"Sure, honey." The nurse stood and pointed down the hall behind Bethany. "She's down that way in four twelve. She's not very talkative, so don't let it bother you, okay? She's on some light sedation drugs that keep her calm."
"Right." Bethany glanced over her shoulder before returning her attention to the nurse. "Has she not been calm up to this point?"
"She's been okay. It's a rough transition for everyone. They don't understand it. It'll do her some good to see you, I'm sure. She hasn't had a visitor yet."
"Her father hasn't come out to see her?" Sickness rolled around in Bethany's stomach.
"No." The nurse’s expression saddened. "We're taking good care of her, but we're not family, you know?"
"Yeah. Thanks." She turned and walked down the hall, trying to convince herself that Mr. Grey just hadn't had time to get over there. By the time she reached out to grab the handle, her heart hurt so bad she was having trouble breathing.
Pausing, she closed her eyes and tried to find the source of her fear. Was she scared that Krista would attack her? No. That was ridiculous.
That her friend would look like death? Not really.
That she would be hallowed and unresponsive at all? Like the world had forgotten her and no one cared?
Tears blurred Bethany's vision, and she reached up and pressed her fingers to her lips. That was it. She was scared to see what her not being there for Krista looked like. How many times could she have come by and she hadn't? The fear was tied to the guilt of not reaching out when she should have.
She forced herself to push the door open and walked in.
Krista sat in a wheelchair with a blanket over her legs by the window; her attention fully focused on whatever was going on outside. Her long dark blond hair was halfway down her back, and she'd lost all of her extra weight.
Bethany's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out before wiping at her tears.
Damon: I figured you were in the hospital with Krista. I know you didn't want to go there today, but I'm proud of you. I'm thinking about you, and I hope that visit turns out to be something that frees you from all the shit you've been through with your friends. If you're too scared to go in to see her, come get me and I'll go with you. I love you, baby. All my heart.
She smiled and put the phone back into her bag. She could do this.
"Krista?" She spoke softly as she moved to sit down on the couch near the window where Krista sat. "It's Bethany. Jake and I wanted to see if you were okay and to let you know that we're here for you."
Krista turned her head slowly, her blue eyes filled with tears that broke Bethany's heart. She extended her hand toward Beth as the first tear dropped.
"I've missed you," she mumbled softly.
"Me too." Bethany let her fears subside as she got up and walked over to pull her friend into a tight hug. Jake was right. No one else was going to pull Krista from the darkness but the two of them. Maybe there would even come a day when she was completely healed and could leave the hospital.
Warmth raced through every part of Beth to know that when that day came, she would be there to pick her friend up. It wouldn't surprise her much if Jake and Damon were with her.
Krista wasn't alone, and neither was Beth anymore.
Chapter 19
Damon
"Damon, your father is on the phone for you." Linda gave him a warm smile as she leaned into his doorway.
"Great. Thanks, and close the door behind you." He pushed away the financials he was in the process of reviewing and grabbed the phone. "What's going on, Dad?"
"Hey there. I just wanted to touch base with you on Mitch Roberson. Remember I mentioned him a few times?"
"Sure do. Did he accept the position in Seattle?"
"He sure did. He's our new director of advisory. I sent him up there to introduce himself to Erica today. You probably need to touch base with her though. I've been so busy lately, and you know once she gets me on the phone-"
"There's no getting off." Damon snorted. "I'm well aware. I'll call when we get off the phone in a minute."
"I spoke with your brother this morning too. It sounds like he's made his decision to move up to Seattle. You think that's a good thing for him?"
"Yeah, I do." Damon leaned back in his chair and let relief run through him. Matt had been dancing around the topic of moving up to the northwest and working on his future for far too long. Now that he'd made the decision to go, Damon would be interested to see what happened with his little brother's career and with his budding relationship with Erica. He'd made some stupid mistakes with the pretty director of marketing, but knowing Matt, he'd figure out a way to win the woman back over.
"I do too. I think I almost have him willing to work with Erica for fifteen to twenty hours a week if she's still interested in that. Let's see if we can get her on a conference call just before six today so we can all work on him together. He needs one more push, and we should be good to go."
"I'm hoping that you're right and all of this meddling in his life doesn't blow up in our faces."
"Nonsense. When is Delilah coming in to sign her exit paperwork and such?"
"Not sure. Why?"
"Because I'll handle that mess. I created it, and I'll close it down."
"You sure?" Damon stood and pressed his free hand to his desk.
"Yep. Just have Cindy let me know when and where, and I'll take care of it. You just call Erica for me, and we'll consider it an equal trade."
"I'm not sure what that says about your feeling toward Erica, but all right."
"Nothing to do with her and everything to do with the fact that I can't stand advertising and marketing." His father chuckled softly. "Enjoy your day. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, Dad." Damon hung up and dialed Erica's work number, not really knowing what to expect.
"Erica Hall." Her voice was tight, but maybe it was because she was working to be professional.
"Erica? This a good time?"
"Sure. I just met Mitch. He seems like a nice guy."
She'd already met him? Damn. The guy was more efficient than they'd expected.
"Yeah. I think he's going to be good for the advisory practice we're setting up. The man has a resume that impressed my father. I'm thinking we're going to do well to have him on our side."
"Awesome. What can I do for you?" She was far more business-like than usual. Something was wrong, but he wasn't sure it was his place to ask what.
"I wanted to see if we could have a conference call around five thirty today. Dad and I have been talking with Matt, and I think we have him convinced to at least try out a twenty hour a week schedule. He might work remotely from his new place, but I'm not sure."
"His new place?" Her tone lifted a little.
"Yeah. I think he's going to come up there later this week and try to find a place."
"That means he's moving up here?" She sighed heavily.
Had Matt not worked things out with her since going up there? He and Damon had spoken a little bit about it, but nothing in depth. Damon tried not to let the guilt of not checking up on his brother drag him under. He had a ton of shit in his own life that was going off track, and Matt had Sophie and several other friends that he was most likely talking to.
"He's still being noncommittal, but yeah, I think he's going to keep his place here in Dallas and get one up there too. You know Matt."
"Yep. I do."
"What's up with you? You sound... tense."
"Yeah, I have things going on in my life that I'm not exactly able to ignore today. Forgive me for having an off day. Shit happens." Something was wrong. This wasn't the Erica he knew at all, outside or inside of work.
"Wow. I'm here for you; you know that. Talk to me and let's work this out. We've been friends a lot longer than we've been co-workers, Erica."
"There's nothing to talk about." Her voice became thick as if she were fighting tears. "I'm good."
"Liar. I'm not getting off this phone until you spi
ll."
"It's my mom. She's not doing well, and Daniel isn't visiting her anymore. He's too sensitive about her getting older and dying on us like Daddy just did." The soft sob that echoed through the phone caused his heart to ache. Was she being honest? The poor woman had a ton of family issues she seemed to be dealing with all the time, but her sadness almost seemed tied to something bigger, something more painful. Had she lost someone?
"What can I do to help?"
"Nothing. I just need to take some time off soon and figure things out."
"Is this just about your mom?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because my brother has been moping around here for a week, ignoring most of us and acting like a ten-year-old boy lost in the woods."
"I don't care what Matt's doing, and if you expect me to try and talk him into coming up here, you're shit out of luck. Tell your father that too. Matt's a twenty-eight-year-old man. He doesn't need any of us pushing him to do anything. If he's not willing to make the decision to move forward with his life, none of us are going to change that."
"No truer words have been spoken." Damon cleared his throat. "Why are you upset with him? What happened?"
"You know how I feel about your brother, Damon. Or rather how I felt. I'm getting over it."
"Yeah, of course, I do. You guys would be-"
"Don't. I'm not interested in hearing it. He came up to visit, and we had a good time for the weekend, or at least I did. I haven't heard a fucking word from him in seven days. Not 'thanks for letting me crash at your place' or 'I really appreciate you helping me with my contract with Jonathan' or better yet, how about, 'thanks for the all-night fuck. I needed that in my life'."
"Wow. Shit. He didn't say anything after you guys spent the weekend together? That's more something I would do than Matt." Damon stood up and brushed his hand down his face. She was destroyed by his brother's ignorance. The stupid bastard was walking around, trying to decide what to do with himself, and here Erica thought that he didn't care. How could Matt not know that ignoring her would leave her feeling used? Was he that naive? Had to be. Matt was a lot of things, but he wasn't at all malicious.
"Exactly. And tell me something, and be fucking completely honest."
"Of course." Damon walked toward the wall of windows in his plush corner office, suddenly wanting to feel the warmth of the sun through the thick glass.
"Why would you do that to someone? Why would you lead them on and walk away without a word?"
"Because in my past life, I was a user. I would walk away because I never had any intention of being with you in the first place. You were just a warm body and pretty smile to spend the weekend with. But, Erica-"
"No. Fuck it. That's exactly what happened. You and Kent are so concerned that Matt isn't going to turn out like the two of you, but you're wrong. He's already everything you used to be." She hung up, leaving Damon staring out the window.
"Shit." He dialed the number for his secretary in Seattle and asked the woman to check on Erica. Just to poke her head in there and see if she was all right.
"She's not here, sir. I'm not sure where she is."
"All right. Thanks." Damon dropped the call and called his father back.
"What's up, son?"
"Matt fucked things up with Erica, and I think one of us needs to fly up there and fix it. She's pretty upset and didn't sound at all like herself a few minutes ago."
His father growled. "Your brother is going to fix it. I'll call him now. Don't worry about a thing. Erica is dedicated to her job and to us. Matt can clean up the mess he made, or deal with the consequences."
"Which are?"
"Taking her job if his actions cause her to leave it. Then he can grovel at her feet until she comes back." His father's voice was loud and reminded Damon much more of his dad in his younger years. "She's the best ad director we've had. We're not losing her over your brother sowing his wild oats."
"All right, Dad. Don't be too hard on him, okay? He's trying to-"
"I don't care. He needs to stop trying, grow the fuck up and do it. Do something."
"Keep me in the loop." Damon hung up and walked back to his chair, dropping down into it and closing his eyes. Poor Matt. He was in love with Erica and yet would never do a damn thing about it. He was too scared to.
"How can I help you?" Damon mumbled and glanced up as the door opened to his office. A smile lifted his lips as the prettiest girl in the world walked in with two coffees in her hands.
"I thought you might could use a break." Bethany smiled and kicked the door shut.
"You thought right." He got up and walked toward her, taking the coffees and setting them down. He turned and pulled her into his arms, breathing the scent of her perfume deep into his lungs and leaning down to consume her mouth.
She tilted her head a little and opened up for him, sucking on his tongue and dragging him from every fucked up thought he'd had that morning. Nothing mattered when she was there and had her arms around him. Everything gained clarity and could be solved with simple solutions.
Matt needed to apologize to Erica.
Kendal needed to let Dana into his life and ask her to drop the damn class.
"Wow." Bethany smiled up at him. "What was that for?"
"For you loving me." He kissed her again a few times softly. "It's been a long day already. I needed to see you."
"You having trouble with me not being part of your day more often?" She gave him a cocky smile that caused him to laugh in spite of his troubles.
"Yes. How much do I have to pay you to come back and work for me?" He slid his hands down her back and squeezed her ass softly as his body woke up.
"You don't have enough money."
He glanced toward the door and smiled. "I wasn't planning on paying with money. Lock the door, and I'll give you a taste of the currency I have on hand."
She pulled back from him, her eyes a little wide. "Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack. Go lock the door and let me remind you who you're dealing with." He smiled wickedly. "Because this thing between us is happening. Whether you want it in my bed or with you trembling across the top of a desk. Your choice."
She turned and walked toward the door, stealing his heart for all time. "Across your desk, please?"
"Good girl, pussycat."
Chapter 20
Damon
"Damn, woman. How much stuff can one person shove into a two-bedroom college apartment? Don't they have rules about this type of hoarding?" Damon glanced over his shoulder and smirked at the pretty girl behind him.
Bethany cocked her head to the side and put a hand on her hip, drawing his eyes down to the lovely curve. "I told you we could get a mover to come over and help clean this place out, but nooooo... you wanted to do it instead. All the money in the world and we're spending our Saturday cleaning this place up."
"I kinda like seeing you work it." He shrugged and turned back to the stack of boxes in front of him.
"Work what, exactly?" Her arms slid around him from behind, and the soft press of her breasts against his back had his heart rate accelerating a little.
"Work anything," he grunted and gripped her hands, pulling them down until she cupped him. "Maybe we should lock the front door and christen this place for the next horny college kids that rent it."
Beth's laugh was short, endearing. "You're going to hell."
He turned in her arms and wrapped his around the top of her shoulders, the smile on his face feeling good - right. "Am I now?"
Her smile faltered a little as her eyes moved around his face. She was nervous. It was endearing, and yet such a fucking turn on. He could still intimidate her sexually. How long would that last? Forever? He couldn't help but hope seeing that forever is what he'd asked her for.
"What are you thinking?" She ran her hands up his back and pressed herself against him.
"I was trying to decide if the paint color was cream or more taupe." He snorted as she pushed back and gro
wled.
"You're impossible."
"Nope. Just a warm meal, soft bed and pretty girl on my arm, and I'm set." He turned and picked up two of the boxes before walking to the door and kicking it carefully to get her attention. "Open."
"Bossy ass." She pulled the door open and gave him a flirty smile. "And I'm the only girl you'll ever have on your arm from here on out."
"This is true. There's still time to run." He winked and walked out into the far-too-warm October afternoon. He grunted and shook his head. How the hell Texas could be above eighty and it be deep in the heart of fall was a conundrum.
"Why in the world would I run?" Beth jogged past him to the parking lot, stopping beside the truck he'd rented.
"Because I love the way your ass jiggles when you do." He moved to the back and lifted the boxes high enough to get them in the back of the truck.
She lifted her eyebrow. "I'm thinking you deserve to see it jiggle this afternoon for helping me move out of the apartment."
His cock twitched. "Up close and personal or not at all."
She chuckled. "You're corrupt."
"I'm going to hell. We've established this." He reached for her, running one hand down her back toward her ass, and the other caressing the side of her face. "I should be granted one last meal before I head south."
She snorted. "I love you so much."
Her words penetrated his heart, waking him up like she did every time they were together. Having known nothing but lust, he was often shocked by how good love felt. "You're not going to ask what I wanted you to prepare for me?"
Beth wrapped her arms around him and lifted up to press her lips to his softly before pulling back. "What would you like me to cook you for your last meal?" Her expression said that she was playing along, but only for his benefit.
"Cook? No, baby. I don't need anything cooked. Just wash up real good for me, or don't? I could care less if you're clean or not." He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers as her eyes grew wide, her cheeks flushing a pretty pink color.
Mister Big Stuff_A Single Mom Friends to Lovers Novel Page 85