Code of Conduct, page 5
“I’ll cheer the cheerleader,” the same asshole from last night responded, sounding much closer.
A shot of anger spiked Ted’s pulse. Dr. Bruce Mitchell had arrived on the scene.
Ted slapped the mouse’s left-click button to activate the program he’d written to unwind the harmless bug he had inserted into the firewall. Balling his fingers against the flood of fight-or-flight instincts dumping adrenaline into his veins, he mentally visualized the program’s code to help calm his body.
A blond-haired girl bounced past the window and left the office without looking Ted’s way. Typical.
System Restored popped up on the screen. Shit. That happened too quickly. He needed more time to talk to Doreen—
“What the hell is going on?” Mitchell boomed from the doorway behind him.
Ted whirled just as Doreen jumped from her seat with a hand protecting her throat.
What the...?
Bruce’s eyes widened and his face turned bright red. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He stomped into the room. “I told you to stay away.”
“He’s helping us.” Doreen lifted her free hand as if to calm a wild animal.
Based on Mitchell’s enraged response, the comparison was not too far off.
Ted’s hands began shaking. Fuck. No way would he avoid the fight this time. Another rooster had invaded this cock’s henhouse, and his spurs were out.
“The computers went crazy,” Doreen stammered. “I called Sun Bright and they sent Ted—”
“You allowed him into our system?” Bruce shouted, his neck cording while his body’s muscles rippled underneath his spandex shirt.
Whoa. Extreme reaction much? This asshole was on the verge of bursting a blood vessel and stank of fear.
“We only deal with Stuart,” Bruce bellowed. “I should fire you for this.”
Doreen sucked in a breath, her shaking hand flying to her mouth.
Unthinking, Ted vaulted to his feet. “Quit yelling at her.” His legs trembled and he prayed they supported his weight.
“Ted,” Doreen cautioned, placing hand on his forearm. Electricity scorched his skin from her touch. Holy crap. How could he be nervous about the impending fight, yet horny at the same time?
Bruce’s eyes narrowed on the contact.
“He had no problem accessing the system and searching for the problem,” Doreen continued.
The color drained from Bruce’s face. Without warning, he lunged. The right hook slammed Ted in the temple, shock making Ted forget his defensive lessons.
Doreen screeched, “OH MY GOD,” just as Ted’s glasses flew off his face. He fell against the counter and barely caught himself when pain exploded in his stomach. Of course, Mitchell fought dirty.
Ted doubled over, the air flying from his lungs.
Wailing and yelling filled the office, but he couldn’t focus enough to understand the words.
Mitchell grabbed Ted by the forearms, then immediately let go of one when Doreen reached to pull him away. The doctor twisted his arm in her grip until he was the one holding on to her, squeezing tightly enough to make her flinch.
“Get off me!”
Doreen’s scream cut through Ted’s haze, in time to watch a blurry image of her falling to the floor.
Hell no. He straightened as best he could.
“TED,” Magician barked. “Quit dicking around and remember your training.”
His brain instantly sharpened with the verbal slap. Staying low, he drove his fist into Mitchell’s gut. The hit reverberated up his arm, but he’d sort-of gotten used to hitting solid muscles sparring with Cappy.
The man roared as the hail of fists rained too fast for Ted to block. Mitchell advanced, continuing to jab and hook while he backed Ted into the wall. Ted tried hard but couldn’t block them all. He got in some punches and knew he inflicted some damage, but the man had flipped into a raging maniac, shrugging off the blows like he didn’t feel them.
Spots danced before Ted’s eyes and he figured he had about ten seconds before he passed out.
“Nads,” Magician barked from some ethereal place.
Responding automatically, Ted jerked his knee up, ramming it into Mitchell’s testicles.
The unholy shriek emanating from the guy’s throat raised the hair on Ted’s arm. Mitchell clutched his balls and bent over. Ted raised his knee again and jammed the doctor’s face into it.
The physical therapist fell to the ground and retched onto the industrial carpeting. Tears streamed from the doctor’s eyes as his skin turned interesting shades of red and white.
Ted slumped against the wall. Pain radiated... everywhere and he blinked, trying and failing to clear the spots from his vision. Shit. His legs gave out a second before he blacked out.
7
“Ted!” Doreen lurched from her position on the floor at the same time April released her from the infernal stranglehold she’d pulled her into after Doreen had fallen to the ground. The woman was a lot stronger than she appeared.
Doreen crawled, setting a record for knee-based sprinting, until she reached his body lying in a heap. “Dear God.” Her shaking hands matched her out of control heart while tears coated her cheeks. Bruce had beaten the shit out the guy for doing his job and standing up for her. No one had ever done anything like that for her before, and she was torn between being incredibly moved and horrified.
She hovered just shy of touching him and gasped. Every visible inch seemed covered in blood, bruises, or both. What kind of injuries did his clothes hide?
A grunt echoed behind her and she whirled in time to see her office chair twirling off to the side and April dropping onto Bruce’s back. She hadn’t even realized the man had tried to get back to his feet. Good thing April paid attention. The tech’s knee dug into Bruce’s spine, and she wrapped an arm around his neck and grabbed her wrist with her other hand to lock the hold.
He bucked furiously, but April clung his sides with her thighs and rode him like a bronco, all the while tightening her hold. He slapped at her forearm and tried to punch her leg, but his hits were weakening.
“Ugmph,” he croaked, slapping one more time, then slumped, unconscious.
April exhaled and unwound her arm. “Don’t worry.” She shook her arms. “He’s fine. Just in timeout for a bit.” Standing, she readjusted her skewed hat. “Self-defense training really comes in handy sometimes.”
“Then why didn’t you stop him earlier?” Doreen still hovered above Ted. “Bruce, I mean. And why’d you hold me back? I could’ve helped Ted.”
Ted groaned, seizing Doreen’s full attention. He mumbled between struggling breaths, “Bruce... hurt... you.”
“I’m fine.” Doreen shook her head, fumbling with her clumsy fingers to unbutton his polo. Hopefully, that gave him some air. “He pushed me, and I stupidly fell.”
“No,” Ted opened his eyes. Exotic blues glazed with pain and concern pierced her. “He’d... have hurt... you. Out of... control. Magician did the right thing.”
“Magician?” Oh, Lord. Mixing up a person’s name? A definite sign of a concussion, maybe even brain trauma. Icy fear griped her heart.
“He’s talking about me.” April crouched beside them. “It’s a nickname. Long story.” The tech eased Ted onto his back. “Where does it hurt the most?”
“Everywhere.”
“I bet.” Doreen wanted to help yet didn’t know how.
April stretched to reach her computer bag lumped on the floor by the door. “Doreen, can you call an ambulance?”
“Of course.” Doreen shot to her feet, relieved to have something useful to do. She ran to her desk phone and jabbed a button. A loud squelch shrieked and she winced. “Sorry. I hit the intercom.” Forcing her finger to punch the right button, she snatched up the receiver and dialed, nine-one-one.
April pressed a cell phone to her ear. “Hey, it’s me. Ted’s down.” Pause. “Yes, breathing. The threat’s contained.” Another pause. “Asshole’s not from the expected pool of lowlifes.”
Expected pool? What the hell did that mean? Sun Bright had pools of lowlifes? What?
“Nine-one-one,” a female operator stated, yanking Doreen out of her panicking. “What’s your emergency?”
“I need an ambulance.” She rattled off the address and a brief description of what happened.
“Do you need police assistance, ma’am?”
“Police?” Her eyes flew to Ted’s battered body. “Y—”
“No,” Ted wheezed. “No police. I’m not pressing charges.”
“Ted!” Doreen protested. “He just—”
“No.” Ted’s eyes hardened and his jaw jutted out.
Doreen sighed. “No police. Just the ambulance.”
April patted Ted’s wrist as if trying to calm his agitation, then lowered her voice as she continued her call. As Doreen hung up, she swore she heard April say something about the team securing the hospital. What?
Doreen paced the empty private hospital room. She had already arranged for Parker stay with a neighbor since she was supposed to work late tonight, so at least she didn’t have to rush home. She needed to see this through—needed to make sure Ted was okay, and figure out what the hell was going on.
Periodic pages blared overhead for assistance or for doctors to call an extension. Beeping machines from other patients’ rooms blended with TV’s blasting different programs and hospital staff hustling past the open door. None of it distracted her from the roiling confusion and anxiety inside.
Darkness consumed the view beyond the single window, unable to dispel the harsh fluorescent lighting giving her a headache. Doreen had caught a ride with Magician/April. The tech had tailed the siren-blasting ambulance like a pro while talking privately on her phone in a mishmash of jargon Doreen hadn’t understood. Once they reached the hospital, a medical team whisked Ted away for scans and tests while another group dashed Bruce off for X-Rays. April led Doreen to this room, asked her to wait, then disappeared.
Doreen pivoted at the window and began trekking back across the room. Why did Ted have a private room instead of a curtained bay in the emergency room? It didn’t make sense. Logic aside, she had utilized the tiny bathroom to wash off the scary tracks of mascara lining her cheeks.
Squeaky wheels and joyous giggling approaching from the hallway halted Doreen’s steps. Two seconds later, a narrow gurney filled the doorway. Ted reclined on top, grinning with total abandonment.
“Doooooooreeeeeeeeeeeeennn,” Ted sang, pointing a hand sporting IV lines inserted into the back. The hospital had replaced his uniform with a blue-spotted gown and had thrown a blanket over his lower half. “She’s so pretty, isn’t she?”
A man wearing blue scrubs, a surgical mask and cap, and a long, white coat didn’t reply. He settled Ted’s bed into its designated spot, then locked the wheels with a boot-clad foot.
Ominously heavy footsteps vibrated the sterile hallway tiling, making Doreen’s queasy stomach clench. Judging from the sound, either elephants overran the hospital, or more than one above-average-sized person was about to invade the room.
Ted clapped and giggled. “Aw, man. Bruce is going to miss meeting my dweeb league!”
“Dweeb league?” Doreen parroted, unable to decide whether she should block the doorway against the elephants or shove the doctor aside to wheel Ted’s bed into a corner and stand in front.
“Yeah.” Ted laughed again. “Mitchell called them that after you left the bookstore with Parker. Oh, and nerd herd.”
Wha—
A line of intense, hulking men and a woman stormed into the room. Holy shit. Had Bruce actually seen this bunch before coming up with those gems? Two familiar faces penetrated her adrenaline-laced instinct to protect Ted. “Grady? Sandra? What are you doing here?”
Grady gave Doreen a small smile but quickly shifted his focus back to Ted.
“You guys found the room!” Ted exclaimed, pulling an IV pole closer. “Man, these drugs are awesome.” He fiddled with the machine that administered doses of pain medication. “Hey, Romeo, I bet I could rewire this puppy to dispense alcohol.” His twinkling eyes zeroed onto a ridiculously good-looking dark-haired Adonis. “Whatcha think? Next poker night could be off the chain.”
The Adonis—Romeo?—laughed and gently dislodged the IV pole from Ted’s fist. “How ’bout we put this back here.” He stationed the unit between the top of the bed and the wall. “I think you’re good and toasted for the next few hours.”
“Walk me through it from the top,” an enormously muscled man with a military crew cut ordered in a chainsaw voice. “What the fuck happened?” He deliberately placed his hands on his hips with one dangerously close to—
Jesus. Her mouth dried as her heart slammed against her ribcage. A large black gun was holstered to his belt. So many questions pierced her mind.
April slipped into the room now wearing a pair of fitted jeans and a burgundy sweater, and she had brushed her hair to hang free. Her steps didn’t stop until she reached Adonis/Romeo. He exchanged a look with her that carried a whole conversation Doreen couldn’t interpret as he rested his hand on the small of her back. An envious pang shot through Doreen. She used to have that with her husband... being a part of a unit, two halves of a whole. Her eyes slid to Ted. Could she possibly have that blessing again?
“I can tell you what happened.” Lifting her chin, April faced Muscle Man.
Doreen tuned out April recounting what she wanted to forget, and sidled to the side of Ted’s bed. Her fingers itched to smooth his hair like she would Parker’s, but she suddenly felt shy. She didn’t know him well enough for the intimate touch.
The doctor maneuvered to stand just in front of the IV pole on the other side of the gurney as he pulled the surgical cap and mask off. She gasped. It was the same man who crashed the Labor Day party she hosted at her parents’ farm. He had never told her his name, but she remembered those cold, emerald eyes.
“So, you do recall that there were other men besides Grady at the event,” the “doctor” taunted.
Silence overtook the room.
“Talon,” Muscle Man warned, his tone biting.
Talon shrugged. “I’ll go check on the other guy.” Without waiting for a response, he slipped out of the room.
Ted squirmed and Doreen shifted even closer. No one seemed in a hurry to explain who they were or why they invaded the hospital room. April’s presence Doreen understood; a coworker who participated in the fight would support a colleague. And Ted’s teasing with Romeo suggested friendship. Grady and Sandra were pillars in the Ridge Creek business community—well, until recently, when a drug cartel used Grady’s entertainment center as a battleground. But, regardless, they were safe. She had to assume Muscle Man was part of Ted’s inner circle... part of his dweeb league. So, she had to calm the raging adrenaline and focus on the man consuming way too much of her thoughts.
Braving rejection, she lightly swept a lock of hair off his forehead. He closed his eyes, tilting his face toward her. Incredibly long eyelashes rested against his cheeks. A quiet stillness settled inside, and she exhaled at the sense of peace filling her just from being near him. In that moment, she couldn’t stop falling a little bit deeper for this man. Instead of curling into a ball, crying for his mother, he stoically handled the pain. Not only that, but he’d also stood up to Bruce the second the tirade turned vicious against her. He’d taken a beating and ultimately won. Her son could learn a lot from him.
What would that be like, spending more time with Parker and Ted together? She had no doubt Ted had a genius IQ, based on what April had said along with the way he could spout facts and quotes off the top of his head. Here, at last, was someone who could understand and relate to Parker—someone who had faced the same challenges as her son and managed to thrive and take care of himself. He was exactly the type of influence Parker needed. Her inner vixen had already stamped her approval and fed on the chemistry bouncing between her and Ted. And her heart beat a special rhythm she hadn’t felt since losing her husband. She only had to take the leap and explore this attraction without second-guessing anything. Just feel.
On that vein, she stopped fighting the overwhelming urge and gently kissed the angry lump on his temple.
Ted’s breathing stuttered. He lifted his eyelids and the wonder in his beautiful irises filled her with warmth. “That settles it—I’m playing the injury card.”
Doreen snorted. “Oh, yeah. What’re you angling for?”
Ted clasped her hand resting beside his hip. “Before you get a good look at the men in this room and forget I exist, would you go on a date with me?”
Doreen leaned forward. “Too late.”
Ted’s shoulders slumped. “Oh. Okay. I under—”
“I’ve already seen them,” she continued over his backpedaling, “And as impressive as they are, they don’t do a thing for me. I’d be honored to go on a date with you.”
8
Ted braced himself against the scarred wooden dresser in Doreen’s guest bedroom as she made up the bed with fresh sheets. The cocktail of drugs the hospital gave him made him oblivious to all his owies and mussed his brain with the most awesome buzz. He’d have to ice his face a lot more tonight to combat the swelling, but he couldn’t care less at the moment. A tiny giggle erupted from his throat, which made him snicker harder. Once the drugs wore off, he expected to feel every one of Bruce’s punches... but until then, he’d enjoy the high.
Doreen bent to grab a corner of the bunched sheet and wiggled to spread the cotton. His mirth sobered. Saliva pooled in his mouth at her spectacular ass bobbing. The stretchy black pants hugged her legs and butt—
Wait. Staring’s rude, right? Ted fingered the line of tape running across his not-broken nose and swayed. Where are my glasses? Slapping a hand over his eye, he smashed the frames into his face. “Oops. That’d probably hurt if I could feel pain.”
Doreen peeked over her shoulder, then shook her head, smiling.
