I’d never seen Noah react to any man like this – so comfortable, almost affectionate. There was no time to dwell on it as I shut the door and ran toward the entrance to the Urgent Care.
The facility wasn’t busy with only a few patients waiting in the main lobby. We were promptly checked in and shown to a room, the curtain drawn as Noah was placed on the bed with care.
Jayce gave him a big smile. “Well, Booga, I’d say you’re gonna get to do something cool today.”
Why did this biker think he could use the nickname I’d given my son?
Noah didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, he even smiled. “What’s that?”
Jayce was about to answer when a nurse walked into the room. Red scrubs hugged her curvy figure and the blonde hair on her head was piled into a messy bun. She was quite attractive with a voice that I immediately found professional and soothing. Kindness reflected in her gaze as she moved toward Noah.
“Hello there, Noah. I’m your nurse Nylah. Can I come check on your arm and see how you’re doing?”
Noah tilted his head to the side and scrunched up his nose. “You’re not gonna squeeze my arm, right?”
Jayce let out a chuckle. “Kid is too smart for you, Nylah.”
She smirked in his direction. “Yeah, yeah. If I can survive Rael, then I think I’m capable of anything. Besides, I like my patients smart.” Nylah gave Noah a big smile.
Jayce snorted in response. “That’s the truth. Rael is a pain in the ass.”
“So are you. Get out of my way, Papa. I need to check on my patient.” She shooed him off with her hands.
Jayce moved to the side, his eyes brimming with mischief. I was certain these two knew one another and I found the idea both irritating and frustrating since he didn’t say a word to confirm or deny it. The question was in my eyes and he could tell.
I sent a glare his way which only caused the biker’s smile to widen. Turning to Noah, I watched as Nylah examined my son’s arm. He kept a brave face on as he let her touch him and check his breathing as well as his other vital signs. Perusing his injuries, she paused to gather supplies and came back, cleaning the scrapes on his knees and applying bandages.
When she was done, Nylah leaned back and patted Noah on the head. “You’ve been very brave. How about a popsicle while we wait for the doctor?”
“Sure!” he exclaimed, losing some of the misery he’d been trying to fight off.
“What’s your favorite? Grape?”
His eyes grew round. “Yeah.”
“I’m going to fill the doctor in about your arm and then I’ll be back with the popsicle. Okay?”
Noah nodded enthusiastically.
Nylah left as I sank into a chair next to the bed Noah was perched on. The nurse had raised the end, so Noah was sitting up but slightly inclined.
“How did she know about grape being my favorite?”
I was all set to answer when I noticed Noah had directed his question to Jayce.
“Well, son, I think there must be a little magic floating around here.”
Noah’s eyes widened further. “Magic? Like Christmas magic?”
Jayce ran his hand along his beard. “I think so. If I’m real quiet and still, I can feel it. What about you?”
My son stopped wiggling and squirming on the bed and closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he was smiling from ear to ear. “Wow. It’s like a little tingle in my belly. Is that what you mean?”
“Yep. You’re real good at this.”
Noah beamed a bright smile. “You’re the best Santa ever. I think you must have gone back to the North Pole for more training.”
Jayce let out a loud guffaw. “Kid, you’re one hundred percent right.”
I had no idea what they were talking about but seeing their interaction proved Jayce wasn’t a creep. At least, I hoped so. I would still watch him around my son. Noah was too trusting of strangers. No one was hurting my baby, not after all we’d been through and overcome to arrive here in Tonopah.
Nylah popped into the room with the popsicle and Noah chatted away with Jayce until it was gone. Licking the stick, he stuck out his tongue at me when I snatched it out of his hand.
“That’s enough, silly.”
A few minutes later Nylah took Noah to get x-rays and promised he would return soon.
“Super cool,” Jayce told him with his gravelly tone.
I paced with the emptiness that followed, worried about the results.
“You’re tense,” Jayce observed, leaning against a row of cabinets as his arms crossed over his broad chest. “Just routine, honey. He’ll be fine.”
“You don’t know that. He hasn’t seen the doctor yet.” I tried not to stare at the black leather vest and all his tattoos. Jayce had bad boy written all over him. Combine that with his wicked grin, hypnotic eyes, and the sex appeal that oozed from every single pore and this man was a volatile cocktail I was tempted to drink right up. I found his salt and pepper beard oddly appealing. My fingers twitched with the desire to brush the muscles all the way up his arms and under his t-shirt, to trace each inch of ink and ask their significance.
Jayce ticked his chin in my direction. “You always this tightly wound?”
What was that supposed to mean?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied with attitude.
His naughty grin reappeared. “Sure is easy to rile you up.”
An amber sparkle shimmered in those dark depths and I had to resist the urge to tell him that most men never conjured any kind of reaction from me at all. I was numb to the male species after Chet. Men equaled pain, not pleasure, captivity not freedom. Well, until Jayce Riggs, silver fox biker with his annoying swagger and promise of
