“I should’ve gone with your idea and gotten pizza, but I wanted to impress you, take you to a nice restaurant.” He groaned. “Real freaking impressive.”
Shayla tried to smile, but it seemed to take all her energy, so she gave up and rested her head against the wall next to the toilet. Vance had taken her to the movie, which had been better than she’d anticipated. Then they’d gone to Hook, Line and Sinker. The food had been wonderful, right up until they were halfway back to her apartment and she’d started to feel the first rumblings in her stomach. She’d raced to the bathroom the instant she had her front door unlocked.
She felt Vance’s hand against the top of her head, and her gaze shot to his. “You really don’t have to stay, Vance. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m sorry, honey, but you’re stuck with me.”
Somewhere in Shayla’s haze of pain, she saw the honest worry in Vance’s hazel eyes. “I—” Another pain caused her stomach to seize up, and Shayla bent her head over the ivory rim and heaved some more. Finally, there just wasn’t anything left to throw up, but the heck if her stomach was through torturing her.
Suddenly, she was thrown back in time to another stomach-clenching episode. Shayla had gotten a flu bug that had been going around at school, and it’d been her mom who had held her hair back. She’d been in the seventh grade, but she could still hear her mother’s calm voice, feel her mother’s soft touch as she stroked a cool washcloth over her forehead.
Vance’s hand smoothing her hair away from her face brought her back to the present. When she was sure her body was finished heaving, she lifted her head. Vance was there with a damp paper towel. She took it and swiped it over her mouth. Her stomach suddenly settled, and she knew she was on the downhill slide.
As she started to stand, Vance’s strong hands closed around her arms, lifting her to her feet. “Want to take a shower?” he asked. “Might help you feel better.”
“Oh man, a hot shower sounds great.” She looked up at him and cringed. “I bet this isn’t quite how you pictured the night going, huh?”
He winked. “We’ll have plenty of time for a do-over once you feel better.”
Her heart promptly turned to mush. She placed her hand on his chest and said, “Thank you,” then realized she probably had awful breath and quickly covered her mouth.
He pried her hand away from her mouth and held it tight. “Relax, Shay. I’m not going to bolt out the door just because you tossed your cookies.” He let go of her and stepped toward the door. “You have any green tea?”
She shifted from one foot to the other, embarrassed that he’d seen her like this. God, she could just imagine what she must look like. “There’s some tea in the cupboard next to the refrigerator.”
“I’ll make you a cup while you shower.”
“Oh, no, that’s really not necessary. In fact, if you’d rather head home—”
“Hush, woman. I’m not going anywhere until I see you settled.”
To hell with it. Shayla didn’t really want him to leave anyway. Maybe it was selfish of her, but it’d been so long since she’d had Vance all to herself, she wanted to soak in every minute. She smiled her consent, and he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Shayla went to the sink and looked into the mirror hanging above it. “Have mercy,” she grumbled when she saw her reflection. Her hair was sweaty and sticking to her head, and she was so pale she could’ve been mistaken for a corpse. Her stomach twisted a little, but not so much that she needed to hug the commode, thank God. A shower would help her look l
ess like something the cat dragged in, at least.
Shayla stripped out of her clothes and turned toward the tub. After she had the water temperature right, she stepped in and let the massaging jets work their magic. As the water cascaded down her body, she heard what sounded like pans clinking together. Vance was in the other room, she realized. Making her a pot of tea and caring for her.
In all her wildest dreams, never once did she imagine a moment like this. She’d hoped and prayed she’d have a second chance with him, but never had she let herself believe it might actually happen. Her heart soared, and a burst of adrenaline flooded her system. She felt instantly better. “Figures Vance Jennings would be the cure,” she mused aloud, suddenly in a hurry to finish.
As Vance rifled around in Shayla’s cabinet to find the tea, he thought back over the evening they’d shared. He’d enjoyed himself. Shayla was different than she used to be in a lot of ways, and tonight had felt like a real first date to him. Not like they were picking up where they’d left off, but more like they were two people getting to know each for the first time. When he found a box of green tea, he searched through another cupboard for honey. He found it sitting next to the toaster, took a teakettle off the stove and ran water in it. By the time the water was boiling, Shayla was walking into the room, a towel wrapped around her head. Vance looked her over, checking for signs that she should still be hugging the porcelain god. He noticed her pale face and the slow, careful way she moved, but since her skin no longer had a nasty greenish tint, he figured things were looking up for her.
She wore a pair of loose-fitting, hunter-green sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt that sported a picture of a bull and boldly stated University of South Florida. “You went to USF?” he asked, curious about her life. He’d heard the bad stuff, but he wanted to hear that she’d had some happy times too.
“Yeah. I loved it there. Even though Dad wouldn’t let me live on campus, the classes still got me away from the house, away from him. It was the only time I could let my guard down.” She went to the cupboard and took out a couple of mugs, then placed them on the counter next to the stove. “What about you? Did you go to college?”
“Yep. Ohio State University. Partied a little, studied a little, no great scholar or anything like that.” He looked at the pair of mugs and smiled. “I don’t do tea, Shay.”
“Oh.” She blushed. “I could make coffee or something. I don’t have any alcohol, though, sorry.”
He placed his hand on her back and nudged her. “Go sit down. I’ve got this.”
She laughed, and Vance thought it sounded way better than hearing her retch. “You always were too bossy for your own good, but this time, I don’t really mind.”
He grinned as he poured hot water over a tea bag. “I’m not going to lie; I do tend to give orders a lot. It annoys the crap out of my brothers.”
He held the mug out to her. After she took it, she said, “Speaking of your brothers, how are the renovations going at the diner?”