Danny nods and his father shakes his head. “I’ll stay with Sammy. I don’t like to leave him alone.”
Kate steps up to the plate. “Mr. Peterson, I’d be more than happy to sit with him while you go get something to eat. I work at a daycare. I’m really good with kids. And I don’t think he’s about to wake up, but if he does for some reason, I’ll call my brother, and he can let you know, okay?”
“Come on, Dad. You haven’t left this room since you brought him here,” Danny tells his father.
“Come on, Mr. Peterson,” Kent tells him. “I saw peach cobbler when we walked past there on our way up. It looked good. And I saw one of those ice cream machines there too. I bet some of that cobbler with some ice cream would really hit the spot.”
The man nods and gets up. “It does sound good.” He looks at Kate, who goes to take his place. “You will call if anything happens?”
“I promise,” she says as she pats him on his shoulder. “Now, go eat something, Mr. Peterson. It’s important to keep your strength up.”
As we leave the room, I see the pretty nurse talking to a doctor. Her hands are on her hips and she seems to be irritated at the man. I eavesdrop as we pass them and hear her say, “Look, that’s not cool. I was with a patient. You can’t have me paged just to talk to me. It’s over and done with, Paul. I’m not playing your head games. I’m a grown woman with a good head on my shoulders. You still want to see other women, and that’s cool. Only thing is, I don’t want to be one of many—I want to be the one.”
Purposely, I hang back behind the others so I can listen to what they’re talking about. The doctor says, “And you might be. I have to have something to compare you to in order to make that decision.”
“And there you go,” she says. “We just aren’t meant to be, Paul. So, I’m going to get back to work after I grab a much-needed fourth cup of coffee, and you are going to stop your shenanigans.”
“Fine, Delaney. But you’re going to be the one who regrets ending what we have. You’ll see,” he tells her.
I hang back even more, in hopes of letting her catch up to me, since she said she was going to get coffee. And now I have an in with her, as I have something to offer her.
Her footsteps are soft but fast-paced as she walks up behind me. I hear her stepping off to one side and take a step that way too. A huffing sound comes from behind me and I stop. Turning around, I act surprised. “Oh, sorry. I thought I was getting out of the way for the person coming up behind me so fast. Seems I managed to get right in your way. Where are you off to in such a hurry, Nurse Richards?”
She narrows her beautiful eyes at me, the long, dark lashes nearly touching her high cheek bones as she does. “How do you know my name?”
“They called you over the speakers only moments ago,” I say and place my hand on her elbow to steer her forward as I start walking again. “So, where is it you were headed?”
“The cafeteria,” she says, then looks at my hand on her arm. “And you?”
“Same place,” I say with a smile. “Allow me to get you something. Name your poison.”
Her tone is sharp as she snaps, “Coffee, and no, thank you. I can get my own coffee. I don’t need your charity, Mr. Vanderbilt.”
“Call me Blaine,” I say and move my hand from her elbow to the small of her back as we turn into the doorway of the cafeteria. “And may I call you by your first name, Delaney?”
She stops and glares at me as if I’ve called her a bitch or something other than her name. “How the hell do you know my name? That didn’t come over the PA system!”
“As I passed you talking to that doctor in the hallway. I heard him call you that. It’s such a pretty name,” I say as I escort her to the coffee machine and see the case of pastries beside it. “Donut?”
“No, just the coffee, and like I said, I’ll get it myself.” We both reach out to pick up a large cup and our hands touch. She jerks hers back as if she was shocked or something. “I said, I’ll get it!”
“Sorry,” I say with a grin. “I want one too.”
“Oh, well, I didn’t realize that,” she says with the tiniest look of embarrassment on her sweet face. “You go ahead.”
“Ladies first,” I say as I wait for her to get the cup.
She takes one and fills it up, then I do the same. We both reach for the sugar at the same time, bumping hands again. I laugh and she growls. “We seem to keep getting into each other’s way.”
“I’d like to think we think alike, not get into each other’s way.” I reach for the pumpkin-spice creamer and offer it to her first. “I’m putting this into my coffee. Would you like some?”
She nods, but frowns. “I was about to use that one too.” She holds her cup of steaming coffee out, and I pour it in, stopping at the same time she says, “That’s enough. Oh, you stopped. Okay.”
“We do think alike,” I say as I drop a stir stick into her cup.
“Hardly,” she says. then walks away from me.
I grab a donut from the case and follow her. I saw her eyeing them and know she wants one. Just as she gets to the counter, I slap a twenty on it. “I got this.”
She huffs, “Fine!”
The older woman who is behind the cash register gives her a shake of the head. “Not a very nice way to thank someone for a kind gesture, Nurse Richards.”
“If you knew who this man was, you’d understand,” she says, then spins away from me.
Why does she act like she hates me?
Chapter 6
DELANEY
His hand on my arm doesn’t slow me down one bit. “I’m busy.”
“I know that,” his silky, smooth, deep voice says from beside me. Then he’s steering me to a booth and sliding me into it without me understanding how he’s doing it. When he slides in next to me, I find I’m trapped between his huge frame and the wall. Damn it!
“Look, Mister.”
His finger touches my lips, and I fight the urge to bite it. “Blaine. And you have something you want to say to me so badly that it’s making you act a little crazy. So, what is it? What have I ever done to you to make you form an instant opinion of me?”
I drum my fingers on the table in an attempt to control my anger at the man who really does seem clueless to his evil ways. “Look, Blaine, your ways of doing business have left a trail of bankrupt people behind you on your road to success. You have climbed on top of their nearly-dead bodies to rise to the top of the business world. I, for one, do not care to hob-knob with a person such as yourself. Call me judgmental if you want to.”
“Okay, I will,” he has the audacity to say to me.
“You ass! You ruined my parents’ tire business in Lockhart. Do you recall that at all? I bet you don’t. I bet you gave less than a flying fuck who you ran out of business when you opened that damn store there.” I sip my coffee to try to calm down. Something about this man has all my red flags waving at once.
“I see now. So you are validated in your opinion of me. I can understand you a lot better now. You see, communication is the key to any happy relationship,” he says with a smile—a very nice smile that’s hovering on the edge of the best smile I’ve ever seen on a man in my life. Only, that smile is on the face of the most horrible man I’ve ever encountered.
“Great. So let me out so I can go on about my life.” I pause and think about what he just said. “And the word ‘relationship’ has no place in this conversation.”
“Oh, but I think it does. How about you let me take you out tonight? It could help make up for what my business has cost your family. And I don’t know if your parents ever told you everything about my business, but I always offer to buy out the inventory of the businesses I happen to tread on with my discount stores.”
“Yes, they did tell me. You offered them fifty thousand dollars for their inventory that was worth twice that amount. So kind of you, Damien,” I say with a smirk on my lips.
“Damien?” he asks, and his frown tells me he’s b
een called that before. “I am not the Anti-Christ. I have done some business dealings that I’m thinking more about now. I am a man who is in the beginning stages of changing my ways. Since my business has directly affected your life, I’d like very much if you would go out with me so we can talk and I can come to a better understanding of what I need to change.”
“Change?” I ask with a huff. “You need to change everything. Close the damn stores down. That’s what you need to do.”
“That’s a bit drastic, and frankly, it would be very mean of me to suddenly end the employment of thousands of people. So some other suggestions would be appreciated, Delaney,” he says, then his damn hand is moving across my shoulders as he lays his arm on the back of the seat.
Even the way he smells is expensive and it really pisses me off. “It’s not my job to educate you on business ethics. With your obvious education in business, didn’t you even have one business ethics class?”
“I’ve had several,” he says with a smile. I can’t believe he can sit there and smile at me. It’s pretty damn obvious what I think of him!
“Well, you learned nothing from them. When you opened your first two stores, you did so in huge cities that could handle that kind of competition. Then you decided to go for the jugular of our country, the mid-sized towns, and that’s where you went wrong,” I let him know, since he seems so damned oblivious to the fact.
“But those places are where my company makes the most money. It’s just good business sense, that’s all. Surely you can understand that, if your parents were business people, themselves,” he says, then picks up the donut he bought, pulls a chunk of it off, and holds it near my mouth. “Would you care for a bite?”
“What?” I ask, and he pops the piece into my mouth. I have to chew the delicious thing up and swallow it, and I’m so damn mad at him for invading my mouth, it’s not even funny. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
“What, share my food with you?” he asks, then pulls a piece off for himself and eats it as I glare at him, secretly hoping he’ll choke on it.
“No, shove food into my mouth without my permission,” I correct him and wiggle to try to let him know I want him to let me out of the damn booth. “I need to get back to work. You are more than aware that I need to go finish checking out Samuel Peterson.”
“Oh, yeah, that.” He gets up and holds his hand out for me, but I ignore him and get out on my own, turning to grab my coffee. As I walk out, I find him right next to me. “I’ll walk you back.”
I huff, as I have no idea how I’m going to shake this man. “Do whatever you want. You always do, anyway.”
“You don’t know me at all—don’t really know me. The man behind the business. I’m telling you, I’m changing things. I really am. I’d love to get to meet your parents and get some insight into how I can make things better.”
I stop and look at him with amazement. “Oh, you would, huh? Would you like to go to the nice, three-bedroom home they had before you ran them out of business? Because that’s gone. The mortgage company took it when they couldn’t pay anymore. Now they live in a one-bedroom, tiny home in government housing. I’m sure they’d love it if you stopped by. My mother could make you a government cheese sandwich and give you a jelly jar with tap water in it. Want to know why?”
He shrugs and kind of looks like he doesn’t. “Why would that be?”
“Because they are dirt poor now, thanks to you!”
I storm away as he stands perfectly still. I leave him with the sight of my extended middle finger and hope he finally gets how I feel about him.
Chapter 7
BLAINE
“And she shot the finger at me and left,” I tell Kent as I pay for the Petersons’ food.
The cashier looks at me and says, “She’s usually a very nice woman. I can’t understand what’s gotten into Nurse Richards. Maybe it’s because she’s pulling a double shift and hasn’t slept in quite some time. She still has three more hours until her shift is over and she can finally get some rest.”
“I’m sure my brother just rubs her the wrong way,” Kent offers. “He’s not exactly the nicest guy all the time.”
“You should show her how nice you can be,” the cashier says, then points at a flyer tacked on the wall behind her with a picture of Santa on it. “It’s the holidays and the hospital always welcomes people who want to do nice things for the children here at The Children’s Hospital. Maybe that would show her the man you’re trying to let her see.”
“You are a genius,” I say as I look at her nametag. “Mildred.”
She looks at her nametag and laughs. “I borrowed this one. My name’s Shirley. And thanks, Mr. …?”
“You can call me Blaine. Blaine Vanderbilt,” I tell her, then her smile fades pretty damn rapidly.
“The owner of Bargain Bin, right?” she asks.
I nod and find I’m not feeling so proud as I’ve always felt about owning that company. “Yes. Have you had a bad past with any of my stores?”
“Only that every damn thing I’ve bought from there is the cheapest shit ever made and breaks almost right away,” she says. “The latest thing I bought was a television stand that broke as soon as I placed my brand-new television on it, sending it to the floor and breaking it too,” she tells me.
I reach into my pocket, pull out a thousand dollars, and place it on the counter. “Sorry about that.”
She looks at the money as she shakes her head. “Keep it. If you really want to make me happy, change the return policy your stores have. It’s the strictest policy I’ve ever seen with the shortest amount of time to return the few things it allows.”
Feeling a bit shell-shocked with so much hate thrown right into my face, I nod and turn to leave. “I really am sorry.”
Kent puts his hand on my shoulder and walks with me as we leave the cafeteria. “Man, I’m sorry. You’re here to try to do a good thing and a lot of flak is being tossed at you.”
“I hate to admit it, but I kind of deserve it. I have a ton of changes to make, Kent. And I need your help, as well as Kate’s, to make things right again. What do you say to working for me, instead of driving a truck? It would mean a nice office at the corporate headquarters and a boatload more money than you make now.”
“Boatload?” he asks as he seems to be contemplating my offer. “How many figures are we talking?”
“Six or seven, at least. Bonuses when sales increase—the normal things consultants get in the retail business. So, you kind of sound like you’ll consider it,” I say as we turn the corner to walk down another hallway.
“If you really mean it about making changes, then yes. I will consider it. It’s time you made some changes, Blaine. You’ve been going down a bad path for too long now. Many people have been hurt. It’s time to fix things. That’s what pops always wanted. He wanted you to do things the right way.”
“I know. When I would stick around long enough to let him give me an earful, he’d get on the soapbox every damn time. It annoyed me, to be honest. But what I wouldn’t give to have that man back and listen to him even one more time.”
As we turn to go into Sammy’s room, I notice Delaney’s head turn our way, then snap back to look at her patient. “Visiting hours are over,” she snaps.
Kate hurries across the room to us. “Time to go.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” I tell Danny, then walk over and put a hundred-dollar bill into his hand. “Take care of them, son. Your little brother needs you right now.” I look at his father and nod. “And so do your parents. I’ll see you tomorrow. I hope to meet your mother. I’ll bring her some flowers.”
“Thanks, Mr. Vanderbilt,” he says as he beams a happy smile. “I sure will do my best. And there better not be anyone who ever says a bad thing about you when I’m around or I’ll give them a reason for!”
Delaney makes a huffing sound, and I laugh as I run my hand over Danny’s head, messing up his blonde, shaggy hair. “Thanks, buddy. You’re the
best.” Turning around, I find the lovely nurse has turned too, and we’re facing each other, quite by accident. “And it was lovely meeting you, Nurse Richards. I’ll be seeing you around. I plan on helping this family out a lot.”
Sarcasm is dripping off every single word as she says, “Isn’t that just the nicest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Her gaze is a little on the sinister side. And they call me evil!
Stepping around her, I follow my brother and sister out of the room and hear the soft sounds of her feet behind me. A hand on my arm stops me, and I turn back to look at her with a smile. “Yes, Nurse Richards?”
She makes sure to close the door behind her, then her finger starts shaking in my face. “You listen to me, Blaine Vanderbilt. If you think coming to see this kid will get you a date with me, you had better think again. I will not be swayed by your act of kindness. I know all too well who and what you really are. Coming here and plying this family with gifts will not get you what you want.”
My sister and brother look on with surprised faces as she reads me her riot act. I take her wagging finger and hold it. “I’m not doing this to impress you, Delaney. But how cute that you think I would spend my precious time doing that just to get to you. It makes me think you might have a little internal battle with what you want to do. Perhaps my being around so much might have you seeing the real man I am becoming, and that might just scare you a little.”
“The only thing that scares me is the fact that you would stoop to making people think you care about them to get a piece of ass!” she snaps.
“Oh, baby, I’m not after a piece of ass. If I was, I wouldn’t even bother talking to you. You’d be in one of these empty hospital rooms, in the bed, with your feet over your head, screaming my name, if that’s what I wanted. Believe me, I know.” I let her finger go, and she lets it fall to her side as she stares at me. “Now, I will see you tomorrow. I hope you come to work with a better attitude. I overheard some of your co-workers saying you had to work a double shift and you’ve been up all night and won’t get to sleep for another three hours, so I’m cutting you some slack. Now, if you’ll tell me your address, I’ll have your dinner delivered to you so you don’t have to worry about that either.”
Under Her Skin Page 76