Nikki was right to be surprised. Suspicious, even.
He had a dozen things—give or take a hundred—to deal with regarding Huffington. He hadn’t been exaggerating about the competence of the assistants that HR had been sending his way. And having a barely tolerable assistant just now was worse than having no assistant.
Nikki shifted, turning on her side, and tucked her hand against her cheek. Beneath the thin blanket, her leg moved, and the bare tips of her toes sneaked out from beneath the covers. Her toenails were painted a soft peach color.
His favorite fruit had always been peaches.
Annoyed with the thought, he looked back at her face.
Her eyes were open. Dark blue. Slightly unfocused. But they cleared almost instantly.
“It’s not some bad dream?” Her voice was little more than a soft sigh.
He shook his head and hoped to hell those blue eyes didn’t fill with tears again. Seeing Nikki Day in tears unnerved him. It wasn’t a sensation he welcomed. “No. How’re you feeling?”
“Woozy.” One slender arm was still crossed protectively over her abdomen.
“The baby’s okay. And Carmichael has been in contact with your OB in Cheyenne.”
She looked distinctly discomfited at the news. “I probably don’t want to know how you know that, nor how Dr. Carmichael even knows who my doctor there is, do I?”
Since that was true, he kept silent.
She turned on her back. Started to fold her arm over her eyes but didn’t, giving the IV taped to it a baleful look. “Belle and Cage got married before Christmas. They put off their honeymoon until after the holidays. If I call them now, they won’t have a chance to get away again until summer, and then…”
Calling her sister was the logical answer. Yet she sounded miserable over it.
“Where’d they go for their honeymoon?” he asked.
“The Caribbean.”
Her eyes were wet. Damn.
“Belle was so excited. Not just because it’s her honeymoon, but because she’s always dreamed of traveling to places like that. But at least they’re probably reachable.” Nikki’s voice went a little hoarse. “My mother and Squire are floating somewhere on the Mediterranean. I know they can be reached in an emergency, but—”
He lifted his hand. He really didn’t like seeing tears in her eyes. “You don’t have to reach anyone.”
She shook her head. The tears glinted. “I can’t afford one week in the hospital, much less three.”
He could tell reiterating the admission cost her. Not that he hadn’t figured it out for himself. She hadn’t been working anywhere in Cheyenne—not that he’d been able to discover, anyway. And to his chagrin, he’d tried. He knew her mother’s husband had money, but he also figured that asking for help was not Nikki’s particular forte.
Since he was generally more in the position of cleaning up other people’s messes than being in need of cleaning in his own life, he figured that was something they had in common.
When had Nikki had time for any sort of personal life?
The thought kept coming to the forefront.
He’d kept her too busy for a personal life.
Or so he’d thought.
He marshaled his thoughts. “I’ve rented you a place.”
Silence descended on the room as she absorbed his statement. Then her eyes widened. Color touched, then just as quickly fled from her cheeks. “Excuse me?”
“I took care of it while you were sleeping. The sheriff’s office recommended a few places. Someone from the inn packed up your stuff, and it’s been moved to the rental.” He figured just about any place would be better than the Lucius Inn, which didn’t even possess a proper suite.
“How…efficient.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Her eyebrows rose. She pushed herself up on her elbow, and there was nothing dazed in her eyes now. Incredulousness shone clear and sharp.
“No, it’s not! How am I supposed to afford—” she waved her hand, a brief motion conveying a wealth of frustration “—this place you’ve arranged? And I’m still going to need help, if I’m supposed to have bed rest. No matter what, I’m going to have to call my family.”
“Hold it.” He sat forward, resting his arms on his knees. “First of all, I said I rented you a place. Period. As for calling your family, you can if you want. I’m just telling you it’s not necessary, if you really want to go this alone.”
Her brows drew together at that. “Are you going to hire me a nursemaid, too?” She looked everywhere but at him. “I wasn’t that perfect of an assistant, Alex. You cannot possibly be so desperate for me to come back to work for you that you’d go to these lengths. I don’t want to owe anyone!”
“Anyone, or just me?”
Confusion and pride tangled in her eyes. “Does it matter?”
Did it?
He didn’t like owing favors, either. “I’m not hiring a nurse,” he said evenly, scrapping the plan to do just that. “I’ll stay with you myself.”
Chapter Three
Nikki saw Alex’s lips move. She heard the words he spoke. But they still made no sense. “You’ll stay with me,” she repeated slowly.
He nodded once.
“Here. In Lucius.”
Again, the single nod.
“At this place you’ve rented for me.”
A third nod.
She pressed her fingertips to the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes, then opening them again. “That sedative they gave me is really messing with my head.”
“No, it’s not.”
No. It wasn’t. If it had been, she’d at least have an explanation. She dropped her hand to her lap, her palm upward. “I don’t want your pity.”
His jaw hardened. “You’re not getting it. You’re an intelligent woman, Nik. This is the easiest solution all the way around.”
On the surface, maybe. But spending time—personal time—with Alex? There wasn’t anything easy about that, at all.
“What about Huffington?” she asked, determined to keep her tears at bay. She cried far too easily these days. It was maddening.
“What about it?”
It seemed unfathomable, but she could tell by his bland tone that he wasn’t going to talk business.
Yet business was the only thing they’d ever had between them.
So what sort of business was he up to?
“No,” she said abruptly, stomping down on the panic that rose in her at the very thought of him staying with her. “Thank you for the offer, but I really can’t accept.”
“Why not?”
Her hands flopped. “Because it’s not…appropriate!”
His eyebrows rose a little. A muscle twitched at the corner of his lip. “Appropriate,” he mused. “Sounding a little virginal there, Nik.”
Her face went hot, but she managed to keep her chin up. “I don’t care what it sounds like. It’s true.”
“Definitely more agreeable when you