Strong and Sexy (Sky High Air #2)(52)

His heart stopped. Just plain stopped.

“Ouch. Ouch.”

At the sound of Dani’s voice, Shayne’s knees nearly gave out, but he moved around the bed.

She was on her knees on the floor, holding her head.

“Jesus.” He dropped to his knees too, and reached for her.

“No,” she whispered, very carefully not moving a single inch. “Don’t touch me. Don’t even look at me.”

“Dani—”

“Oh, God. And don’t talk. Please…” With the care of the very inebriated, or from someone in bone-deep pain, she let out a careful breath. “Is my head still on? Because I think it’s falling off.”

“Where the hell is the doctor?”

“They’re inundated right now. Some big traffic accident.” She pulled a wad of towels away from her head, which came away red. “Oh, boy.”

Jesus. As gently as he could, he pushed the compress back to her head and brushed her hair from her face. Pain made her eyes glassy, and he leaned in and touched his lips to her temple. “What happened?”

“Complicated.”

Someone had hurt her, that was clear. The sheer amount of violence that was coursing through him shocked him. And told him something he already knew. Not just sex.

He’d deal with that later.

“I have to…get into this gown.” She swallowed hard. “But if I move, I’m going to throw up.”

“I’ll help you.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you, but I was scared, and—”

“Shh.” He reached for her, scooped her up.

She managed a sound that might have been a pain-tinged laugh, but let him set her on the bed. He grabbed the hospital gown and unfolded it.

“You’ve taken my clothes off twice now. Is three times going to be the charm, I wonder?”

“Charm?”

“The last time.”

“Why?”

A sad smile twisted her lips.

“Dani? Why would it be the last?”

She’d closed her eyes and looked far too pale. “I figure you’re either beginning to panic or at least feeling the need to hightail it away from me.”

“Dani.” He pulled off her shoes. She was shaking. Shock? God.

“Don’t worry, I’ll understand either way.”

Would she? Because he wouldn’t. “Dani, stop. We can talk about us later. What happened to you?”

“Honest. You can go, I’ll be fine.”

She’d be fine? She had a dent in her head, blood pouring out of it, but she’d be fine. Who the hell could walk away from her in this condition?

And why did she think he would?





Chapter 18




A uniformed cop stuck his head around the curtain of the cubicle. “Dani Peterson?”

Shayne looked at him. “Can I help you?”

“Who are you?”

“Dani’s husband.”

Dani twitched, then at the movement, held her head and groaned.

“We need to ask her a few questions,” the cop said, then looked at Dani. “You told one of the night keepers that you saw a dead body.”

A dead body? What the hell? Shayne looked at her, saw the wince cross her face.

“Yes,” she whispered. “That’s right.”

“She’s injured,” Shayne said, feeling extremely tense. “This can wait.”

“It’ll only take a moment.” The cop looked determined. “Ms. Peterson? Where was this dead body?”

“It was in the closet of my office,” Dani said quietly. “I don’t know if it was the same one as before.”

“As before?” The cop didn’t look happy at this news. “What does that mean?”

“Dani, don’t say anything else right now,” Shayne instructed. He turned to the cop. “You’ll need to wait until her doctor clears her before asking anything else.”

The cop’s jaw tightened but he nodded, then turned and left through the curtain, presumably to go get his clearance. Shayne let out a long breath and touched Dani’s face.

She caught his hand. “Husband?”

Yeah. And he did not want to discuss the ease with which the word had rolled off his tongue. “Focus. Dead body?”

“You’re probably wondering what the hell, right?”

“Yes. What the hell?”

“I saw the dead body again.”

“So I heard.”

“In my office closet.” Lying back, she grimaced in pain. “Me and closets…”

“Okay.”

“I know. Sounds crazy.” She drew a shaky breath. “I thought so too, believe me.”

“So what happened to you?”

“I have no idea. I’m thinking my mom and her crazy relationships warped me more than I thought.”

“I meant your head, Dani. What happened to your head?”

“Oh.” She made a sound that might have been a laugh. “After I saw the body, I staggered backward, and then I think I tripped over someone.”

“Who?”

“Or thing. Maybe I tripped over something.” She put both hands to her head as if she could hold it in place. “I don’t know.”