AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The words startled him, and he jerked away from her, dropping his hands to his sides.
Hurt flashed momentarily through Hayley’s eyes, but she masked it well. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he said briskly, shoving the stethoscope back into his bag. “I was just thinking how glad I was that Adam and Jessica were there and Adam was able to get Jay Turner off you as quickly as he did before he could inflict any more damage.”
“That’s why they were there, in case anything goes wrong. It was the first time I've ever needed the help,” Hayley said, her own tone brisk. “Are you convinced that I'm all right now?”
“Yes.” He offered her a small smile. “Sorry, I just got a scare when I heard what happened. It’s not that I don’t trust the doctors at the hospital, it’s just that when it’s your friend you kind of want to be sure.”
“Don’t worry I won't tell your dad you didn't trust him to do his job,” she smiled, but it seemed strained.
“Dad? Why was my dad the trauma surgeon treating you in the ER?”
“Because it’s Mark and he likes to be in control, kind of like you do,” she teased.
“I guess I can be kind of a control freak sometimes,” he agreed a little sheepishly. Bossiness kind of ran in his family. While his Uncle Jack was well known as the bossy one of the three Xander brothers, they had definitely all been painted with the same brush. As the oldest, not just of his siblings, but the oldest of all the cousins as well, he had received the biggest dose. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay, it’s kind of sweet, and I guess friends just worry about friends.” She shot him another strained smile then stood. “Not to push you out the door or anything, but I have a headache, and your dad said I should try to get some rest so I’m going to go lie down for a while.”
“If you have a concussion you shouldn’t go to sleep here alone.”
“Then it’s lucky I don’t have a concussion. Really, Brian, there is no need to worry.” She unlocked the door and held it open.
Gathering his bag, he stood and walked out the door, pausing on the porch. “I’m going to call in an hour to check on you.”
“It’s really not necessary.”
“Necessary or not, I’m going to call in an hour to check on you. Sweet dreams, Hayley.”
He could feel her eyes on him as he walked down the garden path and to his car parked on the street outside her house. It wasn't until he had driven off down the road that he realized his heart was still hammering in his chest.
Only now it was for a whole other reason.
Wrong thing to do or not, he still wanted to kiss Hayley Hood.
* * * * *
4:19 P.M.
“Are you okay?” Sophie Xander asked without preamble as she rapped on the door, and her best friend Hayley opened it.
“I wish people would stop asking me that.” Hayley sighed.
“I think when you’re attacked at work and get taken to the hospital in an ambulance it’s a reasonable question,” she said wryly. She and Hayley had been friends since they were five years old, making it twenty years next year. In some ways it felt like just yesterday that they were two little girls and she had made it her mission in life to help Hayley adjust to a normal life and a normal family after the horrible start in life she’d had. In other ways, it felt like they had already lived a lifetime in those twenty years.
“I suppose,” Hayley conceded.
“Who else has been asking you that? I mean, besides the doctors.”
“Are you going to stand out there on the porch in the cold all afternoon?” Hayley asked, ushering her inside.
Sophie smirked. “I bet I can guess who.”
“Oh yeah?” Hayley asked all innocent as she went and sat on the couch where she had obviously been curled up with a book until Sophie had arrived.
“Don’t play that innocent act with me.” Sophie went and joined her on the couch. Picking up a cookie from the plate, she nibbled on the corner of the gingerbread man’s arm. “From the way your cheeks went all bright pink the second I mentioned who else had been asking how you were it is a dead giveaway that Brian was here earlier.”
“He dropped by for a moment,” Hayley acknowledged, refusing to meet her eye.
