Evie's Bombshell - By Amy Andrews Page 0,20

had a clue how close she’d come to being a drowning statistic. The thought sent a chill up his spine.

As much as she was a pain in his butt, the thought of her not being around was unthinkable.

Did she not realise how precious life was?

Had growing up with that damn silver spoon in her mouth blinded her to the perils mere mortals faced every day?

Bloody little princess!

His ribs grabbed and moaned at him with every footfall, stoking his anger at her stupidity higher and higher.

Evie had eaten half of the cake before his silent skulking finally got on her last nerve. ‘Why don’t you just say it, Finn?’

Finn stopped mid-pace and looked at her. Her hair was still damp from her near-death experience in an unfriendly ocean and despite her obvious exhaustion she looked so damned imperious and defiant he wanted to put her over his knee and spank her. He threw the tray on the bed.

‘What the devil were you doing, swimming by yourself? You could have been swept out to sea, dashed on the rocks, drowned from exhaustion, frozen to death or been eaten by a bloody shark!’

Evie blinked at the litany of things that could have befallen her. They’d lurked in her mind as the current had dragged her further and further away from the shore but she’d tried not to give them any power. Trust Finn to shove them in her face.

Did he really think she needed them spelled out?

Did he think she hadn’t collapsed on her butt in the shower, shaking from head to toe at the what-ifs? That she hadn’t thought about how she’d not only put her life at risk but the life of their unborn child? She’d never been more grateful to feel the energetic movements of her baby as she’d stripped off her clothes in the shower.

‘I know,’ she said quietly

But Finn had started pacing again and was, apparently, on a roll. ‘And none of us would have known. You’d just suddenly be missing, just … gone.’ He clicked his fingers in the air. ‘And there’d be hundreds of people everywhere out there, looking for you. Combing the bush and the ocean, and your sisters would be frantic and your father would want to shut this place down and wouldn’t rest until Ethan—’ He stopped and glared at her. ‘A good man doing good things was nailed to a wall but what would you care? You’d be dead.’

Evie dragged in a rough breath at the passion of his mesmerising speech and his heated gaze that swept over her as if he could see down to her bones.

And what about you, Finn? How would it make you feel?

It hadn’t been her goal to scare an admission out of him but his tirade gave her a little hope. Would he be this het up about someone he didn’t have feelings for?

‘I’m sorry,’ she apologised.

‘Well, that’s not enough!’ He twisted to resume his pacing but the abrupt movement jarred through his injury and he cursed under his breath, movement impossible as he grabbed automatically at his ribs with one hand and the wooden framework at the foot of the bed with the other.

Evie sat forward. ‘Finn?’ He didn’t answer, just stood sucking in air, his eyes squeezed shut, his hand splinting his chest. ‘Finn!’

‘I’m fine,’ he snapped.

Evie peeled back the cover and crawled to the end of the bed on her hands and knees. ‘You are not,’ she said as she drew level with him. ‘Let me look,’ she said, reaching for his shirt.

Finn stood upright, batting her hand away. ‘I said I’m fine, damn it!’

She was wearing a baggy T-shirt and loose cotton shorts that came to just above her knee and she smelled fresh and soapy from the shower and she was so close he wanted to drag her into his arms and assure himself that she really was okay.

But he also wanted to kiss her hard and lose himself in her for a while, and he was more than pleased there was a wooden bed end as a barrier between them.

‘Finn, I’m a doctor, remember?’

‘So am I.’

She nodded. ‘Which is exactly why you shouldn’t be diagnosing yourself.’

‘It’s just a bruise,’ he dismissed.

She reached for his shirt, laying her hand against his chest. ‘Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?’ she murmured.

Her palm print seared into his chest and shot his resolve down in flames. He knew he should step back, walk away, but she was lifting his shirt