Henry (The Beck Brothers) (8 page)

Henry nodded. When
Claire moved away, he leaned against his office door. Shit, he'd never felt so
weak in his life. He had no idea the last time, or if he'd ever been this sick.
Claire returned a few minutes later and intertwined her arm with his.

"Come on Henry,
let
’
s get you out of here,
”
she said quietly, and led him
out of the office to the parking garage, where he had parked his car.

                                                 
~~~~~

Claire glanced over at
Henry as they sat at a red light. He really looked bad. His head was back
against the headrest and his eyes were closed. Every once in a while he'd have
a coughing fit, which ended with a miserable groan. Henry set the navigation
with his address so Claire was able to follow that, instead of having him give
her directions. It was about a forty-five minute drive, but Claire finally
pulled into a gated drive.

"Hit the button
on the visor,
”
Henry
grumbled next to her.

Claire did as she was
told and the gates swung open. She drove through and the gates started closing
behind them. Claire had been blown away by the car Henry drove, not that she
was surprised, he was a CEO of a major advertising company. And as Henry's
house came into view, Claire was blown away all over again. It was a Tudor
style mini-mansion. Jesus Christ, he must be loaded.

Henry had her pull
into the garage, where she shut the car off and they both got out. Henry
shuffled weakly towards the door to their left. Claire went over and slid her
arm around his waist. Henry let her, draping his arm over her shoulder.

"My whole body
hurts,
”
Henry groaned.

Once inside his
gorgeous house, Henry and Claire headed upstairs to Henry's bedroom. Claire
wasn't surprised by the masculinity of the bedroom. It was all dark wood,
leather, and dark blues. His large bed, with a black leather head and
footboard, was made with a navy blue comforter and sheets.

"Your house is
gorgeous,
”
Claire murmured
as Henry shrugged out of his jacket, as he headed towards the bed.

"Thank you,
Darlin',
”
he breathed
wearily.

Henry tossed his
jacket onto the end of the bed and went to sit on the side of it. He yanked at
his already askew tie, pulling it apart and letting it fall to the floor.
Claire moved to stand in front of him, as he kicked off his shoes and started
on his cuffs.

"Do you have
aspirin somewhere?
”
Claire
asked.

"In the medicine
cabinet in the bathroom,
”
he said, pointing behind her.

Claire turned and went
into the bathroom that was attached to his bedroom. It was a gorgeous bathroom,
all marble and glass. The shower stall was floor to ceiling clear glass. There
was also a Jacuzzi tub. Claire would love to soak in that thing for hours. She
went to the mirror above the sink and opened it. She found the aspirin, and
then filled the glass that was on the sink counter with water. She brought them
out to Henry, who was now shrugging out of his dress shirt, which left in him
in just a white wife beater.

Claire could not stop
her gaze from raking down his beautifully muscled arms and defined chest. She
could also see the six pack under his tight beater. Claire understood that
Henry had to be somewhat built to look so fabulous in his suits, but she hadn't
expected him to be all rippling muscle. And she really loved the glasses and
stubble. It was so un-Henry-like, but damn he made it look good, even as sick
as he was.

Henry hung his head
like he just couldn't keep it up any longer. "Claire, I know this is
totally unprofessional, but can you please help me get undressed?
 
I just don't have the strength,
”
he sighed heavily.

"Henry, I think
we're past the point of having to be professional 24/7,
”
she said, and set the water and pills on the
nightstand.

"Yeah but this is
like the sexual harassment level of unprofessional,
”
Henry snorted.

Claire stood in front
of him, their knees touching. "Not for us Henry, we're friends, you're
seriously sick, and I don't mind taking care of you,
”
she said softly and tugged the beater out of his
pants.

Henry barely lifted
his arms as she yanked it over his head. And yep, she was right, he had a six
pack. Good God, he was breathtaking. Claire tossed his beater on the floor then
gave him a little push; being as weak as he was, he just fell back onto the
bed. Claire pulled Henry's socks off while he worked on his belt and pants.
Claire heart pounded and her stomach fluttered. She was actually going to see
Henry in his underwear! She wished that the circumstances were different, but
she'd take it.

Henry put his heels on
the side rail of the bed frame and lifted his hips so that he could push his
pants down. Once they were over his knees, he just kicked them off. Then he
rolled and crawled up farther onto the bed. Claire just stood there staring,
her mouth hanging open. He wore the micro low rise trunks, which were in
between briefs and boxer/briefs. They were white with a baby blue waist band
that had Calvin Klein in large letters around it.

Henry laid his head
down on a pillow, placed his glasses on the nightstand, and flung an arm over
his eyes, completely oblivious to Claire wandering eye. Claire took the
opportunity to ogle him. Now that he was flat on his back, she could see the
sexy
“
V
”
that started at his hips and
disappeared into the top of his underwear. Good lord, he had an amazing body.
All hard muscle covered in smooth taut skin. There was not an ounce of fat
anywhere. There was a light dusting of hair on his chest, and also a light
happy trail, that lead into the top of his low rise underwear.

"Damn Henry, you
should think about being an underwear model instead of a CEO,
”
Claire said, her voice a little
breathier then she would have liked.

Henry's mouth curled
up on one side. "Shut up Claire,
”
he mumbled, but his tone was amused.

Claire smiled then
moved over to the nightstand where she put the water and aspirin. "Here,
take this,
”
Claire murmured
and waited as Henry shifted to lean up on one elbow.

Henry took the pills
then drank the water. He lay back down with a groan, "Fuck."

"Do you want the
blankets up?
”
Claire asked,
stroking her hand over his hair.

Henry sighed,
"Hell no, I'm so friggin hot right now."

"Okay, I'm sure
once that aspirin kicks in you're gonna be sweating that fever out, and then
you'll be freezing."

"I can't even
tell you the last time I've been this sick,
”
Henry said wearily.

"Yeah well, I'm
gonna say it's the flu, and you're gonna be down for the week,
”
Claire winced, knowing that
Henry was not going to be happy about that.

His eyes flew open and
he gaped at her. "A week?"

"That's how long
the flu normally lasts,
”
she nodded.

Henry covered his face
with his hands and let out an aggravated noise, "Fuck me! I can't miss a
week of work!"

"Really Henry,
you're not going to feel up to getting out of bed, and I'm sure Asher can
handle business for a week,
”
Claire said, trying to assure him.

Henry grunted and
rolled over, facing her. He punched his pillow a couple times before settling
his head down on it. Henry grumbled to himself as he snuggled down into the
bed. Claire knew he was aggravated but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Is there
anything else I can get you Henry?
”
Claire asked.

"No thank you,
Claire. You're so wonderful, why don't you take my car and head home,
”
Henry said softly, his voice
muffled slightly by the pillow. He reached out and took her hand. "You
don't have to stay, I'm not a fun sick person to be around,
”
he said, his eyes closed.

Claire smiled.
"No one is fun to be around when their sick. And I don't want to leave you
alone."

Henry cracked one
green eye to look at her. "Sebastian should be around here somewhere, and
I'm just going to sleep. You need to go home and take care of your son."

"Are you sure
you're gonna be alright? How reliable is Sebastian to take care of you?
”
Claire frowned, not really
liking the idea of leaving Henry alone.

"He'll probably
just pop in every now and then to make sure I'm breathing, other than that...
”
Henry trailed off with a shrug.
"I'll be fine Claire really. I don't want to keep you away from
Ethan."

Claire smiled softly.
She reached out and ran her fingers through the hair just over his ear.
"Thank you Henry, but I'm worried about you and how high your fever
is."

"I'm a big boy, I
can handle it,
”
Henry said
gruffly.

"I'm not going to
win this argument, am I?
”
Claire sighed.

"Nope,
”
Henry smirked, half his face
buried in his pillow.

"Fine, I'll go,
but I'm calling a cab,
”
Claire said and turned to go.

Henry's grip on her
hand tightened. "Like hell you are. Take my car, I insist."

"Henry...
”
Claire started, but Henry cut
her off.

"Claire, take my
car, seriously,
”
Henry
said, his tone stern. Claire knew not to argue when he sounded like that.

"Fine,
”
she huffed. Claire leaned down
and placed a kiss on his temple. "But I'm coming back tomorrow."

Henry smiled and nodded.
Claire gave his hand a squeeze then let him go. Claire glanced back before
walking out of the room. She had a feeling that she was losing her heart to
that man.

Chapter 5

Claire showed up at
Henry's house at 9:00 am the next morning. She walked into the house through
the garage like yesterday. The door led into the kitchen. She walked in to see
Sebastian standing at the counter, drinking a cup of coffee, while messing
around on an iPad, just in his boxers. And said boxers were yellow with a smiley
face on the front of them. Claire rolled her lips in to stop from laughing out
loud.

Sebastian was built
just as nice as his brother, all hard bulging muscle covered in smooth skin.
Sebastian was more tanned though, and covered in tattoos. Tattoos covered both
arms from shoulder to wrist. There was a tattoo on each side of his chest and
both of his sides. Then on the front of each hip it looked like he had a gun
tattooed, but it disappeared into the top of his boxers. She was positive that
he had more on his back, too. Sebastian looked up at her just as he was taking
a sip of his coffee. He froze, his eyes widening slightly over the rim of his
mug. He almost choked as he hastily took a sip of his coffee.

"Claire! What are
you doing here?
”
Sebastian
choked, swiping a hand over his mouth.

"Checking in on
Henry. Nice boxers by the way,
”
Claire snickered.

Sebastian gave her a
dirty look before taking another sip of his coffee.

"How's Henry
doing?
”
Claire asked.
 
She hadn't been able to sleep well because
she was worried about him.

Sebastian sighed and
raked a hand through his disheveled blonde hair. "He was up all night,
puking his guts up; he hadn't been able to keep anything down. I'm getting
worried about him becoming dehydrated,
”
he said, his jaw tight with tension.

"Shit, that's the
most common reason people get hospitalized with the flu,
”
Claire murmured quietly.

"I haven't gone
in there since 3:00 am, so I don't know if he's gotten any better or not,
”
Sebastian grunted, taking
another sip of his coffee.

Claire nodded and
started for the stairs. "Thanks Sebastian."

He replied with an
"Mmm hmm."

Claire headed up the
stairs then down the hall to Henry's room. She knocked then popped her head in.
She called for Henry, but he didn't answer. Claire walked in and shut the door
behind her. She moved farther into the room, the bed coming into view, but
Henry wasn't in it. Claire headed for the bathroom.

The door was open,
giving her view of the sink. She stepped into the bathroom to find Henry
sprawled out on his back in front of the toilet, a fine sheen of sweat covering
his bare skin. Claire's heart seized.

"Henry,
”
she breathed and rushed over to
him.

She knelt down next to
him and touched his chest, which was sticky with sweat. He was flushed and
burning hot. She had no idea if his fever had broken then come back, or if it
never broke at all. Henry hadn't even flinched when she touched him. His lips
were parted and he breathed slow and steady. She hated to wake him up, but he
really shouldn't be sleeping on the floor in the bathroom.