Gift Wrapped (9 page)

“You shouldn’t drive right now, your whole body is shaking. You’re probably in some degree of shock.”

“I’ll be fine. I need to be there. Just in case.”

Yeah, he got it. Worst-case scenario stuff. “I’ll go with you. To drive, that’s all.” Shit. Way to sound like a heartless asshole. Well, he wasn’t going to spit out any crap about feelings, so no point in trying to backpedal. “We’ll be on the road in five minutes.”

“I can’t let you do that. It’s Christmas Day.”

“Like I told you last night, I have no plans today.”

“No romantic plans, maybe, but what about your family? I’m sure they’re expecting to see you.”

He’d listened to her talk about her family last night, but carefully avoided mentioning his own. He no longer gave a fuck about those people, yet Brinn’s innocent assumption poked at him as if the wound were fresh and open. “No family obligations. No plans means exactly that—no plans.”

“Oh.” The softness of her voice said as much as the words she didn’t speak.

Sympathy. He didn’t want or need it. But he let it slide, because the source was genuine. “Five minutes.”

This time, she nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

He returned the gesture and strode from the bathroom. An unexpected road trip with a woman he’d just met, to meet her family under stressful emotional circumstances. Merry fucking Christmas, yet again.

* * * * *

Thank god the trip was almost over. The man driving was not the funny, relaxed conversationalist Brinn had spent time with last night. Since closing the Honda’s doors, Davis had instructed her to eat some of the food he’d brought. A couple times, he’d asked if she was too warm or cool. He’d acknowledged the directions she’d given. That was the extent of his communication. They certainly wouldn’t be sitting side by side in his car right now if he’d acted this way when they first met.

If driving her was such a hardship, why had he insisted? She would never understand men. Never.

“We’re almost there. The hospital is just ahead, on the left-hand side.”

His response— “K.” Not even
okay
, just
K
. Because god forbid he put the effort into that extra syllable.

She’d bitten her tongue so many times over the past two hours, she’d figuratively chewed the thing to the state of ground meat. No point in telling him he was acting like a jerk. Davis had informed her last night that he wasn’t a prince. She just hadn’t wanted to believe him.

“There it is.”

“Got it,” he said, indicating a turn that would take them into the parking garage.

“Don’t pull in here. Go up a bit and use the patient drop-off area.”

He carried on as instructed and found a space to idle near the main entrance. “I’ll double back and park, then meet you inside.”

“Davis, I appreciate not having to drive while my head was elsewhere, and I had a great time last night, but I’m good from here. I don’t need you to hang around.”

“I thought you had to work tomorrow.” So the broody male had paid attention when they’d talked last night. That made him slightly less of a jerk, but only slightly.

“I do, yes. Assuming my dad’s okay, I’ll go back to my apartment tonight.”

“How?”

“My brother can drive me.” Hell, she’d shell out the insane amount it would probably cost for a taxi. Whatever it took.

Davis’s forehead creased and his eyebrows drew together. “That’s what you want?”

She nodded and unbuckled her seat belt. This was it. Should she kiss him goodbye? What was the appropriate gesture at this point? Awkward, morning-after-the-one-night-stand crap sucked. “So, um, thanks.”

He caught her elbow before she pulled the door handle. “Wait.”

Stupid, fluttering heart. Hers was as weak as her dad’s, just in a different way. “Yes?”

A hint of smile played across his mouth. “I do like it when you say that word to me.” He released her arm and reached behind, into the gap between the front seats. “Here,” he said, producing a small red gift bag from the backpack he’d brought along.

“What’s this?”

He shrugged, making the muscles beneath his navy-blue t-shirt ripple. “Something I picked up for you.”

“Why?”

Warmth lived in the hazel eyes locked with hers. “Same reason I do everything. Because I wanted to. But it’ll keep until later.” He nodded toward the hospital. “Your dad is top priority.”

“Okay, then…thank you.”

Once again, he snagged her by the arm, stalling her exit. No talking this time. He leaned in and sealed his mouth to hers. Soft lips. Firm presence. Hint of tongue. The kind of kiss that should be a beginning. A hello. Only it was the opposite.

“Goodbye, Davis,” she said, opening the door and stepping onto the snow-dusted concrete.

“Merry Christmas, Brinn.”

The
thunk
of the closing door and
toot
from his horn punctuated the crisp December morning. Then he was gone.

Not bad, as endings went. The unexpected gift and sweetly hot kiss totally made up for his stony silence en route. Now she could file Davis under “good times had” instead of “stupid mistakes made.”

She filled her lungs with fresh, clean air. Big-city living had many benefits, but air quality wasn’t always among them.

The hospital environment didn’t smell so great either. Its antiseptic scent invaded her senses the instant she walked into the building, a pungent reminder that she’d entered a place filled with sickness—and death.

She hadn’t heard from her family since her brother’s text half an hour ago.
Still waiting on test results. No cell service inside. Go to emerg when you get here.

No news was better than bad news. Still, being in the hospital, knowing that her dad was somewhere within these walls, possibly in rough shape, had her stomach twisted into a knot of epic proportions. Thank god she knew her way around these halls.

Mall and hospital corridors had one thing in common—slow-moving people. She wove around them, gritting her teeth until she turned the final corner toward the emergency department.

“Dad!” Not only did she
not
use an indoor voice appropriate for hospitals, she sprinted down the hall at the sight of him.

He sat on one of the built-in chairs in the corridor. Mom and Zack stood in front of him. All three heads turned at the sound of her voice.

“There you are. Perfect timing. Now we can go home.” Mom crammed a bunch of papers into her purse and opened her arms for a hug. “Merry Christmas, honey.”

Brinn squeezed her mom, then moved to her dad, hugging him gently after Zack helped him to his feet. “I got here as fast as I could. I was so scared. What happened?”

“Angina. Nothing to worry about,” Dad said.

To Brinn’s left, Mom clucked her tongue.

“I know angina isn’t good news,” Brinn said. “But at least it wasn’t a heart attack.”

“Exactly.” Her dad looked past her, to his wife. “Nothing a little rest and some medication can’t fix right up.”

“Don’t think you’re going to get away with this dismissive attitude, Joe. When Brinn reads through the information from the doctor, I doubt you’ll be seeing such a relieved expression on her face.”

Brinn glanced back and forth between her parents. Both appeared pale and tired. Relieved and frustrated as well. Whatever information her mom had, it could wait until they both had their feet up at home.

“Let’s hash this out at the house. Give me your keys and I’ll go get the car.” She extended her hand, palm up. “Is it in the parking garage, or over on the side street?”

“Your dad and I came in an ambulance.” Her mom shot another half-worried, half-annoyed look at the patient. “We can go with Zack, or in your car.”

“We’ll all have to go with Zack. I didn’t bring my car.”

“Then how did you get here?” Mom glanced at her watch. “And so quickly?”

“I had dinner at a friend’s house after work last night, and ended up crashing there. I was pretty upset when I got your call earlier, so I accepted a ride instead of driving myself.”

“How kind of your friend, especially with it being Christmas.”

“Yes, very,” Brinn said.

“You’re always working so much, I didn’t realize you’d met any new people since moving out there. Is she another store manager from the mall?”

Oh boy. Get the broom and dustpan ready, because there’d be worms all over once she opened this can. “She’s a he, and I met him at the mall, but he doesn’t work there.”

Two blank faces stared at her as the implications of that information set in.

Golden-haired Zack, on the other hand, sprouted a toothy grin. “Didn’t you just break up with Liam a couple of weeks ago, or less?” He laughed when she swatted him. “Look at you, on the rebound. Way to go, baby sister.”

“It’s not like that, Zack.”

“Of course it’s not, honey.” This time, Mom issued the swat to Zack’s arm, silencing him where Brinn’s smack had failed. Unfortunately, she then turned her attention on Brinn. “I gather your friend had other Christmas plans—that’s why he’s not with you now?”

“You know how it is. Christmas is a busy day for everybody.” Carefully chosen words. Her cheeks warmed and acid from her churning stomach crawled up her throat, as always happened when she told anything but the whole truth. She swallowed the nastiness down while faking a smile. “And on the subject of Christmas Day, let’s get out of here. I need eggnog, stat.”

“Me too,” her dad piped up.

“Oh, no. There’ll be none of that for you.” Gwyneth McIntyre linked her arm with her husband’s as they started slowly down the corridor. “Unless you want your next visit here to include surgery.”

Brinn’s chest tightened at the comment. Seeing Dad waiting in the hall had alleviated her fear. Obviously, that had been premature. At least he was upright and mobile. They’d have to work together as a family to ensure he stayed that way. Easier said than done when she lived two hours away.

Zack looped his arm around her shoulders. “You okay, kiddo?” he asked, in a voice low enough that their parents ahead wouldn’t hear.

“Mostly. Just worried about Dad. I have to go back tonight, so I’m not going to be much help with whatever needs to be done here.”

“Don’t sweat it. I’m always around if they need anything.”

“Way to make me feel worse instead of better.”

Never one to apologize when he jammed his foot in his mouth, Zack laughed instead. “That’s on you, Brinn. The only person in this family who thinks you should do more or try harder is you.”

He was right. Though Zack, Mom and Dad all had professions in which they excelled, none of them had ever judged her multiple bumbled attempts at establishing a meaningful career.

She’d been top of her class in hospitality management at college, but never properly used her diploma. Because of a guy. She’d worked her way up the store-management ladder, only to have knocked herself down, twice, by asking for transfers. Because of a guy.

Yet her family didn’t criticize her choices—job-related or personal—even when
she
could see them for mistakes in the making. They simply supported her. No matter what.

She sighed and Zack squeezed her in response. No more needed to be said on the subject. Especially not on Christmas Day.

“You three wait in the lobby,” Zack said, as they approached the main entrance Brinn had used not ten minutes earlier. “I’ll go bail my car out of the overpriced parking garage.”

“I’ll go with you,” she said, as their parents continued toward the single row of chairs lining the floor-to-ceiling windows. The walk to the garage would give her time to hit Zack up for a ride later, without raising their parents’ interest or concern.

He tugged the lapel of her lightweight jacket. “Walk all that way in this coat that’s not really a coat?” He shook his head. “You’d better wait inside too, fashionista.”

She opened her mouth to argue, then her jaw fell practically to the ground, rendering her speechless. Zack’s step to the left had opened a direct sightline to the lobby area. And the man waiting there.

Davis, twenty feet directly ahead. He sat on one of the lobby chairs, sort of leaning forward. Legs spread, elbows on his knees with his hands clasped loosely in the space between. Even in this environment, he had killer good looks. The shaved head, wide shoulders and well-worn jeans. The strong jaw and hint of a smile. Those piercing eyes, focused solely on her.

Somebody call a custodian, because she’d probably just drooled all over the floor.

“He didn’t leave,” she whispered.

Zack followed her gaze to the man currently heading her way. “That’s your rebound guy?”

For the sake of expediency, she went with “Yes.”

“Classy move, waiting around for you. That, or you chose an obsessive stalker type. Scenario one—good on him. Scenario two—I’m gonna kick his ass so hard he has to limp down to the emerg.” Good old big-brother Zack, still willing to issue a beat-down in defense of his baby sister.

“No ass kicking required.”

Zack’s eyes narrowed. “Hope not. I still have to catch up with that last idiot.” Meaning Liam. “Or maybe this new guy would like that pleasure.”

“Go get the car.”

Zack responded to her dismissal with a snort. He nodded at Davis in passing, then cut a straight path to the sliding doors, leaving her alone—relatively speaking—with Davis.

“Hi. You’re still here,” she said, sounding ridiculously like a breathless, smitten teenage girl. Add a decade to that and it was totally accurate. “Not that I’m complaining.”

His smile weakened her knees. Not that she minded that, either.

“Your dad’s going home already. That’s great news.”

“It is. I don’t have all the details yet, but apparently it was angina, not a heart attack. Thank goodness.”

“Definitely.”

“We’re going back to my parents’ house now. A double celebration today. Would you like to join us? There’ll be cranberry sauce from a can, stuffing from a box, and if you’re really lucky, instant pudding from a mix.”

* * *

There it was—the big invitation. One Davis had expected and dreaded since walking into this hospital. Watching Brinn bite her plump bottom lip and sway a little while she hung the offer out there… His answer was instant and automatic.