Page 9

“You have a chicken,” I said. “In a hospital.”

“It’s fine,” Holly said. “This is Mother Clucker.”

I doubted the hospital would agree it was fine, but that was none of my business. Anyway, I liked chickens.

“Will you hand me my purse?” I asked, arm outstretched.

Holly passed it over. I dumped it out on my bed and grabbed the sandwich baggie of sunflower seeds. I never went anywhere without gluten-free snacks. “Can she have some?”

Holly’s dark eyes flicked around my face suspiciously, like she thought I might have a carving knife hidden behind my back. “All right.”

I took a small palmful from the bag and closed them in my fist, then held out my hand like I was holding an ice cream cone. Holly brought Mother Clucker closer. I opened my fist enough so she could smell the seeds and get her beak in to retrieve them without pecking me. She clucked happily.

Holly’s gaze dropped to my pile on the bed. “You have makeup. We could fix your face.”

I laughed. “I think it’s a lost cause. I need ten hours of sleep and someone to tell me everything is going to be okay.”

Something like sympathy flashed in Holly’s dark eyes. “I don’t know if everything will be okay. Lipstick will have to do.” She plucked a gold tube from the pile, uncapped it, and perched on the edge of the bed next to me, leaning in toward my mouth.

I was too exhausted to argue. “Only dab it, okay? The color is too intense on me otherwise,” I warned. “I don’t want to walk out of here looking like a clown.”

“Trust me.”

I snorted. “Well, I don’t, actually. But I’ll allow it.”

Amusement skated across her face. She tsked softly. “I’m beginning to understand how you got stabbed. Now hold still.”

There was a knock at the door, and then it opened before either of us could respond. My gaze darted sideways to see Seb enter.

“Hey,” I said, the word slurred from Holly pressing the lipstick to my lower lip.

Seb didn’t say anything as he crossed the room. I watched him approach, as riveted as if he were Mr. Darcy in the misty moors instead of my aggravatingly attractive ex-husband in a fitted black T-shirt and backward baseball hat. It wasn’t fair that he still had this magnetic pull on me all these years later.

He stopped a foot from Holly and peered down at us silently. I tore my gaze away, swallowing thickly and hoping he didn’t notice.

But Holly did. She quirked an eyebrow at me. “Almost done.” She dabbed the lipstick along my upper lip, then capped the tube, leaning back to admire her work. “There you go. Isn’t she pretty, Seb?”

“Always,” he said dismissively, somehow hurting my feelings more than if he had said no. He tossed a canvas bag onto the bed. “I brought you some clothes. Found your suitcase in your trunk and threw everything into the wash, since I didn’t know what was clean or dirty. Hope that’s okay.”

I peered into the bag. Jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, underwear, and my wireless cotton bra. It was a thoughtful choice, the only one I had brought on this trip that wasn’t a constrictive sports bra that I had to wrestle on over my head. Seb always paid attention to details. I wasn’t thrilled about him going through my suitcase like he had a right to it, but I had spent most of the last three days unconscious. Anyway, at least I wouldn’t have to walk out of the hospital in an open-backed gown with my bare ass hanging out.

“Thanks.” I looked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to leave so I could change. He didn’t budge. Instead, he reached for my shoulder.

I slapped his hand away. “Holly will help me get dressed. You go wait outside.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” he protested.

“That may be true, but you’ll see it again over my dead body,” I snapped.

He tugged gently on the sleeve of my hospital gown with a teasing smirk. “Careful, baby. The last time you said those words to me, they nearly came true.”

“Then not that. The opposite of that.”

“So…I’ll see you naked again under your alive body?” He stroked his chin thoughtfully. “All right. I can work with that.”

A memory surfaced. My hands gripping the headboard. Seb’s face between my thighs. My cheeks felt hot. I glared at him. “I would hit you, but that would probably hurt me more than you.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “No need for violence. I’m going.”