Wintertime Bad Boy: A Christmas Suspense Romance (Alphas Unboxed Book 3) Read online

  His lips purse and I feel a sliver of outrage in me. “Are you laughing at me?!”

  “Not at all, mon chéri.” He pokes my cheek with his thumb and I push his hand away. He lets me. “So, that’s what happened.”

  When he steps away from me, I blink. “What?”

  “I’ll have a talk with him. He’ll come and apologize to you.”

  “What?” I’m not following. “I just told you—”

  He ignores me and walks away, slowly. Ignoring the food on the counter, I trail after him, feeling frustrated. “I don’t need you to fight my battles.”

  He sits down on the sofa and looks up at me, smirking. “I wouldn’t dare.”

  I stand in front of him, hands curled into fists, not knowing what to say, yet feeling that I’ve lost.

  The sound of my phone ringing gets my attention and I answer it, giving him a baleful look. “Alex.”

  “Nurse Alexandra, you forgot one of the containers in the car.”

  I blink upon hearing Dr. Greer’s voice from the other end and run my fingers through my hair in quick agitated movements, my eyes going to the bag on the counter and I groan internally on seeing that there are only two containers in there. “I’m so sorry about this! Why don’t you—”

  He cuts me off. “I’m in front of your building.”

  “I—” My shoulders slump in embarrassment. “I’ll buzz you in.”

  I give him the floor number and apartment number and quickly press the buzzer.

  “Are we having a guest?” Damien looks at me and I see the sharp look in his eyes.

  “One of the doctors I work with. He gave me a ride back.” I glance toward the door. “You have nothing to worry about. He won’t come in.”

  Damien doesn’t say anything but he looks tense.

  A quick rap on the front door has me jumping to my feet and rushing toward it. The living room is out of sight so I don’t expect Damien to be seen.

  “Dr. Greer!”

  He looks composed, not even a little indignant that he had to come back. There’s a Styrofoam container in his hand and he holds it out.

  My cheeks are red. “I’m so sorry for this!”

  He tilts his head. “It was no trouble.” A pause, “So, this is—”

  “Harris?”

  Damien’s voice makes both of us freeze and before I can so much as move, he’s behind me, peering at Dr. Greer, a smirk playing on his lips. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  And Dr. Greer, who is known for his never changing impassive expression, looks shocked. “You?!”

  “You two know each other?” I stare between them, taken aback.

  It’s as if my words make the doctor realize that I still exist and then I see something akin to fury enter his face as he snarls at Damien. “What the hell are you doing in Alex’s house?”

  Damien blinks slowly and then delight enters his eyes as he glances at me and then back to him, a slow dawning realization in his tone. “No.” He looks positively gleeful. “This is your—?“

  Dr. Greer’s face goes pale and before Damien can finish his sentence, he is grabbed by the front of his shirt and yanked outside into the hallway, past me, and the door slams shut in their wake.

  I stand gaping at the closed door, stunned beyond belief at the series of events which have just taken place.

  I can hear murmurs in the hallway and for a moment, I don’t know what to do. Then I remember the way Dr. Greer pulled Damien out and I think of the stitches and worry floods me and I pull open the door. “Don’t hurt him. He’s—”

  I stop and stare at the scene before me.

  Both men are standing a little further down, with the doctor having his arms crossed across his chest while Damien is grinning widely. Dr. Greer sees me first and an uneasy expression crosses his face before he gives a warning look to Damien who just shrugs.

  “Mon chéri, go back inside. It’s cold,” he calls out. I ignore my bare feet, container still in hand, and I approach them.

  “Dr. Greer, Damien has injuries. I don’t think it’s a good idea to haul him around like that, no matter the circumstances. He’s under my care.”

  Dr. Greer gives me a pained look before studying Damien. “They’re all looking for you.”

  “But you’re not going to tell them where I am, are you?” Damien’s tone is pleasant but there is an edge to it, dangerous undercurrent lurking just below the surface.

  “I should,” Dr. Greer hisses out. “You knew I’d been loo—”

  He doesn’t continue the sentence and Damien just looks even more delighted. “Oh, do finish that sentence.”

  “Bastard.”

  If I've been shocked beyond belief at this sudden change in the doctor’s personality, I don’t show it, instead reaching them and tugging on Damien’s arm. “If you guys have to talk, do it inside. I don’t want my patient getting sick.”

  Dr. Greer smirks at that and his eyes meet Damien’s. “Patient, huh?”

  This is a whole new side of this man that I’m seeing and being bewildered doesn’t even begin to describe it. Damien gives him a thin smile and then wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Help me back, mon chéri.”

  I give him a suspicious look especially when I see the triumph in his eyes as he glances over his shoulder toward the bristling doctor, but I still help him inside. I’m not surprised to see Dr. Greer follow us inside.

  “Are you okay?” I ask Damien, anxiously. “Let me look at your stitches—”

  “I’ll do it,” Dr. Greer says from behind me, irritation present in his voice.

  I glance up at him before nodding. “I’ll bring the first aid kit.”

  He approaches the sofa and I catch him looking around with a strange curiosity. Shaking it off as him being weird, I bring out the kit and see him studying the stitches on Damien’s torso.

  “You did these?” he asks.

  I nod.

  “They’re well done.” His voice is approving and I blush.

  Damien just makes a face. “Mon chéri, I much prefer your gentle touch to this brut—Fuck!”

  Dr. Greer gives him a wicked smile, not looking repentant in the least. “I’m sorry. Did that hurt?”

  I look between the two and wonder what’s going on. Dr. Greer didn’t seem very happy to see Damien in my apartment and I can’t glean anything from their half sentences. A normal person would assume that maybe the doctor was jealous but it wasn’t jealousy I saw in his eyes but that same strange protectiveness.

  I sigh, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Damien, stay still.” I hesitate, before adding, “Dr. Greer, would you like something to drink, coffee perhaps?”

  His hands, which are pushing and prodding Damien’s stomach, still and I don’t see the expression on his face but his tone is soft in a way I would attribute to grief before he says, “Thank you, yes.”

  “Make me one, too, darling—Shit!” Damien yelps, glaring at Dr. Greer. “Watch it, or I’ll conveniently forget what you asked me to do.”

  I don’t hear a single peep out of them by the time I return with the coffee.

  “How do you two know each other?”

  It’s Damien who answers, throwing his arm around Dr. Greer’s shoulders. “We’re old friends.”

  “Don’t touch me,” Dr. Greer responds, coldly.

  “You two don’t act like any friends I know,” I say, hesitantly.

  “How do you know him?” Dr. Greer asks, suddenly.

  I recall what he said to Damien when he saw him. I frown, aware that I’m missing out on something. “Damien saved me from the mugger. And he got hurt later so I offered him a place to crash.”

  That’s as close to the truth as I can get. Despite Damien not wanting to let anyone know that he’s here and his relationship with the doctor, I don’t know how much he would want me to share.

  “She could have left me to rot.” There’s a smile on his lips but his eyes are dark. “Mon petit ange has a soft heart. Anybody could take advantage of her.”

  I bristle at the words. “It’s just for a week and then he’s gone.”

  “You took a stranger into your home?” I don’t understand the displeased look on Dr. Greer’s face. It’s none of his business. How would somebody like him even begin to understand my desperate circumstances.

  “He was hurt,” I say, simply.

  “You could have brought him to the hospital.”

  I stay silent before saying, “Either way, he’s doing better.”

  “This was very unsafe.”

  Damien scoffs, a glint in his eyes. “What are you, her brother?”

  Dr. Greer pales at that and then turns to glower at him. “I could very well let your brother know where you are.”

  I don’t know why that sounds like a threat but I’m beginning to get a headache with all this testosterone flying around the room. “It’s really late. And I don’t even want to know what’s going on between you two but I want to have dinner and go to bed.”

  When Damien winks at me I growl, “Alone.”

  Dr. Greer’s face is slowly getting red and I have a feeling that he’s seconds away from throttling Damien. He gets up, however, and says, stiffly, “I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

  “What?” I stare at him.

  And he says, slowly, as if he’s thinking through each word. “Since Damien is injured, I’d like to check in on him. We can just go to work together then. It makes sense.”

  It does make sense.

  I glance at Damien who has a faint smile on his face as if he’s discovered a new game.

  “I—All right.”

  How long can he keep up with this? A week?

  I see Dr. Greer out and he pauses in front of my parents framed photograph. “These are—?”

&nbs
p; I look in the direction he’s gazing and a sad smile crosses my lips. “My parents. They passed away.”

  “I see.” His tone is heavy. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  Once I close the door after him, I return to the living room.

  Damien meets my gaze with an amiable smile on his lips. My hands go on my hips and I growl at him. “Do you enjoy being difficult?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, mon chéri,” he replies, innocently.

  “What was that whole thing with you and Dr. Greer?”

  Damien maintains that irritating smile of his that is wreaking havoc on my senses. “I was surprised to see an old friend.”

  I stare at him and he stares back, and I know I won’t get anything out of this man who is closed up like a clam. My shoulders droop and I run my fingers through my hair. “Fine. Whatever. Are you hungry?”

  “Starving, mon chéri.”

  We eat in silence and after dinner, I wash the dishes, my ears on the sound of the television blaring in the background. There’s a movie playing.

  “You know you have to take it all back when you leave?” I say, casually, and I can feel when Damien focuses his eyes on my back.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s not mine.”

  My tone is testy and defensive and I hear him chuckle. “Well, it is now. I told you that I will take care of any damages while I was here.”

  I wipe my hands on the towel and turn around, my eyes narrowed. “You never said that.”

  He looks entertained. “It was implied.”

  I tighten my jaw, knowing that I’m being unreasonable and that I should just accept these things instead of looking a gift horse in the mouth, but pride is a dangerous thing, and the only thing I have left at this point.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  He just bares his teeth in a smile that makes my insides feel all sorts of warm. “It makes sense. If I break your things, I need to replace them.”

  “They were already broken.”

  He puts on a regretful face which is so utterly fake since I can see the enjoyment dancing in his eyes. “Well, I damaged them beyond repair. After you left, I stumbled on to the table, breaking its leg and then grabbed the TV for support, making it crash onto the ground.”

  I blink at the shameless lies that are spilling out of his mouth one after the other, and my tone is sarcastic. “And what, the couch just got up and threw itself against the wall? The carpet started unthreading?”

  His lips twitch. “You’re so perceptive, darling.”

  I give him a bland look, my expression conveying that I’m not buying his brand of bullshit. However, he’s adamant on sticking to his story and I’m too exhausted to argue.

  I’m about to head to the bedroom when something occurs to me, a thought that I had discarded before. “The elevator and the heating. You didn’t have anything to do with those, did you?”

  He gives me a pleasant smile. “Did I?”

  Arrogant, smug bastard.

  I stare at him, not knowing what to say.

  Seeing Dr. Greer first thing in the morning is strange, especially when the doctor comes armed with freshly prepared bagels and pancakes. I see something akin to satisfaction in his eyes when Damien complains about his presence.

  “Alex can do this just fine. I don’t—”

  He isn’t allowed to finish his sentence before he is manhandled onto the sofa and his shirt lifted. It’s probably because he’s weak right now with his injuries that Dr. Greer is able to get the best of him, otherwise from the way he moved that night when attacking the mugger, I have a feeling that Damien could easily take the doctor in a fight. However, I’m more taken aback to see Dr. Greer manhandle a patient in this manner.

  “The bruises on your face are healing quite well,” I tell Damien as I hand him coffee, pretending I don’t see the dark look in his eyes as he glares in Dr. Greer’s direction. My lips twitch at the sulky behavior he displays. “Cheer up. You can start having solids tomorrow.”

  He glowers at me and I have to suppress my laughter. Without thinking, my hand reaches out and ruffles his hair which is left down and kind of messy. We both freeze and then, before I can so much as move, Damien‘ s hand is on my wrist and he’s yanking me forward and I fall into his lap. Mindful of his injury, my hands go on either side of his legs, until my face is not even an inch away from him, and I see the pleased look in his eyes.

  My reaction to him is volatile.

  It always is.

  A quiet gasp leaves my lips and I go still, a ravenous hunger uncurling in the pit of my stomach, and my eyes widen. He doesn’t miss the effect it has on me and a smirk plays on his lips. My eyes dart to those thin cruel lips and I ache, wanting something I have no right to take without putting a label on myself.

  It’s the soft snarl from the side that breaks into my psyche and I feel appalled at myself, immediately straightening myself, batting away Damien’s hands when he tries to help, a mischievous glint in his eye.

  “What did I say about getting handsy with me?” I glower. “I will stab you.”

  He laughs at the threat as if the idea of the threatened violence both excites and delights him at the same time. His tone is affectionate. “Of course, mon petit monstre.”

  The look he gives me makes me shiver as I see the darkness lurking inside those green eyes. It reaches out to me and makes something inside of me purr. In this moment, I get the same feeling as I did back when I was treating his wounds, a dangerous predator pretending to be docile, playing with me, poking at me. It should scare me but instead it stirs my blood in a way that is terrifying.

  I suddenly realize that we have an audience and I pale at the threat that has passed my lips. I turn frantic eyes to Dr. Greer who is watching us, a displeased expression on his face that borders on helpless frustration, and I say, “I didn’t—I’m not really going to stab him. I just—”

  He gives me a carefully blank look. “I didn’t hear anything.”

  Damien chuckles. “He’d probably help you hide my body if you did.” He shoots Dr. Greer a look. “Isn’t that right, Harris?”

  Dr. Greer narrows his eyes at him. “Perhaps you should come stay with me. I worry about Alex’s safety while you’re here.”

  Not Nurse Alexandra or Nurse Alex this time.

  Just Alex.

  He’s calling me by my name.

  Considering he’s sitting in my home so early in the morning, I can’t really say anything. But it reminds me that he called me Alex before as well, last night when he had almost looked enraged to see Damien there.

  I consider this. I’m not as vain to think that Dr. Greer likes me. There’s something odd about the way he treats me though, but I don’t sense anything romantic about his intentions. I’m pretty good at picking up on cues of that nature. There hadn’t been jealousy in his voice, but something else. Something I can’t put my finger on.

  “Alex and I have an arrangement.” Damien smirks and he tugs at my t-shirt and I recall the money.

  I also remember that I’m nearing the date of the monthly payment for the loan I took out. My hand shakes a little and I give Dr. Greer a stiff smile. “I’m fine with him staying here but I appreciate the offer.”

  I glance at the breakfast but my stomach is curdling now at the phone-call that I need to make.

  “I’ll go get changed.”

  I leave the two men in the living room, ignoring the curious look on one face and the unsettled on the other’s. Closing the door behind me, I sink to the floor, wrapping my arms around my legs, trying to calm myself down.

  If it was as simple as paying back the bank, I wouldn’t be this worried, but I had gone to a local loan shark in the neighborhood who had given me as much money as I needed with a lower interest rate than the bank had offered. It had taken one late payment for me to see through the cold sadist that lurked inside of him.

  I need that money soon.

  Chapter 6

  I knew that arriving with Dr. Greer would get tongues wagging but I hadn’t anticipated the dirty looks that some of the nurses shot me as the news made its rounds.