Securing His Destiny (Power Security #2)

Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

S unlight drifted through the blinds when Tabitha woke. Her gaze immediately went to the chair by the bed. Disappointment swelled. It was empty.

Every time she’d woken up, Steve had been there. He’d kept his promise. He hadn’t left her alone. Now he had.

Had he said goodbye, and she didn’t remember him doing so?

Her sleep had been disturbed with the constant interruption by the nurses checking her vitals and repeatedly asking her the same questions.

The last time she’d been woken, Tabitha had recited the answers before the nurse had even asked them.

Steve had chuckled, the sound low and grumbly, and she wanted to hear it all the time.

Her door opened, and she sat up a little straighter, her heart leaping to her throat. She hoped to see Steve walk through the door, but unfortunately, it was another nurse. She sank back into the bed.

“I’m not the person you were hoping to see.” She smiled to gentle her statement.

Tabitha grimaced. “Sorry, was I that obvious?”

The nurse laughed. “It’s okay, I get used to looks of disappointment on my patient's face when I walk in sometimes. You’re not the first person to do it, and I doubt you’ll be the last. How are you feeling?”

She took stock of what her body was telling her. The ache in her head was minimal. Her stomach was no longer churning. Neither was her body hurting anymore from where she’d fallen against the furniture before hitting the ground. “Pretty good, all things considered. Can I leave?”

Tabitha recalled giving Steve her assistant’s number so he could let her know what’d happened. She hadn’t been happy about it, but another part of Tabitha had been relieved someone else was taking over for her, even if only for a short while.

There was no way she’d ever let him know that. The man already had an air of arrogance about him that didn’t need any more inflating.

“I can’t say when you’ll be discharged. You’ll need to be examined by the doctor again before that can happen.”

Tabitha twisted the blanket around her finger. “How long will that take?” Past experience with the medical profession told her she’d be in her bed for a while.

“I wouldn’t want to give a time frame,” the nurse said.

She could barely hold back her frown at the nurse’s inadvertent confirmation. “Fine. I’ll wait. Let’s get this over with.” Tabitha recited the answers to the same questions as all her vitals were taken yet again.

“Well, everything looks good, and you’re not showing any signs like you did last night, so I think you’re on your way to recovery, but I’m not the doctor so I can’t discharge you, unfortunately.” The nurse finished with a laugh. “Breakfast should be along soon. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

At that moment, her stomach grumbled, and the door opened again.

Steve popped his head around it. “Safe to come in?”

A flutter of delight bubbled in Tabitha’s stomach, not to mention a smidgeon of relief that he hadn’t left her alone.

“Yep, all finished here. When I see the doctor, I’ll make sure to let him know you’re eager to get out of here.” The nurse winked.

“Thanks.” She waited until the door shut behind her before glancing at Steve, noting it looked like he’d showered, and he was wearing a different shirt than the one she’d seen him in every time she’d woken up. “I thought you’d left.” Tabitha clamped her hand over her mouth, horrified she’d said the words. “I’m sorry. Forget I even said that.”

Was it possible that luck would be on her side, and her doctor would walk through the door to save her from the embarrassment of speaking without thinking?

The door stayed shut—nope, luck wasn’t playing nice with her today.

“I did leave, and I should’ve left a note or something. I’m sorry.”

Wait! He’s apologizing?

“Umm, thanks, but you don’t need to be sorry. It’s not like we’re in a relationship or anything.” She pressed her lips together again. Clearly, the knock to her head had affected her ability to filter what she said before she said it.

Steve crossed the room. He was carrying a bag that seemed to be from a bakery. “No, we’re not, but I’d like us to be.”

It took a full five seconds before what he’d said sunk in. “What?” Tabitha sputtered.

He sat and placed the bag on the small table next to her bed.

The aroma of fresh baked goods teased her nostrils, and her stomach grumbled again in appreciation. Well, her stomach would have to wait.

“You said we weren’t in a relationship. I’d like to change that.” Steve’s voice was even and serious.

“Why now? Is it because I was hurt?” she asked. For months, she’d been wanting to get to know the handsome man in front of her better, but he was always closed off, except for the odd occasion it’d appeared he set aside his obvious “rules” to keep her at a distance and had chatted freely with her.

Tabitha had cherished those times. Finding out bits and pieces about Steve. Little tidbits she’d tucked away in the back of her mind, ready to pull out when she wanted to prolong his visits. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t.

“That’s a fair question. You could say you being hurt was the push I needed to get my head out of my ass,” Steve said.

Was he saying that he’d been attracted to her the whole time he’d been coming to her café?

That was what it sounded like, but Tabitha didn’t like to make assumptions—things never worked out well when she did that. “You’re going to have to elaborate a little more than that.”

Her heart thumped in excitement about the possibility of spending more time with Steve, but that didn’t mean she was just going to take this change at face value.

Instead of answering, he opened the bag he’d brought and laid the contents out in front of her.

There were two plain croissants as well as a chocolate one and two chocolate chip muffins.

“I got you a hot chocolate. I would’ve got you a coffee, but I didn’t know how you take it and figured the hot chocolate was a good option.” He placed the napkins from the bag beside the baked treats.

He’d gotten all her favorite pastries. She shouldn’t be surprised he’d remembered what she liked; one of their rare, longer-than-a-greeting conversations had been about what Tabitha liked to eat and enjoyed making.

Heck, she remembered his favorite color was blue, and he also liked chocolate chip muffins. That last item was easy to remember, as he always asked for one when he dropped in to the café.

“I love hot chocolate. I prefer that to coffee, if I’m being honest. But don’t tell my customers that. They think I love coffee as much as they do.” Tabitha reached for the paper cup and brought it to her nose, breathing in the scent of chocolate. She closed her eyes as she lifted the cup, moaning at the first taste of the creamy drink on her tongue.

Was that a groan she heard?

She opened her eyes to find Steve watching her intently, his attention on her mouth.

Had he groaned? Was that what she’d heard?

“It’s good?” he asked.

“Good, but mine’s better,” she finished with a wink.

“I’ll just bet it is.” He pointed at the pastries. “What’re you going to have?”

Tabitha could quite easily eat all of them, considering how hungry she was, but the last thing she wanted to do was gorge herself on the delectable goods and then throw up in front of Steve. Doing that once in front of someone was more than enough for this lifetime. “I’m not sure. They all look so good.”

She grabbed the plain croissant, no matter how much she wanted the chocolate one. She didn’t want to risk upsetting her stomach with both the chocolate drink and a chocolate pastry.

Steve swiped one of the chocolate chip muffins, and she smiled around her mouthful of food.

“What?” he asked before he took a big bite of the muffin.

“Your choice isn’t a surprise. You’re nothing, if not predictable.”

He frowned and set the muffin on the paper bag. “I’m not predictable.”

There was an edge to his voice, as though she’d offended him.

She tried not to frown. He didn’t seem the type to become so easily upset. “When it comes to pastries, you are. Every day when you come in, you have a coffee and chocolate chip muffin. Given the choice of what you bought, it didn’t surprise me at all that you went for the muffin.”

“I suppose.”

Steve still seemed upset and had gone quiet.

The little food she’d eaten churned in her stomach. The last thing she wanted to do was upset him, especially after he said he wanted to pursue a relationship with her.

Did he not like being called out about certain things?

He didn’t seem like the sort of person who would be, but then again, her information-base about Steve was surface stuff. They hadn’t gone into the deep and meaningful things during their chats.

Then again, she didn’t know him that well. He could be someone who got upset with the slightest criticism. She didn’t want to be involved with a person who was that sensitive to negative feedback. Tabitha didn’t want to have to watch what she said because he had a fragile ego.

Even if what she said next could annoy him more, she wouldn’t back down. She wasn’t the type of person to sit back and take shit from people. She didn’t want to be in a relationship with someone if they could hand it out, but not take it themselves. Not that Steve had given her any indication that he’d talk shit to her, but it was something that she couldn’t say for certain.

It was best to confront him and see. “Did me saying you’re predictable upset you?” She crossed her arms over her chest, a classic closed off action, but she didn’t care.

“Not really. It just surprised me. In my current and past job, being predictable isn’t a good thing.”

Tabitha relaxed a little, glad to see Steve hadn’t ignored her question or tried to change the subject. “You’re in security, right?”

He nodded. “And before that, I was in the military.”

Considering the hard edge that surrounded him, saying he was former military wasn’t a surprise. She’d bet a day’s takings at the café that he’d been part of some special ops or was part of a special team. Like a SEAL, but not one of them because she didn’t think any of the Australian Military branches had something similar to the Navy SEALs. The Army had the SAS but Steve hadn’t specified which branch of the military he’d been part of so he could’ve been a SAS soldier or a normal one.

“I’m sure when it comes to your job, you’re probably not predictable because it would be hard to be, as each circumstance you deal with is different. But when it comes to what you like to drink and eat in a morning, yes, you’re predictable.” She smiled.

“I suppose in that respect you’re right. I wouldn’t call it predictable though. I’d call it routine.”

“Whatever makes you sleep at night,” Tabitha murmured and took another sip of her drink, hiding another smile.

Predictable and routine were very similar. Each morning, she had a routine when she got to the café, and it was predictable she did that every day.

“Okay, so I’m predictable. I’ll own that. But only for my morning coffee and muffin.”

Tabitha laughed at his justification. Any doubts she had that he couldn’t take what he dished out were squashed. “I’m sure you had plenty of routines while in the military. Which branch were you in?”

Steve’s eyes widened, and he pursed his lips, as though he were thinking and not liking the conclusion he was coming to. “Dammit, I did. Fuck, maybe I am predictable because I still do some things I used to do when I was in the Army. I served for fifteen years.”

A shaft of remorse hit that she was the cause of the minor crisis hitting Steve. On the other hand, maybe he needed the shake-up. Everyone needed their eyes opened now and then.

Would she though?

If the spotlight was turned on her and one of her foibles were highlighted, would she be open and accepting of it?

Tabitha liked to think she was, and she’d had words thrown in her face when she’d been a teenager by her mum. Maybe that was why she always said what she thought, when sometimes pausing would be beneficial.

Oh God, am I as bad as my mum? I may not be abusive, but by calling Steve predictable and pointing out a flaw, I’m no better than her.

That didn’t sit well at all. Over the years, Tabitha had tried hard to put her rough teenage years behind her and be a better person than her mother, but maybe she’d only thought she was, and she was more like the woman who raised her.

“I’m sorry.” The words erupted from her.

“What? Why are you sorry?”

Tabitha put her hot chocolate she’d been holding back on the table across her bed. “I shouldn’t have called you predictable. That was wrong of me. I’ll understand if you want to leave.”