She Loves Me

by Foster, Melissa

  She sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand in hers. She couldn’t reconcile her large-and-in-charge friend with this man who seemed so lost. “You don’t recognize me? Do you remember your family?”

  He shook his head, his eyes turning serious. “Wait, are you my girlfriend? Have we knocked boots? Because I’m sure I’d remember a sweet little darlin’ like you in my bed.”

  “God, even with amnesia you’re a pain in my ass.” She dropped his hand and said, “I’m going to find a nurse and figure out what’s going on.”

  She pushed to her feet, and he snagged her wrist, yanking her down so their faces almost collided. An arrogant grin slid across his lips, and he said, “Maybe if you kiss me, I’ll remember the rest. Or even better, what do you say we make a few new smokin’-hot memories?”

  He winked, and she tore her wrist free, anger simmering inside her. “You ass! I should let you stay here and rot!”

  Laughter rumbled out of his mouth, and he smacked the mattress. “I got you good, Trigger!” He called her Trigger, or Trig, because it didn’t take much to get her fired up.

  “You’re lucky I don’t have a gun to pull the trigger,” she snapped. “I thought you had seriously forgotten everything. I was worried about you, and you’re playing games!”

  “Aw, come on, Trig,” he said with a softer tone. “Admit it was funny.”

  “How about we see how funny it is when I hit you so hard you actually lose your memory?”

  “Uh-oh,” a pretty dark-haired nurse said as she walked into the curtained-off area. She wore light blue scrubs, and her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, like Piper’s. “It sounds like Mr. Dutch didn’t listen to my advice. You must be Piper. I’m Felicity, and I’ve had the pleasure of helping your boyfriend.”

  “Thank you for taking care of him, but he’s not my boyfriend. He’s like a stray dog I made the mistake of feeding and refuses to go away.” Piper scowled at Harley, who was still chuckling, and said, “But since he’s already here, can I knock him around a bit?”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to do that,” Felicity said lightly.

  “Told you she was wild,” Harley said a little slowly. He waved a hand at his body. “She wants all this.”

  Piper rolled her eyes. “That’s enough, Casanova.” She was used to his teasing. He joked around like that all the time.

  “You want me. Doesn’t she look like she wants me, Felicity?”

  “That sounds like the pain meds talking. I think I’ll stay out of this conversation.” Felicity handed Piper a couple of papers and said, “These are Harley’s discharge papers and his prescription. He’s going to be on pretty heavy pain meds for the next two or three days, so you might want to prepare yourself if you’re going to be taking care of him.”

  “Oh, that’s not the pain meds talking. That’s straight-up Harley, and I will not be taking care of him.”

  “She will be,” Harley said casually.

  “I have a life,” Piper reminded him. “And it doesn’t include playing nursemaid to a man who has refused stitches more times than I can count.”

  “Don’t make me come over there.” Harley sat up and shifted his legs over the edge of the bed, swaying a little.

  “Whoa, slow down.” Felicity put a hand on his arm as another hospital worker pushed a wheelchair into the curtained room. Then the woman left the room, returning a minute later with a walking boot and crutches.

  “Thank you,” Felicity said as the other woman walked away.

  Harley pointed to the wheelchair. “Who’s that thing for?”

  “That’s for you,” Felicity said. “The doctor doesn’t want you putting any pressure on your ankle for a few days.” She looked at Piper and said, “He has a splint on under the wrap.”

  “I hate the splint,” Harley said like a rebellious boy.

  “You need it for stability,” Felicity said sternly. “You can use the walking boot when you feel more stable, but you shouldn’t try to use the crutches while taking the heavier pain medications over the next couple of days. I’d like to show you how to use the crutches.”

  “I know how to use them. I had a football injury or two back in the day.”

  “Okay. If you have any trouble, you can see your primary care doctor for a follow-up appointment.” She went over instructions with Piper for his medications and how to care for his injury.

  Harley looked pleadingly at Piper and said, “See, Pipe? I can’t walk Jiggs. Not only do I need you now more than ever, but he needs you, too.”

  Piper had a soft place in her heart for the pit bull Harley had rescued three years earlier. Harley spoiled Jiggs rotten, and Piper swore he was needier than her six-month-old niece, Emerson. “I’ll walk Jiggs, but you can take care of yourself. Can we please stop wasting Felicity’s time and get on with this? I have to get back to work.”

  “She means she has to take me to pick up my nieces,” Harley said a little groggily.

  “Shoot. I forgot you were taking care of Delaney’s girls.” He’d been taking care of Jolie, who was twelve, and Sophie, who was ten, since Delaney’s surgery. Piper glanced at the clock and said, “If we leave now, I’ll have just enough time to get you home and then pick the girls up and get your prescription.”

  “Let me help you get him into the wheelchair,” Felicity said, moving to Harley’s other side. As they helped him into the wheelchair, which was like putting an enormous, floppy bear into a high chair, she said, “Before he took the pain meds, Harley and I were talking and he said you know my brother, Porter Lawton.”

  “That delicious-looking man is your brother? I met him through my friend Remi Divine.” Remi was an actress and had recently gotten engaged. She and her fiancé, Mason Swift, had just purchased a home in Harmony Pointe. Mason owned the private security and investigation company Porter worked for as a bodyguard. Porter had looked after Remi last year when she’d had issues with a stalker. He was also Mason’s best friend—and insanely hot.

  “He’s a great guy, and he’s single,” Felicity said softly. “He’s great with my son, Lucas, too.”

  “Um, hello. Bad ankle here. This isn’t an episode of Love Connection,” Harley said a little drunkenly.

  Piper patted his shoulder, grinning at Felicity. “Don’t you love my built-in cockblocker? Even drugged up, he tries to protect my virtue.”

  Felicity chuckled.

  “Your brother is gorgeous, and Lucas is so sweet. I met him at the birthday bash for foster children Remi and Mason held in January—”

  “We have to go,” Harley interrupted. He grabbed the wheels of his chair and tried to spin around but ran directly into the bed. He uttered a curse.

  Piper folded the papers Felicity had given her and shoved them in the back pocket of her jeans. She grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and said, “I think I’d better drive. Thanks for thinking about me for Porter—”

  “You’re going to be way too busy for a while with me and the girls to even think about him.” Harley pointed to his ankle and said, “I can’t drive, and we really have to go. Thanks for everything, Felicity.”

  “The man thinks he owns me,” Piper said. “Thanks again for helping him.”

  Felicity handed Harley the crutches and walking boot and said, “My pleasure.”

  As Felicity pushed the wheelchair out of the curtained area, Harley flashed a cheesy grin over his shoulder at Felicity and said, “Told you she’d take care of me.”

  Felicity stopped in the waiting room to say something to the woman behind the desk. When she walked away, Piper lowered her voice and said, “Why are you such a pain? Do you know how hot Porter is?”

  “I know the man is built like he treats his body like a castle and you’d last about one night feeding him nachos or pizza.”

  As Felicity headed back toward them, Piper said, “Then it’s a good thing one night is all I’m looking for.”

  Harley was so loopy from the pain medication, he couldn’t help but ch
uckle as Piper, and all of her buck-ten pounds, tried to wrangle his six-three, two-forty body from the wheelchair into her double-cab truck. She’d excused Felicity the second she’d brought the truck around with a curt, Thanks for wheeling him out, but I’ve got him.

  As always, the front seat of her truck was covered with what looked like remnants of a fast-food party.

  “Wait,” Piper said as he used her as a crutch. She reached into the truck and swept a pile of empty food wrappers and cups onto the floor.

  “You know, if you learned to cook, you’d save loads of money.” He was only giving her shit. He knew damn well that if cooking were the only way to eat, Piper would find a way to survive on air. She was that determined.

  She glowered at him as she put the crutches and boot in the truck. “Get your ass on the seat and be careful of your ankle.”

  “Really? My ass? Is that how you sit in a vehicle?”

  “Okay, smart-mouth. Get yourself in the truck. I’m going to bring the wheelchair back inside.” In true Piper style, she ducked from beneath his arm and stalked away, leaving him to wobble like a drunken flamingo.

  He grabbed the door and climbed into the truck.

  Piper walked out of the hospital like she was on a mission, which was the only way she knew how to move. Only Piper could look as hot as sin in dirty jeans with tears in the knees that she’d probably been wearing for a decade, a Dalton Contracting T-shirt, and tan work boots. Her light blond hair was pulled back from her gorgeous face in a ponytail, and as she climbed into the driver’s seat, Harley fantasized about tugging that ponytail back and devouring her sass-talking, sexy mouth. His medication-addled mind ran down a dark and dirty path, playing with thoughts he was usually much better at pushing aside. He imagined how incredible her soft, supple body would feel lying naked beneath him and the sinful sounds she’d make as he touched and tasted every inch of her, driving her out of her mind. He got hot all over thinking about how it would feel to have her feminine yet strong hand wrapped around his—

  “Are you listening to me?” she snapped, dragging him back to reality.

  He shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable with a raging hard-on.

  Piper stopped at a red light, and her gorgeous green eyes trailed over his face. “Geez, you are drugged up. Look at that goofy grin. How’s your . . . ?” Her eyes moved lower and her jaw dropped. “Oh my God! No wonder you’re smiling. Geez, Harley, what are you doing? Fantasizing about that nurse?”

  “That nurse isn’t in this truck.”

  “Ugh!” The light turned green, and she gunned the engine. “Do not think of me like that.” She glanced at him and said, “Turn your head! Look out the window. I’m glad I’m taking you home before I get the girls. They can’t see you like this.”

  “There’s no time,” he said, still grinning, because damn, he was high as a kite and she was so angry it made her even hotter. “Just head to the school.”

  She shot him a death stare. “I told you to stop looking at me.”

  He chuckled and tipped his head back, closing his eyes.

  “And stop smiling!”

  Piper barked orders like a drill sergeant, gave him as much grief as he gave her, and rolled her eyes so often he was surprised they didn’t fall out of her head. She also swore like a sailor, loved sports and beer, and she was the most organized, hardworking, and ornery woman Harley had ever known. Her brilliant mind was always ticking, planning a project, or thinking of her family and friends. According to Piper, who was never too embarrassed to say what was on her mind, she also loved good, hard sex and wasn’t looking for more. Harley wasn’t sure he believed the latter part of that claim, but either way, he’d been utterly captivated by her for the last few years and considered himself lucky to have Piper in his life.

  She drove to the middle school, ranting about him getting control of himself. “They probably mixed up your meds and gave you Viagra by accident.”

  “No little blue pill, Pipe,” he said with a laugh. “You’re hot and I’m a dude, so . . .”

  “Okay, enough of this,” she said with a huff. “What happened to you? And how’d you get to the hospital?”

  He turned his head, watching her drive. “Got into a fight with three guys.”

  “Bullshit, not on a Wednesday afternoon.” Her lips curved up sassily.

  “Wrestled a bear?”

  “Nope.” She turned into the school parking lot.

  “Come on, Trig. Let me man it up a little.”

  She glanced at his crotch and said, “I think you’ve done enough manning up for one day.”

  “That was your fault.”

  She gave him the narrow-eyed give-me-a-break look she’d perfected as a teenager.

  “I fell, okay? No big deal. Jasper was busy, so a customer drove me to the hospital.” Jasper Lennox was one of Harley’s employees. He managed the bar in Harley’s absence. Harley pointed to the line of cars in front of the side doors to the school and said, “That’s the pickup line.”

  Piper pulled to the end of the line and said, “A customer drove you?”

  “Yeah. She was pretty cool about it. Thanks for coming to get me. I appreciate it.”

  “No worries.” She took out her phone and started thumbing out a text.

  “Who are you texting?”

  “Nosy much?” She continued typing and said, “I need to let Kase know I’m not coming back today.”

  Kase seemed like a good guy, and Piper trusted him, which was what Harley cared most about. Piper was as tough as nails, but Harley still worried about her every time she started a new project, working with new clients and subcontractors. He’d seen her hold her own at the pub, and when she was going out with a guy for the first time, she always met him at the pub. She claimed it was a good way to weed out the weak from the strong, since Harley was quick to size them up and get rid of the assholes. But Harley had another thought on why she met them there. Piper was bullheaded enough to bring them by just to get Harley’s goat. She’d never shown any interest in Harley beyond their friendship, but he was sure that was because she simply wouldn’t allow herself to go there. His asshole younger brother had taken care of her trusting men with her heart years ago, much less trusting a Dutch in that way.

  He watched her typing furiously, her thin brows knitted in concentration as she sent one text and began typing another. She was completely in control of her life now, but his mind reeled back to a night when she hadn’t been. It was spring of her sophomore year of high school, and she’d been dating Marshall for five or six months. Harley had been home for the weekend, working at the pub. It was dark when he’d left work, and he’d seen the silhouette of a person huddled at the edge of the dock in the marina by the rowboat Piper and Marshall had built. He’d gone to investigate and had quickly realized it was Piper. The image of her shaking with sobs was etched in his mind, as was the mortification on her face when she’d looked up and seen him approaching. He’d also never forget the overwhelming urge to protect her that had instantly consumed him, or the rage that had stormed through him when he’d learned the reason she was crying. His brother had cheated on her, breaking her tender teenage heart. Harley had made sure his brother paid the price for his actions.

  Just thinking about that painful night brought a rush of anger and a surge of protectiveness. He tried to push the painful memories away, focusing instead on how Piper had pulled herself up by her bootstraps. She’d lifted her adorably pointy little chin that awful night, glaring at him like he was the enemy as she’d risen to her feet, and said, What the fuck do you want? She’d stormed off without giving him a chance to respond. From that day forward she’d never let anyone drag her down—but just in case, Harley had always had her back. He’d returned to college and had eventually moved to New York City, but he’d come back often and had always checked on Piper, even when she’d gone away to college. It wasn’t until he’d moved back home when his father had taken ill and he and Piper had become closer that hi
s feelings had begun changing from protective friend to interested man. Given Piper’s well-armored heart, he had a hell of a time figuring out what to do with all those feelings.

  The school bell rang, pulling him from his thoughts.

  Piper shoved her phone into her back pocket and said, “They won’t know my truck.” She threw open her door and stood on the running board. When she spotted his nieces, she whistled. “Jolie! Sophie!” She waved her hands, causing all the kids to look over. “I’m holding your uncle hostage! Get your heinies in the truck; we’ve got things to do!”

  Sophie ran toward the truck, waving.

  Jolie’s momentary grin quickly settled into a frown, and she trained her eyes on the sidewalk, skulking toward them.

  The girls looked like Delaney, with big blue eyes and long brown hair. But while they’d once shared her easygoing demeanor, recently Jolie had become sullen. Their father had skipped town the day Delaney had graduated from law school in New York City, leaving Delaney pregnant and with a baby to care for. She’d moved home to live with her parents while she found her footing and started over. Those first few years were hard on them, and Harley had come home and stepped in as often as he could to help Delaney, and maybe more importantly, to show the girls that they were special and loved and they were not the reason their father had disappeared. But he worried about the changes he’d seen in Jolie lately, some of which were normal for an adolescent girl, but as to be expected, her unhappiness had amplified with her mother’s cancer diagnosis. Her diagnosis had terrified all of them. It had taken several weeks for Harley, Delaney, and their mother to come to grips with it, and they’d done everything they could to help the girls understand that their mother’s diagnosis wasn’t a death sentence. But convincing his young nieces of that was like claiming there weren’t wars going on in the world when it was all over the news. Luckily, Delaney’s cancer hadn’t spread to her lymph nodes, and the surgery had left her with clear margins, which meant they had eradicated the cancer and she would not need radiation. Harley had hoped Delaney’s excellent prognosis would ease Jolie’s bad moods, but he was still having trouble connecting with her.