Finally, Gray found his voice and asked, “I take it you’re Beth, her sister?
Turning to face him as if she’d forgotten him for the moment, a shy smile settled on her lips, and she said, “Ye…Yes, I’m Beth.” Oh good grief, I’m stuck in this tiny room with two of the best-looking men I’ve ever seen in my life, and this outfit makes me look like a cow. Beth tried to discreetly smooth the dress down that she was wearing, terrified that it was riding up in the back and stuck to her butt.
Gray took a moment to study Suzy’s sister. Now that she was standing closer, he could see the resemblance. Suzy had red hair, and Beth had dark brown hair but their eyes were the same and the curve of their face very similar. Whereas Suzy was stop-traffic beautiful with her bold dressing and smoldering sexuality, Beth was more of a quiet beauty. Her dress was conservative, and unlike her sister, she obviously didn’t want or seek to be the center of attention. She was someone you would want to nurture and protect. Suzy was someone you would want to arm wrestle after a hot night of sex unless you took the time to know the woman behind the façade.
Gray released Suzy’s hand and walked over to Beth, “I’m Gray Merimon and it looks like you’ve met my brother Nick.” Beth shook the hand that he offered and turned back to her sister. “You must want some time alone with your sister. Nick and I will walk down for a cup of coffee so you can have some privacy. Can we bring you something back?”
“Oh, no, no thank you.” Giving him a grateful look, Beth slid into the seat he’d vacated, clearly relieved that they were leaving.
Chapter Five
“How’re you doing, bro?”
“Better, now that I know Suzy will be ok. Did you get me a new cell phone?”
“Oh yeah, got it right here.” Nick reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a sleek black cell phone. “How often are you going to change phones before you admit you have a problem?”
“I can handle it, Nick, just let it go.”
Nick gave him a disgusted look and said, “You haven’t thought this out, bro. You’re going to be here playing house with Suzy now and what happens when she finds out? You need to go ahead and tell her and then deal with it. Trying to ignore it hasn’t worked too well.”
Gray ran his hand through his hair and expelled a deep breath. Fatigue edged the corners of his mouth as he looked at his brother. Gone was the cocky grin that Nick usually wore, in its place was a look of concern.
“Nick, this is a first for me, and I don’t know what the hell to do. I just kept hoping she’d get the message without this getting ugly. I can’t figure out how she keeps getting my new number. I hate to think it, but someone within Mericom has to be leaking my personal information, and right now that’s our starting point. See if you can find a connection.
Gray lowered his voice and said quietly, “Nick, you know how I feel about Suzy. This could not have come at a worse time. She’s been hurt before, and I’m afraid this would cause her to run and never look back. I need your help to get this taken care of before she finds out about it. I’m so close to getting through to her, and I won’t let some nut job take that away.”
Nick clasped a hand on his shoulder and said, “You can count on me, bro. I’ll get right on it. None of this is your fault, so there is nothing for you to feel guilty about. With a smile of mischief, Nick added, “It’s just the curse of the good-looking Merimon Brothers, it drives some women a little crazy.”
Nick left to get checked into a hotel, and Gray made his way back to Suzy’s room. He was surprised and pleased to see that she was awake and talking to Beth. Gray walked over to the bedside and was relieved to see the color was back in her face. Beth had also helped her change into a gown that was much more…Suzy. The woman did like the leopard skin.
~~~
Suzy felt her heart skip a beat as Gray walked in the door. Here she was lying in a hospital bed in complete disarray, and he looked like he’d just stepped off the pages of GQ Magazine. She felt a little better since changing out of the horrid hospital gown but there was only so much leopard skin could do. Her hair was a mess, her make-up was gone, and she was pretty sure she even smelled. She looked like she’d been rode hard and put up wet.
Suzy cleared her throat and tried to come up with one of her usual smart comments. The fact that it wasn’t coming naturally was out of character. It must be the damn drugs. “Hey slick, sorry about the date disaster and all.”
“Couldn’t be helped, Suzanna. You might want to check into some more sensible shoes though before our next date,” Gray said.
“Yeah, right, I don’t do sensible, you should know that by now,” Suzy sniffed.
Gray walked over and picked her small hand up from the top of the hospital sheet and rubbed his thumb slowly back and forth over the sensitive nerves of her palm. He locked his gaze with hers and lowered his voice to a sexy timber, “Oh, I know you Suzanna, better than you know yourself.”
Beth shifted in place awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable with the tension in the room. “Um…Sis, I’m heading home now. Are you sure you don’t want me to call mom and dad?”
Tearing her gaze from Gray’s, Suzy warned, “You better not unless you want me to send them your way next.”
Beth held up her hands in surrender and said, “Ok, ok, but we might actually need their help. How are you going to get to the second-floor of your condo on crutches, and I also live on the second floor.”
“Beth don’t worry about it; Suzy will stay with me,” assured Gray.
“The hell I will,” shouted Suzy. The sudden movement jarred her injured ribs, and pain flooded through her.
Gray saw Suzy’s face pale and pressed the call button for a nurse. He rubbed her arm in a soothing pattern and said, “Baby, calm down. We can talk about all this later.”
A nurse came in and soon Suzy was floating again. As she was drifting away, she wondered when she’d started allowing Gray to call her ‘baby’ and had he always smelled sooo good.
Gray watched Suzy’s eyes grow heavy and soon the fight left her body. It was going to be a battle to convince her to move in with him until she was recovered. If he had his way, she’d be living with him permanently. This kicked things into overdrive a bit on the house front. He knew Suzy would use the excuse that he was living in the penthouse of Danvers to avoid moving in with him. He planned to take care of that in the morning. If there was one thing having money had taught him, things that usually took weeks could be accomplished in days or hours. He’d call a realtor tonight and look at homes first thing in the morning.