by M. E. Gordon
“I’ll be--Goddamn, your ankle is huge. Just let me look at it,” he demanded, sounding exactly the same as he had in the park.
Checking my swollen ankle for myself, I winced as the adrenalin started wearing off.
I felt another sharp pain shoot from the swollen knot that resided on my once petite ankle--clearly, the only petite part of me.
“I think I broke it. I should just--”Wait a minute. How the hell did he know it was me? “How did you know it was me out there? You are stalking me. You are. I knew it!”
I scooted farther away from him. This is how movies on Lifetime start. I was not trying to be a Saturday-night-movie special.
“Jesus, I’m not stalking you. You really are full of yourself.”
I went to open my mouth to tell him off, but he stopped me before I could.
“I was on my way to oversee some changes for the club when my driver saw you running down the sidewalk being chased by paparazzi. When I saw you fall, I wanted to make sure you were okay, and it’s a fucking good thing that I did. Now let me see it!” he said, tapping his lap and talking to me like a child.
I am not a child! I glared at him. “I don’t think so.”
He shook his head angrily. “Damn it, Elizabeth, you can be so fucking stubborn.”
He leaned down, gently wrapping his strong hand around the back of my ankle and placing his other hand on my shin. He lifted my leg smoothly, resting it softly on his lap. He let his fingers run up the back of my foot and I had to squeeze my thighs together. Damn, body, control yourself. This is happening right now. One touch and I am on the fritz. Simon, think Simon. But I couldn’t. All thoughts of him were squashed as the throbbing pain in my ankle took over.
“Well, I don’t think it’s broken,” he said, looking it over again.
“Right, I think I’ll get a doctor’s opinion. Playboys don’t have that great a track record, so I’ll get a second opinion. Thanks.” There that should shut him up.
“Actually, Miss. Monroe, I am, or was.”
Huh? Did he just say he was a doctor? “Yeah, right, and I’m the queen of England. Nice try.”
He held his body still and just studied me. “God, you really get to me woman,” he said through a clenched jaw. “Here, I am thinking I’m being nice, saving you from the crazies, and you keep looking at me like I’m going to kidnap you and lock you in a cellar.”
Lifetime movie, I’m telling you. But in all honestly I was grateful. “Listen, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to act ungrateful. I am, believe me, but all those people have made me fly over the coo coo’s nest. I’m usually not a crying, emotional, rambling--well, I guess I do kind of ramble. My brothers are always telling me--”
“Elizabeth,” he said, cutting me off. “Shut up, it’s fine. I’d do it again, even if you didn’t want me to.”
I sat up a little, adjusting myself on the seat. Okay, I think it’s time to put egos aside and just talk to him. “You said you ‘were’ a doctor. What is that all about?”
Looking over at me he shook his head again. “Oh, so now you want to talk, get to know me?”
Well, that was the idea, but obviously he can’t put his ego aside. He crossed his arms on his chest but left my leg on his lap. This man is sooo confusing!
“Fine, whatever, Spencer, I’m trying here. If you want to keep being an ass, go ahead and just take me home.”
Turning as far as I could without moving my foot, I looked out the window. As much as my stubbornness made him angry, his mood swings made me furious. The silence filled the car as we both refused to give in to one another.
A few minutes passed, yet the silence remained. I turned toward him when I felt his fingers gently running over my leg--a mindless touch. I watched as he tenderly rubbed it.
“I’m sorry. I’ll stop,” he said coolly when he registered what he was doing and that I was intently watching.
“No, don’t. It feels good, helps take the pain away.” I smiled up at him and was rewarded with a smirk. “Okay, for real. Tell me how you were almost a doctor?”
A full on smile made its way onto his face, and I knew that the calm Spencer was back.
“Well, before all this--” he said, looking around the SUV, “I was in school to be a doctor. I quit a few years in. It wasn’t for me. My parents wanted it more than I did. My father’s a doctor. My mother was a nurse. They thought that I was just going to follow in their footsteps.”
I remembered reading that his family was big in the healthcare profession, mother father, even his two sisters. Okay, so I stalked his family. I was bored one night. “So you just dropped out and decided to open night clubs?” I asked, not really getting it.
“Pretty much. I have a knack for throwing parties. A talent I found while I was in school. So what better way to showcase it, than opening night clubs and bars?”
Makes sense. “I bet your parents were a little upset. Doctors and night clubs are on completely different sides of the spectrum.”
A shot of pain raced from my ankle and a hiss escaped my lips, I braced myself as the pain throbbed harder.
He checked out my foot again, his warm breath tickling my skin as he leaned closer. “Maybe we should go to the hospital to get an X-ray.”
Not fair! I’m a cripple. I can’t get away from him. Because if I could, I’d open this door and roll out before I do something stupid. “You’re the doctor, Mr. Salvatore, you make the call,” I said, laughing nervously. There it was--the smile that could bring a woman to her knees.
“It’s up to you. I’ll take you wherever you want me, too.”
Oh those are loaded words, Salvatore. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. “I guess you should just take me home. I can make an appointment tomorrow. Sitting in the ER sucks on its own, add the paparazzi, and you pretty much have hell.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said, still caressing my foot.
Silence filled the car again as we drove to my home. My thoughts consumed me. Maybe Spencer was on to something. Maybe this was fate bringing us together all the time. He was pissed at me and I was...well, pissed at him. Yet, he couldn’t help but rub my leg, and I was more than happy to let him. Let’s face it. I try so hard not to think of him. I put on a good front, but I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else saving me today. Partly because it was his fault, of course.
I let a chuckle out breaking the silence and gaining his attention.
“What?” he asked.
I hesitated, making sure I said it right, and didn’t mess it up. “I’m glad it was you.” At his frown, I continued. “I’m glad that you were the one that saved me from the crazies. I mean it was your fault--”I love his smile. Ooo, it makes me melt. “For real though, maybe I need to rethink things because I wouldn’t want anyone el--”
My phone, my stupid phone is going off. I reached into my bag, rather than finishing my thought. Simon. It was Simon. I felt all the color drain from my face as I looked up at Spencer, who was watching my every move with an uneasy look on his face. “I--I--umm--have to get this.” I slid over to answer and prepared to sound happy. “Hey.”
“Baby, are you all right?”
Confused by his question, I frowned. “Yes. Well, no, not really,” I said, adjusting my answer as I looked down at my swollen ankle.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, terror coming through his voice.
“I--umm--I tripped and I think I sprained my ankle--wait a minute. Where are you? How do you know I’m hurt?” I demanded.
I glanced over at Spencer, who was listening in on the conversation. Real suspicion played out on his face as I was sure it did on mine, too.
I waited for an answer that I felt was taking too long to come.
“Don’t be mad at me,” he said. “I just happened to be on the Internet and there is a picture of you being carried off by someone. I closed the computer and called you immediately.”
It’s already on the Internet. What was that, like fifteen minutes max?
“Did it say anything else?” I asked, praying that he hadn’t seen that it was Spencer who carried me off.
“I don’t know, baby. I told you I was just checking my e-mail and there you were. How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t read into that stuff, and neither should you.”
Great, a lecture from overseas from my absent boyfriend.
“I don’t!” I snapped at him, gaining a chuckle from Spencer.
No doubt Spencer was amused that I was snapping at someone other than him for once.
“Okay, calm down there. Don’t get all heated. I’m not there to benefit from it.”
Now that had me chuckling. The man always has me laughing. “Funny. I’m fine. I’m going to make a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I’ll call you when I find out.”
“Well, who are you with now?”
I looked nervously up at Spencer and, by the expression on his face, I knew he was hearing everything.
“Umm, a friend is giving me a lift home.”
He shook his head in disappointment and I shouldn’t have, but I felt horrible. I ended my conversation with Simon and put my phone back in my bag. Can you say tension you can definitely cut it with a knife? Blue eyes shot laser beams at me.
“I’m sorry you had to--”
“So that was him?” he asked, making the words run ice cold over my skin.
Crap, moody Spencer is back.
“How can you do that? Say what you said to me then talk to him like I’m not sitting here listening. Why do you protect him?” he asked.
I should have just called Simon back. Why did I answer? I hate you, universe! Shit this is exhausting. “It’s complicated, and I don’t protect him,” I said, getting aggravated.
“No. You really do. And it’s really not complicated at all. Do you even know him?”
Oh, it’s on Salvatore. “Do I even know you?” I said, crossing my arms.
“I think you know me better than him,” he challenged.
Oh, he’s fallen off the wagon one too many times, clearly.
“Really? That’s what you think? Because every second I’m with you I feel like I’m with three different people!” Take that!
“He left you Elizabeth.” His tone was malicious.
“No. No way, Spencer. You don’t get to say that about him. He’s working. He didn’t leave me, that’s what you did! You didn’t even turn around. You just left me standing there!”
“And I hate myself every fucking day for it!” he yelled. The passion in his voice bounced off the confines of the SUV.
I can’t believe this is happening now, in a car, where I can’t get away--or can I?
We pulled up to the back of my building, avoiding all the gawking people who had flocked out front. As the car came to a stop, I lifted my foot off his lap and swung it around. Pain seared in my ankle but I pushed through it and opened the door. He followed suit and got out on his side. Coming around, he stood in front of me as I balanced on one foot. As always, I failed miserably and fell back onto the SUV.
“Damn it, Elizabeth,” he said, placing his arms under me helping me gain my balance.
His hold on me was tight and I wanted to hate it but I didn’t. I got back on my good foot and balanced myself. “I’ve got it,” I said, looking up into his unbelievable blue eyes.
It took only a millisecond to register as his hands grabbed my face and he kissed me hard. The passion and power behind that kiss was more than I had ever felt before. I didn’t want it to end. In that moment, I didn’t want reality to come crashing down on us again like it had in my father’s office. But it couldn’t last forever.
“You are going to ruin me, woman,” he said with a smile, pulling back while running his thumb over my flushed lips.
I smiled back. “Not if you ruin me, first.”
“Come on, let me help you up to your room.”
We turned, and I expected to wrap an arm around his shoulder for balance so I could hop inside, but he didn’t even give me the chance. Lifting me up, he carried me all the way to my door.
He set me down and I rummaged in my bag for my keys. I may have taken a little longer than necessary to find them, and maybe I just moved my hand around aimlessly so that his hand would stay securely on my hips. Maybe. When I finally opened the door, he lifted me back up, carried me to the couch, and placed a few pillows under my foot to elevate it.
“Do you have an ice pack?” he asked, sitting on the coffee table.
“Yeah, there should be one in the freezer.”
Standing, he walked over and retrieved one. Walking back over with the ice pack in his hand, he smiled down at me. “So you’re going to want to keep the ice on it. Twenty minutes on ten off. And keep it elevated to help with the swelling.”
Placing the ice pack on my ankle, I winced at the coldness hit my skin. “Okay, Dr. Salvatore, ice and elevation. Got it!”
We turned in unison as the door flew open. Not only did it scare me to death, but it made me jump, which made the ice fall off. Picking the ice back up, Spencer placed it back on my foot.
Gia’s familiar laugh bounced off the walls. “Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad,” she said, coming fully into the room from the door way.
I was utterly shocked to see Teddy follow her in to the condo. Once he saw Teddy, Spencer turned away from the door. And once my brother and Gia saw me laid up with a bum foot, they flipped out.
“What the hell is going on here, Beth?” Teddy asked, rushing over to my side.
Spencer rose from the coffee table that he was sitting on and kept his head down as he backed away.
“I fell, Teddy. We think it’s just a sprain,” I said, trying to gauge my brother’s response.
“Who the hell is we?” Gia asked, looking over at the mystery man.
Spencer turned slowly to show his face. Not the cocky Spencer I was used to seeing, that was for sure.
“Hey, Teddy, Gia,” he said, giving then a curt nod.
They looked between us two times, me then Spencer then me.
“Well, I’m going to head out,” Spencer said, all business like, and moved toward the door. “I have some work that I need to tend to,”
“Spencer!” I called to him.
He froze in his tracks and turned back to me.
“Thank you for helping me. I’m glad it was you. I’ll have to thank fate for having you there in the right place and time.”
I wanted to run to him, hug him, thank him again, kiss him again. But I was stuck on the couch with a bum foot and an extremely overprotective brother in my way.
“Me, too.” It was all he said, and it was all he needed to say, as he walked out the door.
Chapter 19
Gia and I sat in bed, eating ice cream and gushing over this and that. “So, what’s with you and Teddy?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.
“Nothing. We just ran in to each other and he offered to give me a ride home.”
Frowning, I ate another scoop of ice cream.
“You know, Charles isn’t as bad as you make him out to be,” she said quickly, putting her spoon in her mouth.
I knew that. I knew he could be a good guy but, I wasn’t going to tell her that. She didn’t need a confusing relationship. I needed her sane to help me with all my issues. I’m only being a little selfish.
***
Hobbling in the back entrance on crutches, I followed as Gia headed toward the elevators.
“Elizabeth,” Derrick called as he walked over from the front desk. “I heard that you hurt yourself. Are you okay?”
Derrick is the best. What can I say? We have the best front desk man in town.
“Yeah, those crazy people outside were harassing me and I tripped. It’s a bad sprain, so I’m stuck with a boot and crutches for the next week.”
He gave a look that could kill at the front doors, and I could have sworn I heard him growl. “I’m so sorry. Please let me know if you need anything,” he said, turning back to Gia and me.
; “Can you just make sure that they leave the back entrance open for me so I can keep sneaking in and out? I don’t think they’ve figured it out yet,” I said, pointing my crutch in the direction of the very tinted front windows and door.
“Will do, and, Gia, you take care of her and yourself. I can’t have my two favorite girls getting hurt,” he said, smiling at us before making his way back to the front desk.
***
Getting to class wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. Derrick had called a high-class cab company and had them pull around the back with complete discretion as to who they were driving around. Once we pulled onto campus, I was safe. The campus police was beefed up, thanks to its two famous students. No one without a badge was let on campus. It was truly a Godsend.
As my last class let out, I waited until everyone had left before I hobbled across the room. The sun had begun to set and darkness was quickly approaching. Even with all the security, I still hated walking around here at night. Lifetime Movie network has me really paranoid lately.
With my bag around my shoulders and crutches under my arms, I headed for the door. “Hey hold the door.”
Thanks, buddy, for holding the door for a crippled person. I steadied myself and reached down to open the heavy door. I kicked one of the crutches so that it held the door open and I could weasel my way out. The door slammed behind me as I removed the crutch. “I’m going to kill myself on these,” I said out loud to no one.
“I think that’s a very accurate observation.”
I turned to my right and found a fine-looking figure leaning up against the wall. “Spencer Salvatore, you sure do know what to say to charm the ladies,” I said, watching as he walked toward me.
His casual attire let him easily pass for a student. The dark blue jeans hugged his hips just enough that I found myself imagining things just below the belt, before I looked up at his black leather jacket complete with hoodie underneath. He looked good enough to eat.