"Precisely." He kissed her parted lips.
"I still am going to pick up the stuff we left on the floor."
"Suit yourself."
"And you have no intention of helping."
"None whatsoever," he told her with an unabashed grin.
"You're used to people like Mrs. Holt picking up after you." She reached for another piece of bread and tore off a piece for him. "I keep wondering if she hates me."
He frowned at her. "Has she said anything to make you think-"
"No." She shook her head hastily. "It's just that I can't help but wonder if she looks at me and finds me wanting. If in her mind, she's wondering what on earth you're doing with someone like me."
"Stop it," he ordered quietly. "And faithful housekeeper or not, if I find out that she has disrespected you in even the smallest way, she's gone."
She stared at him and realized that he meant every word. A lump became lodged in her throat, and she had a difficult time swallowing.
No one had ever had her back this way, and it was overwhelming. He was protective of her, and it meant so much to her that she felt the tears threatening.
"Don't do that," he warned.
"Do what?" Using her lashes to shield her eyes, she plucked at the bread in her hand.
"Cry." Tucking his fingers under her chin, he brought her face up. "Or I'm going to be pissed."
"Then be pissed," she whispered. Putting the bread down, she launched herself into his arms and kissed him instead.
Chapter 14
He was climbing the walls. He had been waiting for what seemed like hours to get an answer. She had been in that operating room far too long. John had told him it was a simple procedure, but they must have found something more terminal. Oh, dear Christ, if he came out here with the word cancer, he was going to be as sorry as hell!
He could not lose her now. What the hell was taking so long? Raking his fingers through his hair, he spun from the window and was about to march straight into that damn room. He stopped short when the door was pushed open and John came in.
Brant clenched his fingers and stood there rigidly without saying a word.
“She’s fine,” John ventured with a tired smile. “I’m sorry it took so long, but there was a cyst-”
“What? She has cancer?” Brant felt a tight fist closing around his heart, making breathing all but impossible.
“No.” The man shook his head firmly. “Just something on her uterus that we removed. She had a significant number of fibroids as well that were rapidly growing. We’ve removed them all.”
Brant relaxed his fingers slowly, the thought of wrapping them around the man’s neck giving way to a cautious kind of relief. “She’s all right?”
John nodded. “She should be coming out of the anesthesia right now.”
“I want to see her. Where is she?”
“In room ten. It’s private and-” The rest was left unsaid as Brant strode past him and out of the room.
“She will need a few days to recover,” John added to himself, a smile touching his lips.
Wonders would never cease, he thought in amazement. The Brant he was familiar with was no more. It was a pleasure to see the man he had become.
“Hi.” Her smile came, the sight of it punching him straight in the heart and making him shudder.
“Hi.” Taking her hand in his, he scrutinized her face carefully. “How are you?”