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Hugh is there faster than I could have anticipated and is already tucking me back into the Land Rover, concern making his jaw tight. “Why didn’t you tell me you were still feeling faint?”
“I guess I didn’t notice…” I can feel my eyelids fluttering, but I’m confused by the fact that he’s climbing back into the driver’s seat. “Where are we going? Can’t you just help me inside?”
“No. I need to keep an eye on you. Which means that you’re coming home with me.” Hugh’s tone leaves no room for argument. But I try anyway.
“I really don’t think that’s okay!” I protest weakly.
“What kind of man would I be if I left you alone, sick and on the verge of unconsciousness?” He jerks his head to the side in a gesture of denial. “Absolutely not. You’re staying with me tonight. You can thank your stubbornness for not speaking up while we were still at the hospital for that.”
“But I felt fine at the hospital.” The complaints don’t stop because I really don’t think I should be going to my ex-boyfriend’s doctor dad’s house! All sorts of alarm bells are going off in my head, but underneath it all is a sense of comfort knowing I won’t be alone.
Hugh gives me the impression that no one tells him no and that he’s not going to start with me. This is his world, and I’m just living in it. For better or worse.
“Just relax,” I hear him tell me as I close my eyes and rest my head on the leather seat. “Let me take care of you.”
“Okay…” is all l can muster before the spinning feeling comes back. “But I’m going back home as soon as possible.”
His chuckle has a dark edge to it. “Sure you are, sweetheart. Sure you are.”
Hugh’s house is on the outskirts of town, a deceptively reasonably sized ranch, that looks like any other in the dark. The view of the beautiful Washington vistas must be amazing during the day since the house is a ways off the beaten path, but as he pulls the Rover into the driveway, all I can see is the stars above.
The luxury of the house becomes apparent as soon as we head up the walkway. And when I say we, I mean Hugh, who has insisted on carrying me bridal style into the house. It should be humiliating, but instead, it gives me a thrill to be held so close to him. Hugh is warm, smells incredible, and there isn’t a single doubt in my mind that he could carry me for miles if he wanted to.
As soon as we’re close to the home, all of the motion sensor lights come on, illuminating a modern cream and dark brown wooden exterior and perfectly manicured front gardens. Something tells me that Hugh isn’t into flowers, but he spares no expense to have someone else keeping his front yard looking flawless.
He holds his phone up to the smart lock and it clicks open, the inside of the house lighting up just like the outside once we take a single step inside. Since it’s evening, the lights that kick on are a warm, dim yellow. Just enough for me to see that his style is just as modern and clean as the outside of the building led me to believe. There aren’t many personal touches, the sign of a man that hasn’t really settled in. It makes my chest ache to think that Hugh doesn’t feel at home in this beautiful house or that he’s living all alone.
“Can you walk?” he rumbles, and I feel the words in his chest. “I want to get some things ready for you.”
“Yes,” I tell him, even though I’m not positive. Hugh carries me to a stool in front of the open kitchen breakfast bar and deposits me on it, telling me to wait for him and not move. I watch as he leaves for the back of the house, shrugging his coat off and hanging it by the door, followed by the stethoscope around his neck.
It doesn’t take him long to return, pulling a bottle of water out of the refrigerator for me and insisting I drink as he leads me to the guest room. As soon as he opens the door, I can smell lavender in the air.
“I ran you a bath,” Hugh explains. “Hospitals leave everyone feeling grimy from my experience.”
“Ha. Well, thank you,” I stumble over my words, taking in the luxurious bedroom and attached en suite bathroom. “You have a beautiful home, by the way.”
I can feel Hugh behind me, the heat rolling off his body as his hands land on my shoulders. “I didn’t think so until about ten minutes ago,”
Gulping, I turn, seeing the way his head is tilted down toward me. There’s still the haze of dizziness over me, and it makes me stumble the tiniest bit. Hugh immediately frowns, making me sit on the edge of the bed, and returns with a huge bottle of an electrolyte sports drink.
“Drink this, take your bath, and try to get some rest,” he tells me, still standing much too close for someone that is supposed to be strictly professional. “You’re fine to take another nausea pill before bed. It will help you sleep, too.”
He looks conflicted, like he doesn’t want to leave, contenting himself with tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear and letting his fingers linger. “Give me your phone number, sweetheart, and I’ll be a call away if you need me.” I do as he asks, and Hugh finally forces himself to leave me, even if a part of me doesn’t want him to go. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight,” I whisper as the door shuts, leaving me in this opulent bedroom in an almost stranger’s house. A stranger that feels so familiar it’s ridiculous.
The warm bath is calling me, and I’m eager to wash off the fever sweat. I grab my sports drink, kick off my shoes, and walk barefoot to the bathroom. After undressing and before I slip into the water, I check my phone—sixteen messages from Alex and one from Hugh.
I delete Alex’s and open Hugh’s, which reads, Remember, just a phone call away. For anything.
Anything, huh? It might make me crazy, but I believe him. I really do.
Morning comes and goes, and it’s not until late afternoon that I wake up. After the first few minutes of discombobulation from not knowing where I am, I relax, settling back into the soft mattress with a sigh. I check my phone, realizing I have work in a few hours, and lay my hands over my stomach, expecting it to protest my wakefulness at any moment.
Except…it doesn’t. I feel good. Great, actually. Well rested, clean, and starving.
That’s when the smell of coffee and bacon hit me. I am out of bed before I know it, moving like a zombie to grab the robe Hugh had left on the bathroom counter for me last night, along with a brand-new toothbrush.
