Maybe she needed to forget the men of Strawberry Valley and say yes to the next citidiot who asked her out. He wouldn’t be boyfriend material, but he also wouldn’t stick around town and gossip about her lack of talent. Of course, he wouldn’t settle for a few hip thrusts, either. He’d want all her clothes to come off and her backside grinding into his crotch until he reached a happy ending. Which wasn’t actually a half-bad idea, except for that last part...and it would certainly stop Jessie Kay’s snoring fit.
A tap on her arm had her glancing up. Her sister’s mouth was moving, but her gaze was not on Brook Lynn.
“—be in here,” she was saying.
Brook Lynn smelled him before she saw him. Honey-and-oat-scented soap. Tingling and heating, she turned her head and found Jase standing at her bedside. His features were taut, his arms crossed; the muscles beneath his skin flexed. His clothes were wrinkled, proof he’d slept in the waiting room, unwilling to leave her.
And I don’t have the lady balls to talk with him? I suck.
“Give us a few minutes,” she said to her sister.
“Are you sure?” Jessie Kay asked, looking nervous on her behalf.
No, but she nodded anyway.
After giving her hand a final comforting squeeze, Jessie Kay strolled out of the room and shut the door behind her.
Brook Lynn drew in a deep breath and faced Jase. He wasn’t peering at her, but at the wall over her shoulder. He plowed a hand through his hair and stalked to the chair Jessie Kay had vacated. She watched him, silent, unsure. Waiting, hoping. Dreading.
Finally, the wait proved to be too much.
“Thank you for paying the hospital bill,” she said. “But I can’t accept your money.”
That green gaze at last moved...and locked on her. His blank mask was firmly in place. “You refused to see me. Why?”
She racked her brain for the proper response. Her reason had been a good one—Jessie Kay wanted him, and being around him only made Brook Lynn ache for what she couldn’t have. She refused to lie, but at the same time she had to protect her emotions.
“I’m choosing not to answer you,” she finally said.
“Are you afraid of me?”
“Define afraid,” she said.
He didn’t speak for a long while, and she began to squirm on the bed. Fought the urge to babble. Yes, I’m afraid of you. Of what you make me feel. Of what would happen if ever I fell for you.
“You don’t have a choice about the money,” he said. How like him. He’d ignored her request and changed the subject. “It’s already done.”
“I know, but I will pay you back.”
“And I won’t accept.”
They’d see about that.
“Tell me about your ears,” he said.
Suddenly self-conscious, she shifted on the bed. “Without the implants, I hear everyday noises at a higher volume than other people.”
“What caused it?”
“I was born that way.”
“So you’ve suffered all your life?”
“I used to wear earmuffs. They helped. And I realize I’ve missed two days of work,” she said, changing tracks, “but you don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of your list tomorrow.”
He was shaking his head before she could finish. “No. You’ll be resting.”
He was going to treat her like an invalid, wasn’t he? “Are you planning to fire me?”
He flinched, as though horrified by the thought. “No.”
“Then I’m going to do my job.”
“Then I’m firing you,” he said simply.
She sat up, grabbed him by the shirt collar and yanked him closer to her. As strong as he was, he could have resisted, and she wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. She leaned toward him until they were almost nose to nose.
“Now you listen to me, Jase Hollister. My ears are messed up and unless there are extreme advances in medicine they will always be that way. Some days, like today, I’m totally deaf. Other days I can hear just fine. I have little machines attached inside and out, and sometimes they have flashing lights. People stare.”
His gaze dropped to her lips, and she shivered, almost losing her nerve to continue.
“But that’s it,” she said. “That’s the extent of my problem. I’ll heal from this newest surgery, and I will work. I will do a good job. You will not baby me. Do you understand?”