Chapter Five
“How’re you doing, bro?”
“Better, now that I know Suzy will be ok. Did you get me a new cell phone?”
“Oh yeah, got it right here.” Nick reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a sleek black cell phone. “How often are you going to change phones before you admit you have a problem?”
“I can handle it, Nick, just let it go.”
Nick gave him a disgusted look and said, “You haven’t thought this out, bro. You’re going to be here playing house with Suzy now and what happens when she finds out? You need to go ahead and tell her and then deal with it. Trying to ignore it hasn’t worked too well.”
Gray ran his hand through his hair and expelled a deep breath. Fatigue edged the corners of his mouth as he looked at his brother. Gone was the cocky grin that Nick usually wore, in its place was a look of concern.
“Nick, this is a first for me, and I don’t know what the hell to do. I just kept hoping she’d get the message without this getting ugly. I can’t figure out how she keeps getting my new number. I hate to think it, but someone within Mericom has to be leaking my personal information, and right now that’s our starting point. See if you can find a connection.
Gray lowered his voice and said quietly, “Nick, you know how I feel about Suzy. This could not have come at a worse time. She’s been hurt before, and I’m afraid this would cause her to run and never look back. I need your help to get this taken care of before she finds out about it. I’m so close to getting through to her, and I won’t let some nut job take that away.”
Nick clasped a hand on his shoulder and said, “You can count on me, bro. I’ll get right on it. None of this is your fault, so there is nothing for you to feel guilty about. With a smile of mischief, Nick added, “It’s just the curse of the good-looking Merimon Brothers, it drives some women a little crazy.”
Nick left to get checked into a hotel, and Gray made his way back to Suzy’s room. He was surprised and pleased to see that she was awake and talking to Beth. Gray walked over to the bedside and was relieved to see the color was back in her face. Beth had also helped her change into a gown that was much more…Suzy. The woman did like the leopard skin.
~~~
Suzy felt her heart skip a beat as Gray walked in the door. Here she was lying in a hospital bed in complete disarray, and he looked like he’d just stepped off the pages of GQ Magazine. She felt a little better since changing out of the horrid hospital gown but there was only so much leopard skin could do. Her hair was a mess, her make-up was gone, and she was pretty sure she even smelled. She looked like she’d been rode hard and put up wet.
Suzy cleared her throat and tried to come up with one of her usual smart comments. The fact that it wasn’t coming naturally was out of character. It must be the damn drugs. “Hey slick, sorry about the date disaster and all.”
“Couldn’t be helped, Suzanna. You might want to check into some more sensible shoes though before our next date,” Gray said.
“Yeah, right, I don’t do sensible, you should know that by now,” Suzy sniffed.
Gray walked over and picked her small hand up from the top of the hospital sheet and rubbed his thumb slowly back and forth over the sensitive nerves of her palm. He locked his gaze with hers and lowered his voice to a sexy timber, “Oh, I know you Suzanna, better than you know yourself.”
Beth shifted in place awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable with the tension in the room. “Um…Sis, I’m heading home now. Are you sure you don’t want me to call mom and dad?”
Tearing her gaze from Gray’s, Suzy warned, “You better not unless you want me to send them your way next.”
Beth held up her hands in surrender and said, “Ok, ok, but we might actually need their help. How are you going to get to the second-floor of your condo on crutches, and I also live on the second floor.”
“Beth don’t worry about it; Suzy will stay with me,” assured Gray.
“The hell I will,” shouted Suzy. The sudden movement jarred her injured ribs, and pain flooded through her.
Gray saw Suzy’s face pale and pressed the call button for a nurse. He rubbed her arm in a soothing pattern and said, “Baby, calm down. We can talk about all this later.”