AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sure thang,” she replies with a smile that lights up her whole face, but still, there’s pain behind her eyes.
She leads me to her office. Silence greets us, and at a rare but sad attempt at a joke, I say, “What, no audiobooks today?”
She laughs and slides some hair behind her ear that has escaped its clip. “No, I’m done listening to books while I work.”
I shrug. “Well, I didn’t mind it.
Her hazel eyes widen. “Really?”
I pace the small office, my hands in my pocket. “Sure. Everyone needs an outlet.” I stop pacing and stare her in the eye. “Don’t we?”
She visibly swallows and her lips part as if I’ve rendered her speechless. “I… I guess.” She closes her mouth and continues to meet my stare. “What’s your outlet, Mr. Silverstone?”
I grin. She doesn’t need to know that I expel my stress by fucking kinky strangers in a sex club for a release. She’s better off not knowing this side of me. I would never treat her like I treat them. Cold, emotionless. I’ve never wanted to treat a woman with warmth and care, but something about this woman in front of me is beginning to thaw me a little bit.
“Oh, this and that,” I answer vaguely. I think about telling her that I work out to expel my stress—which isn’t a complete lie since I have an entire home gym—but I don’t. I’ll leave her guessing for now. “Listen, I called you in here because I have a proposition for you.”
She lifts an eyebrow and those lips part again before she speaks. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
“How would you like to attend the National Brews and Beers convention in Dallas with me?”
With wide eyes once again, she’s rendered speechless.
I chuckle uncharacteristically and say, “It’s in a week, and if you can’t make a decision now, you can let me know by Wednesday.”
“No! I mean, yes. I can go. I mean, who’s going to run this place while I’m gone?” she drawls.
“Gail. Think she can cover? The convention is Friday through Sunday. We’ll fly out Thursday night, and come back on Sunday. So she’ll just need to cover Friday.”
“Oh, I’m sure that won’t be a problem.” She reaches for her cell phone on the desk and visibly winces in pain.
I become alarmed. “What’s wrong?”
She smiles painfully and puts her right hand to her left shoulder. “I fell off my bike last weekend. Nothin’s broken, but my sis thinks I may have a tear or somethin’.”
“Let me see,” I say, walking toward her. “May I?” I point to her shoulder.
She looks up at me and nods slightly, unblinking.
She smells like something sweet and flowery. I lower her shirt over her shoulder and see a large bruise and a few scrapes. Her skin is hot but soft as I touch it, and I gently roll her shoulder, which elicits a yelp from her pretty mouth.
“Sorry,” she says. “It’s very tender.”
“You probably have a rotator cuff tear,” I reply.
She raises her eyebrows, a look of mischief twinkling in her hazel-green stare. “You a doctor now, Mr. Silverstone?”
“No. My mother injured her shoulder in a similar way when I was a teen while we were riding on four-wheelers. Nate and I were on one, my parents on the other. It turned over and she had to have surgery to repair the tear. I remember feeling so helpless that I couldn’t help my mother while she was in such obvious agony. When I learned about her diagnosis, I did all the research I could on rotator cuff tears, and I have to say, I’m fairly sure you have one. Oh—and call me Lincoln, please. At least while we’re alone.”
Yep, she’s speechless. She just stares at me, mouth gaping open. Realizing her awkwardness, she clears her throat. “Well, I guess I better get that MRI my sister advised.”
“Your sister, she’s a doctor?”
She shakes her head and pulls her shirt back up. I still haven’t backed off from our close proximity because I don’t want to.
“A nurse in Mobile for the past ten years. She works in the ER, sees all kinda gross stuff.”
I smile. “Nurses are angels on earth.”
