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Hayley put on her bra and walked gingerly toward the bathroom, trying to replay the evening in her head. Feelings arrived before the memories: She was supposed to be upset about something, maybe embarrassed …
She’d told Nick things weren’t okay with Kevin.
That one hit her in the gut. Her boyfriend had been at Vivez, taking his job seriously, and she’d been complaining to a total stranger about a feeling she didn’t even understand. Hayley looked around for her phone but wasn’t in a hurry to find it. She’d have to explain to Kevin how she’d ended up in Nick’s bed. Which sounded worse than it was, because she hadn’t actually done anything.
Even when his lips had been so close, and leaning in felt like the most natural thing in the world.
Except for some reason itfeltlike she’d …
Oh no. She’d told him so. She’d said she would have fun kissing him.
Damn it, girl …
Hayley flipped on the bathroom light. There she was, every flaw reflected in the bathroom mirror. She saw something else in the reflection and turned around to face the walk-in shower. There were grab bars mounted on the shower walls and the wall next to the toilet.
Well, sure. Why wouldn’t Nick have those in his bathroom?
Why did every reminder of his condition throw her for a loop?
Hayley took a breath. This was no big deal. Just a surprise, like the walker had been a surprise, and there were going to be more surprises because she knew absolutely nothing about what was wrong with him. At least she hadn’t treated him like a five-year-old. Called himcutein the worst way.
Come on, Hayley Michelle. You’re not enlightened. You’re scared. Ever since you freaked out over the walker, you’re terrified you’ll do something worse.
What would’ve happened if the walker had shown up right away?
Hayley imagined Nick approaching her that first night, instead of the other way around. He would have tapped her arm at the bar, given an easy hello, found a clever way to tell her how great a dancer she was. He’d have leaned close to do it too, using the noise around them as an excuse to close the distance, his mouth next to her ear. He would’ve smiled.
The thought gave her goose bumps.
She would’ve told him thanks, but no thanks, of course. She would’ve said she had a boyfriend. But there was no way in hell any woman could look at that jawline and those ice-blue eyes and not at least consider what it would be like to go to bed with him.
She turned back to the sink, paused. A toothbrush in a plastic wrapper sat in a glass next to a tube of toothpaste, a bottle of headache medicine, and a folded washcloth.
He’d set all of this out before saying goodnight, she realized. Nick had quietly taken care of her as she’d stumbled through the evening, watching from a distance as she fell apart. She’d gone to the bar to confront him, to get rid of whatever was keeping her off balance and look damn good doing it. Instead, she’d gotten sloppy, life-before-Columbus drunk, and he’d calmly driven her to his apartment, where she’d pretty much stripped for him. She’d made herself his problem.
Hayley chased a couple of pills with two glasses of water, then vigorously brushed her teeth, literally frothing at the mouth.
She wastoonice. That’s what it was. She was wasting time worrying about how to treat him, and he was probably counting the seconds until he could very politely kick her ass out the front door. Nobody had forced him to bring her here. She hadn’t asked; she was sure of that. Nick Freeman could have left her alone in the bar, and instead he’d slept on his own couch, like amartyr, for the sympathy points. For the story. So he could go back to the bar next week and tell some coed how he’d suffered for a damsel in distress. And she’d been stupid enough to think he didn’t know he was kissable! That man damn well knew his legs wouldn’t matter in bed anyway, not when he had the rest of him to offer. Who knew how many women had left fingernail tracks across those broad shoulders of his? Even standing up, even with the walker, he’d have no trouble using the strength in his arms to press her up against a wall. Or she’d hop up on a counter, wrap her legs around his waist …
What the hell?
Hayley gaped at her flushed reflection in the mirror, grabbed the washcloth, and scrubbed at her face with a vengeance. She wasn’t his problem, he goddamn knew it, and she needed to get the hell out of this apartment.
After she got out of the bedroom.
The very cold bedroom.
God, Hayley Michelle—you just had to strip in the hallway, didn’t you? Great idea to leave your clothes out there with him. Fucking brilliant.
Hayley opened the door nearest the bed, and found a walk-in closet and a red silk robe hanging from a hook on the wall.
It was either this or one of his dress shirts.
She left the bedroom and padded down the hallway, wishing she had socks to guard against the chill of the hardwood floor. She passed a bathroom and what looked like a small office; he wasn’t in either. The hallway opened into a living room in front of her and a kitchen area to her right.
And there was Nick Freeman, standing at the kitchen counter, slicing a grapefruit in half.
Gone was the blue button-down that had brought out his eyes the night before, but he was still wearing the same gray T-shirt and jeans and sneakers. Hayley realized she was used toseeing him look polished, put together, and now the light, caramel-brown hair he so deliberately styled to look casually mussed was damp and falling into his face. His eyes were narrowed as he held the fruit steady, and his frown of concentration seemed to sharpen the features of his already angular face. Everything was a little rumpled, and she found she liked him better this way.
