Chapter 1440:
Linsey accepted the excuse but still reminded her kindly, “Work can wait. Your health matters more. The doctor said you need rest, so don’t overdo it.”
“Don’t worry.” Dolores gave Gorman a meaningful look before taking her leave.
Once she was gone, Linsey settled on the bench beside him, carefully applying the ointment to his wound. Her hands were gentle and steady, yet she checked on him from time to time. “Is this too much pressure?”
“Not at all.” Watching her so attentive and tender, Gorman couldn’t hold back a smile. Warmth spread through his chest.
But just then, his eyes caught a figure in the distance. Collin was not watching Gorman, but staring fixedly at Linsey.
The instant Gorman’s eyes landed on the very last person he wished to see, his smile froze mid-curve. Whatever warmth had lingered in his gaze dissolved instantly, leaving behind nothing but wary vigilance.
“What’s wrong?” Linsey glanced up at him, startled by the sudden change in his expression. Confusion clouded her features.
Seated with her back to Collin, she hadn’t noticed the man’s presence at all. Gorman, of course, had no intention of telling her. Forcing his expression to soften, he shook his head lightly. “It’s nothing. Keep applying the ointment.”
It wasn’t the first time fate had thrown them into the same place. He recalled that day at the hospital entrance, when Collin appeared without warning. That time, Gorman had staked his claim openly, wrapping Linsey into his arms with deliberate provocation.
This time, however, he had no excuse to hold her. Instead, he reached out and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, his movement slow and deliberate. And to make the gesture appear casual, he conjured up the perfect pretext. “Your hair was slipping down. I worried it might block your view, so I fixed it.”
A delicate flush bloomed on Linsey’s cheeks. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“You’re welcome,” he replied with a practiced smile, smooth and warm.
Yet while she bent over the ointment, focused on her task, Gorman met Collin’s gaze head-on—provocation written in every line of it. He fully expected Collin to react as he had before—consumed with jealousy, silently fuming, and retreating without a word.
But this time, Collin refused to follow the script. Not only did he stay, watching with chilling intensity, but he was now advancing directly toward them.
Gorman’s expression darkened instantly. Every nerve braced for collision.
“Linsey—” he began, intent on whisking her away before disaster struck.
But Collin’s voice cut through the air first, low, magnetic, impossible to ignore.
“Linsey.”
Her hand froze mid-motion. That voice… she knew it anywhere.
She turned sharply.
There he was—his gaze locked on hers with lethal precision. A storm of restrained anger burned in his eyes, enough to make her heart jolt in alarm.
