Chapter Four
Greer sat in the hospital bed, wearing one of those awkward backless gowns with a warm blanket pulled up to her waist. She’d made Xander leave the room while she changed, and was actually surprised he’d stayed so long. They were just waiting on the doctor to come back in with her scan results, and she’d told him he could go. She’d called Sam from the hospital landline and left messages for him on his cell and at work. She hadn’t heard back yet, but she was sure he would be there soon.
“You don’t have to stay with me,” she told Xander for the fifteenth time.
He looked up from the magazine in his hands, an older issue of Cosmo that he’d grabbed from a rack on the wall.
“And I told you, I’m good. I’m learning all about what kind of skin I have and the proper cleaning regiment I should be implementing. I can’t believe I’ve been using a bar of soap all these years.”
She laughed, she couldn’t help it. The guy was funny. Charming. Add that to the rest of his pretty packaging and he seemed just about perfect.
Someone knocked on the door and Dr. Peterson stepped in. She was older, maybe mid-fifties, with gray laced brown hair and blue eyes. She sat down on the stool in front of the computer against the wall, facing Greer with a smile.
“I have good news.”
“That’s a relief,” Greer said.
“It is considering the fall you took. You’ve definitely got a concussion, and some bumps and bruises, but nothing that won’t heal. There were no subdermal hematomas on your scans. I just want you to rest and take it easy for the next few days. The nurse will come in with your prescription in a few minutes. Do you have someone who could stay with you?”
The doctor’s glance cut to Xander, a small smile on her lips that made Greer’s face warm.
“Yeah, I’ll call my friend, Jill,” Greer said. Since her boyfriend seemed to be MIA.
Dr. Peterson slapped her hands down on her knees. “Excellent. Your primary care physician’s nurse will be contacting you in a few days for a follow up. It was nice to meet you both and be careful next time you go jogging. You should take a friend with you.”
“I will. Thank you.”
The doctor disappeared out the door, and Greer got up from the bed, careful to keep her front to him. “I guess I better call Jill to come get me.”
“I’ll drop you at home and she can meet you there,” Xander said.
“Are you sure? Because I know this is really weird and you are being so chivalrous—
Suddenly, Xander was right in front of her. She hadn’t even seen him move, he was so fast, and he tapped her mouth with the tip of his finger. “I want to make sure you get home safe, Greer. If I didn’t want to be here, I’d have left already. Stop worrying.”
Greer stared up at him while his finger trailed slowly down her lips to her chin. For a second, she thought he was going to kiss her…
But he stepped back, dropping his hand to his side.
“I’ll duck out so you can dress.”
The minute the door closed behind him she could breathe again. What was it about him that made her so loopy?
It had to be the eyes. Or his smile?
She was a hussy, that was all there was to it.
Plus, she was a little irritated with Sam. She’d left several voice mails and called the bank where he worked, hoping one of the tellers could grab him. Only both times, he’d been in a meeting and had told them to tell her he’d call her back. She knew that it was his job, but her calling multiple times should have tipped him off that it was an emergency.
Greer dressed quickly, wanting to get the heck out of there and back home where food and her comfortable couch waited. She’d had a protein bar before her run several hours ago, and her stomach was protesting the lack of sustenance. She caught her reflection in the door glass and winced.
Xander had been kind to call her gorgeous when she looked like a train wreck. Wild, messy hair and dirt streaks across her forehead and cheeks. Why hadn’t one of the nurses said something to her?
She washed her face in the sink and ran a paper towel over it. Feeling less grimy, she smiled when the nurse came in and handed her the paper with her pain medication prescription.
“I hope you feel better,” the cheerful red head in purple scrubs said.
“Thanks.” When she was gone, Greer dialed out for Jill on the hospital phone and left her a voicemail to meet her at her place when she could. She stepped out into the hallway and found Xander leaning against the wall waiting for her. She saw several women in scrubs watching him from a doorway, their gazes traveling over his body. She couldn’t blame them. His jacket was tossed over one tan arm, his navy t-shirt making his eyes seem richer and the jeans he was wearing emphasized his long legs. The guy was tall, well-built, and any girl’s wet dream.
Even mine.
She needed to get a grip on herself and stop being a lust puppy. She could drool over Chris Pine. He was famous, sexy and completely unattainable.
Xander was within arm’s length and had already admitted to flirting with her. That made the entire situation they were in less innocent and she was already feeling guilty about her freak out over Sam’s proposal.
She needed to be friendly but professional. And stop melting every time Xander smiled at her.
“Hey, I’m ready.” Her voice came out squeakier than usual.
Xander stood up straight and shrugged into his jacket. “Are you hungry?”
“Starved actually, but I will just make something at home.”
“We can grab something,” he said.
“It’s okay. I have a prescription to pick up that won’t be ready for a while, so I have to come back to town anyway.”
He frowned at her, his expression stern. “The doctor said for you to take it easy, remember? Why don’t I take you to lunch and we’ll pick up the prescription on the way back to your place?”
Sitting down with Xander for lunch, staring at him across a table with food? Bad idea. “No, that’s okay, really.”
“I insist. Unless you don’t want to be seen with me?”
His teasing had the desired effect and she caved. “You are really being too nice to me. It wouldn’t take very long to go home and get my purse. I should be feeding you after everything you’ve done.”
“You can get lunch next time.”
“You think there’s going to be a next time?” she asked.
He leveled her with those sparkling blue eyes and she forgot to breathe.
“I hope so.”