Chapter 7
When Sage woke up the next morning, she was by herself in a strange bed and her head was pounding furiously. She slowly managed to sit up, though couldn't open her eyes, not right away at least. The previous night's events suddenly rushed over her and Sage felt tears sting her eyes, blinking as they slid down her face.
She was attacked by John and ended up being treated by Mark...Mark...She had kissed him! Sage groaned and buried her face in her hands, wondering what the hell was wrong with her and if she'd completely lost her mind? Sighing heavily, Sage stood up from the bed and had to stop because a dizzy spell came over her, the pain in her head excruciating.
"I'm going to kill that little fucker." She muttered, meaning John and found the nearby bathroom, wincing when even the slightest running of water made her head hurt.
Marisol was probably worried out of her mind and Randy...Randy was a dead man for opening his mouth to John about her new job. Mark came up carrying two cups of coffee, having called Stephanie to let her know he was closing the shop today for a routine 'bug check'. She didn't believe the excuse, but hadn't prodded either, apparently not minding the day off, especially when he told her he was still going to pay her as if she was on the clock. He heard water running in the bathroom before seeing the empty bed, setting the mugs down on the small kitchen table before waking over to knock gently on the door.
"Sage?" He called out softly.
Sage jumped when she heard Mark's voice through the door, letting out a groan because the echoing of his baritone made her head hurt. "Be out in a minute." She said very quietly, hoping he heard her because she wasn't talking any louder, knowing her head wouldn't allow it. She had to get out of there and go home, feeling sick at the thought of having to face Marisol and especially Randall. Opening the door, Sage looked up into the emerald green eyes of her boss and swallowed hard, accepting the cup of coffee he handed her, wondering if caffeine was a good idea. "Thanks." She whispered, inhaling the scent and immediately took a long swallow.
Caffeine was a great idea because he felt like he had hardly gotten any sleep, having kept waking up to check on her to make sure she was still alive. He knew in theory, after an hour, she should be fine to sleep, however...theory hadn't done him any favors. That and he wasn't used to someone pressing against him all night long. Not that he minded, because it was honestly nice, it was just different.
"How's your head?" Mark asked, knowing she probably wouldn't let him just take over and examine her like he had the night before.
"Throbbing, I can barely talk." She murmured and knew he wanted to look over her head, taking a deep breath. Without a word, she walked past him to the bed and laid down on it stomach first, after setting her coffee on the windowsill, bracing herself for the pain that was sure to come. Even if he parted her hair slightly, it was going to hurt like a bitch. "Just do it." Sage ordered gruffly, burying her face in the pillow and tensed as soon as his fingers began parting her hair, tears already stinging her eyes. "God please tell me you have some more of those pain killers...or something to help with it...anything..."
"Vicodin."
That was it. Mark didn't generally keep pain killers around because it was too easy to abuse them, whether intentionally or not. But considering her head wound and the pain she was obviously in...After examining the glued gash, he retrieved ONE pill this time, knowing it would take the edge off without hopefully making her loopy again.*
"You need to see your personal physician and have to examined professionally." Mark instructed as he handed her the pill.
Sage nodded, not liking the sound of that and sighed heavily before popping the Vicodin, hoping it kicked in soon enough. "Damn..."
She winced when he touched her head again, tears leaking out of her eyes again and buried her face in the pillow completely embarrassed. How could she even look this man in the eye? Sage was contemplating quitting the job because they had crossed the line by kissing.
How could John attack her the way he did? She didn't want him so he attacks her? Sage wanted to kill him and was pretty sure Mark nearly did, crying silently into the pillow. She was humiliated and wanted to go home and never come out of her apartment again.
It took him a few moments to realize that Sage was crying, the slight tremble in her shoulders giving it away. Frowning, Mark sat down on the edge of the bed and gently rolled her over, staring down at her intently. "Does it hurt that bad?" He asked softly, brushing the back of his hand against her forehead. "I'll send for my physician, he can come here to look at you." That would save her the hassle of jostling herself around.
"Yes it hurts, but it's not just that!" Sage cried out, not caring if she sounded like a whiny bitch. She had every right to after what happened to her! "I get this great job opportunity and then my ex has to blow it for me! I end up with a concussion the size of Mexico and then I end up kissing my boss!" Her eyes widened as soon as that last part popped out of her mouth, Sage sitting up quicker than she should've. "I have to go. I need to go home. Thanks for everything, Mark."
Sage didn't even bother getting her boots and shirt, rushing out the door and ignored the pounding drums in her head. Mark chased after her, catching her before she wound up toppling down the stairs and growled. Heaving her over his shoulder, Mark carted her right back inside, lightly slapping her ass when she tried wiggling down.
"Knock it off, you're not goin' anywhere until that head gets checked out. Besides, I'm the one who kissed you first and you don't see me running, do you?"
Mark laid her back out on the bed, standing at the foot of it with his arms folded over his chest. He had gotten up, showered and dressed in an old pair of light blue skintight jeans and a white beater, his hair hanging loose over his shoulders. If she even thought about trying to leave again, Mark was going to tie her to the bed, his green eyes glinting wickedly for a mere second at the thought of Sage in that position and immediately shoved it in the far recesses of his mind.
"You have no reason to." Sage mumbled, lowering her eyes to the bedding and sat there with her legs crossed Indian style, chewing her bottom lip.
She just wanted to go home in her apartment, in her bedroom more specifically, and never come out again. Mark would surely understand if she didn't keep her job, right? Marisol would kill her, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
"I'll get my head checked out..." Not in this lifetime, Sage couldn't afford to go to a doctor and sighed when he simply repeated he was having his private physician come over to examine her. "Please don't tell anyone about last night, Mark. Please! I was going to turn him in, but I don't want to get you in trouble! So please don't say anything, just tell your doc I had a fall or something outside of work and you found me."
Mark snorted, letting her know exactly what he thought of that idea as he rung up his physician, who was also a good friend and someone he trusted. "Considering I have every intention of not going to prison, I doubt I'll be telling very many people about last night."
Mark had checked the alleyway this morning and found John gone, which wasn't too surprising. The man had probably dragged himself away or called someone, either way. So long as he was gone, that's what really mattered.
Sage had no choice except to sit there and wait for Mark's physician to arrive to examine her. This was by far one of the most humiliating situations she'd ever been in. Though Sage couldn't help sighing with relief when Mark informed her he would be keeping what happened between them a secret. That meant the kiss too. Sage still couldn't believe she actually kissed her boss, even though Mark initiated it, she hadn't pushed him away. Hell, with lips as sinful as his, what women in their right mind would?
'That is NOT the right train of thought, Sage.' She scolded mentally, looking up when, who she could only assume was, Mark's physician walked through the door.
He noticed the different emotions flitting through those midnight orbs and wondered what Sage was thinking, having a pretty good idea what was on her mind. The kiss. Mark openly admitted it wasn't the greatest idea to keep her awake, but he had to do something. Concussions were not to be trifled with and, honestly, Mark had thoroughly enjoyed kissing her. If she allowed it, he would do it again in a heartbeat and purposefully slid his tongue out to wet his lips.
"So is this our patient, Mark?" Lawrence asked, sitting down beside the bed with his black case of medical supplies in hand. He was middle aged with graying hair and had soft blue eyes that were very trusting. "What's yer name, honey?"
"Sage." She answered timidly, looking up at Mark for the briefest of moments, wondering why he was tormenting her this way. "Look this really isn't necessary…"
"Now, now honey, I realize that this isn't the most comfortable of situations, but I am very discreet and Mark wants to make sure you're okay. Just let me do the examination and I promise it'll be as painless as possible. It will also make him happy and let ya out of here." He winked at the woman, chuckling when she merely raised an eyebrow. "Turn now so I can look, Sage."
Reluctantly, Sage did as the doctor requested, wincing when he ran his fingers along her head injury. It was still incredibly tender from what John did to her. Mark frowned at the tears that formed in Sage's eyes and walked over to sit beside her on the bed while Lawrence continued his examination, taking her hand in his.
He knew she was in a lot of pain, not to mention embarrassed, but he wasn't about to let her walk out of here without getting checked out properly. Embarrassed was an understatement, Sage was mortified that she'd not only kissed her boss, but slept in the same bed as him her first day on the job. Granted, it wasn't her fault that John decided to show up and attack her, but Sage couldn't help feeling like she could've somehow stopped him.
Even though she couldn't.
"You have a concussion, honey." Lawrence announced, breaking both her and Mark out of their thoughts. "I'm gonna prescribe you some ibuprofen eight hundreds to help with the pain and swelling. You're gonna need to take it easy for a few days, no strenuous activity…" When Mark raised an eyebrow, Lawrence merely waved him off, his eyes focused on the patient. "That means you need to stay off of your feet and let your head heal."
"Any idea what grade it is?" Mark wanted to know everything, seeing the color somewhat drain out of Sage's face and squeezed her hand to assure her everything would be fine.
"I'd say it's minor, nowhere near an A, but she does need to still take it easy as if she was healing from a grade A." Lawrence explained, standing up and opened his bag to dig through it, searching for something. "Here, this is a special cream that you can apply to the injury and it'll numb it to ease the pain even more."
All Sage could do was reach out to take it, actually thankful to Mark for forcing her to get checked out. "Thank you, doctor." She murmured quietly, already planning on using the cream as soon as she was home in the confines of her room.
"No problem, honey. And the name is Lawrence."
"Most call him Larry though." Mark supplied with a grin, glad her injury wasn't as serious as he originally thought. "Thanks for makin' a house visit, man."
"The bill is already in the mail."
"Along with the check."
Lawrence nodded with a grin of his own before exiting, having other patients to see and closed the door behind him. Sage couldn't look at Mark and simply stood up from the bed, ready to head home before Marisol began ripping her hair out from worrying. Mark could tell Sage was getting ready to leave and didn't want her driving, not with a concussion.
He stood up with her as well, seeing her gathering her shirt she'd removed the previous night, biting back a smirk. She definitely was a character when she was drugged up; Mark couldn't help finding her both beautiful and amusing. The way she'd played with his hair and tattoos had lit a fire inside of Mark he knew only she could quench, having a feeling that would never happen. She was too professional and he could tell she had regretted the kiss they shared the previous night.
"I'll take you home." Mark offered, not really giving her an option as he began slipping his boots on, waiting for her to make a run for it away from him again. "You can't drive in your condition, darlin'."
"Mark, you don't-" Sage sighed when he held his hand up to silence her, wondering when this humiliation would end. "He said I just had to rest…"
"I know what he said, I heard every word." Mark stated, not giving in and stood up from the bed, squaring his shoulders. "But you neglected to ask him if you can drive. And since we didn't think of that question, I'm not taking any chances. So we can either do this the easy way and you come with me without tryin' to run or I'll simply chase you down like I did before and take you home anyway. The choice is yours, I would go with option one if I were you."
Mark had to be the most over-bearing, egotistical man she'd ever met…and Sage had never been more turned on in her life. She didn't want to leave, a vision flashing through her mind of jumping into his arms and letting him take her to bed to have his wicked ways with her. Since she was planning on quitting anyway, Sage started giving it serious thought and would have done it had Marisol not popped into her head.
The fact was if Sage didn't keep this job, they wouldn't make rent this month and Marisol would end up living with Randy again. Sage couldn't let that happen to her best friend, not after what happened to make Marisol leave Randy in the first place. She still couldn't believe Marisol was not only pregnant with the scumbag's child, but was still sleeping with him. The worst part was Marisol refused to listen to her or anyone who tried telling her that Randy was no good for her, always using the excuse that she loved him too much to walk away.
Sometimes, walking away was the best thing a person could do.
"Fine, since I have no choice in the matter, lead the way." Sage said, needing to get out of this apartment and away from Mark before she ended up throwing all of her morals out the window.
Mark was a very observant man and watched the different emotions flash across Sage's face, almost certain he saw a hint of lust in her eyes for a brief second. Sadness, anger, annoyance…what the hell was this woman thinking? Smirking, Mark did as Sage requested and guided her out of the small apartment, locking the door behind her before heading downstairs to the parking lot of CalJac's. There, parked in the corner of the building, was a beautiful silver Titan motorcycle with black flames painted on it, the chrome glinting in the sun.
"After you, Sage." He helped her up on the motorcycle before mounting it himself, firing it up. "What's your address?" He called over the roaring engine and nodded when she mumbled it off to him, knowing exactly where she lived.
All Sage could do was hold onto him tightly as Mark sped out of the parking lot away from CalJac's.