Page 7 of Indiscretion

“No, I thought the pink was cute. Color makes me happy.”

“If you say so. I guess your knuckles were broken?”

I nodded. “And you lied to me. It hurt like hell when they put them back into alignment.”

Dawson’s lip twitched. “I figured you were stressed enough. You didn’t need to add anticipating pain that makes you want to throw up to everything else.”

“And why didn’t you tell me what my face looked like?”

Two lines formed between his brows. “What was wrong with your face?”

“Apparently the lashes I had put on came off of one eye while I was sleeping, and some of the mud mask I did last night didn’t wash off.”

Dawson’s eyes roamed my face. “Huh. So your nose isn’t crooked?”

“No! It wasthe mud. I looked deformed.”

He shrugged. “I thought you were cute anyway.”

I felt an unexpected flutter in my belly, but ignored it. “What are we going to do about the cabin?”

Dawson put his hand on my lower back and urged me to start walking. “Can we talk about it on the drive back? The guy in there on my left is hacking up a lung. I think he has tuberculosis.”

I glanced over at the man coughing. “Tuberculosis? Isn’t that a little over the top? It’s probably just a virus or the flu.”

“The guy’s sweating and thin. I looked up the symptoms. Fever and loss of appetite are common indicators of TB.”

I stopped in place. “Oh my God. I forgot what Lily said when she told me one of Ben’s friends was a defense attorney.”

“What did she say?”

My head bent back in laughter. “That you were smart, super competitive, and handsome, but also a germaphobe. Is that why you showered at two in the morning?”

“I stopped at rest stops. Do you know how much shit grows in those disgusting bathrooms?”

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t stop laughing—not as we exited the emergency room or as we walked to where Dawson’s car was parked.

He opened the door for me with a frown. “It’s not that funny.”

I spoke through giggles. “I think I’m just sleep deprived. When I’m exhausted, sometimes my emotions are oddly strong. You’re lucky I’m not crying—I might not be able to stop that either.”

He pointed to the car. “Get in or I’m leaving you here, and you can cry all you want.”

I kept laughing all through the seatbelt buckling, which took extra long since I normally did it with my right hand.

“So what are we going to do about the cabin?” I asked when Dawson got in the car.

“I emailed the woman who rented it to us via the Airbnb website, but she hasn’t responded yet. It’s only six thirty here, and her bio said she lives on the West Coast. But in the meantime, I texted Ben. Lily’s staying with her sister until their wedding night. He said I can crash on his couch until then. So we have two nights to figure it out before one of us is out on our ass.”

“I feel bad making you sleep on a couch when we both paid for the cabin.”

“I can always share the bed with you…”

“On second thought, rooming with Ben sounds like fun.”

Dawson chuckled and put the car in drive. “That’s what I thought.”

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