Page 28 of Beating Heart
Maybe I should have come up with a saying for him.
“If you can’t keep your dick in your pants, don’t get engaged to your girlfriend.”
Nash barked out a laugh. “Well, we’ve established that you’re okay, then.”
“Yes. I wasn’t planning on chatting,” I said, looking down at my attire, suddenly mortified that I wasn’t wearing a bra. I sure as hell wasn’t planning to see him. I was just going to set this on the porch and hurry back home. Was he standing next to the door when I’d knocked? How the hell did he get there so quickly, anyway?
“I think you look great.” He smirked.
“Okay. I’m going to leave now.” I started walking backward on his porch. “Is Cutler okay?”
“He’s fine. He vomited more than I thought humanly possible. But he’s sleeping now.”
“Well, if he wakes up, you’ll have everything you need.”
His heated gaze was moving down my body, and the feel of his eyes on me was overwhelming. I needed to get out of here. I started to turn, just as my foot missed the step, and it all happened in slow motion.
I tried to right myself, but it was too late. My arms went out, hoping to break my fall, as I literally tumbled into his bushes and then rolled into his front yard.
In the least graceful way possible.
Before I could even sit up, Nash was beside me, gripping my shoulders and laughing hysterically.
“Are you okay?” he asked, trying to speak over his laughter.
“Is this funny to you?” I snarled.
“You literally just sprawled across my bushes and tumbled into the front yard. It’s a little funny.”
Before I could respond, he had one hand beneath my legs and the other behind my back as he easily lifted me into his arms.
“What the hell are you doing? Put me down right now!” I shouted.
“Stop yelling. You’ll wake Cutler.” He carried me up the steps and across his porch before walking into his house. He set me on his kitchen counter as he leaned forward, arms gripping the cold stone I was sitting on as he met my gaze. “You brought us the drinks; the least I can do is clean you up.”
“No. The least you could do is not laugh and instead ask if I’m okay.” I tried hard to cover my smile because it was pretty funny, even if I wouldn’t admit it.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, as he pulled a bag of frozen peas from his freezer and handed it to me, before moving to the drawer beside the sink and grabbing a towel. He ran some water over it and wrung it out and then walked back over and dabbed at my bare legs.
“I’m fine. I’m not hurt. And I’m a doctor, remember? I can take care of myself.” I tried to grab the towel from his large hand.
My God. Everything was large on this man. He was tall. His shoulders were broad. His arms were muscled, and his thighs were thick. And I could only imagine what lay beneath those joggers of his.
“Stop fighting me, woman. Why are you so stubborn?”
“Well, I barely know you, and you just acted like a caveman, with the way you picked me up and carried me inside. I’m not some damsel in distress.”
The man clearly didn’t get offended easily because he just flashed me that sexy smirk before returning his attention to my knee. “You’ve got a little cut here. Let me get you a bandage.”
He moved to the cabinet beside the refrigerator, and I didn’t argue this time. He was clearly determined to patch me up from my mortifying experience, and I wasn’t in the mood to fight anymore.
I’d been so angry these last few months, and I was tired.
Tired of feeling betrayed and blindsided. Tired of feeling all this anger that I couldn’t release.
He tore off the paper and looked me in the eye. “You barely know me, huh? What do you want to know? You already know that I’m a single dad, and I told you about Cutler’s mother. Hit me with whatever you want. We’re neighbors, and you shouldn’t feel like you can’t come into my house because you don’t know me well enough. You’re my son’s doctor, after all. We should be friends, right?”
“I shouldn’t have said that. It was rude. I’m just not used to a man picking me up and carrying me around.” I shrugged.
