She spluttered and yanked the covers back down, squinting in the overbright light. I never begged.
Suit yourself, Watson. Nick moved around the room with purpose, locating her clothes on a nearby stool and holding out the gray wool skirt that she never wanted to see again as long as she lived. Get dressed, the doc says you can go home.
I can? Genie couldnt look at the skirt so she focused on his eyes, which were a warmer shade of blue than she remembered. Melting ice rather than a glacier. He changed his mind?
Not exactly. Wellington looked down and noticed that the skirt was stiff with dried blood. He dropped it back on the pile and wiped his hands on his stained lab coat. Never mind that. You can wear a blanket out. Want me to help you?
No, thank you. She didnt want his help. She didnt want his presence. She particularly didnt want him to see her zebra undies through the mile-wide slit in the back of the johnny.
But when she sat up, the room spun sickeningly and the honey rice cake shed scarfed down between experiments that morning threatened a return visit.
Easy there. Ive got you, youre okay. His hands were steady on her shoulders and she sagged forward against his solid chest until she could feel his heartbeat against her cheek.
Suddenly her head didnt hurt so much anymore.
I want to go home. She didnt care that she was whining, that there were tears in her voice. She wanted her condo. She wanted a shower. She wanted to be alone when the tears came.
I know you do. Were going. His voice rumbled against her cheek and the room spun again as he gathered her, blankets and all, in his arms and lifted her as though she weighed no more than her kitten. She closed her eyes and pressed her face in the hollow between his jaw and shoulder, where the smell of soap and musk was strongest.
Are you taking me to a cab? She didnt think she had the strength to get herself out of a taxi and into her condo, but if thats what it took to reach her own bed, shed find a wayeven if it meant crawling up the stairs on her hands and knees with her safari underwear shining like a striped beacon out the back of the hospital johnny.
She thought he smiled, heard a thread of laughter in his voice as he replied, Youre not getting rid of me that easily, Genius. The automatic doors whooshed open and she felt the change as they escaped from the hospital into the night air, crisp with fall in New England even through the funk of nearby Chinatown. Im taking you home.
THE WATCHER SAW A BIG MAN in a doctors coat carry Dr. Watson past a row of busy ambulances toward the garage. She was wrapped in a blue blanket and from his vantage point deep in the darkness of a recessed stairwell, the watcher imagined her naked. He throbbed with frustration as he imagined what might have been. It should have been a warning for her. A pleasure for him.
His fingers rose to touch the neat bandage above his ear as desire turned to anger. The bitch had hurt him. She was going to pay for that.
Before, hed merely wanted to stop her.
Now, he was going to end her.
Chapter Two
Nick left the blanket-wrapped woman asleep in his Bronco and unlocked the door to her home with keys he found in her practical canvas handbag. He started to make a quick check of the place, then slowed down as surprise rattled through him.
He wasnt sure what hed expected Genie Watsons home to look like, but it sure as heck wasnt this.
At work, Dr. Genius was a petite woman, maybe five-four tops, a hundred pounds or so wet, with middling brown hair always pulled back in some twisty thing and a penchant for wearing shapeless clothing in shades of brown, black and beige. Nick had always thought that her eyes, big gray pools framed by thick lashes and high, sculpted cheekbones, were her best feature.
Now, having seenand feltfirsthand how well she filled out those surprisingly bawdy underthings, he might have to reconsider.
He would have figured her living space to be along the same lines as her wardrobeconservative, boxy rooms with sensible furniture decorated in shades of gray and brown, maybe with a touch of navy added in a wild moment that had since been regretted. He never would have pictured the spacious two-bedroom condo tucked into the eaves of an elegant Victorian only a few blocks from his place.
The four rooms on the first level flowed into each other like water, a river of golden wood floors, white trim and pastel walls. The huge windows were high and arched, topped by semicircles of abstract stained glass, and he imagined that daylight would splash crazily across the bold Indian rugs, the comfy, jewel-toned furniture and the dizzying array of dust collectors.
If Watsons constant complaints and annoying little memos hadnt told Nick everything he needed to know, her condo wouldve done the trick. The place practically screamed a high maintenance woman lives here, and Nickd had enough of them to last a lifetime and then some. In fact, he thought as he looked around again and scowled at the pretty stained-glass lamps, Lucille probably wouldve like this placeif itd been three times bigger and ten times the price.
Well, he thought, no matter. He was here out of kindness, not interest, so it shouldnt matter to him that Watson was high-maintenance. He wasnt in the market for a relationship, and if he was, Genius Watson would rank somewhere around fifth from the bottom on the list of women he knewwith the ninety-year-old grandmother at the Chinese Laundromat right above her.
Scowling at the direction his thoughts had taken, which could only be excused by the bizarre events of the day, he returned to the Bronco to retrieve Dr. Watson. She didnt wake up when he carried her in and placed her on the plush cushions of an oversize couch, and he wondered fleetingly whether he should rouse her. He was pretty sure you werent supposed to let a person with a concussion sleep all night.
It was too bad he hadnt thought to ask the fresh-faced intern for Watsons care-and-feeding instructions, but since the doctor wasnt going to spring her unless shed had a medically trained observer to stay with her for at least twenty-four hours, Nick had snarled, Im a doctor. Ill watch her.
Well, he was a doctor. But courses in what to do after a concussion hadnt been required in the Biochem Department at M.I.T.
He couldve left her where she was, but he remembered the day hed broken his wrist in a Little League game. His parents had been at a fund-raiser, the nanny had been on vacation, and a private nurse wasnt available until the next day. So hed stayed in the big hospital bed in an empty room far away from the rest of the children. Hed been ten years old. Hed been alone. And hed hated every minute of it.
High-maintenance, memo-writing Genius Watson might not be his favorite person on a good day, but this counted as anything but a good day. His mind blinked to the sight of her in the developer room and his gut twisted. After an experience like that, even if she couldnt remember most of it, she deserved to spend the night in her own bed if thats what she wanted. From his eavesdropping in the hallway, hed gotten the idea that she was firmly set on going home, so here he was, in a pretty condo with an even prettier woman asleep on the couch.
How had he overlooked Genie Watsons beauty before? Even with a rainbow of bruises marring her jaw and a line of stitches crawling across her right eyebrow, she was lovely. Her narrow, bruised hands rested beneath her left cheek and her even breathing tugged at a ringlet of her hair that had fallen from its customary twist. The surprisingly rich brownish-bronze glittered as it rippled over the patchwork quilt hed found on the back of the sofa and thrown over her.
How had he overlooked Genie Watsons beauty before? Even with a rainbow of bruises marring her jaw and a line of stitches crawling across her right eyebrow, she was lovely. Her narrow, bruised hands rested beneath her left cheek and her even breathing tugged at a ringlet of her hair that had fallen from its customary twist. The surprisingly rich brownish-bronze glittered as it rippled over the patchwork quilt hed found on the back of the sofa and thrown over her.
Nick supposed that he might have missed appreciating the delicate bones of her jaw when it was clenched in irritation because hed forgotten the wipe tests again. He might not have noticed the pouting fullness of her lips when they were flapping at him for spilling stain on the UV projector or running the sterilizer too hot. But as Nick looked at Genius Watson now, he wondered how he ever could have dismissed her as ordinary. How he could have failed to look beyond the prickly gray wool and scratchy lace collars to see the woman beneath. Because, Lord, she was beautiful when she was unconscious.
It was too bad shed wake up eventually.
Wellington? Her soft voice jolted him back to reality. Hed been so busy staring at her, hed missed that her eyes were open, cloudy with fatigue and pain. Why are you still here?
He shrugged and tried to choke down the hot ball ofsomething that rose when she sat up on the couch and the quilt drifted down to her waist. The hospital gown slipped far off her shoulder, down to the creamy up slope of a breast the likes of which he never would have imagined hid beneath those awful clothes. She shifted again and the material dipped lower, baring the faintest hint of darker, nubbled flesh
Get a grip, Wellington! The voice didnt sound like the Senator now, it sounded like a slightly hysterical version of Nicks own. That breast is attached to Genius Watson. Remember her? The most overbearing, overbright, annoying female youve ever had the misfortune of sharing lab space with?
The voice was right. He had to get a grip. He shook his head to clear it. The incident that afternoon must have shaken him more than hed thought. That was the only rational explanation for his sudden interest in Dr. Geniuss breasts.
I He cleared his throat. I had to promise the doc Id stay, so youre stuck with me for the night unless theres someone else youd rather I call.
She closed her eyes in pain, or perhaps annoyance. No, but that doesnt mean you have to stay. Thanks for the ride home, but you can leave now. Ill be fine by myself.
Nick settled himself on the wide marshmallow of a love seat opposite her couch and linked his fingers behind his head. I dont blame you for wanting some space, but Id be going back on my word if I left you alone. He crossed his legs at the ankles. Either I stay or you go back to Boston General. Got it?
She frowned. I said Ill be fine, Beef. I dont need your help.
Nick, he corrected, ignoring the rest. You call me Beef tonight and Ill take you back to the E.R. and tell the doctor that you seized and I think you need every sort of invasive, embarrassing test imaginable.
Fine. Nick. Whatever. She gave in with ill grace, struggled to her feet and swayed. Im going to go take a shower.
He held a hand out to steady her. Shouldve known shed be a difficult patient. Shed never made anything easy for him before, why start now? Hed probably have been better off leaving her in the hospital. But no, as he watched her shiver in the warm, cozy living room, he knew he couldnt have done that.
Growing up, he had learned early and well that it was up to him to protect the people around him. And if ever in his life Nick had seen someone in need of protection, she was standing right in front of him, trying to look tough and self-reliant even though the kitten skulking behind the television could probably have knocked her over with one tiny paw.
Ever the politicians son, Nick chose his words carefully. He couldnt very well help her if she kicked him out on his ass. I dont think thats a good idea. What if you black out and hit your head again? Then its back to the hospital and Nurse Mustache for sure.
She shuddered and he saw a flash of vulnerability beneath the pricklesa confused, hurt woman looking out through Genius Watsons bruised eyesand the image only strengthened his desire to help. I need a shower, Wellinguh, Nick. My brain may not be telling me what happened today, but my body remembers. She rubbed her arms and he noticed a series of marks on her shoulder, near her throat. Four bruises the size of a mans fingers.
He felt the anger boil low in his gut and hated the fact that an intruder had come into the lab and he hadnt done a thing to stop it. He should have sheltered the people he worked with. He should have been smarter. Faster. Better.
Genie shivered again, and Nick gave in to the urge to soothe. He touched her bruised cheek with the back of his hand, was surprised by the quick jolt that ran the length of his arm at the contact, and was even more surprised when the visible outline of a taut, peaked nipple showed through the thin hospital robe, mute testimony that shed felt it, too.
Whoa there, he thought, trying to quell the quick thump of his libido. Protect, remember? Protect, not ogle. You dont even like her. And besides, shes had a hell of a day. Leave her alone. Figuring that his conscience had a point there, Nick took a deep breath and willed away the surprisingly compelling image of Dr. Genius wearing nothing but a lab coat. Well
She frowned and the hurt moved to the back of those pretty gray eyes. Dont give me grief on this, Wellington. In case youve forgotten, someone broke into Thirteen today andruined the developer. Her eyes darted to the shadows near the kitchen and she tapped her temple. Whoever did it is up here I saw him. I heard him. And I dont remember any of it. I need to remember it. Now, if youll excuse me, Im going to take a shower and Id like a little privacy.
She tried to brush past him, but her grand exit was ruined when she wobbled on the first stair. Cursing under his breath, Nick grabbed her elbow just as she was about to lose her balance and half carried her up the stairs.
GENIE DISCOVERED THAT Wellingtons version of privacy was far different from her own when he helped her into the shower, pulled the see-though butterfly curtain closed and waited for her to pass out the hospital johnny and the zebra underwear.
Her hands were shaking when she finally pointed the nozzle at the tiled wall while the water heated. She could see him standing by the sink, his broad shoulders and narrow hips made wavy by the plastic curtain, and she wondered what it was that she felt when he came near her. What were those warm vibrations that ran through her at his touch and made her snarl? Concussion, or something else?
Something impossible that jittered in her stomach and confused her. She, who was never, ever confused.
It had to be the circumstances, she told herself. She was still shaky, that was all. Shed been attackedthere, shed said itin her own lab. She could be excused for being shaky.
A tear cruised down her cheek and she didnt bother to brush it away.
When the water was hot, she turned it toward her chest, careful to keep the stitches dry. Shed wash her hair later, but for now she let the heavy stream of water beat down on her breasts and belly, washing away her attackers unremembered touch and easing the soreness of the angry bruises at her hips and breasts.