Page 4 of Taming Drew

Oh, this can’t be good.You can always tell when Lily’s got something bad to share.Her tight jaw and furrowed brow replace her normally calm demeanor. I bite my lower lip. “What’s wrong?”

She blows out her breath. “Phoebe’s sick, and one of the Mustang players got into a fight. He’s at the hospital. Mia said he may have a head injury, so someone needs to physically take him back to his condo until I can find a nurse or an aid to stay with him.” She purses her lips. “You mentioned your daughter was heading to the Campbell ranch after school?”

“Yeah. Freya’s been looking forward to the twins’ birthday for a month.”

Lily frowns. “Phoebe is going to be so sad to miss it.”

“Maybe she’ll feel better and be able to join the festivities tomorrow.”

“That would be nice.” She purses her lips. “Who’s taking Freya to the ranch?”

“Mia gets off her nursing shift in time to pick up her boys and Freya from school. Freya’s gone a couple of times with Mia and the boys, so she’s comfortable. She doesn’t need me, anyway. You know, she’s eight, going on twenty.”

Lily nods. “I wish Phoebe was more independent.”

I touch Lily’s arm. “What do you need?” We’ve become close friends, so I’m sure whatever this is, it’s difficult for her to ask, which makes me nervous.

She chews on her bottom lip, her only real tell that she’s not happy. “I wouldn’t ask, but we’re short staffed, and I really don’t have anyone else to send.” She sighs. “Andy’s at Dallas Baptist in the Emergency Department. If you can go get him and take him home, I’ll see who I can send to stay with him tonight.”

“Sure. I’ll go now.”

“Thank you, Chloe. I’m aware this isn’t usually a job for a brilliant accountant.”

I hug Lily, right before her phone rings again. “All hands, right?” I step into my office and grab my purse. I flick my wrist to check the time and pull out my keys. “Hopefully, this Andy guy is at least cute.”Oh crap, I don’t know his last name.I call out. “Lily, who’s Andy?”

Lily’s hand rises, and she flicks her hand as she speaks on her phone.

Well, that’s probably another client in trouble. How many Dallas Mustang football players are in the Emergency Department?I’ll figure it out.

I park in the visitor lot and walk in the hospital entrance. I hike my purse on my shoulder, smiling at the lady sitting at the desk. “Hi. I’m here to pick up Andy.”

She frowns. “Um. Just a second.”

My nose crinkles. There’s no smell quite like a hospital. Clean but not, a sickening lemony bleach smell that reminds you of sick people and death. I shudder, feeling like I’m standing in a cemetery.

The woman looks up from her screen. “I’m not seeing an ‘Andy’.”

“Okay. My boss said…” I lean in and lower my voice. “A Mustang football player is here, and I’m his ride. You can call Mia Campbell, she’s in the ED today.”

Her eyes open wider. “Mia called your boss?” Her eyes lighten up with understanding. “Oh. Yes.” She turns from side to side and smiles. “I’ll push the button for the ED entrance, and you’ll head through the door, down the hall, to the left.”

The double doors open, and I follow the signs to the ED. A group of people congregate in the middle of the hallway, including Mia, the mother of the birthday twin boys.

“Hey, Chloe.”

“Hi. Mia. I’m looking for a Mustang football player.”

She smirks. “He’s in room six. I’ll take you.”

I smell the air, my stomach flips.I hate the odor and feel of hospitals. I’m always expecting some ghost to appear before me and yell, ‘boo’.

Mia pushes open the door. “Here you go.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” There sits the man I hate. The man who made my life miserable for years. “Fucking ghost.”

DREW

I focuson the beautiful raven-haired beauty standing with the redhead nurse. “No joke, baby. It’s me, Drew King, in the flesh.”

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