Chapter 9
Nick walked into the hospital with a bunch of flowers and his sister Emma.
He’d woken early, showered, dressed, and been about to head out the door when she’d arrived carrying coffee.
“Remind me again why you’re here?”
“Poppy may need a woman to help her,” Emma said, smiling at the man behind the reception desk as they walked past.
“And the flowers are for?”
“Everyone needs flowers when they’re in the hospital, idiot. It makes them feel like someone cares,” Emma added. “Floor?”
“Three.”
She stabbed the button for the elevator with a fiery red fingernail.
“I also had some time off today, so I thought I’d spend it with my favorite brother.”
Nick wasn’t fooled by that or the sweet smile accompanying the words. “You said the same thing to Sam at Honey’s last night when you wanted him to fix your window.”
“I was lying then. I’m telling the truth now.”
He studied his baby sister for several seconds as they rose to Poppy’s floor. She didn’t avoid his gaze once, even though she was lying through her perfectly spaced front teeth. Teeth that had cost his parents a lot of money because she’d worn a retainer for years.
“You’re good.”
“I learned from the best,” she said as the doors opened and she sailed out.
“We’re here to see Miss Sylvester and take her home if she’s ready,” Nick said to the woman in pale blue manning the desk this morning. Nila was clearly still sleeping after her long shift. “I know it’s early, but we can wait with her.”
Frowning, she glanced at something on the screen in front of her.
“Miss Sylvester has been discharged.”
“What? When?”
“About an hour ago. Is there a problem?” The woman looked up at him.
“She has a concussion and a damaged arm, and you let her go? Who picked her up?” Anger surged through him.
“She was cleared to go. Therefore, we had no right to stop her. We called her a taxi,” she added, thinking that made everything better, when, in fact, it made it worse for Nick.
“A taxi! You put an injured woman into a taxi!”
“All right, that’s enough, Nick.”
He felt himself turned, and then two hands were on his back, pushing him toward the elevator.
“What the hell are you doing, Em?”
“Getting you out of here before we’re thrown out.”
“I was just trying to find out where Poppy was,” Nick said as she pushed him back into the elevator. “What idiot lets an injured woman leave alone?”
“You were making a scene, and while it was pleasing to see you show so much emotion over a woman, I don’t think this is the place.”
“It’s about being careless and nothing to do with emotion,” Nick snapped. “She’s a friend who’s not thinking clearly. Poppy should have waited for me to take her home.”
“Right, so you’re angry because she got into a taxi, but if her boyfriend had picked her up, then you’d have been fine with that?” Emma said.
“What boyfriend? How do you know she has a boyfriend?” Nick demanded.
“Hypothetically speaking.”
Nick glared at his sister, who looked way too happy for his liking.
“You’re behaving irrationally, which I like, because it doesn’t happen often.”
“I’m telling Dad you’ve been seeing that loser with all those piercings and the motorbike if you don’t shut up.”
“You wouldn’t!” Emma hissed, the smile falling from her face.
“Try me.”
Nick knew he’d get about a minute’s reprieve before she started talking again. Em was never one for silence.
“How come you’re irrationally angry?”
“Drop it, Em.”
She ran alongside him as Nick stalked out of the hospital and back to his pickup. Wrenching open the door, he jumped in. Turning on the ignition, he waited until Em’s seat belt clicked, and then they were moving.
“Do you even know where she lives, Nick?”
“Yes, I filled out her forms.”
“And because you have that memory that discards nothing, you stored it away.”
He didn’t answer, and she thankfully stayed silent while he negotiated the traffic and cooled his temper before he reached Poppy’s house.
He was angry, and it was irrational, but knowing she’d left alone got to him. Poppy had been scared and hurting last night. Chances were, she was still those things this morning.
And you care about her.
He shelved that thought as he parked outside the small brick house a while later.
You didn’t start caring for someone in a matter of hours… did you?
Getting out, he headed up the path to the front door. He’d have plenty to say to Poppy when he got hold of her.
“I hope you’re not going to greet her with that look on your face.”
Ignoring these words, Nick rapped on the front door with his knuckles. No one answered, so he lifted his fist and hammered on the wood.
“Will you chill out!” Em hissed from beside him. “She’ll take one look at your face and have a relapse.”
“I’m coming!” Poppy yelled. He heard a chain sliding, and then a key turning in the lock. The door opened, and there she stood.
“Nick? Why are you here?”
Seeing her was easing the knot of tension in his stomach. Poppy was in front of him and okay.
The faded cutoffs exposed lovely legs, and an old T-shirt was falling off a slender shoulder. Her hair was wet and unbrushed. She looked way too good, except for the pale cheeks and brace, of course. Dropping his eyes to regroup, he noted her bare feet and soft pink toenails.
“I’m here to see you,” he said with a forced smiled. He refused to be amused as she scowled at him.
“Why?” The scowl grew fiercer.
“And there was me thinking we’d turned a corner in our friendship yesterday.”
She didn’t answer him, instead looking over his shoulder at his sister, who he’d forgotten to introduce.
“You’re obviously related because no other woman would have him,” she said, much to the delight of Em, who laughed loudly.
“Emma, this is Poppy Sylvester, belligerent writer and general pain in my ass.”
“Hey, Poppy,” Emma said, nudging him in the ribs so he’d step aside. “Nick brought these for you.”
What is it about some women and flowers? Nick wondered as Poppy’s face softened when she took them and immediately inhaled their scent. Still, if they worked, why fight it?
“Let me in, and I’ll tell you why I’m here,” he said, moving into her space.
She took a step back. “I don’t want visitors. I want to sleep all day, eat chocolate, and watch TV.”
“Too bad.” He placed a hand on her stomach and nudged her back another step. “Although the chocolate sounds good.”
Having had manners hammered into him endlessly by his father, Nick then waved Em to go first. Even though she was a sister, she still qualified as female, and if he didn’t, she’d make him pay.
“Why the hell did you leave the hospital before I got there, Poppy?”
Nick and Em followed Poppy through the house to the kitchen, where she put the flowers on the bench before opening a cupboard above the sink and collecting a vase.
“Nice kitchen.”
And it was, Nick thought, agreeing with his sister. The walls were a simple white, and it wasn’t overloaded with stuff like some houses he’d visited. Compact, but it had a comfortable feel.
“You did enough for me yesterday. I didn’t think you would come back for round two.”
“Nick has a hero complex,” his sister said.
“I heard that. He’s changed since college is my guess,” Poppy added.
“Oh, definitely. Even I couldn’t stand him back then,” Em said.
“You finished?” He glared at her. “You’re meant to be on my side, you know.”
“I didn’t say I don’t love you.” Em poked out her tongue. “Can I use your bathroom, Poppy?”
“Second on the left, down the hall.”
Nick watched his sister leave the room, and then approached Poppy.
“What are you doing? Back away,” she said as he moved into her space. Nick braced his hands on the countertop on either side of her, not touching but close.
“I told you I’d pick you up.”
“I didn’t have your number, and they had discharged me.”
“And that’s bullshit.” He leaned in closer, so their faces were inches apart. “You left because you were scared.”
She tried to scoff, but it came out like a choking sound.
“Scared of this.” He whispered the words softly, his mouth inches from hers.