Chapter 16 #3
Tiffany felt like an observer at a tennis match as her mother and her…
lover, or whatever he was…conversed like old friends.
Lover… She hated that word. It was so corny and over-the-top romantic.
Sex buddy. She liked that a lot better, only it didn’t go far enough to describe the way her heart raced at the sight of him or her palms got damp—and not because of the fever.
No, it was him and the way he sucked all the oxygen out of the room just by stepping through the door.
“How’s the patient?” he asked her mom.
“Burning up with fever and not interested in food.”
“I’ll be around tonight if she needs anything.”
“It makes me feel a lot better to know she won’t be alone.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes at her mother.
Ned came down the stairs with Ashleigh, who made a big production out of hugging and kissing Tiffany.
Her daughter stopped short at the sight of the policeman standing in her living room.
“Hi, Ashleigh.” Blaine squatted and extended a hand to the child. “Remember me? I’m Blaine, Uncle Mac’s friend.”
While Tiffany held her breath, Ashleigh nodded and shook his hand. “Are you my mama’s friend, too?”
“I sure am. While you have a sleepover with your grandparents, I’ll keep an eye on her for you. Would that be okay?”
“Uh-huh.” To Ned, she said, “Can we have ice cream tonight?”
Realizing they’d gotten through the introduction of Blaine into Ashleigh’s life with nary a speed bump, Tiffany released the deep breath she’d been holding.
She watched as Blaine’s chest expanded, indicating his relief, too.
The realization that he’d been nervous made her all swoony inside for reasons other than the stomach bug.
“Absolutely,” Ned said in response to Ashleigh’s question. “Let’s get going, ladies. We’ve got a lot to do tonight.”
“Thanks, Ned, and you too, Mom.”
“Happy to help,” Ned said as he ushered his ladies out the door.
“We’ll check on you later,” Francine said, squeezing Blaine’s arm on the way by.
After he closed the door behind them, Blaine came over to see her. “Jeez, talk about walking into a snake pit—your parents and your daughter, in one fell swoop.”
“Trial by fire,” Tiffany said with a weak smile. She loved that he referred to her mom and Ned as her “parents.” Over the last year, Ned had become the dad she’d never had, and she loved him more every day. She probably ought to tell the old guy that at some point.
Blaine brushed the hair back from her face and kissed her forehead. It was entirely different, she decided, when he kissed her forehead than when her mother did it. For one thing, his kiss set off a series of goose bumps over her fevered skin.
“How you feeling?”
“I’ve been better.”
“What can I do for you?”
She took his hand and wrapped her fingers around his. “This is nice.”
“I have a proposition for you.”
“Oh my goodness, no way. Not tonight—”
Laughing, he said, “Hush up, you silly girl. Not that kind of proposition.”
“Thank God.”
“It’s good to know your mind is always in the gutter, even when you have the flu. I like that in a woman.”
“I’m sure you do,” Tiffany said, amused by him. “So what’s your big proposition?”
“I’m on call tonight, so I need to be at home by a landline.”
“They don’t have your cell number?”
“They do, but I insist on everyone having landlines, since cell service can be spotty out here. Long story short, I have to be home by eight.”
“That’s okay. I can take care of myself.”
He scowled playfully. “You haven’t heard my proposition yet.”
“I apologize. Please proceed with propositioning the sick girl.”
His scowl turned to a smile. “You’re not so sick that your sarcasm is affected. How about I take you to my place so I can take care of you and be on call at the same time?”
She groaned. “I can’t move. I don’t know if I could do it.”
“I’ll do everything. I’ll pack you a bag and carry you to my car and then carry you into my house. You won’t have to do a thing.”
“When you put it that way, I might be game. Are you sure you want to further expose yourself to this? It’s no fun.”
“I hardly ever get sick, and if I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t be here.” He kissed her forehead and her cheek before he got up. “I’ll go pack some clothes for you.”
“The PJs are in the third drawer.”
“Got it. Be right back.”
Even though she felt worse than she had in years, she wasn’t dead yet, so she watched his sexy ass go bounding up her stairs and shivered with delight that he was here, that he hadn’t run screaming for his life when he saw the scary sight of her, and that he cared enough about her not to want to leave her alone when she was sick.
It would be so damned easy to fall madly in love with a man like that, a man who put her needs before his own, who was thoughtful and caring and considerate.
Jim had never been any of those things. Everything in their lives had been about him.
Nothing had ever been about her. With Blaine, she felt like everything was about her all the time.
And wasn’t that a refreshing change of pace?
However, Tiffany was wise enough now to know that a one-sided relationship would never work.
So as soon as she felt better, she’d show him what it was like to be the center of her attention for a change.
With that thought in mind, she drifted on a cloud of contentment until he lifted her off the sofa, and she woke with a start.
“Easy, baby. I’ve got you.”