Sean: Denver Royalty (Book 3)

by Sheridan Anne

  She squeals in delight when she sees him and throws herself out of my arms. Luckily for Georgie, Logan’s reflexes are lightning fast and he scoops her out of the air. “How’s my girl?” he asks as she squishes her face into his chest and wipes snot all over his shirt.

  “Goowd,” she says in her little baby voice. “I went to hopital again.”

  “Oh, dear,” Logan says as we head inside. “Did the doctor make you all better?”

  Georgie shakes her head. “No. Da prwitty gurl did.”

  “Really? The pretty girl?”

  “Uhuh,” she says with smile. “She helwped me breathe.”

  “That’s good,” Logan says before placing her down and letting her go to find Lilly.

  “She really alright?” Logan asks as I dump Georgie’s things down on the kitchen counter.

  “Yeah, she’s doing much better,” I tell him as I let out a breath of relief. “But that reminds me,” I say as I pull the little piece of paper out of my pocket with Gigi’s number. “I’ve got the nurse’s number. I want to call her.”

  “You’re going to call her?” he questions with excitement in his eyes.

  I pull my phone out and start dialling Gigi’s number. “Calm down, moron. I’m just calling to thank her for everything she did for Georgie. Nothing else.”

  “Ok, then,” Logan says as he takes a seat at the kitchen table.

  The phone rings and for some reason, I feel nervous.

  “Hello,” her voice croaks into the phone.

  “Shit, you were sleeping,” I curse. I should have thought this out. The woman just did a night shift. Of course, she’d be sleeping. How fucking stupid could I have been? I wanted to thank the woman and now I’ve managed to wake her from the sleep she desperately needs.

  “Huh? Who is this?” she questions.

  Fuck, I’ve made a fool of myself.

  “Hi. Sorry. It’s Sean. You looked after my daughter last night,” I say, hoping I don’t sound like some sort of creep.

  “Um, yeah,” she says hesitantly. “How’d you get my number?”

  “One of the nurses gave it to me,” I say with a cringe, hoping I’m not getting the woman in any kind of trouble.

  She lets out a sigh and I can practically hear the wheels turning in her mind. “That nurse wouldn’t have been Mel, was it?”

  “Yeah,” I say. “I hope that’s ok.”

  “It’s fine. She’s my best friend.”

  Thank fuck.

  “Right, so, I was just calling because I wanted to say thank you for last night. I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you. You saved my daughter’s life. Without you, I don’t know what would have happened.”

  “Oh, no,” she replies, bashfully. “It’s fine. I was just doing my job.”

  The phone is plucked out of my hand before Logan lifts it to his ear and walks away to avoid me taking it back. “Hey, you the chick you saved my niece?” he questions.

  I give him a nasty look and he brings the phone down and hits speaker. “Yeah, I guess I am,” she says.

  “Then you need to come out with us on Saturday,” he tells her.

  Um… what? I shoot daggers at Logan but he cheerfully ignores me.

  “I’m sorry?” Gigi questions.

  “You heard me,” Logan says before lifting his eyes to mine with a secretive smile, making it very clear what the fucker is doing. “We’re going riding and you’re coming.”

  Huh? Riding? This is the first I’m hearing of it, but apparently, it’s on the cards for this weekend. I haven’t taken Georgie riding yet and there’s no doubt in my mind that she’ll absolutely love it, you know, as long as I get her all the proper safety gear. I don’t think I could handle her falling off.

  I’m hit with a hundred different thoughts of all the shit I can buy her, though, at the very top is her own dirt bike, but maybe we should start with an ATV.

  “Riding?” Gigi grunts, breaking me out of my inner thoughts.

  “Yeah, you know, dirt bike riding,” Logan informs her.

  “Ok… um, thanks for the offer but I don’t think so.”

  “I’m sorry, but you have no choice in the matter. You saved my niece’s life and now it’s your duty to text Sean your address so he can pick you up on Saturday morning and thank you properly.”

  “And if I decline?” she says with an amused tone in her voice.

  “Then, I promise you that I won’t stop bugging you until you agree.”

  Oh geez, laying it on thick, Logan.

  “You’re telling me there’s absolutely no way of backing out of this, huh?”

  “That would be correct.”

  She lets out a sigh but something tells me it’s not because she’s annoyed. “Damn, I guess I’ll be tagging along. But be warned, my ass is not getting on a dirt bike.”

  “Hell yes, it is,” Logan tells her. “Sean’s a great teacher. He’ll have you performing backflips in no time.”

  I go to snatch the phone out of Logan’s hand, desperate for him to shut the fuck up. I mean, it’s clearly obvious he’s trying to throw this girl in my face, but we don’t know a damn thing about her. She probably has a boyfriend and isn’t interested in falling victim to one of Logan’s fucked up games. He knows I’m not fucking ready for this shit, so I don’t know why he’s pushing it.

  Logan pulls his hand out of my way and joyously continues his conversation with Gigi.

  “Oh, geez,” she laughs in the sweetest tone, making me wonder what kind of girl she is, though, from the way she jumped straight to Georgie’s rescue and is happily chatting away to a complete stranger, I feel as though she’s probably a really nice girl.

  Damn it. I’ll go through with this ridiculous trip but that’s it. I mean, Logan’s right. I owe this girl the world, the least I can do is show her just how thankful I am. Besides, it will give me a chance to get Georgie on a dirt bike for the first time.

  “Text your address to this number and Sean will pick you up at nine.”

  “Nine?” she gasps, cutting off Logan’s instructions.

  “Yes, nine. We don’t want to lose any daylight.”

  “Far out,” she groans.

  Logan finally lets her get her rest but only after making her promise to send through her address, threatening that if she doesn’t, he’s going to call her non stop until she does.

  He gingerly hands me my phone with a wicked grin on his face and we both look down at the stupid thing as a text message comes through. I open the message to find her address and I can’t help but smirk at the proud look on Logan’s face.

  “Looks like you got yourself a date, brother,” he says as he claps me on the back.

  “It’s not a date,” I say, resisting punching the fucker in the face. “I’m just doing this to say thank you for saving my daughter’s life.”

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro.”

  I narrow my eyes at the dick head before looking down at my watch. “Shit, I’ve got to go,” I tell him.

  “Alright, dude,” he says. “Nail the bastard.”

  “I always do,” I grin, referring to my conviction rate in the court house.

  I duck into the living room and say goodbye to Georgie, making sure to give her a big squeeze before reminding her to tell Elle or Logan if her breathing gets bad.

  She gives me a big sloppy kiss on the cheek and tells me she loves me before going back to entertaining Lilly.

  I slip out while she’s distracted and get my ass to the courthouse, hoping I’m not late for one of the biggest cases of the year.

  Chapter 6

  Gigi

  Did that just happen?

  I lay in bed, struggling to get back to sleep after I was bombarded by Sean and the guy I’m assuming is his brother to go dirt bike riding on Saturday. I mean, what the hell possessed me to agree to that? I don’t know the people, though, the brother really didn’t give me much choice in the matter, and I certainly have no idea how to ride a fucking dirt bike
.

  I was fast asleep and had been for the past five hours when the call came in, so maybe that’s why I agreed. I clearly wasn’t awake enough for that shit. Though, they seem fun and I find myself oddly excited to see Sean again.

  I clench my eyes together wishing I was able to fall back asleep, but it’s just not going to happen. I have no idea if it’s because I got to speak with Sean again or my impending doom of inevitably embarrassing myself come Saturday.

  With my phone resting on my stomach, I grab it and hash out a text.

  Gigi – You’re dead.

  Mel – Don’t know what you’re talking about.

  God, she’s the worst liar.

  Once again, I attempt to squish my face into my pillow, willing myself to fall into unconsciousness, but let’s face it, it’s not going to happen. I’m just going to have to accept the fact that I’m up for the day.

  With a groan, I sit up in bed and place my feet down on the floor before slipping my bunny slippers onto my cold feet. I trudge my way down the hallway and bypass the kitchen to flick on the kettle, realizing today is going to be sponsored by caffeine.

  I flick on the TV and put on the music video channel. I head back into the kitchen and pour myself a mean cup of coffee and grab my Kindle off the counter. I flop down into the couch and open up the last book I was reading.

  I bring my coffee up to my lips and the scalding liquid instantly burns my tongue. “Holy mother of sweet baby Jesus,” I shriek and rush to the kitchen. I flick on the tap and thrust my head under the sick before letting the cold water soothe my throat.

  Holy crap. That sucked, like really fucking bad.

  When my throat stops burning, I head back to the couch and pick up my discarded Kindle, hoping I didn’t crack the screen in my rush to get to the sink. I find myself consumed by the pages and finally forget the world around me.

  That doesn’t last long as I come to the end of the book and find myself alone with my thoughts, wishing for Mel to hurry up and make it home.

  I distract myself by cleaning the apartment and singing along to the songs on the music channel before completely fucking it all up when I decide to bake a cake.

  The timer on the oven goes off, I take a bite and promptly throw the damn thing in the bin. Why is it so hard to bake a fucking cake? Toddlers could do a better job than me.

  With a few more hours to kill, I dress into my workout gear and decide I should probably use my gym membership at least once. I mean, I am paying for it and have been for the past eighteen months. Come to think of it, it really is a waste of money. I should probably do something about that.

  I hit the gym and find myself back home a few hours later, absolutely exhausted, with the decision made that I won’t be doing that shit again.

  I hear the keys jingling in the front door and smile as I see Mel walking through, when I remember this whole Sean situation is her fault. My smile turns into a glare and she bursts into laughter as she dumps dinner on the kitchen counter. “He called, didn’t he?”

  “Yes,” I groan as I get up to help her dish it out.

  “And?” she prompts.

  “And now I’m going dirt bike riding on Saturday.”

  “Oh shit,” she laughs. “That’s hilarious.”

  “It’s really not,” I murmur under my breath as I take my dinner back to the couch and get comfortable. “How was work?”

  “Not great,” she says with a sigh as tears spring to her eyes. “We lost one of our kids. He’s been fighting leukemia for a few years and his little body decided it was time.”

  “Damn,” I sigh as I place my plate down on the coffee table and reach across to pull Mel into my arms. She snuggles in close as we both get lost in our thoughts. Unfortunately, death is just a part of the job. One really shitty part, but it’s something we all have to deal with. Each of us deal with it differently, but Mel gets hit particularly bad. She feels every emotion at least twice as much as the rest of us, which is one of the reasons I love her so much.

  I remember my first patient that died. It was traumatic. I’d been covering a shift in the cancer ward which was hard enough as it is. There’s a lot of emotion in that ward. Her name was Kristina and she was a mother of three little boys. I’ll never forget them. She had been fighting breast cancer and had come out the other end until it came back with a vengeance. It just happened that I was there on her final day. She passed with her boys in her arms and her husband by her side. Still to this day, the memory tears my heart to shreds.

  Mel dries her tears and we eventually get back to our dinner, both of us more than ready for this day to come to an end.

  ----------

  I wake on Saturday morning an absolute mess.

  Sean is supposedly picking me up today for our little dirt bike riding trip and I haven’t heard from him or his brother since the phone call. He isn’t coming. It was probably all some big joke. The thought kind of upsets me even though it shouldn’t. This guy is no one to me, just some random man I found on Tinder. Sure, I saved his little girl but nothing more. I was doing my job and I would have done exactly the same thing had it been anyone else.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Mel asks as she comes into my room and flops down into my bed before pulling the blankets right up to her chin. “It’s way too early for all this noise.”

  “I have this stupid riding thing today, no thanks to you,” I grumble.

  “Quit stressing,” she says on a yawn. “You’ll be fine. And if by any luck, you’ll be screaming his name all night.”

  “Ugh,” I groan, “Shut up.”

  I pull a top out of my wardrobe before tossing it back in and grabbing another before completely giving up. “What the hell am I doing?” I whine as I drop down into my bed, mostly on top of Mel.

  “Nothing. You’re having fun,” she tells me while giving me a shove to get off her.

  “Then why am I so nervous about this?”

  “I don’t know,” she grunts. “Maybe because you actually like him.”

  “I don’t like him,” I argue. “I hardly know the guy.”

  She gives me a tight smile and I realize she’s about to thrust all her wisdom upon me. “But you do,” she starts. “You know he’s a great father, you know he’s kind, you know you’re attracted to him and you know the thought of spending the day with him is the most exciting thing in your little messed up world.”

  “My world isn’t messed up.”

  “Honey, you haven’t been screwed in four months. Your world is definitely screwed up. Now, get your ass off me and get yourself dressed, otherwise he’s going to show up and you’ll still be in your underwear.”

  “Fine,” I groan as I get off her, making sure to jostle the bed around as much as possible in the process. I find my jeans and a black tank and hold them out to her. “What about this?”

  “Cute,” she smiles, “But grab the other tank, it shows more cleavage.”

  I roll my eyes but, none the less, grab the other tank and make my way up to the bathroom. “Don’t forget to shave,” Mel teases as I close the bathroom door behind me.

  I take my time in the shower and make sure every inch of my skin is looking flawless as you never know, I might just end up in his bed tonight. Well, here’s to hoping anyway. I get dressed and work on drying my hair while Mel makes breakfast.

  An hour later, I’m fed and ready to go.

  A knock sounds at the door and my nerves instantly spike. “Oooh, he’s here,” Mel teases as she walks out of the bathroom with her toothbrush sticking out of her mouth.

  I narrow my eyes at her before double checking my reflection in the hallway mirror. I let out a breath. Yep, it’s either now or never.

  I walk over to the door and pull it open to find a very relaxed Sean with his daughter in his arms, looking extremely drool worthy in his dark jeans and white shirt that doesn’t leave much to the imagination about what he’s got hiding underneath. “Hi,” I say, giving him a tight smile, after al
l, I can’t help but feel slightly awkward as it’s certainly a strange situation I’ve managed to get myself into.

  “Hey,” he says, just as awkwardly as Georgia turns in his arms to get a good look at me. “You ready to go?”

  “Yeah,” I cringe, “You know, you don’t need to do this.”

  “Ah, but I do,” he smiles, blowing me the fuck away. “I’m pretty sure my brother would be right here on your door step if you didn’t come,” he adds as he takes a step back and sweeps his arm around to gesture down the hallway. I can just imagine what Mel is think about his comments on coming. “Trust me, it’s in your best interest if you play by his rules.”

  I can’t help but smile as a flutter overtakes my stomach. “Ok,” I laugh, “I’ll just grab my bag.”

  I turn around and dash into the kitchen to grab my handbag off the table to find Mel holding her hands up and making a string of very sexual gestures with her hands, though, a few include her mouth.

  “Stop it,” I hiss under my breath.

  “Have fun,” she grins.

  I roll my eyes and get my ass out of there before she manages to embarrass me. With my handbag in hand, I pull the door closed behind me and join Sean and Georgia in the hallway. “You ever ride a dirt bike before?” Sean asks as we start up the hallway.

  “Ha, no,” I scoff, “And honestly, I have no intention to today. I wasn’t built for that kind of thing.”

  “Bullshit,” he laughs.

  “Oh, Daddy said a nawty word,” Georgia gasps as she watches her daddy in horror.

  Sean looks to his daughter. “Uh oh,” he says.

  “You’re in big trowble, Mister,” Georgia scolds.

  Sean nods his head, accepting whatever trouble it is he will be in with his daughter before looking back to me. “I can honestly tell you now, you’re not leaving today without at least giving it a go.”

  The nerves instantly start bundling up but not for the same reasons as they were earlier. The thought of my ass on a dirt bike terrifies me and I’m certain I’ll be making a fool of myself today. “Really?” I question.