Page 35 of Hidden Resolution

“Look, I’m sure she would’ve explained it if you’d bothered to return her calls. As it is, you’ll have to wait to talk to her. I don’t care to go into it right now.”

“Zack!” Mason barked, furious at his brother’s rude comment. “Don’t speak to her like that. She’s not done anything wrong.”

“No, nothing you didn’t do, right?” Zack snapped. “You’ve avoided me for the last three days. If you’d have returned a goddamned text or call, this might have been prevented. I could’ve been with Erica today while you ran the office.” The rage, which had come upon him suddenly, left as abruptly. Shaken, he ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. “I’m sorry, Mason. I…”

Mason felt like a complete shit. “No. You’re right. There’s no excuse to avoid responsibility. It won’t happen again.”

The waiting room was relatively silent after Dane left, leaving each to their tumultuous thoughts.

“Mr. Sharp?” They shot to their feet as a recovery-room nurse entered the room. She directed the next words to Zack as he rushed forward. “Ms. Sutton is being wheeled to her room, two-twenty-three. You can head there now. We ask you keep it to only two visitors at a time.”

“Thank you.” He turned to Shonda. “Do you mind if I see her alone first?”

Shonda’s agreement was a soft smile, and Zack returned it with a broad one of his own before giving her a tight hug. Bending, he spoke directly into her ear. The slight blush staining her cheeks put Mason’s back up.

Zack followed up with a hard, fast kiss on her lips. His grin widened the instant Mason objected, and with a wink for Shonda, Zack dashed toward the elevators.

Left to stew in his own juices, Mason grew increasingly pissed at how friendly his brother had gotten with Shonda, and worse, how receptive she’d been to Zack’s friendliness.

When he couldn’t take it a second longer, he snapped. “What the hell was that?”

“What?” Her puzzled expression might’ve been adorable if he wasn’t seething.

“That.” He gestured wildly toward the door. “The scene with my brother.”

“Mason, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

And likely she didn’t. He’d been silently spiraling for a good fifteen minutes before working up the nerve to call her out.

“The flirting with my brother,” he ground out.

“Dude. Are you insane?” Her incredulous glare was backed by fire and fury. Her righteousness sent all his petty little demons straight back to hell. “My best friend—who is your brother’s new girlfriend—was stabbed and is lying in recovery.Do you really think so little of me to believe I’d make a move on her man?”

Well, no, not when she put it that way.

Christ, what was going on with him?

“Asshole!” Her scathing comment cut.

“I guess sniffing me is out of the question?” he offered, managing a sheepish grin.

She stormed from the room as if she couldn’t bear to look at him. And honestly, he didn’t blame her.

Hewasa total asshole.

11

Shonda wandered the halls until she stumbled across Dr. Montgomery. In the back of her mind, she registered he was high on the yumminess scale. Erica would appreciate hearing her opinion when she was awake and lucid. She always knew how to admire a hot guy.

After thanking him for his help, Shonda followed his directions to Erica’s room. Pushing through the door, she came upon Zack perched on the bed, waving a bag of donuts under Erica’s nose while they grinned like fools at each other.

Their undeniable love was a boxer’s jab to the chin, and she felt out of place, the intruder in her best friend’s life. She almost left them to their privacy, but her need to connect with Erica propelled her closer.

“Erica?”

“Well, if it isn’t my long-lost friend. You don’t call. You don’t write,” Erica joked tearfully.

The emotions were catching, and Shonda’s eyes filled, too.