Chapter 12 #2
Her snort of laughter brightened his day and his life. Who cared about broken bones and relentless pain when he could go twenty rounds with the gorgeous Kara Ballard? She made everything better.
“Have you told your parents what happened?”
“Not yet.”
“I thought you were going to call them yesterday while I was home showering.”
“I never got around to it.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to worry them. They’ve been through enough.”
“They’d want to know that you were hurt and are recovering.”
“It’ll freak out my mom when she figures out what a close call I had.”
“I hesitate to ask this due to the ongoing issue with your overblown ego…”
“I can’t wait to hear this.”
“Aren’t you somewhat… What’s the word I’m looking for… Ugh, it’s painful to even say this…”
Dan was breathless with anticipation. “Aren’t I somewhat what?”
“Um, famous?”
“Why, yes, I am. Thank you for noticing.”
“For fuck’s sake,” she muttered.
He adored her, and it was getting “worse” by the minute. “What’s your point?”
“Is it possible they could find out about the accident from someone other than you?”
“Ah, I see, and yes, I suppose that’s possible.”
“Which is why you should call them and tell them yourself when they can hear with their own ears that you’re totally fine.”
“I might need to borrow your phone since mine is in the ocean.”
“You should’ve called them before now. They’re probably frantic.”
He really hoped they hadn’t heard about the accident or his involvement in it. “By the way, I’m not totally fine. I have broken bones that’ll require intense nursing and daily sponge baths for the next two to three weeks.”
“I assume you’ve hired someone for this intense nursing.”
“Yes, I have. Her name is Kara, and she’s hot.”
She rolled her eyes so hard it was a wonder she didn’t drive off the road. “And she’s not a nurse. Blood makes her woozy.”
“We’re through the bloody part of the program, so she’s just what I need.”
“She already has a job.”
“I’m well aware. I’ll take whatever I can get from her when she’s not working. In fact, I could use her help with something else.”
“What’s that?”
“I have a pesky deadline at the end of next month to deliver the first ten chapters of my book to my editor.”
“How much have you done so far?”
“Not ten chapters.”
“How many?”
“The first one is shaping up nicely.”
“Dan!” She finally took her eyes off the road to look over at him. “Are you serious?”
“Unfortunately, yes, and now I can’t type.”
“So what’ll you do?”
“I can still write longhand since I’m left-handed, but I need someone to type for me. Would you be interested in applying for the position?”
“What’s the pay?”
God, he loved her. He truly did. “I’m, ah, not sure what the going rate is for typing.”
“I’ll look into that and get back to you.”
“I’ll look forward to hearing from you.” He pointed to a dirt road on the left side of the road. “Take that.”
Though there wasn’t another car on the road, she put on her blinker and brought the truck to a complete stop before taking the turn.
Dan chuckled under his breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“I know you’re making fun of me.”
“Maybe a little.”
“Knock it off.”
“Why would I when it’s so fun? You drive just like my grandmother did.”
“Who do you think taught me how to drive?”
“Oh, are you a graduate of the Bertha Lively School of Safe Driving?”
“So what if I am? Do you know that the leading cause of death for teenagers and young adults is traffic accidents?”
“I’ve heard something about that.”
“Then you know it makes sense to be careful behind the wheel.”
“There’s careful, and then there’s you.”
“You’ve got an awful lot to say for someone who couldn’t drive his own ass home.
” She pulled the truck up to the house, which was when Dan realized his car was still at the marina and his keys were somewhere at the bottom of the ocean by now.
Thankfully, no one on Gansett ever locked their doors, and he’d had the foresight to bring the Porsche’s backup key in case he needed it.
He hadn’t expected to lose the first one to the ocean, that was for sure.
“Wait for me to come around to help you.”
Never one to miss an opportunity to have her hands on him, he opened the door and turned painfully to wait for her. When she came in close to him, he wrapped his left arm around her and stole a kiss that made his lips sting. He didn’t care.
“That was cheap. I’m trying to help you.”
“Your kisses are never cheap. You make me work for every one of them.”
“Let’s get you inside, because clearly, you’re feeling poorly.”
“I’ve never felt better.”
“Do you have an answer for everything?”
“Have you met me?”
“Jeez, I walked right into that one. Are you ready to stand up and walk?”
“One more kiss would really make a difference.”
“Are you for real?”
“So, so real.” He pointed to his lips, which had looked like ground beef when he’d seen them in the mirror earlier, but whatever.
She shook her head and made that annoyed face he’d come to adore and gave him a quick peck that was nowhere near what he’d hoped for. But the day was young and so were they.
He took the arm she held out to him and inched his way out of the truck, gasping when his feet hit the ground. Goddamn, that hurt.
Kara put an arm around his waist. “Take it slow.”
Like he had any choice about that. Shit, he couldn’t remember ever feeling this feeble.
By the time they were inside with him settled on the sofa, he was sweating and nauseated.
She carried in the bag of clothes he’d had on when he arrived at the clinic that would need to be washed at some point since they were stiff from a day in salt water. “Nice place.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you renting from Ned? I heard he owns most of the island.”
“I bought this place from him.”
“Oh wow. So you’re putting down roots here?”
“Something like that.”
“Isn’t your whole life in LA?”
“Not anymore.”
She turned to him, wearing the madly vulnerable expression he’d seen before. It moved him every time.
He held out his left hand to her. “Come sit with me.”
She came to him, took hold of his hand and sat very carefully next to him. “You look gray and sweaty. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. The ribs and arm hurt like a mofo.”
She winced. “I’m sorry. I’ll run to the pharmacy to pick up your prescriptions. David said we have to stay on top of the pain.”
“I won’t object to that.”
“Is there anything else I can get for you while I’m out?”
“Pick up a bag at home so you can stay with me.”
“You can’t possibly be thinking about…”
He raised a brow. “About what?”
“You know.”
Laughing, he said, “Well, I’m always thinking about it, especially when you’re around, but I can’t do much about that right now. I would, however, love to have your charming company while I recover.”
“And my typing skills.”
He squeezed her hand. “That’s way far down the list after your company. Don’t forget how worried about me you were when I was missing.” Was it going too far to bat his eyes at her?
“I’ll never forget that day. It was awful.”
“I’m sorry to have put you through that.”
“Don’t do it again, okay?”
“I’ll try not to.”
He nearly quit breathing when she leaned in to kiss him.
“Try really hard.”
“I will.”
“You have to let me go so I can get your meds.”
“And an overnight bag?”
“And an overnight bag.”
He flashed her his biggest smile. “Yay.”