Page 26 of About Last Night

Dr. Pedro's mouth turned down. "We had to transport three people to the hospital this morning, but we're optimistic they'll respond to an antibiotic IV."

Derek sobered. "How long will we be confined?"

"Until the source of the bacteria is detected, the method of contagion identified, and the incubation period has passed."

"Worst-case scenario?" he asked.

The doctor shrugged. "Two weeks."

Derek's knees felt rubbery. "I have to sit down." He dropped to the side of the bed, reeling. He was going to have to resist Janine for two weeks? Plus, in two weeks the Phillips Honey account would be long gone, and possibly his company's viability.Jack, where the hell are you?

"But that's worst-case scenario," Dr. Pedro reminded him.

The men walked to the door, their heads bent in discussion. When the door closed, Derek lay back on the bed, holding his head and wondering if the situation could possibly get more bizarre.

"Derek?" Janine yelled from the bathroom. "Derek!" Her voice held a note of panic that brought him to his feet.

He raced to the door and pressed his cheek against the smooth surface. "What's wrong?"

"I'm stuck."

Derek frowned. "What do you mean, you're stuck?"

"I mean my big toe... it's stuck in the bathtub faucet. Help me!"

Chapter 8

WARM SUDSYwater lapped at her mortified ears. Janine stared down at the end of the tub where her leg arched up out of the water—bent at the knee, dripping foam, and ending in a union with the shiny gold faucet. Trapped in the opening of the chrome fixture, her big toe was as red as a cherry tomato from several minutes of futile tugging—a fitting end to her outrageous behavior, she decided. For fantasizing about another man, she was now trapped in this bathroom, a realization that did not sit well with her preference for open spaces. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears.

She hadn't heard the door open, but suddenly Derek's big body was silhouetted through the shower curtain.

"Janine, from the other side of the door it sounded like you said—"

"My big toe is stuck in the bathtub faucet."

He scoffed. "That's impossible."

"I beg to differ," she said miserably, then moved the curtain aside to peep out at him. "Are you going to help me or not?"

The man looked harried. And not well. Guilt barbed through her. She should be looking after her Best Man who was feeling under the weather instead of getting into scrapes. At the moment, however, she had no choice but to don the most pitiful expression she could conjure up.

It must have worked because Derek threw his hands in the air. "What do you want me to do?"

"Hand me a towel so I can cover myself, then try to get my toe unstuck."

He looked up, as if appealing to a higher power, then sighed and handed her a towel.

"Thank you." She dunked the thick towel under the water, dissolving mounds of bubbles, and spread it over her nakedness. But her heart thumped wildly at the thought of Derek seeing her yet again in a state of near undress, especially when she was so recently sated on thoughts of him. "Okay, I'm ready."

His large fingers curled around the edge of the shower curtain, and he pushed it aside slowly. The cool air hit her bits of exposed skin and sent a chill down her neck. She shivered, an all-over body shimmy, although she conceded she couldn't blame her reaction entirely on the elements. The man was huge, especially from her angle, his proportions nearly those of a professional athlete. A memory surfaced that Steve had once told her he had a pal who had played college football. Perhaps he'd meant Derek.

He ran a hand down over his face and looked at her through his fingers."Whatis a person thinking when she shoves her toe up a faucet?"

She wasn't about to tell him what she'd been thinking—and doing. "Are you going to help me or not?"

He slid the curtain to the wall, then lowered himself to one knee.

She felt at a terrible disadvantage at this lower level, not to mention naked and submerged. The towel covered her but clung to her figure in a way that emphasized every curve. Of course, it didn't matter, since the man seemed completely unfazed. He leaned close to the faucet, so close she could feel his breath on her bare leg. Thank goodness she'd shaved them earlier.

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