Crash Into My Heart (4 page)

“You’re
beautiful, I’m sure you know,” he said softly.

Janice laughed in disbelief.
“With black and blue eyes?”

“I
only noticed the baby blues
.”

“Hmmm.
My street is coming up.
First
left after the light.”

She watched him handle
his
powerful car with assured confidence.

“I’m the second house on the right.”

He slowed and swung his car
up
her drive
way
as if he’d done it a
thousand
times. He pulled up to the garage door and cut the engine.

“Well. Thank you s
o much for the lift. I
do appreciate yo
ur help.
I might have been in serious trouble
back there
.”

“My p
leasure.
Now.
Let’s get you
inside and
treat
your injuries.”

He had his door open,
closed
and the passenger
door
ajar for her before she could process everything he
’d
said.

She climbed a bit shakily out of the car and he caught her elbow drawing her up against his side.

“I’m perfectly—“

“Fine,” he interrupted with a grin. “I know. I happen to disagree.
Fortunately,
my mother raised me to be a gentleman. If I dropped you at the door and
left without making sure you were going to stay fine
, she’d be
disappointed
.”

“She won’t know.”

“I might accidently tell her.”

Janice actu
ally laughed. “That’s
unlikely.”

“I like to tell my mother about the ways
her son is
heroic
. It makes her
proud.”

Distracted by
the
ir
banter
, Janice
didn’t notice
Adrian le
a
d
ing
her to
the
door
.
He stood,
holding his hand out
expectantly
. She dug through her purse and pulled out
keys
.
He
took
them
and unlocked
the door
. He pushed open the
dark paneled door and guided her inside
, his hand pressed possessively
against the small of her back.

Suddenly, Janice felt drained and exhausted. No one had taken care of her in years. So she let him
in
.

***

Adrian found
the
switch and flicked on the overhead
light
. The house was small,
but neat and tidy.
H
e led her into the
adjacent
kitchen
.
A homey wooden table occupied half o
f the
room
. He pulled out a
chair and sat her down
.
He hit another wall switch.
The
kitchen
lights
flooded the
space
. For the first time, h
e could see just how banged up her face was.

“Poor baby,” he murmured as he stroked a gentle finger down her cheek, skirting the bruises around her eyes and nose. “Let’
s get
some ice
for those
baby blues
.
”

He ope
ned the
freezer door
and
pulled out an ice tray.

“Plastic baggie?
” he asked as he started
opening
cabinets.

“B
ottom drawer,” Janice told him.

He found a bag and filled it half full of ice. Further searching resulted in
a clean, thin kitchen towel
that he wrapped around the bag. When he turned back, Janice was resting silently,
her head leaning
against the high
back of the chair,
her eyes closed
.
She’d
fizzle
d
out
damn
suddenly
.

“Would you like a painkiller?”

Without opening her eyes, Janice answered.
“In the top cupboard
,
next to the sink.”

Adrian located two
pill
s, and filled a glass of water. H
e
handed her the pills and water
.
She swallowed both.

“
Let’s
get you
horizontal
so we can
lay
this ice o
n
your bruises.”

“Okay,” Janice mumbled.

“Are you feeling okay? You sound wiped out.”

“That’s how I feel.
T
ired.”

“
Which room is
your b
edroom?
” he
asked
.

That
woke
her up.
She sat up straight.

“
You should
leave.”

“Janice, I can’t leave you. You’re weak, tired and have just had an accident. Someone needs to make sure you’re okay through the night.”

“Through the night?”
She was
definitely
wide awake
now
. She took the ice bag from him and stood.

“T
hank you for driving
me home. I don’t want to keep you from your journey any longer. You’ve done more than enough to make your mother proud.”

He stroked her arm soothingly.

“I’m not interested in what my mother thinks anymore.
Wh
at if you have a concussion? I
n hindsight,
I think
I s
hould
have taken
you to the emergency room.”

“No. I can’t face sitting for hours on a
plastic
chair waiting for a doctor to run tests and then declare me good enough to go home.”

“I
should
stay then
to make sure you
’
r
e
going to be okay.”

“You can’
t stay
,” she protested.
“
We don’t know each other.”

“
So.
Are you afraid of me?”

Janice sighed.

“No,” she admitted.

Adrian smiled down at her. “Good. I’
m not afraid of you either,” he teased.
“
I promise
,
I’m only interested in
getting you
settled into
bed
to recover
.”

And when she was recovered?
Then
he
wanted to join her
there
.

The
returning slump of her shoulders
told him
he’d won this battle. She stared up at him, looking forlorn, and he realized again just how
fragile
and tiny she was. He felt a
sudden
desire to
protect her from a
ll harm.
Which
was bad
.
He wasn’
t interested in being attached to anyone
.
Work
consumed his life at the moment.

Then
she
smil
ed
, albeit faintly
.
H
is heart squeeze
d
tight. That
was bad, definitely
.

“
Okay. O
nly overnight and
only because I don’t
have anyone else to call
and
I don’t want to go to the h
ospital,” she conceded
.
“I
still
don’t know
why you want to help me
.”

“I told you. I’m a good
citizen
.”

Janice lifted
a
skeptical eyebrow
. But she didn’t say anything.
Progress?
Or
a
signal
she
was
fading again.

“Come
. Let’s
ge
t you to bed.”

She
let him support her
as he
led her
down
the hall
.

“Last
room
,”
she told him
as he started to lead her into the first door
way. He could
see that the room
they were bypassing
had
two sets of stacked bunk beds
lining opposite
walls.

“You
run a hostel
on the side
?” he
joke
d
.

“Those are my sons’ beds.”

“Damn,”
Adrian swore.

“What?” Janice stiffened
under his arm.

The woman
swung
from
ragdoll
-
limp to full-of-
starch
in record speed
.

“You have
four
boys?”

“Two,” she corrected.
“
Twin seven-year-olds
.
They like to have
friends overnight.”

Adrian tried to
shake
his
surprise
. It wasn’t like he was interested in a long-term relationship.
Since
t
he last thing he
needed
was get
ting
involved with someone
with
kids
, it was actually perfect
.
He
forced a light tone
.

“So you’re used to having men in your house.”

“I’m used to having
boys
in my house,
”
she corrected.

“
This is a long shot, but you’re not a teacher, are you
?”

“
What if I am
?”

Adrian
grimaced
.
A
teacher
and
a mother.
Not
the type he usually meets
.
More
like his mom
, really
.
A
t the door, she
pushed
away from him.

“
I can
handle
myself
from here
.”

“I have to come in
to
check on you.”

“I’
m well enough to change into pajamas
and wash my face all on my own.”

Adrian
acquiesced
.

“Call
me when you’re ready to be tucked in.”

He
hid
his
grin as he heard her snort softly. He could imagine what little Miss
Priss
was thinking. She took offense a
t
anything
sounding
remotely condescending.
Her bedroom door
clicked
crisply
shut
.
No wild slam.
Janice
was a woman who h
eld
herself in
tight
control. He itched
to make her
lose
control.

He
returned to the kitchen,
turned on his phone
, checked his messages, then
contacted
a tow
ing company
to pick up and deliver Janice’s car to a local shop.
That settled
,
he called
his VP
to
cancel their meeting until
the following day.