ROAR (21 page)

She smiled. “No, you don’t. He’s my friend, and he needs me. I’m not doing this for any other reason.” Yet hearing his words made her feel a sense of accomplishment.

The subject of concern walked into the waiting room and zeroed in on the two of them. Kristoffer stood a few seconds looking lost before she waved him over.

The look of relief that washed over him surprised her, but the two were like brothers. Listening as they exchanged greetings did her heart good. She saw how strong their bond was by the way Kristoffer’s body relaxed as they spoke to one another.

After exhausting news of Tori’s unchanged condition, talk turned to the upcoming mission.

Kristoffer brought up the hospital equipment project. “Sorry we haven’t been able to get going on this.”

Gunnar looked toward her then back at Kristoffer. “No worries, Kris. Pamela’s been working on it and keeping me posted.”

Kristoffer’s eyes opened wide. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She indicated their surroundings with a wave of her hand. “You’ve been preoccupied. Gunnar provided me with information on how to request purchase order numbers, so I placed a few orders.”

Kristoffer’s initial silence took her by surprise. She thought he’d be happy to hear the project wasn’t suffering. “You aren’t supposed to be overdoing it,” he said. Clearly, he wasn’t pleased.

The man was going to drive her nuts if he kept trying to pamper her. “It didn’t take any time at all. I placed orders between naps.”

Gunnar’s gaze shifted from one to the other. “Is there something you two aren’t telling me?”

She expressed an emphatic, “No!” at the same time Kristoffer told him about her fever while in Afghanistan. Like his cousin, Gunnar’s Dom stare was equally forceful and did strange things to her stomach.

“The project’s on hold until you’re well,” he said, pointing to Pamela first and then to Kristoffer, “and you are back home after Tori’s release.”

She held up a hand. “But you can’t! They need that equipment desperately.”

His raised eyebrow told her he seemed surprised that she’d challenge his authority, but then relaxed somewhat. “Look, I have the detailed reports of what’s been purchased and what is still on the list. I’ll put someone else to work on the purchasing end.” She became the focus of his stare again. “You need to take care of
you
, Pamela—but if you have any energy left, keep this big lug in line.”

“Don’t worry about me, man. Pamela’s been taking great care of me, but I’m more worried about her under the circumstances.” Gunnar’s enigmatic smile puzzled her as he glanced between the two of them. Then he grinned. “Look after each other, and keep me posted.”

She smiled back, happy to have his blessing. “I’ll do my best.”

After saying goodbye to Gunnar, she noticed that Kristoffer’s shirt was wrinkled and loosened from his slacks. His hair was disheveled, too, probably from running his fingers through it too many times to count. The circles under his eyes attested to the fact that he hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours a night since this ordeal began.

“Fever still down?”

“Yes. The new regimen of antibiotics seems to be working. She’s more restful, too.”

Time to follow Gunnar’s directive before he collapsed. “Good. Time to get you to bed now.”

He cocked his head and scrunched his eyebrows. “I beg your pardon.”

She reached for her jacket and slipped it on. “Tori’s out of the woods for now. You can’t do anything for her if you run yourself into the ground. Gunnar’s charged me with taking care of you, so I’ve decided it’s time you went home and had a full night’s rest.”

She started for the elevators assuming he’d follow. When she didn’t hear the click of his wingtips on the linoleum, she turned around. “Get the lead out, Larson.” She couldn’t believe she’d just spoken to him that way, but she would not take no for an answer.

“I’m not leaving.”

Squaring her shoulders, she pulled herself to her full five-foot one frame. “Yes, you are. Either in my car or in a body bag. Your choice. But if you don’t take care of yourself, where will Tori be?”

Not waiting for him to say no again, she pivoted and started for the elevators once more.

Follow me, you stubborn fool
.

She pressed the button and willed herself not to turn to see if he had, partly because she didn’t expect to find him standing there.

“Just a few hours, then I’m coming back.”

She smiled, but didn’t let him see her face. Her plan was to drive him home in her car and not return until she picked him up tomorrow to take him back to the hospital.

Maybe a few ground rules needed to be laid. “You aren’t sleeping with a watch, alarm, or phone.”

“What if something happens to Tori?”

“I’ll monitor your phone. You’ll give me your passcode to unlock it.”

Kristoffer shook his head. “You’re in no better shape to be up all night than I am. If I sleep, so do you. You’ll take the bed, and I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

K
ristoffer jolted awake when the car stopped. A quick scan of his surroundings revealed they were at the gate to his parking garage. He gave Pamela the code to punch in and directed her to his parking spot.

How had he fallen asleep like that? His body didn’t feel the least bit rested so he must have only dozed a minute, although he couldn’t remember a thing after he’d gotten into her Renegade Trailhawk back at the hospital.

He opened his door and found her standing there as if she had been about to open it for him. Yeah, right. Only he was too exhausted to argue that she should have waited for him to open her door.

“I’ll concede I’m more tired than I realized.”

He inserted his key, and they took the elevator to the penthouse. He intended to ensure she had enough sleep, too. “I can sleep anywhere, Pamela. Believe me.”

She shook her head and, with her hands on his back, propelled him toward the bedroom. “You’re sleeping in a bed. Your feet would be dangling off the end of the couch; I’m short, so it’ll be perfect for me.”

He didn’t like the idea of a guest sleeping on the sofa, but the lethargy that had overtaken him on the ride home wouldn’t give him any energy to argue. She began to remove his shirt, but he brushed her hands away.

“I’m capable of undressing myself.” He’d only go so far with her in here.

Her gaze drifted to the imposing bed that dominated the room. While not a king-sized one, it made up for the lack of width with its imposing height. Crudely chiseled designs worn to a soft patina that spoke of decades—possibly even centuries—of wood polish and age captured her attention. The canopy frame displayed more of the unique geometric carvings to match the curve in the head and footboards.

As if to give him some space, she approached the bed and ran her hand over the wood, satiny to the touch. “I’ve never seen a bed with a footboard shaped like this before.” The center of the footboard sloped downward in the middle in a concave fashion.

“It was my grandfather’s.”

“Gorgeous!” She ran her finger over the smooth wood.

“In Norway, where winters are obviously brutal, the bed would have been wedged into a small alcove. Sometimes the crawl-ins were on the sides, but this one had been built so that you crawled in from the foot of the bed, enclosing the occupants of the bed on the top and three sides for greater warmth.”

She glanced up at the canopy frame, which would have been covered in heavy fabrics to block any remaining drafts back in those days.

“Ingenious.”

He continued. “Gunnar and I often shared that bed, because FarFar said it was too warm for him in summers. We welcomed it because where he lived was still colder than hell even in the summer.”

He removed his wristwatch. “Of course, here I don’t use curtains on the canopy, and it’s not tucked into an alcove, which makes it much more comfortable.”

She extended her hand and waited until he gave her the watch, followed more reluctantly by his phone. Before she left, though, he needed to lay down a few rules of his own. “My phone’s passcode is 0310. You’ll wake me if there’s any change for the worse in Tori’s condition.”

She sobered. “I will.” Before she left the room, she pulled the room-darkening drapes and unplugged his alarm clock, tucking it under her arm. “Sweet dreams.”

If he did, they’d be anything but sweet.

After she closed the door behind her, he finished undressing. Too tired to take a much-needed shower, he fell into the bed.

*     *     *

Bacon. Why was he dreaming about bacon? Kristoffer opened his eyes and looked around. Slits of light came in through the drapes. He looked at his watch only to realize it was gone.

Pamela had confiscated it.

He tossed back the covers and walked to the window. Judging by the height of the sun, it had to be close to eleven. He’d never slept this late. He started to reach for his clothes, but they were so disgustingly filthy, he decided it wouldn’t kill him to take a shower before heading back downtown.

The warm water sluiced over him and washed away any residual weariness. Grabbing a towel as he left the shower, he dried himself before heading back into the bedroom for some clothes.

A knock sounded on the door as the aroma of strong coffee invaded his senses.

“Are you decent?”

“Just a minute.” He grabbed a polo shirt and jeans from the closet and briefs from the dresser and was dressed in record time. “I am now.”

A smiling Pamela entered the room, extending a steaming mug toward him. He accepted it, but judged the brew too hot to drink. “Thank you.”

“No, thank
you
.”

“For what?”
Showering?
Had he smelled that bad?

Her gaze gave him the once over. Good thing he’d dressed before she came in. His cock grew hard, and he returned to the bathroom where he set the mug down and picked up his brush, running it through his hair.

Noma sauntered into the bathroom and wrapped herself around his ankles. He reached down to rub the cat between the ears. Surprisingly, when Pamela followed, the fickle feline left him and went to her.

“I see you’ve met,” he said.

“I won her over by cleaning out her litter box and feeding her last night.”

“Damn. I forgot all about her.” When was the last time he’d been home?

“No problem. We hit it off immediately.”

Figured. Maybe Noma only warmed up to females.

“Breakfast is ready when you are,” she announced as she set Noma down. “Oh, the pulmonologist wants to meet with you in about ninety minutes.”

Tori.

How could he have forgotten about her? He picked up the mug and lifted it to his face. “I’ll be there in a few.”

She nodded and started to leave, but turned her head to toss a parting shot over her shoulder. “It’s nice to see you back among the living.” If he’d slept more than twelve hours straight, he must have been dog-tired.

In the kitchen a few minutes later, dressed and ready to go, she plated scrambled eggs and bacon and a piece of buttered, thick sourdough toast and set it on the table.

“Smells delicious.” He sat down and waited for her.

“Tastes even better,” she said, filling her plate.

She smiled, and his damned cock stirred. Bloody hell. What kind of man was he to have a sexual response to another woman while his wife lay dying?

“I’ll admit I had a nibble while I cooked.”

They ate in silence a moment. “Man, this hits the spot.”

“Glad you liked it. My options were limited in your kitchen.”

“Sorry. I don’t eat here much.”

“Your freezer came through with the bread and bacon, though.”

“Yeah, I have a tendency to stock my freezer for times when I might not want to venture out.”

“I saw your leftovers from one of my favorite restaurants in the fridge, but I figured they’d been there a while, so I tossed them.”

“Thanks.” This little scene of domestic harmony felt wrong. His place was at Tori’s side. Instead he was across town in his home talking about mundane matters like garbage. Time to refocus before heading downtown again. “What did the doctor say?”

“Just that they had the results of the biopsy and want to meet with you to discuss them.”

His heart hammered against his chest. “Do they meet with you to tell you everything’s okay?”

“They could want the meeting for any number of reasons. Don’t jump to conclusions. I personally think her staff member was reluctant to give me any of the information, since I’m not listed on the HIPAA release of information forms.”

Damn. He shouldn’t have fallen asleep. Kristoffer hurriedly finished the rest of his breakfast and coffee and then stood. “Maybe if we head downtown earlier, we can meet sooner.”

“Doubtful. She’s probably on a tight schedule,” Pamela said as she stood and began clearing the table, seemingly without a worry in the world. He took his own plate to the sink to speed things along.

She tossed him a bone. “But if we get down there early, it’ll give you time to visit Tori. I’m sure you’re anxious to see her.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I am.”

Honestly, he hadn’t given a visit with Tori a thought. He’d be with her throughout the day, before and after the physicians came through. He always was when she was hospitalized. The only anomaly here was that he’d left her alone last night.

“I’ll clean up in here, Kristoffer. Gather whatever you need for an overnight at the hospital, and we’ll leave as soon as you’re ready.”

He appreciated her instructions, because Pamela made simple functions fly out of his head. If she used her power for nefarious purposes, she could be dangerous.

To hell with
could
. She’d passed dangerous somewhere last night when she’d invaded his bedroom.

*     *     *

Kristoffer held on to Pamela’s hand tightly as they sat side by side in the conference room across the table from Tori’s pulmonologist. He dreaded what they had to tell him, but was oddly relieved he wouldn’t have to face the news alone.

“Mr. Larson, as far as we can tell, the lesions are calcified.” Kristoffer stared at her, clueless for a moment as to what that meant. He expected to hear “malignant” this or “benign” that. What the hell did calcified mean?