The Mighty Quinns: Thom by Kate Hoffmann Read Free Book Online Page B

anymore. You’re better than that.”
    “So you want to fix me,” he asked.
    “Not fix you,” Malin said. “Just polish you up a bit. Would you let me do that?”
    “I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll have to think about it.”
    Malin nodded, then placed her palm on his cheek. For the first time since she’d met him, she saw a tiny hint of vulnerability in his expression. Would he trust her enough to let her in? Or would he fight her all the way?
    The doorbell rang, the sound echoing through the interior of the fire station. “That’s the doc,” he said. “Hold on to the cloth. I’ll go let him in.”
    Malin had to wonder how he’d gotten a doctor to make a house call, especially so quickly. But when the doctor strolled into the bedroom, she froze.
    “Malin!”
    “Drew?” She directed her gaze at Thom. “You called the team doctor?”
    Drew strode into the room and set his bag on the floor beside the bed. “Let me take a look.” Drew took the damp cloth from her hand and examined her wound.
    “You shouldn’t have called him,” she said.
    “Actually, he should have,” Drew said. “He’s right. You need stitches.”
    “I could have gone to the emergency room.”
    Drew chuckled. “And leave your wound to those hacks? I’m an expert at suturing. My work is infamous throughout the league.” He reached into his bag and removed a syringe already filled with anesthetic. “This is going to pinch a bit, but it will pass.”
    Grudgingly she allowed Drew to tend to her, all the while holding her tongue. Malin’s father had told her to watch Thom, but she was sure he hadn’t intended for her to wind up in The Beast’s bed. And if Drew said something to her father, the project and her ambitions would all be over before they’d even begun.

3
    “I S THERE ANYTHING I can get for you?”
    Thom smiled as he smoothed out the edge of his bedspread. Malin was exactly where he’d wanted her all along—in his bed. But the way she was looking at him didn’t give him much hope that there would be seduction in their plans for the day.
    “Why did you call Drew?”
    “Who else should I have called?” Thom asked. “I had a woman in my apartment with a head wound. Some creative journalist could have turned that into an interesting story. Then add the fact that the woman was the team owner’s only daughter and you’ve really got something juicy.”
    She hesitated for a moment. “What if Drew says something?”
    “Do you really think he wants to be the one to spread a rumor about the owner’s daughter and the team bad boy?”
    “All right,” she finally admitted. “You did the right thing. It was just a little uncomfortable.”
    “Why? Drew’s a nice guy. Loyal to the team. Great doctor.”
    “He asked me out a couple months ago, and I told him I didn’t date anyone I worked with. And then he walks in here and finds me in your bed. I’m still afraid he might say something.”
    Thom had never been the jealous sort, but her admission definitely brought out those feelings now. Maybe it was envy and not jealousy. “If you hadn’t worked with him, would you have accepted?”
    She shrugged. “Sure. He’s a good-looking guy. And he’s a doctor. Guys like him don’t come around very often.”
    “Sure,” he murmured. Thom turned away from the bed and walked into the bathroom. Drew was a doctor. College-educated. Exactly the kind of guy a woman like Malin needed. Dependable. Trustworthy. He was a goddamn doctor.
    Thom stared at his reflection in the mirror. And what did he have to offer Malin? Nothing. He’d never gone to college. In a few years, the only job he’d ever had would cast him aside as too old and too slow. He’d be left with joints that barely worked and scars that would be constant reminders of the pain he’d endured. And if he was lucky, the money he’d invested would last long enough to make a comfortable life for himself. If he wasn’t...he’d be as much of a failure as his