“I brought your friend for a visit,” the nurse said cheerfully. “The doctor should be back soon to give you discharge instructions and then you can go.”
Taryn wet her lips and gave the nurse a wan smile. “Thanks.”
The nurse checked something on a monitor and then left them alone in the room, awkwardness filling the space in his absence.
Shaw folded his arms across his chest and swallowed past the dryness in his throat. “Uh, your friend…the unicorn should be here any minute. Rivers found her and let her know what was going on.”
Taryn winced. “God, poor Kincaid. She’s going to be in a panic. Does she know I’m okay?”
“Yeah, I texted Rivers. He’s riding here with her since I took the car.”
Taryn sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses. “Thank you. And not just for that. Thanks for doing this, for helping. I’m so sorry.”
Shaw shrugged and stayed by the door. “Nothing to be sorry for. You needed help. The doc said everything’s all right?”
She shifted on the pillows, looking more than a little uncomfortable. “Yeah, I feel pretty stupid right now. I thought…I thought I was having a heart attack or something.” She looked down at the covers and picked at a stray thread in the blanket. “Turns out it’s just mild dehydration and exhaustion.”
“Exhaustion?”
She smoothed the blanket. “Yeah, apparently it’s a bad idea to pull an all-nighter going over research, skip breakfast because you’re running late, and then attempt to break land speed records at a race the next morning when you’re completely out of shape.”
“You’re not out of shape,” he said without thinking.
Her attention snapped to him.
“I mean…” he said, backpedaling. “Well, I saw you running before you fell. If you were completely out of shape, you never would’ve been able to do that. But yeah, that doesn’t sound like a good pre-race plan. I didn’t realize exhaustion could cause chest pains. They checked your heart?”
“Yeah, everything looks okay.” Her mouth tilted wryly. “According to the esteemed professionals of this fine establishment, the chest pains were just straight-up stress.” She made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “So yeah, I made a complete spectacle of myself, ruined your day, and freaked out my friends, all because I’m apparently a little stressed and didn’t sleep enough.”
Shaw relaxed his stance and stepped fully inside the room. “You didn’t ruin my day. I’m glad you’re all right.”
“You keep seeing me at my very worst,” she said, sitting up higher in the bed. “I’m usually not this much of a disaster.”
“Maybe I’m bad luck,” he said, not entirely joking.
She laughed. “Yes, this is clearly all your fault. Good thing you turned me down for coffee. Who knows what would’ve happened?”
“I didn’t turn you down,” he said before he’d thought out the implication of the words.
Her brows lifted. “No, you’re right. You just…disappeared before I got to hear the no.”
He blew out a breath and leaned against the wall. “I’m sorry. That was a crap thing to do. I guess I just didn’t know what to say.”
She smiled a warm, easy smile. “I’m a big girl, Lucas. I would’ve been able to handle a no. It’s not a big deal.”
“I didn’t want to say no,” he said almost under his breath.
Taryn was quiet for a moment. “Oh?”
Hell. How’d he get himself in this conversation? “Yeah, I…I don’t date. Things in my life are too busy right now with the new business to fit anything else in, so I didn?
??t want to…give a false impression.” You know, like a fake name and a bogus life history. “But I also didn’t want to say no, so I left. I’m sorry. I know that was lame.”
Taryn leaned back against her pillow, relief crossing her features. “It’s fine. Believe me, I’m well versed in the too-busy-to-have-a-life school. I’m right there with you. When I got off the phone that night, I was turning around to tell you I needed to offer a rain check if you said yes.”
He chuckled. “The coffee that truly wasn’t meant to be.”
“Maybe we could have one in a completely non-date capacity at some point. I have a lot to thank you for, it seems. I might even get you a pastry. If gym owners actually allow themselves such decadence.”