
Hayes snuck a glance at her as they drove home; her eyes were drooping. She was exhausted.
This had been too much for her.
“Thanks for the ice cream,” she told him sleepily. “It was scrummy.”
She had some chocolate ice-cream on her chin and she didn’t seem to realize it. Damn, she was cute.
He pulled over and she gave him a startled look. Grabbing a napkin, he tried to wipe her chin. She shied away, but he gently grasped hold of her chin and wiped.
“Sorry,” she muttered, her cheeks red.
“Why are you sorry?” he asked.
“Because I’m such a mess.”
“Baby, I think you’re gorgeous just the way you are. Now, lie back and go to sleep. I’ll get you safely home.”
“You always take such good care of me.”