Explosive Attraction - By Lena Diaz Page 0,73
he was about to see. Darby was probably comatose by now, being shoved up in that dark hole. And Nick... Rafe didn’t even want to admit to himself what he knew deep inside. There was so much blood.
“Give me some light in here,” he rasped, trying to see inside the hole.
Buresh waved at one of the bomb techs who was examining the pipe bomb. The tech unclipped a flashlight from his utility belt and handed it to Buresh.
He clicked it on, pointing it into the hole.
Rafe peered inside. In the cold, dark tomb, two very green eyes blinked back at him. Darby raised her hand to shield her eyes, bumping her elbow in the tight space as she jackknifed around to look at him.
“Hurry, Rafe,” she ordered. “The knife moved when I pulled Nick in here. I can’t stop the bleeding.”
He swallowed against the lump rising in his throat. “You crawled in a dark hole. You pulled Nick inside?”
She grinned. “I did! He helped a little. I slapped him like you told me to.”
He would have laughed, but his heart was pounding so hard at the thought of how close she’d come to being killed that he couldn’t speak.
“The bomb didn’t explode,” Darby said. “We didn’t turn into pink clouds.”
Rafe shuddered. He yelled at his fellow bomb techs. “Load and go. We’ve got wounded here. Let’s get them out. Now!”
Chapter Eighteen
Darby wiped her palms on her slacks. She stared at the hospital room door and tried to work up the nerve to knock. She hadn’t seen Rafe or Nick since yesterday, when they’d been taken away in the ambulance. After everything that had happened, why was she so afraid to open the door to their room?
She knew why. Because with the bomber dead, she had no excuses anymore to be with Rafe. Once she thanked him and said goodbye, she would go back to her life. He would go back to his. Instead of lovers, they’d be adversaries again.
No, that wasn’t true. She’d never think of him as her adversary again. Because she was pathetically, hopelessly in love with him. That realization had slammed into her when she watched him being carted off in the ambulance. The sight of all that blood had nearly driven her to her knees, because it was Rafe’s blood. But what good was it to realize you were in love with someone, when they weren’t in love with you?
“Miss, do you need something?” A nurse paused in the hallway, a curious smile on her face.
“No, I’m... I was going to say hello to Detective Morgan, but I think maybe he’s sleeping. I’ll come back later.”
“Have you knocked?”
“No. Wait, don’t—”
The nurse rapped on the door.
“Come in,” Rafe’s deep voice called out from inside.
“He’s awake,” the nurse said, holding the door open. “Go on in.”
Panic rooted Darby in place. “I’ve changed my mind. I—”
“I can hear you, Darby,” Rafe said in a loud voice. “Get in here.”
Darby wanted to kick the nurse. She forced a smile instead. “Thank you.”
“Have a nice visit.” The nurse headed back down the hall.
“Darby?” Rafe repeated, sounding annoyed.
Darby drew a deep, bracing breath, and entered the room.
“It’s about time you came to see me,” Rafe said from his hospital bed.
Darby stepped to his side. She glanced at Nick, lying in the other bed in their shared room.
“Don’t worry about him,” Rafe said. “He’s asleep.”
“No, I’m not.” Nick winced and opened his eyes. “I wish I were. You’d think the nurses were paying for the morphine out of their own pockets, as stingy as they are with it. I’m in pain here.”
“Suck it up and shut up,” Rafe growled. “Darby, come closer.”
She bristled at his order. “You’re still too bossy.”
“And you’re still too stubborn.” His expression softened. “So stubborn you pushed through your fears and did the impossible. You saved my brother. Thank you.”
Her face heated and she glanced at Nick. He propped his arms behind his head and didn’t bother to pretend he wasn’t watching their exchange with interest.
“I didn’t save him. The bomb didn’t explode.”
“You still get credit. Tell her thank-you, Nick.”
“Thank you, darlin’, from the bottom of my heart.” He rubbed his chin. “Although, if there’s ever a next time, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t hit me quite so hard to get my attention. I think you cracked my jaw.” He winked as if to let her know he was teasing.
Darby nodded, feeling uncomfortable with the praise. “I’m just glad you’re both going to be okay. I heard you