Chapter 21 #2
He looked over toward the two guards looking at their phones and not watching what was going on—something he’d noted himself while he’d been watching Marie.
It didn't matter that he’d told them that there could be a threat, they just did what they wanted.
“Hopefully, with what we’ve been talking about this afternoon, we won’t need to be here much longer.
I appreciate you and the others taking time out of your days to keep Marie safe. ”
“Nothing you wouldn’t do for any of us. I’ll be off now, but if you need anything, call.”
“I will, thanks.” They gave each other a chin lift, and then Isaac made his way inside, not bothering to acknowledge the two guards as he strode into the busy ER waiting area.
The nurses behind the triage counter changed and weren’t always the same, but Isaac recognized the two that were currently manning the desk. One lifted her hand in recognition and picked up the phone, no doubt calling Marie to let her know that he was there.
The seats were full of people waiting to be seen, none looked like they were in deep distress; those patients were tended to quickly. His admiration for the medical profession had risen ten-fold, especially those who worked in emergency. There was no down time, and each case was different.
How many people who were here needed urgent care? How many could just go to their primary care giver and be seen. Or maybe they didn’t have one, and whenever they had an issue they came to the hospital.
All those thoughts disappeared the second Marie walked through the double doors.
She was with another doctor, laughing at whatever he said.
When the man placed a hand on Marie’s arm, a red haze formed behind his eyes and the burn of jealousy ate at his insides.
Acting purely on emotion he strode over to them, putting his arm around Marie, not giving a fuck that he was laying claim.
“Hey Doc, how are you?” he nuzzled her neck.
Logically he knew he was acting out of character.
Acting more like a man three decades younger than he was, but he couldn’t help it.
This primal urge to claim Marie as his possession was insistent, and he needed to lock it down before he punched the guy who still had his hand on Marie, even with Isaac standing right there, practically devouring her neck.
“Issac!” Marie squirmed, and the red haze lifted. He stepped back, putting some space between them, and he sucked in a deep breath in an attempt to calm the fuck down. “I’ll see you later, Brendon.”
Marie sidestepped Isaac as he went to reach for her hand and headed for the door. He didn’t even look at the other man, his attention on her retreating back and the realization that he’d fucked up majorly.
He caught up to her quickly and fell in step beside her. Marie didn’t even acknowledge his presence, and if she didn’t know that he was there for her safety, he would bet she would’ve gone in a completely different direction to him and made her own way home.
"I’m sorry,” he said the minute he shut the door and they were cocooned in his car. “I was out of line. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did.”
“No you shouldn’t have. Do you know how embarrassing that was for me?” Her arms were crossed over her chest and her gaze was directed forward.
He deserved this from her. He’d acted like an ass.
“In all my life, I’ve never been consumed with jealousy like I was when I saw that man’s hand on your arm.
Seeing him standing so close to you set something off in me that even I don’t understand.
” He rested his hand on the seat, his fingertips lightly touching her thigh.
She probably didn’t even feel it, but for him the slight contact was enough for him. “I’m sorry, Doc.”
If he had to say I’m sorry a hundred times he would, anything to have her not look at him like he was the enemy.
How could he, a man closer to fifty than twenty, act the way he had?
It didn’t make sense, but it told him all he needed to know—he was all in with Marie.
Lock, stock, and barrel head over heels for her.
How else could he explain his reaction to what was, for all intents and purposes, two colleagues chatting at the end of the day.
“I accept your apology, but that doesn’t mean it’s forgotten,” she turned to him, and the disappointment in her eyes had him cursing himself all over again. “It was embarrassing to have you practically maul me in front of Brendon, not to mention the other staff who would’ve seen you do it.”
“I know. I wish I could rewind time and act differently, because that’s really not me.”
But this was the first time that he was experiencing love for a woman.
He’d never allowed himself to get close to anyone while he was working for the DEA.
It was too risky, what with him always going undercover.
The Ramirez Cartel job had been the one that had tipped the scales for him.
He never imagined when he went under he’d be there so long.
It changed him in a way that some days he hadn’t recognized who he was.
He was beginning to find out who he was now and it was due to the woman next to him. He wasn’t going to fuck it up again. She was far too precious for him to lose.