Laney narrowed her eyes at Garrett, who returned her stare with a quizzical one of his own.
She didn't want him to feel indebted to her, for anything. "You can just pay me in cash, and we'll call it quits."
He flashed her a lopsided grin. "No way. You should know that the life of the Harding family's precious son cannot be measured by money. You have managed to preserve a priceless treasure."
His gaze turned serious then. "I owe you my life, and that is that. If you need help in the future, don't hesitate to come to me. The Harding family will see to it that you don't encounter any difficulty in Seacisco."
Laney raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. What an arrogant man!
She decided to ignore his gallant declarations and shifted her focus back on the falling snow outside.
After another moment of silence, Garrett got up from his seat and walked over to Laney's bed. He knocked his knuckles lightly against the top of her head. "Come on, Miss Garcia, don't be rude to me. Fine, you can ignore me if you like, but you'd better stay here and recuperate properly. You can't go back to work in your current condition." Laney didn't want to give in to him, but she knew he was right. She had no choice but to grumble in agreement.
When Ethan later found out that Laney was hospitalized yet again, he immediately canceled Garrett's application for a vacation.
The other man naturally felt aggrieved by this.
"It's your fault that Laney has to take time off work," Ethan explained casually. "All things considered, this punishment isn't as severe as it should be."
"But I'm not the one to blame," Garrett argued. "That's the thing. You know my ex-girlfriend's temper very well."
Ethan was having none of it, though. "Of course, you're to blame. You keep messing around with the wrong women."
Garrett had nothing to say to that.
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