“And the drugs?”
“We took’em but I fell before they kicked in, otherwise I’d probably be dead.” The smile on his face said he was feeling no pain and probably wouldn’t remember anything by morning.
“All right Romeo, let’s get you strapped in.” I worked quickly because the kid might think he’s all right but the chattering of his teeth said otherwise. “Whatever you do, try to stay calm. I need you to stay calm.”
“Calm as a cucumber, man.”
“Right,” I grunted at his teenage bravado.
“I won’t freak,” he said, his tone sounding more sober and serious than it had just seconds ago.
I didn’t buy it, but the temperature dropped with every passing minute so I got us both strapped in and started to climb back up. Just as Kyle started to freak out. “Kyle, chill. Relax.”
“I am relaxed man, but you gotta hurry up before they get us.”
I didn’t know who they were and I was pretty sure there no was no one there. “I think the shrooms have officially kicked in, kid.”
“No, seriously man.” His legs kicked out wildly and then his arms joined the party, making us both rock back and forth. On the rope. “They’re coming. Go faster. Go! Go!”
The rope swung too much and I had to pause, hands and fingers trembling under the effort. “Kyle. Relax.” It didn’t matter what I said because he was in the middle of a full-blown freak out. We were gonna fall and the only thing I could do was minimize re-injuring the kid.
“Dude, the smidgens are coming. They’re coming!” he rocked back and forth, trying to climb away from his invisible enemy when the rope gave out, jarring us down about ten feet. At first. “Dude!”
“Kyle. Relax, dammit!” Before he could insist he was relaxed, again, the rope snapped completely and we fell another twenty or so feet. And I landed on my back with a thud, lying there for about three seconds before everything went black.
Mikki
I didn’t live what most people would call a high risk lifestyle which meant a knock on the door in the middle of the night was enough to get my heart racing. The knocks came sharp and short and insistent, and I tried to swallow around the dry lump in my throat as my feet smacked against the cold strip of wood between where the steps ended and the rug began.
The second round of knocking came harder and faster, angry. “Dammit, Mikki wake up!”
“Bo?” I unlocked the door as fast as my shaking fingers would allow, frowning at the sight of big bad Bo in pink and gray striped pajamas and a Tulip 2k for Kittens tee. “What’s going on?”
“Damn woman you sleep like the dead.” She frowned and stepped inside and her frown crumpled into a bone deep worry and something else. Fear. “Nate’s been in an accident at work.”
“What?” I shook my head because those words just didn’t seem possible. He’s a Hometown Hero for crying out loud, hero is right in the description! “That can’t be. Are you sure?”
“You think I’d be here if there was some doubt? He was helping some drunk kid and they fell. Far.”
My legs wobbled, only a little but enough for Bo to notice. “I’m sorry, Bo. You need a ride to the hospital, right? Of course you do.” It took a few seconds of searching for my shoes before I realized that tears were blurring my vision, which was ridiculous. There was no reason to cry, Nate was injured. That’s all. “Just a second.”
Bo sighed and grabbed my shoulders. “No, dummy, I’m here to take you to the hospital. You two care about each other no matter how hard you work at convincing one another the opposite is true.” I opened my mouth to argue but her words stopped me cold. “He’s unconscious now but he was calling your name before he went out.”
He did? “Maybe he said something that sounds like Mikki. But sure, I’ll come to the hospital with you.” To see for myself that Nate was fine. At least before I killed him with the news that he was about to be a father.
“Thanks,” Bo snorted and I ignored her, finding my shoes and purse quickly before we slid into her truck and made our way to Tulip County Hospital.
Preston and Jase met us on the other side of the automatic doors, looking grim and worried. Suddenly I wasn’t so sure that Nate would be all right. Everyone in the waiting room knew him better than I did, so maybe my confidence was more for my own benefit than his. “Any news?” Bo and Jase fused together automatically and it was sweet. And a little sickening given my current predicament.
All eyes turned to Preston who’s golden boy good looks were marred by dirt smudges, torn fabric and blond hair that stood up all over his head. “He was conscious when they brought him and that’s a good thing. But his leg’s definitely broken and we don’t know how bad yet, plus he landed flat on his back and now there’s swelling around his spine.”
“What?” The words fell from my lips unbidden, as anguish tore through me. “Can he walk?”
“Don’t know yet. They’ll be keeping him overnight to check the swelling. And the concussion.”
Jase shook his head, anger rolling off his body in big steamy waves. “Fucking kid freaked out and now Nate’s hurt. He’s probably pissed.”
Preston let out a sharp laugh. “He was pissed to start with and doing his best to keep the kid calm, I mean really being more unlike himself than I’d seen him in a good long while. Didn’t help because the shrooms he’d taken had just kicked in and he was screaming about smidgens chasing them.”
Okay that was kind of funny, even if it was also maddening. Jase let out a laugh and then Bo, and then we were all laughing because that’s what you did when you were terrified that things were about to change forever, that someone you knew was about to become someone else. It was a tension reliever.
“I’ll go call Rayanne.” Some silent communication went on between Bo and Jase at her words. “She’d want to know.”
“She’s still on that cruise in the Mediterranean, Bo. There’s nothing she can do now but worry.” Jase held her hands in his, pleading even though everyone within earshot knew it was a losing argument.
“She’ll never let you forget it if you don’t tell her. I’ll just pass the message long through the service instead of calling the ship directly, okay?” Bo patted his chest and walked away before Jase realized he’d been played.
“She’s good.”
He smiled over at me. “Too damn good. Don’t tell her I said that.”
I mimed zipping my lips. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” It was nice to see a man who didn’t mind a strong woman in practice. It was a thing they said in lip service to modern women, but few believed it. Jase did and that took him a bit more in my estimation.
“Now we just have to figure where Nate will stay during his recovery.” It was too soon to think things like that, wasn’t it? “My place is mostly empty so that’s out of the question and he’d never be able to get around Bo’s place.”
Poor Nate. Not only would he be out of work for a few weeks, but he would be displaced as well. That would make him even grumpier than usual, which would make it difficult to tell him my news. Our news. The news. “He can stay with me.”
Maybe it was the way I blurted the words out, but Jase and Preston stared at me like I’d grown another head. “You sure about that? He’s a surly shit on the best of days.”
Like I didn’t know that. “And most of it is directed my way which makes me the ideal person. He doesn’t intimidate me and his charm doesn’t work on me.” Not really, anyway. “Besides, I have the space to accommodate him. Unless you and Nina want to put him up?”
Preston hesitated. “I mean, I wouldn’t say no if he needed me.”
Jase smacked his chest. “Thanks, dick.”
Preston frowned and smacked him back. “I said I’d put him up.”
“Reluctantly,” Jase shot back.
“Boys. It’s settled.”
“Thanks,” Jase said, relief thick in his voice.
“But you have to be the one to tell him about it.” Jase groaned and Preston laughe
d, while I wondered what in the hell I’d just done. Only looking out for the father of your baby who doesn’t know he’s about to be a father yet.
Damn conscious, she never takes a break.
Nate
“Damn I am happy to be sprung from that place.” Sliding into Jase’s little ass car with a broken leg wasn’t the best way to start the first day of freedom from being poked, prodded and measured every hour on the hour. “Too bad you picked me up in a damn Barbie car.”
Jase stood outside the passenger door and waited for me to get my big ass situated. Laughing. “It’s all right Nate, we have all day.” When I glared at him, he had the nerve to laugh outright, bent over and crowing loud enough to draw stares. “All. Day.”
“Asshole,” I grumbled under my breath, still trying to get settled. “I’m getting in the back.”
“If only the doctor hadn’t suggested that exact thing almost an hour ago.” I ignored his sarcasm because on this, he was right. It was my own stubbornness causing me pain and discomfort now. “All settled now?”
“Yep,” I grunted, ignoring the searing pain shooting through my leg and the subtle but nonstop pounding in my head.
“All right, then.” He slammed the door much harder than was necessary and jogged around to the driver’s side. “I’m sorry you got hurt Nate, but try not to take this out on the rest of us.”
“Right.” It was a good reminder but between the pain and the way that kid, fucking Kyle, escaped with nothing more than a mild concussion, I was in a damn surly mood. “How’d you get Bo to let you move in with me for a few weeks.”
“I didn’t.” His gaze slid to mine in the mirror before turning back to the road, a little too eagerly if you ask me. “There’s no way in hell you can make it up and down those steps even with my help.”
That was true and most of Jase’s stuff was either in storage or cluttering up Bo’s place. “The ground around Bo’s place is too unstable for an unstable leg.” I’d kill myself just trying to get a breath of fresh air. This is why I hated injuries. Relying on other people didn’t come easy for me and feeling like a burden was a feeling that didn’t sit well with me.
“I know that too, Nate.” He was being vague on purpose and I wasn’t in the mood.
“Then tell me where the hell you’re taking me and do it before we get there, because obviously there’s some big secret I’m not in on.” I knew I sounded like a surly jackass but I couldn’t help it. I hadn’t slept well in three days, and let’s not forget the pain.
“You’d feel like a real asshole if I was taking you to a surprise party, wouldn’t you?”
“Are you?” Because yeah, I would.
“Who can really say about these things?” Before I could tell him what I thought of his attempts to be cute, he turned up the radio and drowned out the sound of my voice. Then he started singing.
There was no damn surprise party because there was nothing to celebrate. I did my job and the kid was only mildly injured, end of story. Which meant he was taking me someplace I’d reject right away. It didn’t take long to realize where we were going, especially when the car turned and the cheerful yellow door came into view. “You have got to be kidding me! How in the hell did you manage this?”
Jase shrugged, doing a shit job of hiding the smile on his stupid face. “She volunteered and after I thought about it, for a good long while, I realized she was right. My place is empty and yours has too many stairs, and Bo’s place has too much wobbly ground.” He shrugged again, doing his best to sell it as he killed the engine. “There was no good reason to turn down her offer. Was there?”
“I walked right into that one.”
Jase barked out a laugh and slid from the car. “You definitely did that. If you have no real objections, this is a solid option and in case you didn’t hear me the first time, she volunteered.”
Which didn’t make a damn lick of sense. I made a note to ask her about it the second we were alone and then turned my focus to blotting out the pain as I made it out of the car and up the small stairs that led to Mikki’s little bungalow. Little being the operative word. The place was a damn doll house with me in it and I damn near broke my other leg trying not to break her stuff.
“None of it is irreplaceable, Nate.”
I didn’t need to turn around to see the smile on Mikki’s face because I heard it in her voice. “Then why do you have all these trinkets all over the place.”
“You mean the photos?” That amusement didn’t sit well with me but I knew she was trying to dissolve the tension, damn her.
But as I looked around I realized was right. There were photos everywhere, mostly of her with a younger version of herself and an older woman, all over the world. “A lot of photos.”
Her laughter was pretty. Feminine. “I know, it’s ridiculous and I keep saying that one of these days I’ll digitize them, but then I’ll have to figure out how to surround myself with good memories. You know?”
I nodded even though I had no idea. “I suppose so.”
“Maybe it is sentimental,” she said as if she was a mind reader too. “But I’m all right with that. Those are some of the best memories of my life, traveling with Nonna and Rocky.”
“Rocky?”
“My younger sister and my closest friend.” She shrugged and squeezed past me but she was unsuccessful in not touching me, brushing right up against me as she slid between me and the wall. “Anyway, this is your room.” She pushed open the door and stepped inside.
It wasn’t as girly as I was expecting, decorated in shades of green with gold accents. The bed had a sturdy looking pine frame and a lot of damn pillows. The furniture was pine and a little on the feminine side, but not delicate. “Not as girly as I was expecting.”
“I can pull the lace skirt out if you’d feel more comfortable. The pink carnation bed sheets too, maybe?”
“Smart ass,” I grumbled at her but I couldn’t stop the smile her sarcasm produced. My stuff is already in here.”
“Bo brought it over because she wanted you to be comfortable.” She held her hands up defensively and I realized how I must sound to her.
“I don’t want to put you out.”
Mikki sighed and put her hands on her hips and instead of bracing myself, I collapsed on the bed with a groan. “If you don’t want to stay Nate, don’t. As soon as Jase and Bo are gone I’ll drop you off in front of your house, you can figure out the rest on your own.” Slowly she folded her arms over her chest, daring me to take her up on her offer, but wearing a smug smile because she knew I wouldn’t. Couldn’t. “Right. Well you let me know when you’re ready to go.”
I’m not ashamed to admit that I watched the swing in her hips and the sway of her ass until she was out of sight and I fell back against the bed with a long sigh. Staying with Mikki couldn’t be a good idea but I wasn’t as opposed to the idea now that I was here and already settled in thanks to Bo. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having a pretty girl playing nurse to me for a little while.
That got me to thinking that this was even better than the text messages and the accidentally on purpose coffee dates I’d been plotting before almost busting up my spine. I had her here, a captive audience. The perfect way to show her, if it was even possible, that I wasn’t the guy she thought I was. “Shit!” I pushed off the bed too fast and without my crutch, crumpling to the bed in a less-than-masculine cry of pain. It took a few tries but once I was on my feet, I went in search of Mikki. “There you are.”
She looked up, wearing a pair of hot pink glasses that were hotter than hell, but it was the combination of the pencil in her mouth and all the papers scattered around on the kitchen table that fired up some deep seated sexy teacher fantasies I didn’t know I had. “Here I am.”
“What are you doing?”
“Working,” she sighed, sounding tired. “Catching up on the books for the week and reconciling the inventory for each of my designers. Boring admin stuff that keeps the wheels spinning. What are you d
oing up?”
“Should I be in bed? I broke my leg Mikki, I didn’t age fifty years overnight.”
“I’m well aware,” she sighed, sliding her gaze over me before ripping off her glasses. “Have a seat.”
“I don’t want to bother you.” She was already putting me up which I still didn’t like. I didn’t want to burden her, or anyone. “You have work to do.”
She laughed. “There’s always work to be done, that’s what I’ve learned over the past few months. It never ends.” She shook her head, brown hair spilling over her shoulders as she talked about billing and vendors, finicky designers. “What?”
I was staring, maybe seeing Mikki for the first time. “You’re more than just a pretty face.”
She blinked and the smallest blush touched the balls of her cheeks before she notched her chin up in defiance. “Glad you finally noticed, sugar.”
“That’s not what I mean. You seem to have taken to this new path well. Was this what you wanted to do even before your relationship blew up?” What the hell was wrong with me? “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
She just laughed and waved off the apology. “It’s all right, I know what you mean and honestly I don’t know. I think maybe I thought about it like in a bucket list sort of way, resigned to know that my life would have been making Mitchell look good. And Daddy.” She shook her head, smile half wistful and half bittersweet. “I just didn’t know at the time that nothing would be good enough. Ever.”
“At least your old man stuck around.” It wasn’t the most elegant way to open up, to give her a sliver of understanding about me.
Mikki closed her laptop and slowly stacked her papers on top of, pushing it off to the side. “They screw you up when they leave and more so if they stay. The best way to say screw them is to find a way to be happy that actually makes you happy.” She was lost in thought for a minute, giving me a chance to study her with a new lens. Mikki was beautiful but there was an intelligence behind her eyes that was unexpected. And a steeliness that I don’t think she even realized was there. Yet. But she wasn’t ready to see it or for anyone else to see it either, I realized when she shook off the emotions and stood. “Are you hungry?”
Mastering Her Curves: A Curvy Girl Romance Page 10