“Is the deal no longer on the table?” I asked, trying to swallow my nerves.
He stayed utterly quiet while the insides of my palms formed sweat beads.
“Well?” I prodded.
He shook his head, his sleepy eyes meeting mine. “I don’t want to force you, Syd. I shouldn’t have said it that way. That was wrong.”
Something inside me softened.
He added, “But … if you really want to … I won’t turn you down.” There was just the slightest, almost-microscopic, tiniest little smirk on his face, and I just wanted to smack it off. But then he said, “But if you really don’t want to, the account is still yours. I was just being an asshole, trying to coerce you. Sorry.”
Yeah, you were, I thought, indignant. And relieved. Because he was taking the strings off the table. I didn’t have to stay …
But there was something about how helpless he looked, the giant in the bed.
“Well, too late,” I said. “I’m here. So, get used to me.” I swallowed and thought for a second. I didn’t know how much I should reveal, but he probably knew everything already, knowing he and Brandy were close. I sighed as I sat next to him on the bed. “It’s no secret, especially probably to you, that the Loverly Ad Agency is struggling. We just lost a big client, and now … we were going to sell. So, this deal with you and Logan, it would …” I was trying to find the words, but they got stuck in my throat. This was more than an ad agency; this was my mother’s legacy, our livelihood. “It would buy us more time.”
Our eyes locked, and I was sure he could read all of my emotions swimming in mine. I didn’t hide things well. I wasn’t a good liar. Everything I felt showed on my face. All the time.
“I guarantee you, the deal is yours,” he promised, his voice quiet.
I swallowed hard, my shoulders relaxing, our eyes still locked in some sort of trance. And for the life of me, I couldn’t tear my gaze away.
I wanted to say,Thank you, but I was worried I might start crying, and I didn’t think I could bear the next four weeks if I did that, so I simply nodded, choking everything down, and reached for his pills and the water. “Nurse Sydney to the rescue.”
And this time, his smile was genuine. Not the barely there, insufferable smirk or the dopey anesthesia grin, but a real smile, and he said the words that I couldn’t. “Thank you.” He took the pills from me and the glass of water and gulped his medication down.
After I placed the water glass back on his side table, he reached for my hand, bringing it to his chest. “I think you might be my favorite nurse.” Then, he kissed the top of my fist, stirring up a slew of unwanted butterflies in the pit of my stomach.
Holy crap.I take back my words that I’d said earlier. Austin Callaway might still be high on anesthesia.
CHAPTER18
AUSTIN
It hurt to move,and my brain was a little foggy. If I could’ve had surgery without the anesthesia, I would have done it. I shifted, feeling pain shoot up my left shoulder.
“Here, let me help you,” Sydney said, leaning closer, one knee on the bed, one hand guiding my back, the other on my good shoulder to sit me up against the headboard.
My eyes went to the clock. It was almost ten in the evening. She had stayed the whole day, even after she gave me my meds and I was knocked out.
Well, shit.I was already starting to like this woman—her sassy attitude and her huge heart. Now, her taking care of me was going to be the death of me. And the list of what I owed her was accumulating.
“I’m fine.” Plus, I weighed close to two hundred pounds while she probably weighed a hundred and nothing.
I scooted to the edge of the bed, closed my eyes, and gritted my teeth.
I thought that the pain meds would have kicked in since I had taken them hours ago.
“I gotta piss,” I said, my eyes still scrunched tightly.
“I’ll help you.”
My eyes flew open then. The words had slipped out. I wasn’t asking her for assistance, not this time. And I was a little surprised that she’d offered, given how she’d been huffing and puffing earlier in the hospital.
She looked at me like she knew what I was thinking. “I’m not holding your dick, obviously. I’m just going to help you up.”
“I think I’ll be okay,” I said, laughing. My face scrunched. It even hurt to laugh.