With a sigh, Flynn turned back to Harper and collapsed into the chair he’d occupied through the night. He’d gone above and beyond for her, and she barely knew a damn thing about him. How could he have never mentioned he had a son?
Harper reached her hand, palm up, toward Flynn, and he clasped it without hesitation. She put aside her pride and looked him straight in the eye. “Thank you, Flynn. You saved my life.”
Flynn pulled his hand back to tip an imaginary hat. “All in a day’s work, ma’am.”
Ben pulled his father’s bag open and began to riffle through it, a fierce look of concentration on his chubby-cheeked face. Once he found what he was looking for, he grinned in triumph.
“You have a son,” she said as Ben played with a yellow toy airplane, his imagination turning the small room into an endless horizon of a cloud-filled sky. “What else don’t I know about you?” Harper tried not to sound annoyed that he hadn’t told her about Ben previously. It wasn’t her business.
“As I only volunteer at the kitchen every other Saturday, and you are usually so busy you can barely say hello, there is a lot you don’t know. The mystery isn’t one-sided. I may work for you, but I don’t know a lot about you either.” He paused, taking a second to lick his lips. The small motion made her stomach flip again. “I’d like to know you.”
“You don’t work for me,” she said, focusing on anything but the way he made her body react. “You work for—”
“The community—yes, I remember the spiel you gave me when I first came to volunteer.”
“It’s not a spiel; it’s the truth.” She didn’t know him well enough to tell whether he was joking or not. “We’re there to serve.”
Flynn leaned forward to rest his hand on what she knew was a massive bruise on her face. The bastard had got her good. “And look what they gave you in return,” he said quietly.
“It’s not his fault—”
“Was it his fault to steal from you and hurt you? Yes, Harper, I think it was.”
“You sound like all the corporate bastards who don’t understand. The people in downtrodden communities, the circumstances of their birth and the life they grow up in give them no choice but to become what they are. They have no opportunities for betterment, and their fates are decided by those on the outside because of where they live.”
Flynn moved rapidly from the chair to the bed, cradling her face in between his large palms. Where Theo was lean, Flynn was muscular. Not overwhelmingly, but thick and sturdy, someone she thought she could lean on.
“What are you doing?” she asked when he sat there, holding her and not talking.
“Keeping your brain from moving this way and that. You need to rest, not argue. Although I hear that’s hard for you to do.” He trailed his hands down to her neck, tripping his thumb along a scratch under her chin. “Don’t compare me to those blockheads, Harper. I know what life growing up in a rough neighborhood can do to you, what it can turn a person into. But you still have the choice. There’s always a choice.”
“Even when that choice could get you and your family killed by the gangs down the block?”
He closed his lids and sighed before opening them and saying, “Even then.”
They sat there for a moment, looking at one another, and although Flynn had been volunteering at the kitchen for a while, Harper had been lying to herself about how attracted she was to him. Not thinking this was the appropriate time to pursue that line of thought, she again focused on something else. She was good at avoidance.
“Blockheads?”
He grinned. “I have an impressionable son. Be thankful he didn’t hear you say the other b-word. He’d be repeating it to his preschool teacher in no time, and then I’d be getting called in for parent-teacher conferences.”
“Preschoolers have parent-teacher conferences? What could they possibly be telling you? Ben’s coloring skills could be improved, but he keeps his cubby extra clean?”
Flynn laughed, the sound an exquisite baritone. He didn’t remove his hands.
A scuff from the door broke the spell, and they both turned. Well, Flynn turned and kept Harper’s face immobile. She tapped his hands in annoyance.
“Apologies. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Hearing the doctor’s voice, Harper pulled Flynn’s hands away. She gingerly turned until she saw the man standing in the doorway. The cold demeanor had vanished now that the nurse was gone but with it his flirtatious confidence. He gestured from one to the other. “How long have you two been—”
“We’re not,” they both said quickly.
“Jinx!” Ben yelled from somewhere beneath the bed.
“Sorry. Not that I wouldn’t want to—” Flynn began before giving her what she could only call the stink eye. “Quick to deny you’re dating me, aren’t you?”
“You denied it first!”
“I didn’t want Theo to get the wrong idea. Maybe he likes you.”
“Theo? You’re on a first-name basis with the esteemed doctor? Maybe you’re the one he likes.”
“Okay, I’m going to step in here.” Theo walked to the end of her bed and pointed to Flynn. “You, stop riling her up.” Then to Harper. “You, lie down and relax, or you’re going to be in here longer than a couple days.” Ben had stopped playing and was currently standing by Theo’s feet, watching the doctor scold Harper and his father. Theo looked down at the small human and shrugged. “Adults, am I right?”
“No respect!”
Harper snorted at that while Flynn groaned. He rolled his eyes, the motion landing his gaze on the doctor. The smile he turned toward Theo was beatific. Maybe that’s why Flynn denied it quickly, Harper thought. He was probably gay. Which explained the whole mother-only-being-in-the-picture-for-the-birth thing and why Harper was comfortable around him. Yup. Definitely gay. She intended to huff and tell them to take their flirtations to another room, but Flynn stopped her in her tracks.
Flynn stretched across the hospital bedding and clasped her hand where it lay fisted and tense. He looked down at the hand and worked to tug her fingers open. She childishly fought him for a second, but he was only satisfied when her fingers expanded and intertwined with his. Connection sizzled through her, as if the simple touch put their bodies in sync. Feeling the smooth texture of his skin, the ridges of his fingerprints, trip along hers settled her irrational anger. The connection felt right, as though this was where they were supposed to be in relation to one another. They simultaneously turned to look up at Theo.
Harper’s pulse pounded in tune with the ache in her head. The moment was too strong and bizarre, and she didn’t understand what Flynn was trying to accomplish. Or maybe she did, and it was too much for her bruised heart to take. He was the artist here, tugging and guiding them, molding them into a shape more to his liking.
“I would like to thank you, Theo, for taking care of our fearless Harper.” Flynn sounded cool, like the world hadn’t decided to spin the other way. “She does a lot for others and rarely gets any thanks in return.” Theo opened his mouth to speak, and Flynn cut him off by reaching out to grasp his hand. “Don’t say you were only doing your job. I spoke to a nurse. She said your shift ended hours ago.”
Flynn pulled the doctor toward them, gently pushing him to take a seat in the chair beside the bed. Ben interrupted to wiggle his way between the three of them and climb onto the doctor’s lap, completely at ease with the stranger and unaware of the tension between the trio. Theo didn’t question it but wrapped his free arm around the little boy to steady him.
Flynn grinned smugly at the gesture. “I’d like to take you both to dinner, once Harper is better—”
“And things at the kitchen are squared away,” she said. As exciting as this exchange was, the kitchen was her first priority.
“No,” Flynn disagreed with a hard look at her. “You’ll become enmeshed in the Full Spoon, and then we’ll never see you again.”
She stared right back at him, refusing to back down. “You’re right, because that place is my life. I worked my ass off for it, and I’m not going to let it fail because some asswipe decided to take advantage of the back door to the building being left open.”
Flynn gentled his tone. “All I’m saying is that you go back and you work during the day like we do, and then you come out to dinner with us. That’s all.” Flynn squeezed her hand. “I would never presume to come between you and the kitchen. I’m not a blockhead.”
Her shoulders dropped, and she realized her back had been tense. Her defenses rose in such a familiar knee-jerk reaction, she hadn’t noticed. “Okay,” she said more to herself than the men. “I’d like to get to know you both better.” She turned her gaze to Theo, who had been watching silently with an amused expression. “Especially you, Dr. Backstrom. Please let us pay you back for all you’ve done for me.”
“Call me Theo,” he said, and that was as good an answer as any.
“Daddy, I’m hungry.”
Harper looked over to see Ben snuggled into Theo’s chest, his gaze drooping and his mouth surrounding the yellow toy as he gnawed on it. Theo tugged the toy out of his mouth, and the boy didn’t complain. He nuzzled deeper into Theo’s arms.
“I can get him something from the cafeteria,” Theo offered.
Flynn cleared his throat, a constricted noise that brought Harper’s gaze back to him. His mouth was tight as he stared at the large man cuddling with his child, and Harper suddenly understood a little more about the handsome volunteer who hadn’t told her about his delightful son. Seeing Ben take to a man Flynn was clearly attracted to must have been a punch to the gut, especially after raising the kid on his own. Harper wondered if Flynn had ever dated or tried to marry after Ben came into his life. What did he say before…that Ben’s grandfather hadn’t been able to watch him? At least he did have someone in his life to help out with the kid. That was a small blessing.
“All right, monkey.” Flynn released Harper’s hand, then opened his arms for Theo to return Ben to him. Ben adjusted to the exchange but had no complaints being back in his daddy’s arms. Flynn stood, and Theo helped put the bag over Flynn’s shoulder, attempting to keep Ben undisturbed as the little one began to sleep. Flynn cradled Ben’s cheek as he leaned over to place a gentle kiss on Harper’s forehead.
“Heal up, Harper. Call me when you’re gonna go back to the kitchen. I’ll see if I can meet you there to help with cleanup.”
Harper could feel the imprint of Flynn’s lips on her skin, and it burned like a brand. She nodded slowly in agreement, too dazed for words. During their exchange, Theo had written something down on a piece of paper and was now tucking it into a side zipper on Flynn’s bag.
“Call me, too,” Theo said, a hesitant smile on his full lips. “I’d like to see this kitchen.”
“It’s a date.” Flynn winked playfully at Theo, the heaviness of the past few moments subsiding at last, letting Harper breathe easier. As soon as Flynn was out of the room, Harper leaned back against her pillows and stared up at Theo’s back, as he was currently facing the doorway.
“You all right?” Harper asked.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly, turning back to Harper and sitting at her bedside. “That was unusual for me.”
“Oh, well, I get propositioned like that all the time. Two guys at once is my forte. Stick with me, kid, and I’ll show you the ropes.”
Theo laughed at her sarcasm, his chuckle tingling her senses, making her smile. She sobered, though, when his expression turned inward. “Are you all right?”
“I’m not gay,” he said bluntly, his eyes open. “But I can’t imagine how I would feel if I never saw either of you again.” He grasped her hand. “This is…” He shrugged, words failing him.
“Unusual.” She used his word from before.
“Shouldn’t I be more appalled or stunned that a man I’m attracted to came on to me while coming on to another woman that I am equally attracted to? Especially when I have never been with a man?”
“You’re laying it all out there, aren’t you?” Harper was impressed by his brutal honesty.
“I feel, at this point, what do I have to hide?” He was open, bare and raw from what had occurred between the three of them. Harper didn’t think Flynn had done any damage in expressing his desire clearly, but there was something out of character about Theo’s submission. He didn’t seem like a person to give in, but she didn’t know him well enough to figure out the exact problem. She needed to learn him better. At any rate, it would keep until she was out of the hospital.
“Is this how you treat all your patients, Dr. Backstrom?”
The teasing seemed to wake him up from whatever thoughts had dragged him down. “Yes, my bedside manner is thirty percent medical knowledge and seventy percent gigolo.”
“Lucky me.” She winked and instantly regretted it. “Ow…”
“Time for some rest, Harper.”
His voice was warm and inviting, but Harper knew it might be a while until she could pursue what she wanted with the full strength of her personality. What would Theo think of her when she wasn’t helpless and in need of a knight in shining armor? She was almost too excited by the prospect to rest. Almost.
Chapter Three
“Do you wish to press charges against the vandals, Ms. Pettinger?”
Flynn watched Harper’s muscles tighten in anxiety at the question. She knew better than to say yes, as did the policeman. Officer Reynolds was a well-respected man in the community. It wasn’t Harper who would be put in danger by pointing fingers. The community would rally behind her and support her decision. She was one of their own, and they knew she did all she could to give back while asking for nothing in return. The truly dangerous criminals, the ones you wouldn’t put it past to shoot a man on sight to get what they want, left her alone, respected her enough to keep their business off her block. A mutual understanding. No, it was the stupid kids who did this who would suffer if she named them. And from the marks and graffiti signatures left all over her floor, Flynn could tell she knew instantly who’d wrecked the building.
“No, Officer Reynolds. I don’t want to press charges against the ones who trashed my place. I do want to find the asswipe who did this.” She pointed to her bruised face. “And stole from me.”
“You’re sure it wasn’t the same person?”