To Play with Fire by Tina Beckett

Author:Tina Beckett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

THOSE SCARS WERE more than skin-deep, but Maggie had refused to talk about them last night, saying they were in her past.

But the way she’d dug her nails into her skin back at the kiosk—her so-called bad habit—made him think the two were related. That the marks were self-inflicted. The way she’d slapped his hand away and tried to hide them with her own had set alarm bells off in his skull. But there were too many of them, her hand couldn’t even begin to cover them.

They weren’t just in her past.

Because he’d seen her. At the conference. At the beach.

And when she’d grabbed her panties and tugged them up her legs, he’d seen scars marring her other thigh as well, cementing his theory. Either she’d hurt herself or someone else had done it to her.

He was supposed to be at the conference with her right now, but he’d left a note with her doorman, begging off, saying he needed to check in on Stácia, which he did. But the reality was he didn’t want to face her. Not only because of what had happened between them last night but because he wasn’t sure what to say to her.

He’d stood there staring at her in that little shack as she’d hauled her dress up and over her hips, breasts—holding it in place when he’d made no move to help her fasten it in back.

The thought of taking her back to his place and making love to her for the rest of the night had imploded right in front of him. He’d dressed in silence, sliding his belt back through the loops of his slacks and wondering what she’d been thinking as he’d stood there and teased her with it earlier. No wonder she hadn’t responded to his words. The joke suddenly tasted sour on his tongue.

Had someone actually hurt her? Burned her? Or had she done it all herself?

The questions had gone round and round in his skull as Maggie had sat stiff and unyielding in the passenger seat on the ride back to her apartment And now she was at the conference. Alone.

And if Dr. Carvalho is there as well?

He pressed his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose. That wasn’t something he could control. In fact, there wasn’t much he could control right now.

Except his job. Which was what he should be doing. He picked up the first patient’s folder from his desk and flipped it open, then reached for a pen.

A quick knock came at the door, and Sophia popped her head in with a smile. “Hey, are you busy?”

Great. Just what he needed. A question-and-answer session with the world’s nosiest nurse.

“I’m about to be. What do you need?” He allowed a portion of his frustration to show through in his voice before regretting it and softening his words. “How’s your headache this morning, by the way?”

“I’ve been taking ibuprofen for it. I think my allergies are acting up.” She stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

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