Chapter 14
[ 497 words ]
Chapter 14:
Caroline reached up to her chest. Her fingers trembled as she unclipped her plastic intern badge.
She slammed it down onto the mahogany desk. The sharp crack echoed in the silent room.
“I quit,” Caroline said. Her voice was completely flat, stripped of all emotion.
Jarrod’s head snapped toward her, his eyes narrowing.
“I don’t need your charity, Dr. Cromwell,” Caroline said, looking right at Jarrod. “And I don’t need yours, Colonel.”
Before either man could process her words, Caroline turned on her heel, grabbed the door handle, and stormed out of the office.
Caroline burst out of the office, her chest heaving as if she had just sprinted a mile. She didn’t look back. She marched down the carpeted administrative corridor, her low heels sinking into the plush fabric. She just needed to get out. She needed air.
Behind her, the heavy oak door slammed open with a deafening crash.
“Caroline!”
Jarrod’s voice was a whip cracking in the quiet hallway.
She walked faster, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs.
𝘋o𝘄ո𝗅o𝘢𝘥a𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘗𝘋𝖥𝗌 o𝘯 g𝖺𝗅𝗇𝗈𝗏e𝗅𝘴.𝗰𝘰m
Jarrod’s legs were much longer than hers. Despite his injured shoulder, he closed the distance between them in seconds. She heard the heavy, rhythmic thud of his footsteps closing in like a predator running down its prey.
She reached the corner of the hallway, turning sharply toward the elevators.
Jarrod closed the distance with terrifying precision. His uninjured left hand shot out, his long fingers wrapping securely around her wrist. Caroline gasped as he smoothly pulled her to a halt, turning her to face him. He stepped in close, forcing her to back up until her shoulder blades brushed against the cold, painted drywall. He didn’t pin her, but his massive chest hovered mere inches from hers, his overwhelming presence caging her against the wall just as effectively. He looked down at her, his gray eyes burning with suppressed fury and utter confusion.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jarrod demanded, his voice a harsh rasp. “I just saved your damn job.”
“Let me go!” Caroline hissed, twisting her arm.
His grip didn’t budge a millimeter. It was absolute, immovable force.
Every muscle in Caroline’s body coiled tight. A deeply ingrained, suppressed instinct flared in her brain like a siren. A primal urge to shift her weight, drop her hip, and strike back with lethal precision coursed through her veins. The violent impulse was right there, begging to be unleashed.
She bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted copper, forcing the instinct down. She couldn’t. She had to be Caroline Thompson, the ordinary, helpless nurse.
Instead of breaking his joint, she raised her free hand and pushed against his solid chest with the frantic, ineffective strength of a normal girl.
“I don’t want your help!” she growled, her voice shaking with genuine anger. “I don’t want you treating my life like a problem you can just throw your rank at to fix!”
“You were being fired for something that wasn’t your fault,” Jarrod countered, leaning closer. His cedar and gunpowder scent completely enveloped her. “I fixed it.”
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