Page 13 of Wreck Me
“I’m not giving you a job. You earned it. You’re a great bartender, and I need someone that can run a bar. You know how, so you have the job.”
“Well, thank you. But still, you’ve done enough. No more. I’ll sort all this out on my own. Okay?” She sighed. “Look, I know this puts the opening of the bar back a bit and I’m sorry—”
“Don’t worry about it, Meg-pie. It actually works out. Renovations got behind and I have some wiggle room for the opening. And I’ll be around since we got booted from the playoffs.” He muttered the last part.
Her brother was the first baseman for the Florida Sun Sox major league baseball team and the home run king of the majors. The Suns had made it all the way to the National League playoffs before getting booted. Nate had been in the majors for over a decade, and he had a love/hate relationship with the end of the season.
Megan chuckled softly to keep her head from hurting. “Oh, you know you’re okay with it.”
He sighed. “Yeah, maybe. I know it gets harder each year to recover. Anyway, do what you need to do to get well with that concussion. We’ll figure out what to do with the car.”
“Uh, we’re going to get the car fixed. I can’t leave without Beatrix.”
“You and that damn car.” Humor tinged his voice. “Okay, I gotta go. I’ve kept the sponsors waiting long enough. Love you, Meg-pie.”
“Love you too.” She hung up and closed her eyes.
The sound of rolling wheels scraped across the floor before they stopped. Aidan’s boots made a soft shuffling sound across the dark hardwood floor as he made his way into the living room.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked, crouching down next to her.
She cleared her throat. “A bed. I need to lay my head down.”
“Right, follow me.” He closed his hand around hers so she had no choice but to follow him through the living room and kitchen area and down a short hall. He opened the door on the left. “I’m giving you my room.”
She stopped at the doorway. “No. No way. I’m not taking your room.”
“Well, the only other bed in this house is in the loft.”
“I’ll do that. I’m not taking your bed.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. The only way to access it is by a ladder. You’re not climbing a ladder in your condition and risking further injury.”
She sighed. He wasn’t wrong. There was no way she was climbing a ladder of any sort. “Fine. You win.”
The room was minimal but comfy, just like the rest of the house she’d seen thus far. She walked in and sat on the edge of the bed, bouncing a little on it. “Comfortable bed.”
He slid his hands into his back pockets. “I’ll get your suitcase then leave you to rest.”
Before she could thank him, he was out the door, so she laid her head down with a moan. She couldn’t remember the last time laying her head down felt so damn good. She sniffed the pillow, and the scent of fabric softener made her smile. There might not be much more than the bed in his room, but it was soft and cozy and she wanted to sleep for a hundred years.
Megan opened her eyes when Aidan came through the door. She wanted to sit up and thank him, but she just didn’t have the energy to do it.
“Here you go,” he said, lifting the luggage and putting it on a bench at the end of the bed. “Need anything else?”
“No, I’m great now that I’ve laid my head down. Thank you so much, Aidan. I really appreciate it.”
He nodded. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Mmm…” She closed her eyes again, and the fabric rubbed against her face as she nodded.
As darkness took over, her mind wandered to the man with bright sky-blue eyes, and she wished she’d met him before her self-induced man hiatus.
Five
Midnight Questions
Megan woke in stages.The first thing she registered was the soft, clean-smelling sheets. She opened her eyes, or at least she thought she did. The room was too dark to tell.
