Cedar Bluff's Most Eligible Bachelor (Cedar Bluff Hospital) (7 page)

Seth arched a brow. “I don’t think a broken leg qualifies as nearly killing her. But, hey, glad to hear she’s doing all right.”

“Yeah, well, she made it pretty clear she wanted me gone, so I don’t think she shares your view of the accident,” Simon countered.

But Seth only grinned. “And that’s bugging the hell out of you, isn’t it?”

Simon was about to tell him to shut the hell up when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, that the new unit clerk, Mary something or other, was blatantly eavesdropping on their conversation. Her eyes, dramatically green from colored contacts, shifted under his gaze and she turned away.

He grimaced. Great. More fuel for the gossip mill. He loved living in Cedar Bluff, but compared to the blissful anonymity he’d experienced in Chicago, living in this place was like living in a bubble where everyone stuck their noses into everyone else’s business.

Which normally wasn’t a problem for him. People in Cedar Bluff usually left him alone, because obviously he’d never given them anything to talk about.

Until now.

“Hardly,” he said, narrowing his gaze on Seth, silently warning him to drop it. “And if you don’t need my help, fine. I have some paperwork to finish in my office, anyway. There are several quality cases that need to be reviewed.”

“You’re hopeless, my friend. Truly hopeless,” Seth muttered, shaking his head in mock dismay. “What a lame way to spend your night off.”

Simon ignored him. Seth couldn’t know that tossing and turning in his bed, thinking of Hailey, would be far worse than any torture imaginable. “If you get slammed with patients, let me know.”

“Sure,” Seth said, glancing down as his trauma pager began to vibrate. “No worries.”

Simon did his best to concentrate on the cases he needed to review, but after reading the same case three times without comprehension he shoved it away with a disgusted sigh.

Seth was right. He was truly hopeless.

He shut off his computer and stood. When he dug in his pocket for his car keys, he realized he still had Hailey’s apartment keys.

For a long agonizing moment he wondered if he’d subconsciously kept them on purpose.

Because now he had a good excuse to see Hailey again.

T
HE
next morning Hailey crutch-walked the short distance from her bed to the bathroom, groaning under her breath with each clunky step.

Every muscle in her body was sore. Muscles she hadn’t known she possessed hurt. But the good news was that her leg didn’t throb as badly as it had yesterday.

From here on, she’d probably start feeling better each day.

It took her much longer than normal to get showered and dressed, especially as her cast had to be wrapped with plastic for the shower, and then afterward the bulky covering didn’t fit into the pants leg of her jeans. She had to rip out the side seam out of an old pair of sweats, topped with an equally ragged T-shirt, so she wouldn’t have to walk around in her underwear.

She ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then cradled a mug of coffee in her hands, the day looming endlessly before her. Often she’d wished for a few days off to get caught up on errands and such, but not like this. Not wearing a cast that prevented her from doing anything.

The scrap of paper with Simon’s number was still sitting on the kitchen table, mocking her. Last night she’d actually tossed the note into the garbage, but had then changed her mind and dug it back out again, smoothing out the crumpled edges.

Stupid, because she didn’t plan on calling him.

But it had been sweet of him to leave it for her. In fact, Simon had been wonderful, in many ways.

She gave herself a mental shake. There was no point reading anything but basic kindness in his motives for helping her. She knew that even though she’d taken the blame for what had happened, he still felt responsible.

Simon was honorable that way. And maybe a bit stubborn.

Just because she found him devastatingly attractive, it didn’t mean he felt even remotely the same way about her.

And even if he did, they were colleagues. Maybe even friends. Nothing more.

Anxious for something to do, she headed for her bedroom and the looming pile of laundry waiting for her there. Of course, if she’d known she was going to break her leg, she would have made sure her laundry was caught up.

Where was that crystal ball when you needed it?

She had to leave her mug of coffee on the kitchen table as she couldn’t crutch-walk and carry it at the same time. Neither could she carry her laundry basket.

Muttering a naughty word under her breath, she used her crutches to shove the laundry basket piled high with dirty clothes across the carpeting and down the hall, until she reached the kitchen.

Doing the laundry would take her twice as long on crutches, but it wasn’t like she had other burning plans anyway. Watching television was sure to get boring. Maybe Rachel would stop at the local video store to pick her up some movies to watch.

While seated on the kitchen chair, she split her laundry into two loads, and then went back to the hallway closet to get the bottle of laundry soap, dangling it from her two fingers while manipulating the crutches. Thank heavens her apartment was small.

Crutches were really a pain in the butt.

Once she had the clothes divided and a load in the laundry basket, she looked around for her keys.

Of course, she couldn’t find them.

After ten minutes of looking, she gave up. The last time she’d seen them had been when Simon had taken them to go grocery shopping.

Had he inadvertently taken them with him last night?

Possibly. Maybe she should call him. Her heart leaped at the idea. But she just as quickly shut it down.

Pathetic. She was truly pathetic.

The building manager had a spare key. She could just as easily get it from him. She had, in fact, done that very thing the last time she’d accidentally locked her keys inside the apartment while doing laundry.

There was no need to bother Simon.

But she needed to prop the door open somehow, so she jammed a pair of dirty scrubs beneath the apartment door to keep it from closing. From there, she pushed the laundry basket full of clothes down the hall in front of her until she reached the elevator.

Once she had the load into the washer, she was able to grab the empty laundry basket with the edge of her fingers and carry it back up to her apartment. She made better time, although the empty basket was bulky and kept bouncing against the wall along the way.

When she reached her apartment, though, the tip of her crutch got tangled up in the scrubs she’d jammed beneath the door. For a moment she teetered precariously as she tried to regain her balance while untangling the tip of the crutch, but then she toppled over. And hit the floor.

Hard.

More bruises, she thought with a weary wince as she tried to catch her breath.

“Hailey? My God, are you all right?”

Sprawled inelegantly on the floor just inside her apartment, with the empty laundry basket on lying on top of her, she glanced up to find Simon standing in the doorway. He looked incredible in a long-sleeved denim shirt and well-worn blue jeans. She shoved her hair out of her eyes.

Seriously, the man had the absolute worst timing.

Simon scowled as he tossed the empty laundry basket aside and looked Hailey over, assessing the damage. He saw the scrubs stuffed under the door and figured they’d gotten tangled in her crutches, causing the fall. His fault for taking the stupid keys in the first place. He should have dropped them off late last night before she’d gone to sleep. “Are you sure you didn’t hurt yourself?”

“Only my pride,” she muttered, pushing herself upright.

“Here, grab my hands and then bend your good leg,” he instructed. “I’ll help lift you up.”

“I swear I’m not usually this clumsy,” she said, as he hauled her upright with a smooth motion. Once she was standing on her good foot, he put his arm around her waist to steady her.

“I know,” he said reassuringly.

“You seem to have a knack for seeing me at my worst,” she grumbled, as he helped her over to the kitchen chair.

“Hailey, you look fine. I’m glad I was here to help.”

Once he had her safely seated, he pulled the scrubs out from beneath the door and then closed it. He picked up the rest of the clothes scattered across the floor, tossing the items into the empty basket.

“Please, just leave them. I’ll pick them up,” she protested.

He ignored her, finishing the task while taking care not to examine the frilly, lacy items too closely. He pushed the basket out of the way and glanced at her. “I guess you realize I accidentally took your keys,” he murmured, pulling out a chair to sit next to her. He was somewhat surprised to see his phone number still sitting on the kitchen table. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have brought back your keys and hauled your stuff down to the laundry room, too.”

She avoided his direct gaze. “I needed the door to stay open anyway, because it’s too hard to maneuver it along with the crutches. And the keys were no big deal. I would have borrowed a spare set from the manager.”

“I see.” He stared at her, trying to figure out why she seemed to be going out of her way to avoid him. He blew out a heavy breath. “Hailey, I’m sorry about hitting you and causing all this. I feel awful. I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you.”

“Simon, you have to stop acting like I’m badly injured,” she said, clearly exasperated. “You’ve already helped me a lot. More than anyone else would have done. You wouldn’t even let me pay you for the groceries.”

No, he wouldn’t. And now that he was here, he didn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. She was obviously too stubborn for her own good. She was lucky she hadn’t hurt herself worse with that earlier stunt.

Why on earth she’d had the burning need to do laundry first thing this morning was beyond him. No lounging around and resting for Hailey. He reached over to lightly grasp her hand. “I’m not working today, so my entire day is free. Just tell me what you need. I’m all yours.”

Her head jerked up, her surprised gaze colliding with his. A sizzling awareness shimmered in the air between them. For long seconds neither one of them said anything. Belatedly, he realized how his last words might have sounded.

I’m all yours.

For the first time since Erica, he wished they were true. After the constant emotional drama, and the subsequent loss, he’d been more than content to live his life alone, without the entanglement of a relationship.

Yet looking down into Hailey’s bright blue eyes, he understood what he’d been missing. Until now, he hadn’t realized the restlessness he thought he’d been feeling might actually be pure loneliness.

When the silence stretched to the point where it became downright uncomfortable, he let go of her hand and cleared his throat. “So what are your plans for the day? Aside from laundry,” he added, glancing at the basket. “I’d be happy to finish up the loads for you, but that won’t take long.”

“No plans, really,” she said with a careless shrug. “What can I do? I don’t have a lot of money, especially now that I can’t work for the next two weeks. I was actually thinking of calling Theresa to see if there was any way I could do something to get a few hours in. But other than that, I’m pretty much stuck here. There isn’t a whole lot of things to do within walking distance.”

He made a mental note to approach Theresa himself to plead Hailey’s case. Surely there were some chart audits for their upcoming joint commission survey she could do. And he could actually use her help with the quality-of-care cases that he’d only just begun to review.

“Okay, then, let me ask you this,” he said. “What would you do today if you could get out of here for a while?”

“Go to the park,” she answered, seemingly without thinking. “Maybe stop at the library or the video store to rent a few movies. But you certainly don’t have to be my babysitter, Simon. I plan to give Rachel a call later. I’m not totally helpless, you know.”

He stared at her for a moment. He didn’t want her to call Rachel. Or anyone else for that matter. “Hailey, I never once thought you were helpless. Quite the opposite.”

Her smile seemed a bit sad. “Well, thanks for stopping by to return the keys. I’m sure you have better things to do with your day off.”

He understood that she’d continue to shove him away unless he made her understand how he really felt. Opening himself up wasn’t easy. But neither was walking away. “What if I told you I didn’t want to spend the day alone?” he asked softly. “What if I told you I’d much rather spend time with you?”

There was another pause, and he almost wished he’d kept his big mouth shut.

But she smiled. “I’d say I’m glad to hear that, because I’d like to spend the day with you, too.”

He grinned, a feeling of relief sweeping over him rather than the usual sense of dread that normally curled in his gut whenever he’d considered seeing a woman on a personal level.

Hailey was different. Or rather his feelings toward her were different. And right now he couldn’t find the energy to care if he was walking along the edge of a slippery slope as long as Hailey was beside him.

Hailey watched Simon haul her laundry bag of dirty clothes out of the apartment, wondering if she had rocks for brains.

Why had she agreed to let him help? Especially with something as personal as her laundry? Just the thought of him looking at her intimate wear made her blush.

But even worse, why had she agreed to spend the entire day with him?

She wanted to think he’d simply caught her in a weak moment but, in truth, she’d agreed because she wanted to spend the day with him.

Treading into dangerous territory? Maybe. But she shoved her misgivings aside. For too long her response to men had been non-existent, and now that her emotions had thawed, she found she liked having them. And the thought of being cooped up inside the tiny apartment wasn’t at all appealing, so why not take advantage of Simon’s generosity?

He didn’t have to know how much she admired him. She’d treat him like a friend. Surely everyone could use a few friends?

Thankfully, Simon didn’t insist on doing everything. He brought the clean clothes up from the basement laundry room and gave her the opportunity to fold the items and put them away.

He was on the phone when she emerged from the bedroom. He quickly finished his call and snapped the cell phone shut when he saw her.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have much to wear other than this,” she said, gesturing to the slit-up-the-side-seam sweat pants.

“That’s okay,” he said, waving away her concern. “We’re only going to the park, to the library and to the video store.”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t think we have to cover everything I mentioned.”

He simply cocked a brow. “Well, as the sun is shining and it’s a balmy sixty degrees outside, why don’t we go to the park first? If you’re up to it we can make another stop or two at the library or the video store on the way home.”

“Sounds good.” She went over to her purse to pull out her sunglasses. She followed Simon down the hall, going through the doors he held open for her.

“I can’t believe how nice it is outside after the storm yesterday,” she said, squinting in the glare of the sun.

“I know. Good thing the storm didn’t do any major damage.” Simon held the passenger door open for her.

She hesitated just for a moment. Riding in a car as a passenger wasn’t her favorite pastime, but she’d managed to get over her fear to a certain extent. And she didn’t have much of a choice now that she’d broken her leg. This would be the beginning of many car rides.

She could do this. No problem.

Taking a deep breath, she slid into the passenger seat, extremely conscious of Simon’s hand under her elbow. His touch, even as light and impersonal as it was, helped distract her from being in the car.

She could get used to having his hands on her.

Giving a mental eye roll, she stared forward through the windshield, determined not to let her idiotic fantasies ruin the day.

When they arrived at Cedar Bluff park, there were two paths, one that climbed up to the top of the bluff and one that lead down to the lakefront. If not for the crutches she would have preferred to go up, but when Simon started out along the path leading down to the lake, she fell into step beside him.