Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (10 page)

“I just can NOT
believe your audacity,” Honor declared, shaking her head slowly as she frowned
at him.

“You can’t?  Which
part can’t you wrap your mind around, darlin’?  The part where I’ll do whatever
I need to do in order to keep you alive and yelling at me?  How ‘bout the part
where I want you to have the medical attention you need since you STILL can’t
stand for long periods of time,” he growled, helping to ease her sagging body
into a sitting position on the side of the bed.  “Swear to God, babe, it’s a
good thing I love you as much as I do.  Otherwise, I’d be tempted to strangle
you.”

“I’m want to go
home, Ezekiel.  Tonight,” Honor demanded tightly as she looked up at him with
tears in her eyes.  “Please get me out of here,” she whispered, her voice
cracking.  “I don’t like it here.  There’s too many memories and all of them
are bad.  If you love me and know me as well you claim to, you’ll know that I’m
not just bein’ obstinate.  I can’t stand being here anymore.  I feel like I’m
losin’ my mind.”

Just like that,
Zeke felt less than an inch tall. He’d been so concentrated on keeping her
safe, that he’d lost sight of how important it was that Honor felt secure in
her surroundings.    It was more than obvious to him now that it was time to
come up with a new plan.  Kneeling in front of her, Zeke lifted a hand to tuck
a hank of Honor’s hair behind her ear.  “Okay, Kitten.  We’ll get you out of
this joint tonight.  I’ll talk to the nurses and get your paperwork started,
but you’ve gotta know that you can’t go back to the farmhouse.  You aren’t
strong enough to be left on your own yet.  So, you tell me, where do you wanna
go?”

Swiping the back
of her hand underneath her nose, Honor met Zeke’s clear gray eyes.  “You’ll get
me out of here?  Really?  You mean it?” she asked in a tiny hopeful voice.

He couldn’t help
it.  Seeing that innocent face staring back at him, he quickly leaned forward
to gently brush his lips against hers, thrilled when she stayed still and
allowed the kiss.  He got barely a taste of her, but he didn’t want to
overwhelm her.  Besides, that brief touch was enough to give him faith. 
Resting his forehead against hers, Zeke nodded.  “There’s gonna be rules, Kitten
– lots of rules, but yes, I mean it.  Now, tell me, where do you want to stay
while you’re doing your healing?  You’ve got options.  Aunt Orla.  Your
sisters’ places.  My place.”

“Is your brother
still staying with you?” Honor asked tersely.

Zeke’s lips twitched. 
He was really gonna need to get the lowdown on what went on between his girl
and his brother.  “Temporarily,” he replied evenly, watching her face.

Honor’s nose
curled.  “Then your house is out of the running.”

 Zeke chuckled. 
“Judging by the goose egg on Ice’s forehead when he left, I kinda figured
that,” he teased.

“I swear, he had
it comin’, Zeke.  That brother of yours needs to put a country mile between me
and him if he has any sense at all – which I highly doubt because he’s an
insufferable, overbearing authoritarian oaf with absolutely NO social skills to
speak of!  Do you know that he actually had the nerve to tell Maggie that she
needed to pull the Prada out of her ass and loosen up when she suggested that I
might need a little break from him and his snide attitude!  I thought she was
gonna shove the heel of her stiletto right through his thick skull.  And if I’d
known that he was gonna tie my wrists to the bed while I shut my eyes for a
little rest this afternoon, I’d have cheered her on.”

Trying like hell
to keep the smile off his face, Zeke slowly blinked.  “And why, pray tell, did
my brother feel it was necessary to restrain you?”

Honor shifted on
the bed nervously.  “It was a misunderstanding.”

“Uh huh?  Gonna
need a little more information to make an informed decision about that,
Kitten.”

“Fine,” Honor
snapped.  “I might have waited until Jake ran out to the cafe to make Harmony’s
bank deposit and Ice was in the bathroom to go for a little walk.”

“A little walk?”
Zeke echoed, staring at the woman who currently refused to meet his eyes. 
“Don’t keep me in suspense, babe.  Where exactly did this walk take you?”

“The East parking
lot,” Honor mumbled.

Zeke’s eyebrows
furrowed in confusion.  “Why in the hell would you take a walk to the parking
lot?”

Honor’s lips
twitched from side to side as she picked at a loose string from the white
blanket on the bed.  “I might have had a cab waiting down there,” she muttered
huffily.  “I would have made it, too, if stupid Jake hadn’t picked that frickin’
moment to come back.”

Zeke nearly choked
on his laughter.  “So, you’re pissed that my brother and Jake ruined your
escape attempt?  You know better than to try to run off, Honor Grace. 
Especially with everything going on.  You probably took ten years off his life
when he realized you’d flown the coop,” he chided gently.

“I wouldn’t have
needed to try and escape if you hadn’t kept me locked in here like some
criminal,” Honor argued petulantly.  “I DO have rights.”

Zeke scoffed and
shook his head at her. 

“Anyway, when Jake
dragged me back up here, Ice was fit to be tied.  That fool had security
notified and everything.  You’d think a toddler had wandered out the door
instead of a fully grown woman.  At any rate, your bossy brother huffed and
puffed for over an hour, callin’ me all manner of things.”

Zeke’s eyebrows
raised at that.  “Oh, he did, did he?” he asked, his voice deceptively soft. 

“Spoiled. 
Inconsiderate.  And stupid, Zeke!  I am NOT stupid,” she growled, her back
stiffening as she recalled Ice’s harsh words. 

“No, you aren’t,”
Zeke stated softly, his jaw clenching as he began to plan the ass-kicking his
only sibling would be receiving. 

“That’s when I
threw the vase.  He got quiet after that.  He even tried to apologize, but I
didn’t wanna hear it.  I know I scared him, but that still no excuse to call me
stupid.  Or crazy,” she added belatedly, lifting her gaze back to Zeke. 
“Honestly, I thought you could be a domineering pain in the behind, but after
spending the afternoon with Ice, I have a whole new appreciation for you.”

Zeke chuckled. 
Maybe instead of an ass-kickin’, he needed to buy his brother a six pack of
beer.  “Well, I’ll endeavor to use Ice as a last resort from now on when it
comes to guard duty for you.  How’s that?”

Honor nodded. 
“I’ll forgive him.  Eventually,” she added meaningfully.

“As entertaining
as that story was, we still need to decide where you want to spend the next few
weeks,” Zeke reminded her. 

“Abel and Patience
suggested that I come stay with them at their new place.  They’ve got plenty of
room and even have a bedroom on the ground floor that I can use.  I’d get to
spend time with my new niece and nephews, too.  Maybe give the new parents a
little bit of a break.”

“As long as you
don’t overdo it.  You’re still recovering, too, Honor,” Zeke admonished
sternly.  Her health was his top priority.  “Do you think you can pace yourself
if you stay there?”

“It’s not like you
won’t have at least one person bird-doggin’ me everywhere I go, so in the
interest of savin’ us all some time, I’ll say yes.”

“Good girl,” Zeke
murmured, brushing his lips against her forehead as he rose from his knees in
front of her.  “I like the idea of Abel and Patience’s place.  There’ll be
plenty of room for me, too,” he dropped in conversationally, enjoying the way
Honor’s breath caught in her throat and her eyes got wider.

“Wh-what?” she
stuttered.

“You heard me,”
Zeke offered easily.  “You didn’t think that you were gonna get out of here and
everything would go back to the way it was, did you?  I told you, Kitten, I’m
done fuckin’ around where you’re concerned.”

“I…you…Zeke, no!” 
Honor finally managed to blurt.  “You can’t!”

“I can, and I
will,” Zeke declared firmly, propping his hands on his hips as he stared down
at her.  “In fact, I’m going to step out and call Abel after I get those nurses
workin’ on your discharge papers,” he continued with a nod as he pulled his
cell from the pocket of his flannel shirt.  “Start getting your things
together, Honor.  I’ll take care of everything else,” he said over his shoulder
as he headed for the door.

“What?  No.  Zeke,
wait!  You can’t do this,” Honor urged, rising as she tried to intercept him. 

“It’s already
done, Honor,” Zeke dismissed her, closing the door on her protests while he
grinned from ear to ear.  He’d clearly knocked his Kitten for a loop with the
announcement that he wouldn’t be simply dropping her with her sister and
leaving.  Which might be a good thing.  Maybe keeping Honor off balance was the
key to advancing their relationship.  Either way, Honor McKinnon was going to
have to get accustomed to having him around for a good long while - - like for
the rest of their lives.

~**~

Things had moved
swiftly after a quick chat with Honor’s nurses.  His woman’s doctors had no
problem releasing her into Zeke’s care, sending the patient home with a handful
of prescriptions and an order to rest heavily for the next two weeks.  Honor
hadn’t been happy about the directives to take it easy, but she’d been so eager
to put the hospital in her rearview that she’d have agreed to supper with the
Devil if it got her out of there quicker.

A twenty-minute drive
later, they arrived at Abel and Patience’s new place, a sprawling house on a
large expanse of land.  Clearly, Abel was putting down roots with his new
family, and Zeke found himself momentarily envious.  One day, he hoped to be
able to do much the same thing with the woman he loved.  In the meantime, much
to Honor’s embarrassment and Patience’s amusement, Zeke had insisted on
carrying her, bridal style, of course, up the stone steps and across the
threshold of the Turner home.  Thankfully, Aunt Orla had already prepared one
of the guest rooms for Honor’s use that morning and after a minimum of fuss,
he’d gotten his girl situated in bed.

Per Zeke’s request,
Abel had made sure to move an oversized loveseat into the room opposite Honor’s
bed.  A quick, but grateful look at it confirmed that it was going to be a hell
of a lot more comfortable than that torture device of a recliner he’d been
sleeping in at the hospital.  After a flurry of hugs, kisses, and goodnights,
he’d gotten Honor still enough to drift off to sleep.  He’d sat across from her
bed for most of the night, staring at her while he contemplated what his next
move should be, both personally and professionally.  And when his eyes had
gotten heavy and they’d fallen closed for the last time of the night, he’d been
no closer to answers on either score.  He was gone before she opened her eyes
in the morning.

For three days this
went on before his woman caught on to the fact that he wasn’t leaving her at
night, and he considered it a personal best for keeping things from Honor. 
Usually, she would have seen through him from the beginning, but injury and
pain medication had slowed down her response time, and her mind wasn’t quite as
agile as it usually was.

For the last few
days, he’d headed to Patience’s place as soon as he finished work at the
station, joining the family for dinner and nights filled with shuffling the
Turner triplets from person to person.  The highlight of those evenings was
watching Honor’s face light up every time she stared down at whatever baby she
held in her arms, and he knew he’d do whatever it took to see that beautiful
look flood her face when she looked down into the eyes of their own kid one
day. 

When bedtime arrived,
he’d help Honor to her room, made sure she took a pain pill that would allow
her to get some sleep, and wait on the loveseat while she showered and changed
into a demure nightgown.  After she finished, he’d help her into bed and kiss
her goodnight, flipping off the lights and pulling the door almost closed
behind him. 

Then, he’d retire to
the dimly lit living room where he waited for her to fall asleep.  Usually,
Abel joined him and they shared a late night nightcap while they discussed the
lack of progress being made both on finding who was responsible for running
Honor and Patience off the road and on Angela Hastings’ murder investigation. 
Angela had been Abel’s fiancé years ago before he’d learned she was a faithless
slut and dumped her.    Hell, Angie had fucked most every man in town, married
or not, at some time or another, and Zeke was ashamed to say that she’d even
been his onetime playmate for a night.  It would probably go down as the single
worst mistake of his life, but he’d been young, dumb, and horny and Angie had
been willing, single, and available at the time.  Hormones had overridden good
sense for him.  At any rate, he’d quickly seen what kind of woman she was
underneath the gorgeous body and pretty face, and Zeke hadn’t gone back for
seconds.  Abel, however, had fallen into her honey trap, hook, line and
sinker.  It had taken the poor bastard years to figure out what everybody else
had known all along.  Attorney Angie Hastings possessed a whorish heart and a
mercenary mind.