Page 10 of Too Guarded to Love (Project VIPER #3)

A dozen questions clamored for attention in Olivia’s drug-induced mind as the doctor stitched up her shoulder.

Because of a freaking bullet wound.

She pushed that incredulity, and the million-dollar questions about who shot her and why, back into the haze and focused on something even more mind-boggling.

How the hell had the stranger in the rain, in a beach town way outside of DC, managed to be her brother’s super soldier teammate?

She’d heard about playboy Captain Nicolas Romero.

Saw the Green Beret’s photo in the Department of Defense’s press release about their program to repurpose special forces amputees into security jobs.

If it hadn’t been raining and dark tonight, if thunder hadn’t boomed when he’d introduced himself, she may have recognized him before she…

Oh God. If the nurse wasn’t holding one hand and the other wasn’t numb, she’d bury her face in her arms. Instead, she shook her head.

The doctor’s stool squeaked. “We’re almost done stitching you up. You’re lucky the bullet went through and didn’t damage anything vital.”

Oh, there’d been damage all right. She’d nearly treated her brother’s best friend to a blow job. She should have introduced herself as Kane’s sister the moment realization hit, but his arm was as beautiful as his face and as fascinating as his chiseled torso.

She’d only seen her brother a handful of times since VIPER had given him a bionic leg and reason to boast about being a super soldier.

As a sister, she laughed at his cockiness as she thanked the Department of Defense with all her heart for giving her brother the gift of mobility and a second chance at his career.

As a surgeon, she wanted to know every nuance about the medical marvel attached to his hip, but she wasn’t getting that close to her brother’s crotch, even in the name of science.

As a woman, she couldn’t stop herself when she discovered who Nic was.

The whole man was a work of art. Her examination of his arm hadn’t been born from mere curiosity.

She’d been drawn to him, like a force called her to learn the secrets of not just the sleek black metal that made him something extraordinary, but the man beneath.

When the part of him hidden by his boxers made an appearance, she’d needed one more taste before she confessed her name and broke the connection she felt to her core.

And when her brother found out she’d seduced his teammate, he was going to kill her.

Let Joe handle it.

Keep her safe.

“Fuck it.” Nic pushed open the double doors to the waiting area as he cursed Olivia and his sense of responsibility.

Rounding the corner, he spotted Joe by the intake desk. Gloria stood beside him as Jonathan Garrity, Nic presumed, spouted credentials and demanded to see his fiancée.

Good luck with that. Gloria would cut this guy down so quickly there’d be blood on the floor when she was through with him.

Nic shoved his hand into his pocket as he inched closer.

He didn’t need Gloria or his superpowers to deal with the arrogant ass in the expensive-looking charcoal suit.

He didn’t need intimidation either. Instead, he employed a survival skill he’d picked up long before he’d joined the military—listening.

Gloria hugged her tablet against her chest. “I understand you’re worried about your fiancée. Since you are the most well-known, well-respected neurosurgeon in Atlanta, as you mentioned, I’m sure you understand privacy laws.”

Joe hooked his thumbs on his utility belt. “If Dr. Darren is here, and if she agrees to share information with you, we will be in contact.”

Jonathan didn’t bother to mask his irritation as he brushed his hand over his silver-speckled brown hair. “If my fiancée is here, I deserve to know. She shouldn’t be alone.”

Nic stepped next to Gloria. “Olivia’s not alone.”

Something flashed in Jonathan’s muddy-brown gaze. Was that recognition? Nic was sure he’d never met the guy before.

Jonathan held out his hand. “I’m Dr. Jonathan Garrity, Olivia’s fiancée. And you are?”

“A friend who knows nothing about a fiancée.” Nic shoved his steel deeper into his pocket. “And I didn’t see a ring on her finger.”

Jonathan dropped his hand as he lowered his gaze to Nic’s hip.

Good. The jerk had noticed the handshake snub. Nic only let people he liked touch his steel.

Jonathan shoved his own hand in his pocket and withdrew a cell phone. “Olivia and I have both been busy. We haven’t even had a chance to announce our engagement yet or look at rings, but I assure you she’s mine.”

Nic prayed she wasn’t. He didn’t want to add “cheater” to the list of reasons Dr. Olivia Darren spelled trouble, and he didn’t want Kane to end up with this douche as a brother-in-law.

He ignored the part of him that didn’t like thinking about her with another man.

“Olivia’s family designated me as the only person who has access to her and her information, so for the time being, she isn’t yours. ”

“Her family?” Jonathan’s eyes widened as he darted his gaze around the crowded waiting room. “Is her brother here?”

Joe stepped in front of him. “It’s time for you to leave, Mr. Garrity. If Dr. Darren wants to contact you, she will.”

Jonathan’s phone chimed. His tanned brow furrowed as he read the message. “Please call when she asks about me.” He withdrew a business card from his pocket and handed it to Gloria. “I’ll come right over so she has someone here who cares about her.”

She already does.

Nic sighed. Of course he cared about Kane’s sister. He’d battled terrorists to rescue Chris’s wife, Scarlett, and a drug cartel to rescue Kane’s fiancée, Beth, and he’d do it again.

Their lips hadn’t been on his cock, though.

Gloria blew out a breath as the sliding doors closed behind Jonathan. “Well, that was interesting.” She shot Nic a glare. “And unethical.”

Nic shrugged as he watched the guy stalk into the parking lot. “I didn’t break any privacy laws. He clearly already knew she was here.”

She backed away. “I’m going to pretend I never heard this conversation. ”

Joe pulled out his notepad. “I’ll have Dr. Darren’s car checked for a tracker.”

“Thanks.” Nic stared at the glass doors long after Jonathan disappeared. “I have a feeling this is going to be a long damn night.”

“Nic?”

Goose bumps pricked the back of his neck as he spun to face the woman he’d hoped to never see again.

She tossed back her electric-blue hair as she jumped from her seat.

The last time he’d seen Natalie, her hair had been as yellow as the bananas on the convenience store counter where they’d bumped into each other.

The time before that at an Italian restaurant, as red as the marinara sauce on his pasta.

Bracing himself, he gritted his teeth as she dropped a motorcycle helmet in the empty chair next to her and hurried across the waiting room.

“Holy shit. Nic Romero.” She eyed him from head to toe. “Nice to see you again, even if it is in the ER. You okay?”

He stiffened at the gleam in her makeup-laden eyes. He’d learned the hard way he couldn’t trust it. “I’m fine. Just helping out a friend.”

“Me too. He’s getting an X-ray now. I told him he takes his turns too fast, but…

” She shrugged her shoulders. “Boys will be boys. How long has it been since we’ve seen each other?

” She raised her eyes to the ceiling and tapped her chin.

“Oh, I know. It was at that convenience store in Virginia, six months-ish ago, remember? You were wearing your uniform and looked so handsome.”

“Yeah, I remember.” He’d stopped for gas and a container of mints before he headed to the church for his buddy’s wife’s?—

He stepped back from Natalie and the memories she unearthed. A crash down memory lane wasn’t on his agenda. “I’ve got to go. ”

“Don’t you have a few minutes to spend with an old friend?”

Getting a colonoscopy sounded more appealing than spending another second with her.

She had the old part right, though. Even though she was the same age as him, the dark circles under her blue eyes and the lines etched into her porcelain skin made her look a decade older. The friend part was a dead lie, though.

She touched his sleeve. “How come it seems like every time I come to the East Coast, you’re in my path? Remember when I saw you at that restaurant in DC?”

And he’d like to forget it. That had been over a year ago, right after he’d learned about?—

Fuck. The girl possessed an eerie ability to show up when he was at his lowest.

She cocked her head to the sign pointing to the cafeteria. “Let’s get something to eat while we wait for our friends and talk baseball. Did you see the catcher Cleveland brought up from the minors? The way he throws down to second reminds me of when you used to…”

The antiseptic hospital smell morphed into another odor as memories he’d locked down busted from their prison.

Rubber, polyester, and well-oiled leather burned in a bonfire so close it singed the tips of his toes.

Sparks flew into his face from the sky-high flames.

The heat singed his skin and smoke scorched his eyes, but he didn’t let a single tear fall.

Teenagers needed to learn that mistakes led to consequences.

“I’ve got to go.”

She pressed her painted lips into a pout. “Come on, Nic. I accepted your apology the last time I saw you, and the time before that. I thought we were good.”

He’d never apologized, and they’d never been good. What would be fucking great? Erasing her from his memories. And if she dared bring up baseball again, she might be the one in triage. He’d never hit a woman, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t fantasize about it.

Unlike reality, fantasies didn’t have consequences.

“Mr. Romero.”

Nic spun toward the female voice behind him. He could have kissed the nurse for the interruption.

“Hi again. I’m Brittany. We spoke earlier. You can see Ms. Darren now.”