Bad Patient: A Bad Boy Romance

JB Duvane

Apr 2017 · JB Duvane

About this ebook

Is he too good to be true … or is she?

Jess:
I’ve spent the last year paralyzed by grief and guilt.
I need a way out, but there’s nothing I can do.
The man in my ICU says he’s innocent.
He says he needs me.
He even says he’s in love with me.
They say he's a dangerous man. That he's mix up with the mob.
I want to believe him.
But is that only because I want him?

Brody:
I do need her … more than she knows.
Maybe even more than I know.
I’ve got a job to do, and I can’t tell her everything.
She wouldn’t like it if I did.
But she's the only one who can get me out of here.
I have to trust her.
It's against the rules for me to want her.
But it’s way too late for that.

Bad Patient is a standalone bad boy romantic suspense novel of 41k words with a HEA.

Excerpt:

I gripped the sides of the sink and took a few deep breaths, then carried the basin into the other room without looking him in the eyes once. 
"The water should be warm enough, but let me know if you need it hotter or colder. Now, I’m going to start with your chest and your arms so I’m going to pull your gown down. Here’s a blanket to cover yourself with, if you’d like," I said as I unfolded a blanket and placed it over Brody’s legs. 
"I’m perfectly fine," he said with a smile still plastered on his face. When I pulled the gown down off his shoulders and freed his left arm he put it behind his head. He looked like he was enjoying himself immensely and for some reason that made it even harder for me to focus.  
I pulled the gown out from under him and brought it down to just below his bandage, then left it there because his cuffed hand prevented me from removing it entirely. When my gaze moved back up from the gown I had a hard time not staring at his beautifully sculpted chest and it took me a second to remember what I was doing. I took a washcloth from the pile on the table and wet it with the soapy water then held it out to him.
"You can use this on your face, and I’ll put a towel down for you to dry off with."
"It would be easier to do this without the handcuffs," he said as he took the washcloth and wiped his face down.
"I can ask the cop to remove them, but I’m sure he’d insist on staying in the room."
"Yeah, don’t bother. I don’t want him in here watching me get a bath. I’ll suffer through it with the cuffs on," he said with a smile as he rubbed the wet washcloth all over his face and neck, and I just stood there like an idiot watching him. When he was done he handed it back to me and dried off his face, then put his arm back behind his head, smiling and looking like he couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. 
 I dipped the washcloth in the water again and pulled his arm down to his side, then ran the soapy water from his well-developed shoulder down his arm to his hand. I was amazed by his arms. They were long and kind of wiry, but they were also very muscular and strong. My face was starting to feel really warm again and I wished that the windows in this hospital opened more than two inches. I dried off Brody’s arm and then ran the warm washcloth along his armpit and down the side of his body. 
"Is the water warm enough?" I asked, hoping to break the uncomfortable silence. 
"Yeah, that feels really nice, Jess," he said. I could feel him watching me as I worked but I was terrified of looking up into his eyes. I had given hundreds of sponge baths throughout my career and I didn’t understand why this one was so different. I didn’t understand why he was affecting me the way he was. 
He’s just some guy, Jess. Just a guy that’s handcuffed to the bed for crying out loud. But what if he’s innocent … I thought as I continued to get hotter under my scrubs.