Final Hours Read Online Free PDF Page A

her
ear. Heat shot through her. Dangerous heat. “No one here uses my first name.”
    Elizabeth jerked back, looked up at him. “I’m sorry if I—”
    “No harm done, Beth.” He stepped away, turning to Dr.
Kinimoto. Elizabeth wanted to follow, to stay inside the warmth he radiated.
Instead she kept herself against the wall. This was not her time, her world.
She would not become attached to a man who technically hadn’t been born
yet. “I will assume she is free to go. You can make your apologies later, Chelssie.
I am tired, and my shoulder is screaming nasty things at me.”
    He headed for the door, grabbed Elizabeth’s right hand as he
walked past her. She held on, double stepping to keep up with his much longer
stride. “You should be in bed, you know,” she said. “It wasn’t that long ago
that you were bleeding all over a London street.”
    The corner of his mouth twitched. “Is that an invitation?”
    “No—I didn’t mean—I’m not—” Stumbling over her own words,
she tried to free herself. Kane simply tightened his grip and kept walking. “I’m
not good at the whole flirting thing, so I wouldn’t know if I was actually, um,
flirting.”
    Elizabeth didn’t think she could embarrass herself more than
she already had. Nothing like proving herself wrong.
    When Kane led her around the corner, she was too busy
berating herself to notice he stopped—until she ran straight into his chest.
His bare chest. Faster than she thought possible she leaped backward. His slow
smile told her just how much she amused him.
    “You will know you’re flirting, Beth.” He leaned in, so
close she could feel his breath on her lips. The same dangerous heat shot
through her. “When a man can’t take it any longer and tosses you on the nearest
flat surface.”
    “How—romantic.”
    His shout of laughter had her smiling, and feeling—smug. She
liked it, too much. Found herself already liking him, too much.
Impossible—everything about him was impossible, too good to be true, and every
other cliché she could come up with.
    Kane took her hand and led her to what she recognized now as
the medical wing. His steps slowed when they got closer, until he finally
stopped, feet from the main door.
    “Beth.” He studied their joined hands, light winking off his
earring. It fascinated her that he wore one, and she wondered about the story
behind it. “I wanted to thank you for what you did. Not many people would trust
a complete stranger enough to potentially sacrifice their own life.”
    “You were injured protecting me. I couldn’t leave you there.”
    He finally met her eyes. “Most would have.”
    “That’s a jaded view of the world.” One she understood,
because she shared it.
    “Side effect of growing up without family.”
    Her heart skipped, and started up again, a painful throbbing
against her ribs. Her free hand crept up to rub the gold heart at her throat. “You’re
an orphan?” No wonder he understood her—he had been through the same hell.
    “It is a condition of the job. No one to miss you, in case
something fatal happens.” He squeezed her hand. “Because of you, I avoided that
fate. At least this time.”
    Elizabeth watched him move in close, and held her breath,
afraid he would kiss her. Wanting him to kiss her. He did—on her forehead. Like
a father might soothe his child. She let out a sigh, relieved and disappointed.
    It was for the best. She would never see him again once they
sent her home. Not that she wouldn’t think about him, more than was good for
her. Or draw his arresting face, over and over.
    Exhaustion hollowed out that face now, and he looked more
fragile than he did when he was wounded and bleeding.
    “You need to finish what you started with that machine,” she
said. “Mac told you about them hauling me off, didn’t he?”
    “Your lucky guess is correct. Mac all but yanked me off the
table.” He smiled down at her. It faded quickly. “I will be off the rotation
for