Pushing His Luck - Rhyannon Byrd Page 0,17

calm. “I just want to get you to Jase as quickly as I can.”

Thankfully, once he’d pulled on the shoes he’d left in his truck and they were on their way, he seemed to understand that she was too worried to continue their earlier argument, or even to make idle conversation—not that they’d ever really been capable of that anyway, barring the night they’d kissed. Instead, he let her sit in blessed silence while he drove, not even turning on the radio. He had a siren in his truck, and she wanted to thank him again when they hit a bit of traffic because of a fender bender and he turned the siren on, taking the shoulder to bypass the line of cars.

“I can’t believe we got here so quickly,” she said when he pulled into a parking space not far from the entrance to the ER a short twenty minutes later. As Karin rushed through the automatic doors, she spotted her mom waiting for her over by the closed gift shop. “How is he?” she asked, giving her a quick hug.

“They’ve just taken him down for the X-ray,” her mom explained, “but the ER doctor thinks it might only be a sprain.”

She exhaled with a sharp burst of relief. “Oh, thank God.”

Smiling, her mom said, “They would only let one of us go down with him, and he wanted his PopPop. But they said you could join them as soon as you got here.”

“You’re okay?” she asked, unable to remember the last time she’d seen her mom look so pale.

“Oh, I’m fine, baby. I’m just sorry for scaring you.”

“It’s going to be okay,” she said, gripping her mom’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“X-ray is on the floor below us. If you use the elevator, they said you just need to take a right down the hallway and then it’s the third door on your left.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding as she pulled her purse strap higher onto her shoulder. “Why don’t you find the cafeteria and grab a coffee? I’ll text you as soon as I know what’s happening.”

“Sounds good. But are you going to introduce us before you go?” her mom asked, nodding her head toward her right shoulder, and Karin’s eyes shot wide when she glanced behind her and found Paul standing there with his hands in his front pockets, somehow managing to look completely gorgeous even in the awful hospital lighting.

“Oh…God, I’m s-sorry,” she stammered, shifting to the side so that she wasn’t blocking him. “Mom, this is Paul Cartwright. He’s…my neighbor’s brother. Paul, this is my mom, Veronica Riley.”

Paul stepped forward and shook her mom’s hand, and she had to bite back a laugh as she watched her mom’s pale face finally get a bit of color. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances,” he murmured in his deliciously deep voice, flashing her mom a warm smile. “But now I know where Karin gets her looks from.”

Her mom blushed an even brighter shade of pink, her brown eyes twinkling as she winked at Karin. “I like this one, honey.”

Paul’s rich, husky rumble of laughter was doing funny things to her insides, but she was saved from making an idiot of herself in front of him when the nearby elevator doors suddenly pulled open. “Go on,” Paul said in a gentle voice, when she swept them with an urgent look. “Your mom and I will find that coffee and wait for you guys in the cafeteria.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, hurrying onto the elevator. Her heart was pounding with worry for her son, Paul’s effect on her still far too strong for her peace of mind, but she managed a quiet laugh, thinking it was a good thing that she hadn’t told her parents about him. If her mom knew what a jerk he’d been, she’d have probably kneed him in the balls right there in the middle of the ER waiting room.

Less than five minutes later, Karin was with her dad and Jase, and she couldn’t help but cry with relief when a doctor came in and confirmed that the injury was only a sprain. But it didn’t sound like they were going to be out of there anytime soon, so she immediately texted Paul.

Karin: Only a sprain, thank God. But they need to fit Jase with a brace and it might take a while. My dad can drive us home, so you don’t have to wait. But thanks so much for getting me here