Backdraft by Cher Carson Page B

the exchange with open interest.
    Glancing at him, she asked, “How’s the hand?”
    He held up his bandaged hand. “Better, I guess. The stitches have to come out tomorrow. Maybe I’ll pop by the hospital and let you do the honors.”
    She brushed past Dave and opened the drawer to retrieve the cutlery. “That’s not necessary. Your doctor can remove the stitches.”
    He leaned his backside against the counter, folding his arms over his chest as he watched her. “Maybe I’d rather have you do it. Your hands are a whole lot softer than old Doc Murphy’s.”
    She tried to ignore him, but he didn’t make it easy. “Emergency rooms are for emergencies, Briar. Removing a few stitches hardly qualifies.”
    He crowded in behind her, whispering, “I’m sorry, baby.”
    Her breath was trapped in her throat. She couldn’t move or speak when he was standing so close. Didn’t he care that an audience hung on their every word?
    “I overreacted,” he said quietly. “I was so damn caught up in the past…”
    “Stop it,” she hissed. “I don’t want to talk about this here.”
    “Then when? Where?”
    “Do you need any help setting the table, sweetheart?” Chris asked.
    Forcing a smile, and trying to ignore the muscle jumping in Dave’s jaw as he clenched his teeth in frustration, she said, “No, I’m good. Why don’t you go in and watch the game with Dad and Jack?”
    He laughed. “You know I don’t know the first thing about football.”
    “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Dave muttered, cocking an elbow on the counter behind him. “You play any sports, doc?”
    Maya glared at him, certain he was intent on challenging Chris’s masculinity because he felt threatened by their relationship.
    “Just a little tennis when I have the chance,” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets.
    “Tennis? You don’t say…” Dave said, not even trying to hide his smirk as he glanced at Jack, who shook his head in shared amusement.
    “I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of time for anything outside of the hospital, and the little free time I do have, I prefer to spend with Maya.”
    His comment obviously hit its intended target when Dave rose up, glaring at him. “Is that so?”
    “Uh, why don’t we catch the last few minutes of the game, buddy?” Jack said, beckoning to his friend with a crooked finger. “I’m sure Dad would appreciate the company.”
    Without tearing his eyes off his adversary, Dave said, “Sure, why not?”
    “Lemme grab us one more beer,” Jack said. “You head on in. I’m right behind you.” He looked at Chris as he reached into the fridge for two long-necks. “You sure you don’t want to join us?”
    “No, I’ll just stay out here and keep Maya company.”
    Dave growled before snagging the beer Jack offered and allowing himself to be pushed out of the room.
    “I’m sorry about that,” Maya said, grimacing. “If I’d known he would be here, I never would’ve invited you.”
    He braced his hands on the back of the chair in front of him. “Would you have come if you’d known he would be here?”
    “I just said…”
    Eyeing her carefully, he said, “You said you wouldn’t have invited me, but would you have come by yourself?”
    She reached for a stack of dinner plates in the overhead cabinet. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
    “I’m asking if you’re still interested in him. Is that why you told me you weren’t ready to make a commitment right now?”
    She sighed. “Do we have to get into this here, with him in the next room?”
    “No, but we do have to talk about this, and the sooner, the better.”

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     
    Dave tried to hold his tongue all evening, but watching her with another man, a man who was very obviously in love with her, killed him. The only thing he had to be grateful for was the fact that her left hand was still blessedly bare. If she had walked in tonight wearing another man’s wedding ring, he’d have