Madison’s clipboard clattered to the floor. She didn’t bother to reach for it. She was prepared to catch Paul if he fell.
Though how she would manage that, she had no idea. She’d only seen the man sitting or lying prone in a bed. She had no idea just how tall he was. He stood well over six feet, towering over her even in her high heels.
Neither had she been prepared for just how broad he was. Unlike the hotel bed she’d slept in last night, she could fit her whole body against Major Paul Hanson’s chest and still have room to toss and turn. The man was a California king size bed. Which meant that if he did fall, her twin-sized body would be crushed.
So why didn’t that thought make her move out of his way?
Maybe because she had never felt both dwarfed by and secure in front of a man before? Maybe because she had been wanting to take a break and curl up on his form even when he’d been laying prone in the hospital bed? Maybe because she got the sense that he wasn’t the one that was falling. It was her.
But Major Paul Hanson didn’t fall. He stood on strong, sturdy legs. His bare toes rooted into the ground to allow the rest o him to spring up and tower over the MRI machine.
It should not be possible for him to stand in his condition. And yet, there he was. Standing tall with the proudest, cheekiest grin on that handsome face of his. He didn’t wobble. He didn’t falter.
Paul Hanson stood like a mountain that Madison could take shelter in. Which was funny, because Madison had never been the kind of woman to seek shelter from a man. She was the kind of woman who booked the poshest cabin at the top of the mountain and glamped in warmth and luxury.
Just looking at Paul standing tall before her and she knew he was the kind of man who could build her that cabin. He was the kind of man who would carry her up to it. He was the kind of man who would keep her warm for the rest of the days.
Madison gave her head a shake. What was she thinking? This was a patient. A patient who just might be a medical miracle.
If she was smart, and she had been at the top of her class, she would be documenting this; a man who presented with degenerative spinal disease but was now standing. She should be looking at the chart, taking notes, asking questions.
Instead, she said, “You need to sit down.”
“I’ve been sitting for two days,” said Paul, still towering over her like a mighty lion.
Only now that he was on two legs, he made her think of a bear. Though there was still a rumbly purr to his voice. But deeper. Almost like a growl. Had his voice grown deeper? Or was it just that his words were now sailing down toward her instead of rising up?
“It feels good to stretch my legs,” he said, straightening his spine to rise another inch. He put his shoulders back and blocked out the rest of the room.
Madison gazed up at him. He grinned down at her.
Her hand rose to his chest. She felt his strong heartbeat beneath her fingers. Her hand had had a purpose in rising to his chest. What had it been?
Oh, right. She had meant to give him a push to get him sitting again. But it seemed there was a magnet inside his chest. Once her fingers brushed the thin cotton there, she couldn’t seem to let go. That drum beat of his heart reverberated all through her.
“This shouldn’t be possible,” she said.
She wasn’t sure if she was referring to him standing? Or if she was referring to the powerful attraction that had sprung up between them.
“Why not? You said you have magic hands.” Paul’s hand covered hers. “Maybe that’s what healed me.”
“You’re not healed.”
But was he? Had she been wrong about his diagnosis? It was possible that his body might work out the kinks of his initial injury. But she hadn’t been prepared to bet on those chances. Mainly because Madison wasn’t a betting woman. She preferred facts over odds.
Paul’s hand reached up to cover his large paw with hers. Again, she had never felt so delicate with another living soul. That desire to snuggle into the center of his chest came over again. He was just a few inches away. She could rest there and regain her senses. It looked like he wouldn’t mind. Not with how he was smiling down at her like she was a flower filled with honey.
His thumb reached up and brushed the bottom of her chin. A shiver went through Madison. That sensation was followed by a liquid warmth that spread up her elbows and across her shoulder blades, like golden honey running all the way through her.
Yeah. She could take just a moment to rest there. Just sit back and relax in the hold of this big bear of a man who would likely growl at anything that came near his stash of honey. And she was the honey.
“What’s going on here?”
The sound of Doug’s voice was like a nightmare in the middle of a dream. Madison peered around Paul’s massive shoulders to see her ex standing in the lab’s open door. Doug’s gaze was locked on Madison’s hand, which was still against Paul’s pounding heart.
Madison noted that she was staring Doug right in his eyes. Because he never towered over her. He was on her level. She had an inch on him when she wore her heels, which she’d stopped doing as much when they’d dated. Which was a shame since flats simply didn’t become her long legs. She’d started wearing them again after they’d broken up.
However, her shoes weren’t the issue at the moment. The issue was that she was standing in the embrace of a patient.
No. No, that wasn’t exactly the problem. The problem was that she was melting into the embrace of a patient.
Yes, that was it. Because if Paul had simply made a pass at her, she could’ve handled it herself. Paul had made a pass, and Madison was standing firm inside his catch.
Or she had been. Paul was shrinking down to her size. No, he wasn’t shrinking. He was collapsing.
“Major Hanson? Paul!”
His features contorted into horror as his massive chest caved in. He released his gentle hold on her face and grasped for the bed, but not quickly enough. With his legs slowly giving out, there was nothing for him to balance on. Madison was not strong enough to hold all of his weight. Just as she had predicted, his large bulk was going to crush her.