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“Big guy! You’re awake!” He rushed to the bedside grinning.
“How long have I been out?”
“Going on forty-eight hours,” said Nick. “If you wanted to take a couple sick days, you just had to ask.”
“Am I correct in assuming you’ve been working twice as hard at the company to make up for my absence?” quipped Matt.
“Nah, I left that to the PA to handle. No way I’m letting you take time off and leave me sweating away.”
Matt chuckled and then winced. “Man, I’m pretty beat up, aren’t I? What’s the damage?”
“So far just a couple broken ribs, a concussion, a neck sprain and some bruises and scratches. You also have two massive shiners, but I’d say that’s an improvement. What do you think Riley?”
Riley giggled. The guys jostling each other was helping to drive home the fact that Matt was going to be okay. Their bravado in the face of an otherwise serious situation put her at ease. “Yeah, Matt, it kinda looks like you’re wearing eye shadow,” she chipped in.
Matt chuckled softly. “Stop making me laugh. It hurts.”
“Maybe you damaged your funny bone as well. Then again, your sense of humor was pretty weak to begin with,” said Nick still grinning. Their comradery was that of brothers and Riley couldn’t help feeling that she was in good hands.
“You know something, Nick? I think I might take a break from surfing for a while.”
“You sure? I was thinking we could head out again tomorrow, maybe just strap you to the board and push you out. You can paddle with your toes.”
The door creaked open and Riley spun around to see a large, angry-looking nurse standing in the doorway. “What’s going on here?” said the nurse sternly. “Visiting hours ended at nine. You need to leave. You’re disturbing patients in the other rooms.”
Matt looked up at Riley apologetically. “Thanks for coming, sis. Really means a lot to me.”
“We’ll be back again tomorrow to take you surfing,” said Riley and pecked him on the cheek.
“You take care of my sister,” said Matt as the fuming nurse escorted them out. “And hands off.”
Outside in the hall, Riley looked at her watch. “Oh my gosh,” she said. “It’s like five in the morning in London right now. My body is telling me I should only be waking up around now.”
“Yeah, it’s already midnight here. We should probably get some sleep.”
“Is there a motel somewhere around here I can book into?”
“No way,” said Nick. “I couldn’t let you spend the night in some dodgy hotel. I promised your brother I’d look after you. I’ve got a spare bedroom at my place. Come on, I’ll drive you back.”
“I would’ve settled for a couch to be honest,” said Riley. “But okay. Only if you let me make you breakfast in the morning.”
Nick grinned, a broad and honest smile. “I think you have yourself a deal.”
3.
The hospital parking lot was all but deserted and the night was warm and thick with humidity. Riley wasn’t sure if it was her relief that Matt was going to be okay, the joy of being home again, or — though she couldn’t believe she was thinking this — the thrill of being in Nick’s presence, but the night seemed electric with possibilities.
She’d missed nights like these. She loved London and the friends she had made there, but the constant gloom and cold always made her feel a little homesick.
Suddenly she felt very little like sleeping at all, and her awareness of Nick’s body beside her became almost unbearable. She could feel the fine hairs of her arm standing on end as if the man exuded some sort of electrical field. His solid frame, cavalier stride and quiet strength in the face of the crisis gave him an almost preternatural aura of calm and magnetism.
Whatever you’re thinking, she told herself, just stop it. He’s your brother’s best friend and Matt’s in hospital. Not to mention he’s ten years older than you. It would all be so wrong!
But as they walked across the parking lot, Riley couldn’t help stealing glances at Nick’s square, stubble-lined jaw and the muscles of his shoulders and chest stretching taut the fabric of his shirt.
She’d been so distracted by her errant thoughts of Nick that she hadn’t paid any attention to the car they’d been walking towards.
“There’s my baby,” said Nick. “It’s a little garish, I know, but I wanted to get to the hospital as fast as I could.”
