Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Salem rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to shut this down fast, but Alexis beat him to it.
“You have no idea! Last week, Gregori made this cheese bagatelle pasta in a cream sauce. Doctor Stingy over there let me have a tiny bite, and I swear I haven’t recovered from it yet.”
“So not only does he cook, but you’ve got all this hotness to come home to?” Nancy inquired. She clicked her tongue and shook her head at him. “How have you not put a ring on his finger yet?”
Gregori shoved an obscenely heavy plate into his hands, but his eyes were locked on Nancy. His charming half grin had come out to play. “And why haven’t we met yet?” He extended his hand toward the young blond nurse. “Gregori Valerii.”
“Nancy Cutler. A pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve watched you playing with the kids. I swear all of your visits have done wonders to improve their morale.”
“Thank you. I’m just glad I can brighten their day a little bit.” He released her hand and sidled closer, allowing Alexis to dive into the various dishes, piling up her own plate. Wait a minute! Where the hell did she even get a plate? Salem hadn’t even noticed her stepping away from the counter where the food was spread out.
“This smells delightful,” Nurse Cutler mentioned even as she lifted a spoonful to her nose to sniff. “How did you get such a crisp edge on this fish?”
“Oh, it’s the…” Gregori paused, face contorting. “Dammit, what word…it’s the pan lubricant.”
Salem busted up laughing. “You mean oil?”
“That was it!” Gregori made a face at him. “You try speaking multiple languages and see how often you lose a word.”
He couldn’t help but keep laughing. “Still, of all the words to choose, lubricant? Really?”
Gregori rolled his eyes at him and went back to discussing the finer points of cooking with Nurse Cutler. Salem dug in, the delightful taste of yummy food he didn’t have to cook filtering through his taste buds. He ate and watched Gregori talk, and he might have basked in the moment. Seriously, what was this feeling of…pride? Surely not. He’d staunchly kept Gregori at arm’s length, emotionally speaking.
Other nurses filtered in, hearing of food and wanting a share. Salem didn’t mind.
Or at least he didn’t until Lisa started batting her eyelashes at Gregori. Lisa was pretty, knew it, and flaunted her oh-so-perfect breasts as she lavished praise on Gregori. Salem didn’t like her at all, as she’d already been through three husbands, every relationship ending because she’d cheated. She was a good nurse but not a good person.
Gregori finally got a word in edgewise and pointed to Salem. “I actually brought him lunch,” he explained. “I just thought I’d make enough for everyone to have a break.”
That wouldn’t deter Lisa. Her last two affair partners had been married men. She didn’t so much as blink. “Oh, you’re so sweet.”
That tore it. Salem drawled in a warning tone, “His breakfasts are especially good. So this will be the only time I’m willing to share.”
Lisa looked at him uncertainly, took in his Try me, bitch face, and wisely decided to stop flirting.
The look Gregori gave him, one of delight, was worth it even if Alexis was making cooing noises next to him. Look, on certain things, Salem had no tolerance. Gregori happened to be one of those things.
Salem was jealous!
It was a beautiful look on his face. It truly made all the hectic racing about worth it. Seeing him immediately stop the nurse once she’d crossed the line had filled Gregori’s heart past the bursting point. He would absolutely reward his jealousy later too. For now, he basked.
Gregori opened his mouth to take a bite of chicken when alarms blared throughout the entire hospital, piercing his ears. For a heartbeat, all six of the hospital employees sat frozen at the table, staring at each other in shock. As one, they all jumped up and ran down the hall as a voice came over the intercom announcing a code Gregori had never heard before.
Salem almost tripped over his own feet, but Gregori grabbed his elbow and saved him, getting him moving again. When Salem looked up to meet his gaze, the doctor’s face was frighteningly pale.
“What is it? What’s happening?”
“The alarm…the code…” Salem started, but his voice was too low to hear over the siren, forcing Gregori to read his lips. “There’s a bomb in the hospital.”
Everything inside of Gregori froze solid and his brain locked up. A bomb in a hospital full of sick people. Full of sick and innocent kids.
A bomb in a hospital that contained his one and only mate.
Gregori stepped in front of Salem, his hands wrapped tightly around his biceps, holding him in place. Every instinct screamed for him to first fly Salem a safe distance from the hospital before returning to deal with the bomb.