“Yes.” Summer told her what happened. “He also invited me to fly to one of his businesses on his private jet. I can’t believe I wasted all that time for nothing.”
There was a knock at the door. Both women looked up. Cooper Garrett stood in the doorway holding a paper sack. He noted the expression on Summer’s face. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you feeling worse? Do you want me to drive you home?”
Summer shook her head, hoping to clear it. She’d completely forgotten about telling Cooper she wasn’t feeling well. “I just had a little trouble with a client, that’s all.” She glanced at Joyce. “Joyce, meet Cooper Garrett. Cooper, this is Joyce Cox, my assistant.”
Cooper could tell she was upset. “What kind of trouble?” he asked after nodding a quick greeting at Joyce.
“A slime ball who copped a feel,” Joyce said angrily, “and tried to get Summer to spend the weekend with him. Once she turned him down he told her he’d take his money elsewhere.” Joyce added. “You probably passed him in the hall. Tall, athletic guy in a light gray suit wearing sunglasses?”
Cooper’s look turned dangerous. “He actually touched you inappropriately?”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” Summer said, wondering what Worth would say when she lost the account.
“He practically had his hand up her skirt when I walked in,” Joyce replied in a high-pitched voice.
Summer shook her head. “You’re exaggerating—”
“We’ll just see about that.” Cooper spun around on his heel and exited the office without another word.
Summer shot to her feet. “Why did you tell him?” she asked Joyce.
Her assistant looked surprised. “I thought he was a personal friend of yours.”
Summer hurried out of her office with Joyce behind. They exited the reception area and stepped into the hall where Cooper was stabbing buttons on the panel next to the elevator. Luckily, Sam Flynn wasn’t in sight. The man had obviously left the building. Not only that, the hallway was clear of other personnel. She sighed her relief.
It was short-lived. She spotted Flynn coming out of the men’s room at the same time Cooper did. He barreled past her and caught Flynn by the arm.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the man demanded.
Cooper spoke through gritted teeth. “Keep your voice low, or you’re going to be ordering dentures by the time I get finished with you.”
“Cooper, stop!” Summer cried.
“Who the hell are you?” Flynn asked, eyes wide as saucers.
“I’m the guy who’s going to rearrange your face for taking indecent liberties with a lady.”
Summer touched Cooper’s shoulder gently. “Let him go,” she said, holding her breath for some sort of response. His face remained a glowering mask. “Please,” she added.
Cooper hesitated a full minute. He glanced at Summer. Something in his expression changed a momentary softening that was barely discernible. He shook the man hard before releasing him. “Don’t you ever touch her again, you got that?” Flynn nodded quickly. “Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind and bust you up anyway.”
Sam Flynn didn’t have to be told twice. He disappeared through the door leading to the stairs. When Cooper turned, he found Summer staring at him, her face shadowed with alarm. Joyce left them standing there and hurried into the office as though she knew Summer would prefer to take care of the matter without an audience, including her.
“Is that how you handle all your differences?” Summer asked, her voice so quiet, Cooper had to strain to hear.
“He had no right to put his hands on you.”
“And who decides that? You?”
Cooper looked away, unable to meet that frightened-doe look she gave him. He felt awkward now that he’d had a chance to cool down, embarrassed that Summer had seen him at his worst. “I couldn’t let him think he could just treat you any old way he liked.”
She took a step closer. “So you decided to chase after him like a raging bull and create a scene at my place of employment. Were you hoping to get me fired, or just make me a laughingstock?”
“You looked upset when I got here.”
“I was upset. But I would have handled it.” She took a deep breath and realized she was trembling. “Please leave while I still have a job.”
He held up both hands. “Fine, I’m outta here.” He followed the same path out that Flynn had taken a few minutes before.
Summer tried to get herself under control. If Worth ever found out one of his clients had been threatened, he would have her head. She could only hope none of her coworkers had overheard.
“Are you okay?” Joyce whispered when Summer returned.
“Not really.”
“Cooper should have beaten the slop out of that pig.”
“Joyce!”
“You’re right. A gunshot to the head would have been quicker.”
Summer looked horrified.
“I’m kidding,” Joyce said, “but you’ll have to admit it was romantic.”
“Romantic!” Summer gaped at her. “Cooper had no business getting involved. I could lose my job. Do you know if anyone saw or heard anything?”
“I was too busy gawking at Cooper. I really thought for a minute that Sam Flynn was going to get his head knocked off.”
Summer gave a huge sigh. “I lost a client, and some guy I’ve dated a couple of times looked like he was going to beat the man to smithereens. I could easily be fired.”
#
Summer arrived at the hospital shortly before six and parked as close to the entrance as she could. She rode the elevator to Warren’s floor and checked with the head nurse, an older woman who wore a perpetual scowl, to make sure his doctor had released him.
“Yes, he’s all set to go,” she said, her voice as crisp as the stark white uniform she wore. “And not a moment too soon,” she added. “He’s driving the younger nurses crazy with all that flirting.”
“Sounds like he’s on the mend.”
“Well, you’d best get him out of here before I break his other leg,” the woman mumbled, then called out to an orderly. “Please wheel Mr. Spencer to the lobby,” she said. “And blindfold him so he can’t find his way back.”
Summer chuckled and started down the hall toward Warren’s room, where she found him watching a soap opera. “Hey, stud. I hope you’re all packed and ready to go. I have a feeling you’ve worn out your welcome.”
He looked happy to see her as he reached for his crutches. “You must’ve talked to Nurse Attila the Hun.”
“Oh, so you’re on a first-name basis.”
Warren stood on his good leg and tucked the crutches beneath each arm. “She’s just jealous ’cause she’s not getting any. I was tempted to tell her she’d have better luck if she put a bag over her head, but she’s already threatened to give me an enema, so I decided to serve the rest of my sentence in silence.” He pulled open the drawer of his night table. “Looks like I got everything.”
Summer picked up the small overnight bag she’d packed for him. The orderly arrived with his wheelchair.
Your limo’s here,” she announced.
Warren frowned. “I don’t want to make my exit in one of those,” he said, nodding toward the chair. “I’m afraid it will emasculate me in front of the nurses.”
“Hospital policy,” the orderly said.
“Get in the chair and let’s go,” Summer said, “before the head nurse emasculates you. She’s probably out there sharpening her ax as we speak.”
“You talked me into it,” Warren said, hobbling toward the chair. The orderly showed him how to position his crutches so that he didn’t injure anyone in the elevator. “It feels good to be going home,” Warren told Summer. “The food here stinks. What d’you say we stop by the store on the way home and grab a couple of thick, juicy steaks? You can cook while I lie on the couch and tell you all the awful things they did to my poor body while I was here.”
“Why do
n’t we see how you feel once I take you home?” she suggested. “I can always run out later.”
“I feel great. They gave me a pain pill twenty minutes ago.”
The orderly smiled at Summer and winked. “I’ll be surprised if he can stay awake until he gets home.”
Sure enough, Warren conked out about ten minutes into the ride. By the time Summer parked in front of his apartment, he was snoring loudly. “Wake up, Warren,” she said, touching his arm lightly so she wouldn’t risk hurting him. “You’re home.”
Warren opened his eyes and blinked at her several times, as if he weren’t sure where he was. “Home?”
“That’s right. That all-adult community where the babes hang around the pool in next to nothing. The complex that frowns on children, pets, Mom, and apple pie. I’ll come around and help you.” Summer let herself out and hurried to the other side. She opened the door, and Warren, who’d drifted off again, almost fell onto the pavement. She squealed and caught him just in the nick of time. “Wake up, Warren,” she snapped. “Before you end up hurting one of us.”
“Okay, okay,” he mumbled, trying to peer out from beneath heavy eyelids.
Summer managed to get his crutches in place, pull him into a standing position, and together they moved toward the door at the speed of a crawl. Reaching his front door, Summer unlocked it and steered him in the direction of his bedroom. His attempts were clumsy at best. “You’re going to have to practice walking with these things,” she said, suspecting he would be wearing a cast for some weeks.
“You’re not going to make me practice today, are you?” he said groggily.
She chuckled. Men turned into such wimps when they were sick. “I’ll give you the evening off if you’re a good boy.”
“Will you make me a pot of homemade vegetable soup like Mom always did when I was sick?”
“I don’t do homemade. But if I can find something in a can, you got it, buddy.”
“You’re too good to me. I should have hog-tied you and forced you to marry me a long time ago.”
They’d made it as far as the bedroom door. Summer stepped through first and waited for Warren. “Okay, try to balance yourself on one leg while I take your crutches,” she said. She took them from him and leaned them against the wall, then slipped his arm around her shoulder. “We need to turn around,” she said, trying to position them so the backs of their knees were against the mattress. “Okay, on the count of three, we’re going to sit down. Keep your leg with the cast straight out and—”
“Just count, okay?” he said impatiently. It was obvious he was struggling to keep his eyes open.
“One, two, three.”
They started to sit, but Warren lost his balance due to the heavy cast, not to mention his drugged state. His weight landed on his fractured wrist and he howled. He immediately flipped to the other side and fell on Summer.
She felt as though a boulder had toppled onto her. “What happened?” she cried.
“I think I broke my damn wrist. Again.”
Summer tried to push him up, but it was impossible. “Can you sit?”
“I’ll have to try and push myself up with my good arm. Damn,” he muttered.
“Now what?”
“All this time I’ve been trying to get you in my bed, and now that you’re here, I’m too banged up to do anything about it.”
She tried to laugh, but he was cutting off her oxygen supply. “You’re squishing my guts out,” she managed to say.
“Go ahead and take me, Summer,” he said, sounding groggy once more. “Just be gentle.”
Laughter bubbled up inside of her. Truly, she had never been in a more ridiculous situation. “They must’ve fed you well in that hospital,” she said. “You weigh a ton.
He yawned and lay his head on her shoulder. “All muscle, baby. All muscle.”
“Don’t you dare fall asleep on me!”
“Am I interrupting anything?”
Summer looked up to find Cooper leaning in the doorway. His jaw was set in a hard line. What was his problem? She was the one who was supposed to be mad for the ruckus he’d caused at her office. Although she had decided to forgive him, she expected a little humbleness on his part beforehand. “Would you mind pulling your cousin off me?” she said.
Cooper noted the man had fallen asleep with a smile on his race. “It doesn’t look as though he wants to be pulled off. If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll just mosey on and leave the two of you alone.”
“Don’t you dare walk out of here, Cooper Garrett!” she said. “Not until you get me out from under this … this slab of flesh.”
Cooper crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. “What’s it worth to you?”
She glared at him, finding it more difficult to breathe. “Very … funny. I can always count on you to … to do and say the right thing in an … uncomfortable situation.” She pounded Warren’s back with both hands. “Wake up, Warren,” she said loudly, startling him.
“What’s wrong?” he said, eyes flying wide open.
Cooper made his way to the bed, slipped his arms around his cousin’s chest, and pulled him up so that Summer could roll out from beneath him. She gasped for air.
“Hey, Cooper,” Warren said, giving the other man a silly, lopsided smile. “You want to sign my cast?”
“Let me get a razor blade first,” Summer said sweetly, “so he can do it in his own blood.”
“You’re still sore about this afternoon, aren’t you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. If you can just help me get his bathrobe off and get him settled on the bed, you can leave.”
“The guy had it coming, and you know it.”
She glanced up. “Okay, so maybe he did. But that gave you no right to barge in and act like some kind of barbarian. What if my boss had been there? I could have been fired on the spot. I may end up fired if Sam Flynn calls Mr. Worth.”
“Right,” Cooper said. “Is this Flynn guy going to tell your boss he had his hand up your skirt?”
“He did not have his hand up my skirt. It was on my knee.”
“Oh, like that makes a difference,” Cooper said. “And what about the invitation to fly away for the weekend on his jet?”
Summer was only vaguely aware of what he was saying. She was more concerned about her job.
“Have you ever heard of sexual harassment, Summer?”
She glanced up. “Yes, of course.”
“That’s exactly what he was doing. He’ll give you his business if you let him put his hand on your knee or agree to spend the weekend with him.”
She thought about it. “That still did not give you a right to do what you did,” she said.
Cooper nodded. “You’re right, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s too late for being sorry,” she said. “The damage has been done, and I will suffer the consequences of your actions.”
Cooper gave a grunt of disgust. “You know what your problem is?” he said. “You’re so determined to prove you don’t need anybody that you can’t appreciate the simple fact that someone cares enough to stand up for you. Well, I don’t need your thanks or appreciation; I would have done the same for any woman.”
She blushed, feeling foolish now. “Thank you, Cooper,” she said somewhat grudgingly.
He blinked, certain he’d misunderstood. “What?”
She raised her eyes to his. “Thank you. For coming to my defense.” She gave him a tight smile. “Nobody’s ever done that sort of thing for me before. I guess it took me by surprise.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Oh, well.” He finally shrugged. “You’re welcome.” He glanced down at his cousin. “I guess we need to do something about him.”
Together they wrestled the sleepy man out of his bathrobe. Cooper dragged the bedcovers down while Summer pulled Warren’s slippers off his feet. She covered him. “Warren? I’ll make you that soup now if you like,” she said, hoping he had a can in his cabinet.
He opened his eyes. “You’re not going to leave after that?” he asked anxiously.
Summer blinked several times. He expected her to spend the night? She looked to Cooper for help. Surely he’d hang around in case Warren started hurting in the middle of the night or had to go to the bathroom. She tried not to get irritated when Cooper didn’t offer, after all, she’d insisted on picking up Warren at the hospital when he’d offered to do it. Perhaps Cooper had other plans. “Sure, I’ll stay,” she said, forcing a smile.
Warren looked content as he drifted off to sleep.
Summer made her way into the kitchen and checked several cabinets before she found a can of tomato soup. A wide opening in one wall looked out into the combination living room and dining room. She was aware that Cooper watched her every move from the other side. “I have to run home for fresh clothes,” she said. “Would you mind staying with Warren until I get back?”
“I thought you were sick.”
“What?”
“You told me on the phone this morning you weren’t feeling well.”
She blushed. “I’m … uh … better now.”
“Obviously.” It irked him that she’d miraculously recovered from what ailed her so she could play nursemaid to his cousin. “That’s great,” he said. “Now you won’t have to back out on our date for Wednesday night.”
“Sorry, but I’ve already canceled with my grandmother.” She was surprised the lie slipped so easily from her tongue. Practice made perfect, she supposed because she had told whopper after whopper since her grandmother had been taken to the ER by ambulance.
“She didn’t mention it when I stopped by earlier.”
Summer snapped her head up. “You went by Grandmother’s house?”
“I had some free time on my hands, so I weeded her garden. Actually, I just left her place, and she was still looking forward to the benefit.”
“You’re not making this any easier on me,” she said, knowing she had no choice but to attend the event.
“Nor do I plan to.”
She shot him a quick glance and grabbed her purse. Once again he was letting her know he had no intention of backing off. She hurried for the door, desperate to put some space between them before he realized he was getting to her. Again. She could feel his eyes boring into her back. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew which buttons to push and she suspected he would keep on pushing till he got it right.
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