Читать книгу Single Dads Collection - Lynne Marshall - Страница 40

“Thanks, Captain.”

Captain Cameron St. John nodded. “No need to thank me, Lucy. I’m sorry about your car.”

She didn’t even want to look around the captain at the sight of her car being pulled away by the wrecker. She’d just left the station and had been heading home, as she’d promised, but someone had run a red light and T-boned her car. Her car she had just paid off.

Her hands still shook and she wasn’t sure she was ready to get out of the captain’s patrol car yet, either. She’d never been in an accident, and she was quite certain she never wanted to be in another.

“It’s a little different being on this side of the job,” she stated, trying to get her heartbeat back to normal.

“I just wish we knew who hit you,” Cameron muttered. “I’ve got some patrolmen driving around looking. Whoever it was has some massive damage to their car, so they should be easy to spot.”

Lucy blew out a sigh. “I’m sorry. It all happened so fast and all I saw was a dark color fleeing the scene.”

Cameron patted her shoulder. “It’s all right. We take care of our own.”

She loved that about her job. They were like family. Still, she wished her car weren’t smashed because she had no backup. Lucy rubbed her forehead, trying to ward off a headache.

“You sure you don’t want the EMTs to check you out?” he asked.

Lucy shook her head. “No. I’ll be fine. I could use a lift home, though.”

“No problem.”

Cameron drove her home, which wasn’t far considering she was only a few miles away when she was hit. During the ride she asked about his family and if they were all bringing their kids to the fall festival. Cameron had two brothers and they were all influential people in the town.

“If you need to call out tomorrow, don’t think anything about it.”

He pulled into her drive and Lucy grabbed her purse. “Thanks, but I’m sure I’ll be all right. Besides, Carla is still out.”

“I think she’ll be back tomorrow,” he told her.

Tugging on her handle, she smiled. “Well, I can still come to work. I wasn’t injured, just shaken up and a little sore on my left side where I hit the door.”

Cameron nodded. “The offer still stands.”

“Thanks for the ride,” she told him as she got out.

As she let herself in her back door, her cell chimed, but she was juggling her key in the lock and holding her purse. She let it go to voice mail; it wasn’t like she was in the mood to talk anyway.

As soon as she stepped inside and dropped her purse to the counter, the phone started ringing again. All she wanted to do was grab a quick shower and crawl into bed. Or maybe she’d just go straight to bed.

Lucy’s mind raced as she thought of getting some much-needed sleep, then getting up to bake something to take to Tammy, who’d just lost her pup.

First thing after she woke she needed to see to the horses and make sure they had enough straw and water. They should be fine, but she tended to them every single day just like Evan used to do.

Oh, yeah. Then after all of that she had an invitation to Noah’s house. She may cancel that because…well, she was exhausted and sore and perhaps she shouldn’t keep going around sweet, impressionable Emma. The little girl had recently lost her mother and Lucy wasn’t sure of the circumstances surrounding that tragedy. But Noah had invited her over, so perhaps he wanted to grab that olive branch she’d extended. Maybe he needed a friend. But part of Lucy didn’t want to just be a friend to the only man she’d felt a pull toward since her husband passed.

Though there was more time since her tragic loss than his, she knew grief couldn’t be given a time frame. Everyone healed differently and everyone moved on at their own pace.

Lucy locked her back door and wondered what she’d do about wheels. On a groan, she realized she wouldn’t be going anywhere with baked goods. Perhaps she could call Tammy and invite her over. Maybe getting her out of the house would be a good idea, because that’s the only way Lucy was going to be able to try to comfort her in person.

And she surely wasn’t about to ask Noah to give her a lift. Speaking of Noah, she’d best send him a text and tell him she couldn’t make it later that day.

As she headed through her one-story house, she started stripping out of her clothes. By the time she reached her bedroom, she was ready to put on her favorite ratty nightgown, draw her room-darkening shades, and crawl into bed. She’d worked midnights for so long, she had her system down pat. Her bedroom was in the back of the house, away from any road traffic, and when her door was shut and her fan was on, it was out of earshot of the doorbell.

Lucy tossed her clothes into the basket and had just pulled her nightgown over her head when the doorbell rang. Seriously? She should’ve turned her fan on and shut the door right away.

She started to climb into bed, more than willing to ignore the unwanted guest. Her neighbors knew she worked midnights, so they never bothered her. But the doorbell turned to a persistent knock.

Obviously someone needed her right now. Since her nightgown was an oversize T-shirt style that hit her knees, she didn’t bother with clothes. She’d get rid of this person and get into bed.

Lucy padded down the hallway and came to the small foyer. Even through the etched glass of her front door she recognized that shape. What was he doing here?

Flicking the lock on the door, she opened it and didn’t get a chance to say a word as Noah stepped right up to her. His eyes raked over her, his hands falling to her shoulders.

“Why aren’t you at the hospital getting checked out?”

She should’ve known the accident wouldn’t remain quiet. Not in a small town with a small police force who knew each other’s business.

“Because you told me to come straight home to bed,” she countered. “Which I was trying to do.”

His brows drew in. “Don’t be sarcastic. Cameron said you wouldn’t go get checked out.”

The captain was the snitch? No, she didn’t believe that for a minute. Regardless, this wasn’t Noah’s business. He couldn’t ignore her and then suddenly show up at her door like he had a right to be concerned.

“Shouldn’t you be home?” she asked, wondering when he was going to remove his hands from her shoulders. Not that she wanted him to.

The fact he rushed here and was worried spoke volumes about the feelings he went out of his way to fight off.

“I’d just gotten home and changed when I heard the call over the scanner,” he replied as he eased her into her house and closed the door behind him. “A hit-and-run?”

Lucy nodded. “Yeah. Some jerk totaled my car.”

“Did you get a look at the vehicle or the driver?”

Shrugging her sore shoulders, Lucy shook her head. “No. Just that the car was dark colored. It happened so fast. Thankfully I’m not hurt, just sore. My hip is a little bruised. This guy is going to have a rough time hiding with a banged-up car.”

Noah raked his hand through his dark hair. “There’s only going to be one dark-colored vehicle that is mangled in the front in a town this small.”

Lucy noticed he kept fidgeting. Glancing her way, running his hand over his stubbled jawline and his fingers through his hair.

“You all right?” she asked.

Noah laughed as he turned his focus solely to her. “You’re kidding, right? I heard you had been in an accident, a hit-and-run, and I worried. So I called the station and they said Cameron was on the scene and the EMTs had been sent away. So, no, I’m not all right because you could be hurt and not know it. Internal injuries can be well hidden.”

When Lucy went to reach for him, she felt a pain in her back and she hissed.

“Damn it.” Noah wrapped his arms around her and gently picked her up. “You need to be seen.”

“No, I need to be in bed.” Just as soon as she finished being carried like some helpless heroine in a historical novel. “I need to take some pain reliever, get some rest, and maybe soak in a hot bath later. That’s all.”

“Why are you so stubborn?” he muttered as he headed down the hallway. “Which one is your room?”

“As flattered as I am at your seduction, I’m afraid I’m not up to a romp right now.”

Noah’s glare told her he didn’t find her nearly as humorous as she found herself. “Lucy, you’re testing my patience.”

“Last room on the left,” she murmured as she laid her head against his shoulder.

Maybe just for a few minutes she’d relax and let him care for her. This wasn’t anything she’d ever had before, not even with her husband. Evan had been loving, but never the type to whisk her off her feet.

Besides, Noah wasn’t doing anything but trying to get her to rest. He wasn’t trying to woo her or flirt or even seduce her.

What a shame. Part of her wished they could enter into some adult agreement that an affair was the perfect way to get each other out of their systems. Because she was seriously starting to think that she was in his, too.

The devil on one shoulder told her to be the one to seduce him, but the angel on the other told her he was grieving and to put her hormones away.

Gently, Noah laid her on her bed and eased back. “Did you already take pain meds?”

“No. I haven’t been home but a few minutes.” She nodded in the direction of her master bath. “In there, top shelf above the vanity.”

While he got her meds, she had to admit that having him here was a bit awkward. No, maybe not awkward, but definitely weird. She couldn’t deny that any man in her bedroom would make her take notice, but this particular man had her aching in places that had nothing to do with the accident.

Between that thick Southern accent and the way he obviously cared, how could she prevent her heart from flipping over?

After she took the pills, all while Noah stood directly over her to make sure, he then tucked her in like a child.

“I think I can get it from here,” she informed him, feeling more and more foolish. “Go ahead and get home. Emma is probably wondering where you are.”

“She’s at the sitter until this afternoon.”

Well, if she were feeling up to par, she may take advantage of that fact, but as it was, she was in no shape. The longer time went on, the sorer her body was becoming. Besides, she would feel even more foolish if her first attempt at seduction landed her a big fat rejection.

“I think I need to soak in the tub first.” She sat up and twisted her neck from side to side. Her hip twinged in protest, but she was careful not to show pain. “And I definitely don’t need you around for that. Thanks for stopping to check on me, but I can take it from here.”

“Are you seriously not going to get checked out?”

She let out a laugh and came to her feet. “I’m seriously too tired, plus I’d know if something was wrong.”

Lucy wasn’t going to argue. She was too sore, too tired, and not about to give in. She went past Noah and closed herself in her adjoining bathroom. This was one of those times when she was so glad she’d had an old claw foot tub put in when she’d renovated the outdated bathroom. She’d gone for an old dresser-turned-vanity, kept the old tiles, found a nice mirror at a yard sale, and splurged on the tub.

Lucy quickly shed her clothes as the tub filled with hot water. She plucked a lavender bath bomb from the basket on the vanity and dropped it into the water. If she could just get ten minutes of warmth to her muscles, she knew she’d feel better and then she could rest peacefully.

With her bath pillow in place, Lucy eased herself into the hot water that would for sure turn her skin a lovely shade of red. She didn’t hear anything outside her bathroom door so she assumed Noah had left. Hopefully he remembered to lock the door behind him.

Lucy twisted her hair on top of her head and secured it with a clip. As she nestled against her little inflatable pillow, she closed her eyes and let the hot water and the bath bomb work their magic.

Maybe when she got done resting she’d feel like figuring out her car situation. Right now, though, she didn’t have the mental energy to worry.

As the bubbles enveloped her, she couldn’t help but get all giddy as she realized something. Despite his having worked all night and despite the fact that he needed to get home to his daughter, Noah had come to her house when he’d found out about the accident. She’d seen the worry in his eyes. He hadn’t simply asked how she was while standing at her door, but had picked her up and whisked her away to bed.

She made a mental note to revise her schedule for later today. First on her agenda was figuring out exactly what that all meant.