“I think I'm going to head to bed,” I said, getting to my feet. I set the empty wine glass down on the table and mimicked a long stretch. “Back to work tomorrow.”
Nick and Piper glanced at the clock simultaneously.
“It's seven-thirty,” Nick said.
“Well, it feels later.” I leaned down and kissed Piper's head, letting my lips linger for a split second longer than usual. God, I missed Emily.
“Goodnight then,” Nick said. I couldn't read his face or detect his tone—annoyance? Irritation? Hurt? It didn't matter. Our little fling was over, even if he didn't know it yet. As I dressed in my pajamas and climbed into bed, shutting the door and turning the lights off, I lay there for a while thinking about Nick. My body seemed to pulse as if demanding his touch. I reached my hand between my legs and rested my fingers on my own body, responding to the soft touch of my skin. I remembered being with Nick last night, and at that moment I could almost feel his skin on mine, could sense the smell of his cologne and the pressure of his body against me. By the time I finally fell asleep, my body was exhausted with a release.
Nick
I lay awake that night, my eyes pinned on the black ceiling as I watched the headlights from straggling cars pass by the window and cast a shadow on the wall. I was still trying to absorb what the hell had happened with Sam earlier. One moment we'd been ripping clothes off each other and the next moment she had almost refused to talk to me. Had I done something? Said something? Did I look at her wrong, stare too hard? Was I—bad? Sexually? In the dark of the room, I chuckled under my breath. I was no Christian Gray, but I had my own tricks to offer. Whatever the problem was, it wasn't that.
I rolled over and buried my head in my pillow. A few times I'd considered sneaking upstairs and slipping into bed with Sam, but after the cold shoulder she'd offered me today, I worried she was sleeping with a shotgun. Whatever. Maybe tomorrow she would be back to normal again, and we could go back to doing what we did best—sex.
Was it just sex, though? Were my feelings toward Sam purely physical? No, not really. I'd been speaking the truth when I told her about my high school crush on her. I'd been crazy for her, a love-struck boy who followed the lovely redhead everywhere she went. Now, years and years later, a few days with Sam and I felt like I was in high school again—I just wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, especially with Piper thrown in the mix. Christ, this wasn't the first time in my life I'd wished I could read a woman's mind.
Sam
I was out the door early the next morning, making it a point to disappear before Nick woke from where he was snoring on the couch. I caught the early bus to the hospital while cradling a cappuccino between my hands. I felt like an asshole—I could admit that. Poor, naïve Nick probably thought he had done something wrong to shut me down. He hadn't, but I knew that nipping this little fling in the bud would benefit us all, especially Piper. I was a mom now, a woman who had rarely thought of having children now thrown into a new city with a seven-year-old girl relying on my and Nick's every move. We had to be adults—it was time. If Nick couldn't see that, then I would have to take control of it myself.
“Hola, lady,” Kit said as I joined her at the nurse's station. “You look—upset.”
“I'm okay,” I said quickly. I hated feeling like people were watching me, judging. I loved Kit, but the woman could see right through my façade.
“Did something happen with a guy?” Kit asked softly, turning my attention toward her. Damn, she was good.
“I fucked my roommate and then got asked on a date last night.” I looked at Kit, trying to keep my voice low. “I have no idea what to do.”
“Oh, lady.” Kit put her hands in the air, eyebrows raised as she waggled them. “You got caught between a rock and a hard place. Did you say yes to the date?”
“Of course I did,” I said. I gathered up some paperwork to take to the attending physician. “I'm single now. I can go out with whoever the hell I want to.”
“You can,” Kit agreed. “But if your feelings for your roommate were strictly for sex, I don't think you would be worrying about this so much.” She brushed lint from my shoulder and shrugged. “Just saying. Figure out who you want before you hate yourself later.”
“Words of wisdom, right?” In my pocket, my cell phone buzzed. I took it out and glanced at the text. It was Nick.
Taking Piper shopping. Enjoy your day.
I stared at it for a moment, wondering why I felt a strange sense of annoyance at what he had said. It was just a text, but I could almost feel the chill coming from his words. And it wasn't what he’d said—for anyone else, that would have been a nice text to receive. But I knew better. He was angry that I was ignoring him, and probably furious that I'd sneaked out early to avoid him—he wasn't being nice; he was pouting.
My thumb hovered over the reply button for a full minute before I changed my mind and slipped the phone back into my pocket, too annoyed to respond. On some level, I understood perfectly why he would act cool toward me—but at the very same time, it infuriated me. He'd gotten me drunk and into bed, and now he was the one being an ass?
“Problem?” Kit asked, seeing the expression on my face. I shook my head and cleared my throat, fighting to push thoughts of Nick from my head so I could focus on work.
“No problem at all,” I said. “What's on the agenda today?”
It was a quiet day in the ER, which was bad for me, because the slower it was, the more time I had to think about things I knew I shouldn't be thinking about. Like Nick. And sex. And sex with Nick. A few times I'd had to excuse myself to run to the restroom, where I would run the water until it was icy cold before splashing it on my face and neck. Thinking of Nick made my insides tingle with heat, and I knew it was showing on my face. How inappropriate! Like an unprofessional, love-struck child.
It was right after my lunch break, around one, when the pace picked up. Just not in a good way.
I didn't even hear the front doors to the ER open, and for a moment I didn't bother looking up. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kit's head swivel toward the door and freeze, my eyes trained on whoever it was that had just stepped into the ER. I looked up from the book of paperwork I'd been filling out just as Nick came into the building. In his arms, he was holding a tearstained Piper.
“Nick!” I gasped. I dropped the pen and hurried to meet them, feeling a moment of terror grip at my chest. “Nick?” I said again. “What happened?” The room was spinning around me as I envisioned every horrible thing that could have happened to the kid. Poisoning? Overdose? Broken leg? A deadly virus that would soon attack her immune system and, eventually, kill her?
“It's all right, Sam,” Nick said, adjusting Piper in his arms. He had no shirt on, just a pair of swim shorts and sandals. That was the second thing I noticed after assuring myself that Piper was breathing on her own and conscious. “It's just a jellyfish sting.”
“It hurts, Aunt Sam,” Piper said. Her lower lip was trembling, threatening another sea of tears. She, too, was dressed in her bathing suit and flip-flops, eyes brimming with brave tears. “Can I have some medicine?”
“Of course you can, doll,” I said, releasing the enormous breath of air I'd been holding. “I bet that stings pretty good, right?” Piper shook her head and Kit appeared behind her, ready to admit the kid to a room. For a split-second Kit was silent as her eyes trailed over Nick's half-naked body, and for some reason that I couldn't pinpoint, I wanted to shove her back to reality.
“Kit, this is my goddaughter Piper and my friend Nick,” I said stiffly. “My—roommate.” Kit looked over at me, eyes wide as it dawned on her. Then, a tiny smile appeared at the corners of her lips as she looked back and forth between Nick and me.
“I see,” she said. The smile grew. “Nick, it's nice to meet you. Follow me, and we'll get Piper taken care of.” I watched Nick follow Kit back into an empty room, trying not to dwell on the fact that he wasn't looking at me anymore. I knew this would b
e a good time to apologize, I knew that all it would take was a sincere, “I'm sorry, I freaked out,” and I would shrug and nod and move on, and this middle school drama would be over. But I didn't apologize because I couldn't. Apologizing would mean I had done something wrong—and that was bullshit.
“Was the beach pretty anyway?” I asked Piper as Kit went to find supplies to help. In minor cases, it was rare for the ER doc to treat the patient. I didn't mind that—I didn't need my superiors to catch wind of anything that concerned my personal life.
“It was fun,” Piper said, nodding. “Uncle Nick was teaching me how to swim.”
“Was he?” I tore my gaze away from Piper's face and to Nick, who was sitting quietly in a guest chair in the corner of the room. He looked at Piper and smiled, but ignored me completely. “Well,” I said, examining Piper's swollen foot, “I bet he's an excellent teacher.”
“He is,” Piper agreed, and this time I saw Nick look at me.
“We'll have you all better in no time,” I said. “I'm glad I got to see you today, though, even under the poopy circumstances.”
“Piper made waffles this morning,” Nick said from his chair. “You should have stayed for breakfast.” I felt tense as the words left his mouth, and I made it a point not to look at him.
“Boss called me in early,” I said. “We were swamped.” When Nick rose from his chair to look pointedly into the silent ER, I wanted to punch him. Instead, I ignored him as I gathered the supplies Kit had just brought me. As I doctored Piper's sting, I couldn't help but notice how often Kit looked between me and Nick. Back and forth, back and forth, the whole time with a smug little smirk on her beautiful face. By the time I finished, I wanted to kill both Kit and Nick simultaneously.
“Is it feeling better?” I asked Piper. The girl nodded, and I felt a swell of pride in my chest for this brave little girl. What a trooper. “Well, I still have a few hours left of my shift,” I said. I forced herself to look at Nick, who was already staring at me, and it looked like he had been for a while. His daunting hazel eyes could have been staring straight into my soul, and I couldn't tell if it was a look of anger or not.
“We'll get out of your hair then,” he said finally, and I wanted to kick myself. Of course he was still angry. I was avoiding him.
“See you tonight,” I said, following a limping Piper and a cold Nick out of the hospital room. “Don't worry about cooking dinner for me.” When Nick didn't answer, only nodded abruptly, and took Piper's hand, I knew I was in deep shit—and this was happening before I’d even bothered to tell him about my date tonight.
“It was nice to meet you!” Kit called, and I was annoyed when Nick turned around to smile and wave at her. Then, without glancing at me, they were gone from sight.
“Jesus,” Kit said, fanning her neck. I let out a long, drawn-out breath. “I guess I finally see your predicament. The sexual tension in that room was physically smothering.”
Nick
Few people in the world could make me so very angry, but Samantha Carson was one. Everything she did, everything she said set my nerves on edge and made me question my sanity. Count on Sam to jump into bed with me one night and then refuse to look at me the next. I was angry—so fucking angry. Who did I think he was, treating me like that? I had done nothing wrong, but she was on the warpath, and I was in the way. Forget it. I was finished with the games. She could be pleasant—she could be a friend and a roommate, but it stopped there. Once she saved up enough for her own apartment, I wouldn't even have to worry about that.
“How are you feeling, kid?” I asked, looking over at my niece, who was huddled at the head of the couch, wrapped in a quilt. The TV was on, some favorite show of Piper's, but I had barely been paying any attention. My thoughts and emotions were elsewhere.
“I'm good,” Piper said. I could barely see those big, brown eyes peeking up over the blanket. Today had been frightening for me, even if I would never admit it to Sam or the girl. I had been terrified for my niece, and listening to her cries of pain, I had felt so helpless—like watching a car wreck and knowing you could do nothing about it. What a scary feeling that had been. I wasn't used to caring about people—especially not little, seven-year-old people with dead mothers and jellyfish stings. But as the days passed with Piper in my life, I found myself for the first time caring about someone other than myself. Emily, I knew, would be proud.
“Uncle Nick, are you angry at Aunt Sam?” Piper asked, catching me off guard. I looked over at her again, furrowing my brows. Had I said something?
“What do you mean”
“I don’t know.” Piper shrugged. She looked tired. “Today at Aunt Sam's work, you guys weren't really getting along. Was it because of me?” She looked so sad and pitiful that I felt my heart break into a million pieces.
“Listen to me,” I said, leaning toward her. “Whatever your Aunt Sam and I are bickering about will never, ever have anything to do with you. Ever. In fact, you're probably the reason we haven't killed each other yet.” I smiled, but Piper didn't return it.
“You fight a lot,” she said. She closed her eyes, and for a moment I thought she was asleep. After a full minute of silence, she said sleepily, “But even when you fight, I can see you still care about her.”
I took a deep breath, watching my niece's eyes flicker closed again, heavy with sleep. My heart swelled as I watched her breathing regulate into soft breaths. She was a saint, that girl—an angel that had come into my life at precisely the right moment. An angel so much like her mother I had to fight the urge to break down every time I looked at Piper's face. I missed Emily. I needed my sister.
The front door opened, and Sam appeared a few seconds later, looking flustered and worn out. She spotted Piper asleep on the couch and slowed her movements, smiling fondly at the sleeping girl.
“How is she feeling?” Sam whispered. For a moment I wanted to keep on ignoring her, to hurt her as she was hurting me. But I didn't. For Piper's sake.
“She's tired,” he said. “But I think she feels better.”
“That's wonderful.” I watched her kick off her shoes and join us on the other side of Piper. She was still dressed in her cute pink work scrubs, and I had the sudden vision of ripping them off her right before ravishing her on the bed upstairs. For a moment, there was silence in the house—no noise except for the TV show on low. Sam stared at the TV without speaking, but I could tell she wasn't seeing—just staring. I always knew when she was thinking hard about something because her forehead would crinkle in concentration and she would frown at the wall. Once, when we were seventeen, I'd seen her stare at a blank wall for twenty-six minutes before I'd finally broken her concentration. She'd always done it, even now.
“Something on your mind?” I asked. I knew better than to bring up the sex—she'd made it clear she didn't want to talk about it, and I could respect that. I was a gentleman, after all, even if she was still angry at me.
“I'm fine,” Sam said. She didn't look at me, but her eyes wavered from the wall. “It's just been a long day.”
“It's been a long month,” I said before I could stop myself. I looked down at Piper, feeling guilty, but I saw her visibly release a sigh of relief.
“It has been,” Sam agreed. “All of—this—has just been so overwhelming.” I saw her look down at her hands as she wrung them around and around, another habit she'd had since childhood. With the light shining from the TV, her skin glowed and her soft, freckled complexion shone. She looked so beautiful—so natural.
“You know that this is never going to get easier, right?” I asked after another moment of silence. I smiled over at Piper, reaching over to squeeze the girl's shoulder fondly. “It won't always be just a jellyfish sting. One day it may be a broken arm or a black eye—she'll hit her teen years and sneak out to drink booze and snort crack.”
“Not every kid is like you, Nick,” Sam said, appalled. “Piper is a good girl. She'll keep her nose clean.”
“You were a good girl,
too.”
“And I kept my nose clean.”
“Did you, though?” I asked. I grinned, but she was scowling at me.
“Compared to you, I was a saint.”
“Compared to Emily, you and I were both little devils.” I laughed, and after a moment she joined in. I was relieved to see her laugh. It was rare, which was a shame because she was so damn beautiful when she laughed.
“Oh, Em,” she said with a sigh. “I miss her more every day.” From where I was sitting, I could see her eyes brim with tears, vivid and bright. I knew if she lost it and cried, I would, too.
“Well,” I said, changing the subject. “The kid's asleep—should we put on a horror movie?” She met my gaze then, but I was surprised to see she wasn't smiling.
“I—” she said. “I can't. Not tonight.” Another silence fell over the room, and I felt my irritation grow all over again.
“What is this, Sam?” I asked after a few moments. “I'm tired of this little game. Who am I to you?” More silence. She stared at me, not speaking, looking distraught. As she finally opened her mouth to answer me, the doorbell rang, and Sam's mouth snapped shut.
“Who's here?” I asked. I feared I already knew the answer.
“I have a date,” Sam said. She got up and then turned back in my direction. “I'm sorry, Nick. I have to change.”
Sam
“So that guy was—?”
“My roommate.” I smiled at Frank, trying not to be annoyed that he had asked me that question. This was our first date—only controlling men asked stupid questions like that.
“Are you two close?” I watched Frank take another sip from the margarita he had ordered, my face flushing with red. He was just as handsome as I'd remembered him, but his mannerisms were less than par. Even I wasn't this big of a jackass.
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