Read Online Bite Me if You Can by Lynsay Sands - Free Book Online Page B

needle tip in half,” he announced, then glanced over the bed. Leigh glanced down as well, her gaze skimming the surface of the white bed for the tip of the IV needle.
    Muttering under his breath, he bent to run his hands over the linen surface, presumably in search of the needle tip. Leigh drew her legs up, pulling them in closer to her body to avoid his hands, but the increased pain in her arm as she started to wrap it around her knees made her still. Raising the arm, she turned it over and peered at it, grimacing as she noted the tip sticking out. It almost seemed to push farther out of her body before her very eyes. She’d been so distracted by her fears, she hadn’t paid attention to the pinching pain in her arm.
    “Oh, there it is.” Taking her hand, he drew her arm out straight and then plucked out the bit of metal. He peered at it closely and scowled, his gaze sliding from the broken needle to the IV with irritation. “How am I—”
    His question ended abruptly as the phone rang. Scowling, he tossed the needle tip on a tray now on the bedside table. Presumably, this was what she’d heard him set down when he first entered, because she was sure it hadn’t been there earlier. Her gaze slid over the contents with interest. It held a pitcher of water, a glass, and a plate of something vaguely resembling dog food... except that it was steaming. Leigh eyed the water greedily as the man reached for the phone.
    “Hello?” he said into the receiver, and she eased closer to the bedside, her tongue slipping out to lick her lips as she drew closer to the water.
    The phone rang again.
    Leigh glanced back to see the man’s eyebrows draw tight together until they almost became one. He stared at the buttons on the phone and pushed another one. “Hello?”
    The phone rang again.
    “Bloody, newfangled—” He began pressing button after button, repeatedly saying, “Hello?”
    “Lucian?”
    The dog beside Leigh shifted in his sleep, ears twitching at the sound of the voice that came through the telephone speaker.
    “Marguerite.” The man’s relief was palpable, Leigh noted curiously as she eased a little closer to the side of the bed. She could almost reach the water jug now.
    “Why do you sound so far away, Lucian?” the woman asked.
    The man, Lucian, snorted with irritation. “You’re in Europe, Marguerite. I am far away.”
    “Yes, but you shouldn’t sound far away.” Her voice was exasperated. “Are you on speaker phone?”
    “No,” the man said quickly, and Leigh bit her lip to keep from smiling at the lie when he sent a warning glare her way. Apparently, he didn’t want to fuss with any more buttons, but didn’t want to admit he didn’t know how to use the phone either.
    That thought made her frown. Why didn’t he know how to use his own phone?
    “Hmmm.” The disbelieving murmur distracted Leigh from her thoughts, and she glanced toward the phone, her gaze stopping on the water instead. She was close enough to reach the pitcher, she noted, and started to pick it up, only to have her hand knocked away.
    “Well,” Marguerite announced. “I called because it seems Vittorio forgot to take out the garbage. He apparently collected it all in a big black garbage bag and set it by the back door in the kitchen to take out before we left, but in all the excitement, he forgot.”
    Leigh lost interest as soon as she heard the word garbage, but then her attention was focused on the pitcher as Lucian picked it up and poured a glass of water. Then he set the pitcher down, picked up the glass and handed it to her.
    She felt relief course through her. She took the glass in both hands, then opened her mouth to thank him only to find her lips covered by one rubber gloved finger as he shook his head. He wasn’t supposed to be on speaker phone, she recalled. No doubt he didn’t want the woman to hear her, as it would give away the game.
    Mouthing the words “Thank you,” she raised the glass to her lips and