“You need to take care of yourself too,” she told him, worried by how exhausted he looked. “You need to sleep in an actual bed tonight.”
He gave her a cheeky grin. “That an invitation?”
“W-what? No!” she spluttered out.
He threw his head back and laughed. She just stared at him, transfixed. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t heard him laugh before, but it was like his whole body went into it and she found herself smiling, wanting to hear more.
He stopped laughing and reached out and ran a finger over her lips. “You’re beautiful, Gigi.”
“Not as beautiful as you.”
He grinned wickedly. “Not sure that being beautiful is all that manly.”
“On you it is. Even with that beard.”
“You don’t like my beard,” he said, with a gasp of mock-offence. He ran his hand over it. “Got to admit, it’s not feeling great in this heat.”
“I’ve never liked beards before, but on you it looks good.”
“Just good? We need to work on your compliments.”
“Sorry, I’ll try to do better. Your beard is so gorgeous, if there was a worldwide contest, you would win the Best Hairy Beast award.”
“Hairy Beast?”
“Your beard is so gorgeous that even Chuck Norris is jealous.”
“Now, you’re getting it.”
“Hagrid cries himself to sleep every night in despair over never having a beard as good as yours.”
He shook his head with a laugh. He ran his hand over his beard. “You may call it a beard; I call it magnificence escaping from my face.”
He winked as she laughed. “I must touch this magnificence.” He leaned in and she ran a finger over his cheek then down and across his lips. A shiver of need raced through her and she snatched her hand away before she was tempted to do anything else.
Macca cleared his throat, seemingly as affected as she was by her touch. “If you’re a good girl and do everything the doctor says to get out of here, I’ll take you to visit her once you’re discharged and up to it.”
“Bribing me?”
“Of course. Is it working?”
“Yes.” She also wanted to do whatever was necessary to get out of this place.
“Good girl. Now, would you like your treat?”
Ooh, she forgot about that. “Yes, what is it?”
He drew something from the other duffel bag and opened a small container. Inside were some bright red, plump strawberries, the ends coated in dark chocolate.
“I figured a little bit of chocolate was all right. A reward for being a good girl.”
“Yum!”
He picked one up and held it out for her. She reached for it and bit in. Juice ran down her chin and she let out a giggle. He reached up with a napkin and wiped the sweet berry juice away. Her heart caught, skipped, and she swallowed heavily. “Thank you. So much. For everything you’ve done.”
“You deserve to have someone do nice things for you, sweet pea.”
Sometimes, she wasn’t so sure. She figured eventually he’d get tired of looking after her. But she was selfish enough to take his care. They ate the berries quietly. And they were the best strawberries she’d ever had.