Safe from Harm (Protect & Serve #2)(13)

“Who is she?” Elle asked.

Wanda clacked on the keyboard with long, gold-lacquered nails. “Dr. Isabel Morales. Now, who are you looking for, baby?”

“Gabe Dawson,” Elle murmured, frowning at Dr. Morales’s back, wondering why the woman’s name sounded so familiar.

The nurse made a few rapid keystrokes, then gave a curt nod. “Looks like he’s in recovery. Gonna be a little while before he can have visitors. You can go sit in the family waiting room.”

“Oh, no,” Elle said in a rush, shaking her head. “I’m not family. I’m just…” She paused, not quite sure how to categorize their relationship. Girlfriend certainly wasn’t an option, considering he didn’t remember anything that had happened between them and had moved on with a vengeance. And reluctant colleague seemed kind of impersonal and catty considering how he’d thrown himself in front of her to protect her from harm. She probably owed him at least that dinner he’d offered now that he’d taken a bullet for her. She forced a smile when she saw Wanda giving her an expectant look. “A friend. I’m just a friend.”

Wanda pursed her lips. “Mmm-hmm.”

Elle glanced at her aunt, then back at the nurse. “No. Really. I wouldn’t even call it a friendship. He’s kind of an ass. I mean, okay, he’s really good-looking and all, don’t get me wrong, and he does have his moments now and then, but there’s nothing going on—”

Wanda turned back to her monitor. “Mmm-hmm.”

Elle huffed a little and turned to her aunt, giving her an exasperated look.

“C’mon, sweet girl,” Charlotte said with a grin, steering Elle away from the desk and toward the elevators. “Let’s get you home. I imagine Mac and the boys’ll be wanting to see Gabe when he first wakes up. You can stop by tomorrow to check on him.”

“Why are you grinning?” Elle protested as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. “You know he gets on my last nerve! Like there’d ever be anything going on between us. I can barely stand to be in the same room as him. His ego makes things a little crowded.”

Charlotte made no effort at all to smother her grin. “Mmm-mmm.”

Elle gave her a sardonic look. “Et tu, Charlotte?”

Charlotte laughed and gave her niece a gentle squeeze around the shoulders. “I seem to remember you didn’t always find Gabe Dawson so repugnant. In fact, as I recall, a certain freckle-faced teenager had a mighty big crush on him back in the day.”

Elle sniffed dismissively. “Well, that teenager grew up,” she mumbled. “Unfortunately, the object of her affection did not.”

“Anything you want to tell me, honey?” Charlotte asked.

Elle glanced at her aunt but quickly averted her gaze, not liking how perceptive the woman sometimes was. “No. Why?”

Charlotte gave Elle’s shoulders a squeeze. “You just seem to be pretty concerned for the well-being of a man you insist you despise.”

Elle shrugged, trying to appear indifferent to Charlotte’s words. “I’d be just as concerned about anyone else I work with.”

But even as she spoke the words, Elle studied her reflection in the mirror, grateful that she’d only have a small scar at her hairline to show for what had happened that day. Thanks to Gabe.

And a small—very small—part of her began to wonder if maybe she’d misjudged him all these years. If maybe there was something more to Gabe Dawson than she’d been willing to see…





Chapter 4


The first face Gabe saw when he awoke was his brother Tom’s, his brows drawn together in an uncharacteristically dark frown. “Hey, man, how ya doin’?”

“Livin’ the dream,” Gabe mumbled, his mouth feeling like it was full of cotton. “You alright? How’s Elle? She was bleeding. Is she okay?”

“I’m fine,” Tom assured him. “And Elle will be okay. She needed some stitches but was otherwise unharmed. She came by asking about you before Charlotte took her home. She looked pretty worried.”

Gabe blinked a little through the lingering fog of anesthesia. “She did? I’ll be damned.”

“You saved her life, Son. I’m sure she’s grateful.”

Gabe’s gaze swung toward the sound of his father’s voice to see him wearing the same expression as Tom. Shit. Seeing those two visibly worried about him rattled him down to his bones.

“It was Mark Monroe,” Gabe rasped. “That son of a bitch—”

“Is dead,” Tom finished, his gaze dropping. That look told Gabe everything he needed to know. Tom had taken the bastard down and had no doubt saved numerous lives, including Gabe’s. But that didn’t make it any easier on Tom. In all the years Tom had been a deputy, he’d never even had to draw his weapon. Until today. “You don’t have to worry about him.”

“Yeah,” Gabe murmured, the spike of fear he’d experienced in that moment on the steps rushing back on him and making his heart race. The tempo of the beeping monitors near his head gave him away, bringing in a fierce-looking nurse with numerous loops of crimson braids.

“Alright, now,” she said, shooing Tom out of her way. “I told you all that you needed to let him rest.” She patted Gabe on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll take good care of you. You go on and get some sleep now.”