Page 84 of Full House

“I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m not experiencing any pains or anything.”

“Let me know right away. Even if it’s just a twinge.”

She squeezed him tighter and was thankful for the returned added pressure as his arms hugged her back. While the accident really wasn’t much to speak of, it had been scary at the time. “I will.”

His lips found the top of her head and stayed there, his warm breaths heating her scalp. She wasn’t sure how long they held each other, long enough for the police to arrive.

A uniformed police officer approached them. “Mr. Reed,” he said, tipping his head and pulling out a notepad. “I’m here to take down your account of the accident.”

Victoria saw Nate frown. “Where’s Smith?”

“He sent me, sir. That’s all I know.”

Nate’s jaw hardened, and his eyes blazed. Victoria placed a comforting hand on his arm and spoke softly, “Maybe he was busy or too far away. Don’t ream the middleman.” Her lips quirked, and she gave his arm a squeeze, hoping to jolly him out of his temper.

His chest inflated as he took a deep breath. Releasing it slowly, he gave her a small smile, letting her know he was back in control.

Victoria excused herself when the officer had Nate rehash the accident, and going to the car, she grabbed her phone to check the time.

She hadn’t realized it was so late. Half past one. She saw she missed a call from Byron and quickly called him.

“Where are you?”

Of course, that would be his first question and not concern over why they were late. “We were in a car accident. We’re not going to make it.”

She heard him excuse himself—presumably from the table—and a few panting breaths later, he said in a lower voice, “This meeting is important, Victoria.”

She was instantly pissed off. Damn him and his one-track mind. “It was a small fender bender. Scary, but we’re fine. Thanks for asking.”

Her sarcasm was hard to miss. He didn’t. She heard him sigh. “Obviously, I was concerned until you called.”

“Obviously.” Yes, her reply still dripped with sarcasm.

She heard him sigh again. “Listen, let’s start over. I’m glad you’re okay, but seeing as it was—in your words—a small fender bender, do you think you can still come now? I’m sure Gideon won’t mind waiting if I explain the situation to him.”

“I don’t know. The police just arrived so it might take a while.”

“The police were called for a mere fender bender?”

“Nate thought it was a good idea in light of what’s been happening lately even though the police already have a suspect in custody.”

“Wait. The police have someone in custody? How did I not know that? When did that happen? Who is it?”

She was startled by his rapid-fire line of questioning and was reluctant to give away too much information not knowing what Smith would consider confidential. She kicked herself for saying anything in the first place. “Um, I’m not sure. I think sometime this morning and some crazy fan.”

“But they didn’t tell you who?” His tone was a little weird, but she brushed it off as his insistence on needing to know everything.

Nate waved to her, and she said into the phone, “I’ve got to go. We’ll talk later. Please give my excuses to Mr. Warren and tell him if he’d still like to meet, I’ll accommodate him, on his time schedule.”

“Now that the person has been caught, are you still leaving at the end of the week?”

“Everything’s happened so suddenly, I’m not sure what our plans are now.” For some reason, she held back informing him she and Nate still planned to leave. Them getting married was something she definitely didn’t want Mr. Big Mouth to know about.

“Please keep me in the loop, Victoria. You know I need to know these things.”

“Bye, Byron.” She hung up before he could say anything else. That man could talk!

She joined Nate and the officer, Nate’s arm coming around her as soon as she drew near. “Sweetheart, you got the license plate number of the car?”

---