Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,98
a tablet, and he glanced up when they walked in.
“Hey,” he said. “Addison, right?”
She tried to smile. “Yes. Hello again.”
“Give me five minutes and then you can take your lunch break,” Preacher said to Nix.
“Take your time,” Nix said.
He returned to his sketch as Preacher led her down the hallway to the stairs.
“Preacher, what -”
She shook free of Preacher’s grip and bent over as her body was racked with a coughing fit. Groaning, trying not to cry, she covered her mouth with one hand and held her aching head with the other as she coughed wretchedly.
A warm hand rubbed her back and as she straightened and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, Preacher said, “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m -”
She sneezed three times in rapid succession. This time she grabbed her cramping stomach and tried not to moan too loudly before fishing a tissue out of her purse and wiping her nose.
“Listen, I’d better go,” she wheezed. “I really need to lie down, and I’ll make you sick if I stay here much longer. Thank you again for – oh my goodness!”
Preacher had scooped her up and she stared wide-eyed at him as he carried her up the narrow staircase to his apartment.
“What are you doing?” she said.
He carried her to his bed and set her down next to it. He pulled her sweatshirt over her head. She was wearing a stained t-shirt under it but before she could be embarrassed by that, he had pulled it over her head too.
Suddenly too damn tired to protest, she let him take off her bra, her flip flops, and her yoga pants. He pulled the covers back and made her climb into bed. She rubbed at her forehead and kept her eyes closed as he rifled through the Walgreens bag.
“Sunshine, do you need this right now?”
She cracked open an eye. Preacher was holding the box of tampons and she wanted to pull the covers over her head with embarrassment. “Uh, no, I’m okay for now.”
“I’ll put them in the bathroom for you,” he said.
She squeezed her eyes shut as he turned and carried them into the bathroom before returning. She heard him moving around in the kitchen and after a few minutes, he said, “Sit up.”
“I’m tired,” she said. “My head hurts so bad, Preacher.”
“I know, baby.” The bed dipped as he sat down beside her and slid a hand under her neck. “Sit up for me, just for a minute.”
He tugged lightly until she sat up. She was shivering despite how warm she was, and he squeezed her neck gently. “Open your eyes.”
She blinked at him as he pushed the glass of orange juice into her hand. “Drink.”
She drank some juice. It was cold and painful on her sore throat, but she took the pills he gave her without protest. She washed them down with more juice and he smoothed back the strands of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and were plastered across her sweaty cheeks.
“Hot,” she said.
“You have a fever,” he said. “The medicine will help you feel better. Okay?”
“Okay,” she mumbled.
“I have to go back to work,” he said. “I’ll put your phone on the nightstand. Just text me if you need anything and I’ll come upstairs.”
Tears slid down her cheeks and he wiped them away. “Don’t cry, baby.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” she whispered.
He rubbed her cheekbone with his thumb before pressing a kiss against her forehead. “Get some rest. I’ll check on you in a bit.”
She curled up on her side and he tucked the covers around her, closed the blinds on the window so the apartment was shrouded in comforting darkness, and left.
Chapter Twenty-Four
When she woke up, he was sitting beside her on the bed, scrolling through his phone. She sat up and scrubbed at her face.
“What time is it?” Her voice sounded like a shovel being scraped over gravel and she swallowed gingerly. She didn’t object when he pressed his hand against her forehead.
“Just after seven,” he said. “Do you feel better?”
“A little, I think. My head doesn’t hurt as bad.”
“Good. Your fever is gone.”
She rubbed again at her forehead. “Are you finished work?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh,” she said.
There was a moment of awkward silence and then she threw the covers back. “Okay, well thank you for your help.”
He frowned when she climbed out of bed and grabbed her yoga pants and sweatshirt from the floor. He stood and moved around the bed to stand in front of her.