I repeated the motion until he stirred, and both sleepy eyes opened. I pulled at his shirt until he was elevated a little higher on his pillow. If he started choking, we’d have a different problem.
“Open your mouth.” When he didn’t comply, I pulled at his chin and stuffed the pill in his mouth. Then, I put the glass on his lips.
His eyes fell shut again, and I slapped at his cheek. “Hey, you. Come on. Come on. Come on.” Slap. Slap. Slap. “Come on. Swallow.”
“Do you swallow?”
This guy. I couldn’t dim my smile even if I tried.
I tipped back the glass, cupping the back of his head to guide him.
When the pill went down with a gulp of water, I almost laughed out my next words. “I always swallow.”
His eyes slowly opened, and a drunken smile surfaced before I let him fall to his pillow.
Gah!
If I wasn’t careful, I could fall in love with this guy.
Charles.
Who knew what time it was or what day it was? All I knew was that I had to take a real bad piss.
I stepped off of my bed and almost tripped on the comforter on the floor.
“Becky?” I asked, my throat as dry as a desert.
She yawned and slowly pushed herself to a sitting position.
“What are you doing here?” I shook my head, confused, and did a once-over of my surroundings. Yeah, I was still in my room. “Becky, I’m sick, so you really shouldn’t be here.”
She stretched, and her voice was heavy with sleep when she spoke, “But I had to check on you and make sure you were okay.” She pushed the covers off and stood. “I’m glad I did. Your fever was through the roof.”
After she stepped into me, she placed the cool back of her hand on my forehead and then my neck.
She exhaled a sigh of relief and smiled. “I think your fever broke.”
I stood there in silence for a good whole three seconds, taking her in. Her messy blonde hair, the green in her eyes that seemed to sparkle against the light in my room. And in that moment, something broke in me.
My heart warmed, and that tough demeanor that I always displayed cracked. She’d taken care of me—me! The guy who had been taking care of himself for the last four years. The last time I’d gotten really sick, I’d had the stomach flu. I had woken up in sweat and thrown up, but I’d peeled myself out of bed, showered, gone to bed, and repeated the process until the virus was gone. All by myself.
So, taking in her blanket on the floor, the tray with Tylenol, some soup, a washcloth and basin … well, shit. This touched me on a deeper level, a level that caught me off guard. I blew out a long, slow breath, and my eyebrows pulled together as I took her one hand and squeezed it. “Thank you, Becky.”
She smiled a sweet smile. Then, it hit like a train coming at me full force, knocking the breath out of me. Just like I had known many years ago, when I was in high school, I knew now. It had only happened one time before. I wasn’t only drawn to Becky’s beauty. I was falling for this girl. Deep, hard, and completely.
The shock of realization had me dropping her hand and turning toward the bathroom, almost sprinting. “Sorry. I have to piss.”
I shut the bathroom door and leaned against it, running one shaky hand down my face.
My bladder was about to explode, but I was paralyzed in my spot because I couldn’t deny it. I liked the nanny. I knew this. I had admitted this to Natalie.
Problem was … what was I going to do about it?
No, that wasn’t the problem.
The problem was, how was I going to get her to fall for me?
Chapter 20
Charles
The moment I realized I was going to pursue Becky, everything changed. But not in a good way.
It was as though my life had been turned upside down and inside out.
That Monday morning, I’d woken up late. I’d forgotten my tie at home and a belt, too, for that matter. I’d missed an important vendor meeting at work. I had been spacing out when people were talking to me because I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
I was a damn lovesick puppy again, as though I were living my high school years all over again.
I sat at the boardroom table, but everyone else had already cleared out. Monday mornings,