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“Um, I’m not sure they have that.”
“Really? What kind of outfit are they running here?” he grumbled.
“You haven’t been to the hospital for a while, huh?”
“Not since my misspent youth.” He grinned at her.
Whoa. She fully understood why his fans practically swooned when he grinned like that.
“I think they have it recorded on a computer or tablet. Brand, what’s really going on? You follow me here. You turn up at the gate. Now, you seem to be staying here. You’re talking about taking care of me. P-punishing me. I just… I don’t understand what’s going on, what you want.”
“It’s simple, really. I want you. And to sound like a cliché rock star, what I want, I get.”
CHAPTER 8
Brand watched disbelief fill her face. Followed by a brief spark of something else that he couldn’t quite work out.
Anger?
Why would that make her angry, though?
Maybe because you’re coming across as arrogant.
It was difficult not to come across like that because he was arrogant.
“You don’t want me.”
Hmm. He hadn’t been expecting her to say that. He’d kind of been anticipating that she’d tell him off for being a dick and to get out.
“I want you.”
“Why? Because I disappeared on you when you told me to ‘stay put’?”
“Uh, no. I wanted you before that.”
“You’ve never shown one hint that you wanted me. Let’s face it. You liked chasing me because I was a challenge. Well, I’m not a challenge anymore. You caught me. Now, you can go.”
There was a slightly bitter note in her voice that he really didn’t like.
“You don’t have a good opinion of me,” he stated.
The sigh she let out ended with a wheeze. What was wrong with her? He’d thought she had a cold, but she looked and sounded terrible. Plus, she had a bandage on the front of her hand. Had she had an IV in? What medication was she on?
Fuck. He hated not knowing what was going on.
“You think I only want you because you’re a challenge?” he asked. “Well, you’re right. But here is the thing, the challenge isn’t capturing you, it isn’t even convincing you to be with me. The challenge will be looking after you.”
For the rest of our lives.
But he didn’t say that part. She already had a freaked-out look on her face.
“I don’t understand what’s happening here, Brand.”
“Yeah, you do. You’re just scared. That’s all right. You’ll soon come to trust me.”
“It feels like you’re on a high-speed train, while I’m stumbling along with one shoe on, my pants slipping off, and my shirt buttoned wrong.”
“Am I supposed to understand that?” He’d never allow her to get into that sort of state.
