Sean smiled, and the process hurt his entire face. Splitting pain wrapped around his broken nose and settled between his eyes, pulsating. But it was worth smiling over the woman who would soon give him a ride. The miracle he had been waiting on was twice as beautiful as he’d imagined.
Sean was used to charming women with his handsome face, but since he was no longer handsome, he would have to rely on other skills. Like his charm and flirty personality. Anything to get the striking redhead to give him a ride, considering he had no other options. He was stuck in Indiana—healing his broken face—while his buddies chased the dream he had to put on hold.
Sean closed his eyes as dizziness again took over his head. Just thinking about his temporarily ruined wrestling career made him sick. It was hard to believe that only a few days ago he had been wrestling in an independent match being scouted by the largest professional wrestling company in the world, the Entertainment Wrestling Extreme Nation, better known as the EWXN. It was the moment he had worked years for, from the time he was eighteen and dropped out of high school to join the independent wrestling circuit. Sean had sacrificed everything—body, heart, and soul—to do what he loved to do. He’d been scouted by the EWXN a few days ago, and this match was supposed to have been his make-or-break moment. Then his make-or-break moment turned into his nose breaking off his face.
The match was epic—Sean had put it all on the line—and he didn’t even know he was hurt until the crowed was gasping in shock at his bloody, broken face. Even then, Sean didn’t stop the match. He ended it like a professional, with a pinfall. The one, two, three count of the referee still echoed in his ears, ensuring he had achieved his victory.
After the match he’d lain in a pool of his own blood, the world swaying around him in fuzzy, black spots. Then like an angel, the EWXN scout stood above his head and scratched his fat chin. “If you ever find your face, son, come down to the EWXN training center in Florida, and we’ll make you a star.”
Sean had managed a thumbs-up before passing out completely. When he came to, he was lying on a hospital bed and a team of doctors was reconnecting his nose to his face. His wrestling friends had apparently dropped him off and then left on their way down to Florida.
He didn’t blame them for leaving his side. This was the way professional wrestling worked. You never stayed in one place very long, not if you wanted to achieve your dreams. The fact Sean was still at a hospital, with no ride and no one to care for him, was his own fault. He had stupidly gotten hurt, and it was up to him to find a solution.
That’s where the redhead came in. Sean was determined to charm her into a ride and not just back to his hotel room, but hopefully to Florida too. It depended entirely on how much personality he could muster. In the past, finding a woman willing to tend to any of his needs had never been a problem. But again, that was before he’d broken his nose. This time would be a bit more challenging, but not impossible. Sean’s pretty face wasn’t the only thing that attracted women—he had a sense of humor and some charming wit.
The redhead would be putty in his hands before long. If only he could keep his eyes open long enough to watch her walk back down those steps.
***
“I’m sorry, Ms. Heugan, I didn’t really get your point about compassion and nursing. Do you think you can repeat it?”
“Repeat it?” Maggie tightened her grip on the bottom of her chair and attempted a smile. Nurse Dannyson from Human Resources looked back at her with raised brows and a penetrating stare, both of which told Maggie everything she already knew—she was screwing up her interview, big-time.
But it wasn’t her fault! It was the weather, and traffic, and the lunatic downstairs that had made her late, therefore throwing off her schedule and making her anxious. From the moment Nurse Dannyson entered the room, Maggie had babbled on and on about her personal views on nursing, unable to focus through the chaos in her head. This happened to her when things felt out of her control. She would carelessly ramble out the most uncomfortable truths people think but don’t say aloud. Like why she hated treating patients.
“Yes, repeat it.” Nurse Dannyson smoothed back her gray bob and folded her hands on her desk. She looked ready to watch Maggie seal her fate.
“What I was saying, Nurse Dannyson, is that nursing and compassion do not go hand in hand.” Maggie let go of her chair and stood up. There was no way she was going to get this job, which meant she had nothing left to hide. “In fact, they counteract one another.”
“What do you mean?” Nurse Dannyson sounded appalled.
Maggie thought about Sean, the lunatic who had made her late downstairs, and smiled. “I mean that patients are human, and humans lie and make stupid decisions.” Maggie began to pace the room, more truths rambling out of her big mouth. “Healing is a science. In order to heal properly, one needs to face the truth and use deductive reasoning. Therefore every patient should be required to act like a broken car waiting to get fixed.”
“A broken car?”
“In other words, Nurse Dannyson.” Maggie turned to look her in the eye. “Patients shouldn’t be allowed to talk.”
“Patients shouldn’t talk,” Nurse Dannyson repeated, raising her gray brows. “I’m not sure that is the attitude we want our nurses to adopt here at the Indianapolis Trauma Center.”
“I know.” Maggie sighed and then offered her hand. “That is why I am thanking you for your time, Nurse Dannyson. I’m sorry I wasn’t the candidate you were looking for.”
Nurse Dannyson didn’t respond, but she managed to shake her hand at least. Maggie made sure her handshake was strong. Despite ruining her interview, she remembered her parents’ parting advice—strong handshake and good eye contact.
Maggie held Nurse Dannyson’s gaze. “Thank you for your consideration.”
She smiled, dropped the woman’s hand, and left the room. Maggie made it all the way to the stairs before the reality of what she had done took over. Her hands shook with adrenaline, and her stomach twisted in knots. She had bombed her first nursing interview, and at her fiancé’s hospital at that! Trevor would be irate over her erratic behavior, which had carelessly dragged his name through the mud. Her parents would also be furious.
Maggie fought the sick feeling in her stomach as she slowly took one step at a time down to the main floor. The irony was not lost on her. Only an hour ago, she had been taking the steps four at a time, wishing she had wings to fly faster. Now she was barely moving, every step filling her with dread. Maggie wanted to make her parents and Trevor happy. That was the reason she had gone into nursing and ignored her creative side—the side that wanted to spend hours drawing.
Maggie bit her bottom lip and took another step. She used to love to draw. Ever since she was a little girl, hiding under her bed from her parents, flashlight, pad, and pencil in hand. That was when Maggie still had dreams of her own. She’d wanted to be a children’s book illustrator and spent hours duplicating the pictures of her favorite childhood stories onto her own pad.
In junior high, those pictures became illustrations from her own wild imagination, and her appetite for drawing became insatiable. She drew every spare minute in school, and after—often times falling asleep drooling on her creations. By that time, her parents knew what she was doing and labeled it as a harmless childhood hobby.
Then high school started and her parents immediately pushed medicine in her face. Hobby time was over. They wanted her to get more serious about studying, and Maggie hadn’t wanted to disappoint them. She’d still drawn, from time to time, but only as a way to release the tension from studying so hard. And never in front of her parents.
When Maggie entered the University of Michigan intending to become a nurse, she knew there would be no time for drawing, or creativity. It was time to get serious and make something of herself. The day before she attended her first college course, she threw all her drawing supplies in the trash and never looked back. But now that she had messed up her first nursing job, Maggie felt as if she’d
lost everything—both her parents’ approval and her childhood dream.
Maggie took the last step to the main floor, her heart in her throat and tears in her eyes. The second she left the hospital, she would have to admit to her parents and Trevor how she’d failed..
“There you are, beautiful.” Sean’s deep voice pulled Maggie from her pity party and made her stomach flutter. She looked over at the lunatic’s wheelchair and bandaged face and wiped her eyes.
“And there you still are, Sean.”
“Yes, here I still am.” Sean smiled happily—or as happy as a man could look with a large bandage on his face—and attempted to straighten up in his seat. “But not for long.”
“Why?” Maggie smiled back, raising one brow. “Are they finally wheeling you back to the mental ward?”
Sean chuckled as if that thought amused him. “Nah, even better.”
Maggie raised her other brow and gestured for him to go on. She told herself she was only entertaining him to put off facing her parents and Trevor.
“You’re taking me home.”
“I am?” This time it was Maggie’s turn to chuckle. “I don’t think so, buddy.”
She walked toward the door. The time for entertaining weirdoes was now over.
“Hold on, beautiful.” Sean grabbed her leg, and Maggie froze, looking down at his hand. His touch was hot against her thigh, and the long fingers wrapped above her knee made her shiver. Maggie sucked in a breath. Sean was holding her in an extremely inappropriate manner, one that should make her angry, not set her body on fire.
She locked eyes with him, and he offered her a wicked smile, as if he were completely on the same sizzling page. How could a man with a broken face manage to appear so devilishly handsome? Maggie shook her head and brushed aside his hand. “Let’s get a few things straight, Sean,” she said in a cold tone. “I’m never giving you a ride home, and I won’t tolerate you touching me again.”
“Got it.” Sean raised his hands above his head, showing her his immediate cooperation, and added, “About the touching part, at least.”
Maggie sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. “Again, not giving you a ride home.”
“Please, beautiful—”
“And that’s another thing.” Maggie placed her hands on her hips. “My name is not Beautiful, it’s Maggie. And I happen to be engaged, so you can cut the flirty games.”
Sean expression became bitter as he took that in before closing his eyes and moaning in pain. “If only I could open my pills.”
“Your pills?”
“Yes.” He squinted his eyes open, looking apathetic. “I can’t seem to open the medication my doctor prescribed.”
“Why not?” Maggie grabbed the bottle of pills off his lap and looked at them curiously. “This is the standard medicine bottle, easily opened by adults. I assume if you are capable of flirting with a strange woman, you are capable of opening a bottle of pills.”
“We’re not strangers anymore, Maggie,” Sean pointed out with another smile. “And flirting with someone as beautiful as you is easy. Opening a small bottle of pills while the world spins is not so easy.”
“I see.” Maggie hid a smile. She shouldn’t like how he referred to her as beautiful, and yet…
She opened the bottle of pills and offered him his correct dose.
“Thank you.” Sean swallowed the pills hungrily, without waiting for water, reminding her of how much pain he must be in. As a nurse, she should be willing to help him. Sean had obviously been discharged from the hospital but lacked people in his life to take him home. It was sad, really. But it would take a lot of convincing before Maggie allowed a strange man into her car. She wasn’t stupid.
“So what happened to you, Sean?”
“I got my nose taken off during a wrestling match.” Sean rubbed the bandage on his nose, oblivious of the fact that her jaw had dropped to the floor. Wrestling match? As in the childish “sport” grown men did for fun?
“Well, that’s interesting,” Maggie said.
“I know what you’re thinking.” He sighed, clearly having heard the sarcasm in her voice. “Entertainment wrestling is fake, right?” Maggie nodded, and Sean gestured to his bandage nose. “Wrong.”
This time, she allowed herself to smile. This was total and complete insanity! So why did she feel herself softening to his cause?
“Where do you live?” Maggie bit her lip to stop herself from adding, “Never mind. I don’t know why I said that. Good-bye.”
“The Holiday Inn on First Street.” Sean smiled eagerly and readjusted himself in his wheelchair.
“You live in a hotel?”
“For now.” He shrugged. “Well, for the last ten years, really, but who’s counting?” When she just stared back at him blankly, Sean added, “Entertainment wrestling and traveling goes hand in hand. My last show was in Indianapolis, so for now, the hotel here is my home. Next week it will be a hotel in another state. All part of living the dream.”
“I see.” Part of Maggie respected Sean for following his dreams, but then she recalled his current predicament. “And the lack of family and friends is all part of living the dream too, I assume.”
“It’s one of the pitfalls,” Sean admitted. “But it’s not going to stop me from doing what I love.”
Maggie bit her lip again. The conviction in his voice upset her more than bombing her first nursing interview. She had always wanted to be brave enough to pursue her dreams, but she had made the logical choice—and with logic there was no room for regret. The only thing she could take from running into Sean was the excuse not to go right home. Maybe by the time she dropped him off at the hotel, she would have figured out a way to break the bad news to her parents and Trevor.
“Well, dream boy, today is your lucky day.”
“Why is that?” Sean offered her another flirty smile with his pathetically bandaged face. Maggie ignored his sad attempt at charm and grabbed the handles on the back of his wheelchair.
“Because I’m taking you home.”
CHAPTER 3
Maggie pushed Sean’s wheelchair up to a midnight-blue Ford Taurus. The model was two years old and looked to be in mint condition. It didn’t surprise Sean; he’d already pegged Maggie as the obsessive-compulsive type. Everything about her, from her perfectly folded plaid scarf to her shiny, black leather heels, screamed, “I don’t like not being in control.” Sean smiled. In his experience, women like that usually had a wild side lurking underneath their neat exteriors. Maggie was definitely no exception. He could see the fire in her green eyes when he mentioned his passion for wrestling. Obviously she was dying to let herself go and maybe wanted to chase her own dream. Not to mention, redheads were naturally fiery.
Maggie pressed the Lock button on her key fob not once, not twice, but three times. She then pulled open the passenger-side door and turned to him.
“This is where you walk.” She inclined her head with a cool smile on her pretty lips. “You can walk, can’t you?” Her gaze raked up and down his large chest and long legs. He saw appreciation in those emerald eyes. Appreciation that made him grateful he worked out regularly. “I don’t think I can lift you.”
“I can walk.” Sean stood and took a small bow as if to say “Ta-da,” but then the world spun, reminding him of his injury. He stumbled toward the ground, swerving like a sailor who had drunk too much.
“Whoa there, buddy.” Maggie wrapped her arms around his waist to steady his feet. He looked down at the petite redhead who had prevented his fall and smiled. Part of her bun had fallen out in the process of saving him, and strands of crimson waves now surrounded her flushed cheeks
“Must be the pills,” Sean said in a pathetic voice and then leaned into her farther, resting his head on the delightful cushion of her soft breasts.
Maggie’s breaths quickened, but she didn’t immediately move to push him off her. In that moment, Sean could clearly see she had a wild side lurking to get out. Until she shoved him hard toward t
he car door. “Well, let’s get you in the car, then. Come on, come on.”
“Okay.” Sean fought the urge to smile, and with Maggie’s help, he managed to make it into the passenger seat. She didn’t wait for a thank-you before shutting the door in his face and hurrying over to her side.
Again Maggie pressed the Lock button three times before opening the driver-side door and getting in. She then spent the next ten minutes adjusting the review mirror, her seat, and her seat belt all in multiples of three. Sean watched her process in fascination. He was right about Maggie needing to be in control, but he had no idea she actually had obsessive-compulsive disorder. The woman was the poster child for it; her ritual process was so insane it was comical. Sean shook his head. He felt bad for her.
“Aren’t you going to put on your seat belt?” Maggie demanded. She appeared to be ready to drive finally, having already turned the engine on and off three times. But now her eyes were on him, and the look on her face said, “Buckle up or get out.” Sean buckled his seat belt.
Finally satisfied, Maggie placed her hands on the wheel and backed her car into the street. They were on their way, which meant Sean had about ten minutes to convince her to drive him to Florida. But the plan he’d been so confident about at the hospital now sounded insane. He’d had no idea Maggie was so compulsive. Not just regarding the OCD rituals, but the fact her car was sparkling clean. It still carried the new-car smell.
“How long have you owned this car, Maggie?” Sean reclined his seat and attempted to rest one of his sneakers on her dashboard. She sliced him a look that stung so bad, he placed his foot back on the ground.
“Two years,” she finally answered, seeming satisfied at where his feet now were, although she eyeballed his reclined seat as if it bothered her immensely. Sean chuckled, fighting the urge to tease her more.
“Why are you laughing?” Maggie sliced another furious look his direction, and Sean raised his hands in defeat.
“Two years and your car still smells new.” He shook his head. “How is that even possible?”
Knockout Love Page 2