“I need to take this,” she said, after pulling the phone out and glancing at the screen. “It’s my parents and Jase is with them tonight.”
He let go of her arm, and she turned her back to him as she took a few steps away. With her free hand pressed over her ear to block out the music, she answered the call. “Hey, what’s up?”
She gasped as her mom’s quick explanation filled her head, panic making her knees tremble. “Oh God. Okay. Tell him I’ll meet you guys at the hospital. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
Karin disconnected the call without telling her mom she loved her, which she never did, but she was too worried to think straight. Turning around, she was surprised when she collided with Paul’s broad chest, having completely forgotten that he was waiting to finish their argument. Staring up at him, she quickly said, “I have to go.”
His worried gaze held hers. “What’s wrong?”
“That was my mom,” she told him, her stomach twisting so hard with worry she felt nauseous. “Jase was running on their tiled floor in his socks and slipped and fell on his left wrist. They’re worried he broke it, so they’re on their way to the hospital right now.”
“Shit,” he muttered, leaning over and setting the beer he’d been drinking in the sand beside her chair. “Come on,” he said as he straightened. “I’ll take you.”
“I, uh… What?” she gasped, pulling her hand back when he went to reach for it.
“You’re too upset to drive,” he said, pulling his keys from his pocket, “and there’s no way I’m letting the drunk doctor drive you to the hospital. He’s still tossing back shots with his guys.”
“Chris can—”
“Look around, Rin. Everyone’s been drinking all night but me. That was my first beer and I didn’t even finish it.”
Shit, he was right. And he was right about James too. She didn’t want him driving his own ass around, much less hers. “Okay,” she agreed, too desperate to get to Jase to wait for an Uber. Which meant Paul was her best option. “I just need to let Chris know that I’m leaving.”
Filled with worry for her little boy, she hurried over to Chris and pulled him aside for a quick word, warning him not to let James drive himself home, and assuring him that she was going to be fine with Paul. He still hadn’t forgiven the guy for how he’d acted, but he wasn’t going to second-guess her judgement either. If she said she was good with Paul taking her, then Chris was good with it too.
She also quickly touched base with both Natalie and Sophie, promising to call them later, but didn’t bother approaching James, since she doubted he would even remember who she was at that point.
“I really appreciate this,” she said to Paul, his long legs easily keeping pace with her fast steps as she hurried toward the parking lot, after he’d waited for her in the complex’s inner courtyard while she ran into her condo to grab her purse and a sweater.
“You don’t need to thank me, Rin.” His deep voice was reassuringly 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 so quickly.
She hesitated…then went ahead and typed in: I owe you one. Thinking he was probably looking forward to getting the hell out of there, she didn’t expect him to write her back, and was already texting her mom when Paul’s response popped up on her screen.
Paul: Great news about the sprain. I’m good waiting. Your mom’s a riot. I’m grilling her for embarrassing stories from your younger years. ;)
Karin: Dear God. Forget what I said. I owe you NOTHING!!
Paul: Aw, don’t be mad. I promise I’ll let you grill my mom when you meet her.
He was planning on her meeting his mother? What on earth? Had the gorgeous jerk gone and lost his mind? Yeah, he might have helped her tonight, but she was nowhere near a point where she was ready to forgive him, much less give him a second chance.
Shaking her head over his outrageousness, Karin did the one thing that was guaranteed to remind her why she was better off steering clear of good-looking
jackasses, and pulled up the number for her ex.
The second Karin’s parents cleared the ER’s automatic doors—after she sent her dad up with the news that they were still having trouble tracking down a small enough brace for Jase, so it was likely to be another hour before they could leave, and she wanted them to go ahead and head home, if Paul was willing to keep waiting—it took everything he had not to go and track her down so that he could make sure she was okay. But he didn’t want to push his luck with her…or be a pain in the ass, so he dropped down into one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs that were close enough to the elevator that he would be able to see Karin and Jase the second they stepped off, then settled in to wait.
Taking his phone from his pocket, he texted Chris to let him know what was happening, in case Karin hadn’t had the chance yet. To his surprise, Chris actually texted him back, thanking him for stepping up. He wrote back that it was no problem and he was happy to help, which was the truth. He hated that Jase had been hurt, but if the kid had to be in the hospital, then Paul wanted to be there for him and his mom. He might not have managed to convince Karin to give him another chance yet, but with every day that went by, taking care of them and making sure they were happy, healthy and protected felt more and more like the thing he’d been fucking born for.
For what had to be the thousandth time since it’d happened, Paul wished he could somehow kick his own ass for letting his head get so fucked up that he’d ended up treating her like a dick. Hell, he was still carrying around the shit ton of guilt that had messed him up in the first place, but he’d realized the day he’d caught sight of her sitting up on her balcony with Natalie that whether he deserved her or not—and despite the fucking mistakes he’d made in the past—if she gave him another shot, there was no way he would blow it. He’d do whatever it took to be what she and Jase needed. To be good enough for the both of them, no matter what it entailed.
And, Christ, even on his worst day, he was better than the prick doctor that Chris had set her up with. He still couldn’t believe she’d been on a date with the asshole tonight. And he would have laughed his ass off when he’d set eyes on him, if he hadn’t been so fucking furious. She couldn’t have agreed to go out with a guy who looked less like him if she’d tried, and for some bizarre reason, that actually gave him a spark of hope.
He heard the elevator ding, and this time when he looked over, he watched Karin and her little boy walk off.
“Hey, Paul!” Jase yelled the moment he caught sight of him, a black brace on his little wrist as he walked beside his mom, holding her hand. The kid, who had Karin’s same brown eyes and hair, sent him a big smile, and Paul nearly sagged with relief, thinking it would never cease to amaze him how resilient kids could be.
Moving to his feet, he walked over to them and took the Disney backpack that Karin had hooked over her shoulder as he said, “Hey, Jase. Cool brace.”
The kid held up his arm like he was showing off a priceless award. “I know. I get to wear it to school and everything!”
“Oh to be seven again,” Karin murmured under her breath, sending him a crooked little smile that made him want to kiss the hell out of her. He laughed under his breath, both at her words and how easily she could turn him on, and they all fell into step with each other as they started heading toward the exit.
“When I told Jase that you were waiting for us, he got so excited,” she said softly, careful not to let Jase overhear her, obviously not wanting to embarrass him. “I think somebody’s got a hero.”
His lips twitched with a grin. “I don’t think I can take any credit for that. Kids usually love cops.”
“I actually think it’s your surfing.” She gave a quiet laugh at his look of surprise. “He sometimes watches you and Sean from our balcony.”
“Has Chris ever taken him out on the—?” he started to ask, when someone suddenly shouted his name behind them, the three of them jerking to a startled stop.
Paul turned to look over his shoulder, and was pretty sure he blanched when he caught sight of Lisa Hartnet hurrying toward them in her nursing scrubs. He’d forgotten she transferred to this hospital from downtown, his gut instantly cramping at the thought of what she might say in front of Karin and Jase.
“Paul, hey, I thought that was you,” she said when she reached them, giving Karin and Jase a quick smile, before bringing her dark gaze back to his. “I just… I wanted to apologize for how I acted when you brought Jenna in that night. It was entirely unfair of me to blame you for her overdose.”
As surprised as he was by Lisa’s apology, he was painfully aware of Karin hanging on to the nurse’s every word. Even though Lisa had dropped her voice there at the end, probably for Jase’s benefit, he had no doubt that Karin had caught every part of the apology.
Before he could say anything, or get them the hell out of there, Lisa went on. “Honestly, it was so unfair of me, and Jenna was so furious when I confessed how I’d acted. She told me that if it wasn’t for you… Well, we all would have been too late to help her.”
Quietly, he said, “I’m just sorry she ended up in that situation.”
Lisa gave him a sad smile as she nodded. “We all are. But it was wrong of me to put that on you, Paul, and I hope you’ll forgive me. Jenna’s problems go back to when we were teens, but my parents were too embarrassed to put her into therapy, so… Well, I’m sure in your line of work you’ve seen what can happen when things go that way.”
“Too many times, unfortunately,” he said, his throat tight. He was about to introduce Karin and Jase, since he still hadn’t done it, when Lisa started talking again.
“Anyway, I just wanted to apologize. And to let you know that what happened was finally a wake-up call for my family. Jen’s getting the help she needs, and we’ll be there for her when she’s ready to head back home.”
“That’s good, Lisa. I’ll be wishing her luck.”
Stepping closer, Lisa put her hand on his arm and flashed a contrite smile at Karin, before bringing her sincere gaze back to his. “I know you’re on your way out, and I’m sorry for blindsiding you like this, but it’s been eating me up for weeks. I just… I hope you’ll accept my apology. You’re a good man, Paul, and I… I’m sorry for ever saying differently.”
Chapter Five
By the time they’d hit the freeway, Jase was somehow already asleep in the backseat in the way that only children could manage, going from full-speed to conked-out in less than a minute, his little head lolling to the side when Paul glanced in his rear-view mirror. He pulled in a deep breath, knowing it wouldn’t take long for Karin to ask him what the hell that had been about with Jenna’s sister. Hell, she didn’t even know who Jenna was.
“So…?”
“Yeah,” he sighed, shifting uncomfortably behind the wheel.
Carefully, she said, “I take it Jenna was your girlfriend. And she recently…overdosed?”
“She works for the DA’s office, and I dated her for a month or so last year. She was never my girlfriend, but yeah, she, uh, got into some trouble back in March. It was actually the night that you and I… The night I asked you out.” He caught her sharp intake of breath, but kept going, keeping one hand firmly on the wheel as he scraped the other one over his jaw and chin. “She called while I was on my way home from the bonfire, and I could tell there was something wrong, so I went over to her place. She managed to open the door for me, then lost consciousness. I rushed her to the nearest ER, and they had to pump her stomach.” He paused for a moment, feeling a little sick as the fear from that night swept through him again. Then he cleared his throat, and muttered, “Jenna claimed it wasn’t a suicide attempt, but she’d drank a shit ton of Vodka while taking some heavy-duty sleeping pills.”
“And when her sister got to the hospital, she blamed what had happened on you?” she asked, obviously piecing together how things had played out from the conversation he’d had with Lisa.
He rubbed his jaw again, trying to work out how to e
xplain the rest without sounding like a jackass. But despite Lisa’s surprising apology, he knew damn well that he was a fucking jackass, so he finally just said, “Even though things between me and Jenna were casual, she’d apparently bitched about me to her family after we stopped seeing each other. According to Lisa, Jenna said that I led her on and then dropped her cold when she wanted more than I was willing to give. That I told her I wouldn’t ever let any woman come before my career, no matter how I felt about her, which she attributed to me being a selfish prick. She… Hell, she even claimed that she’d been in love with me, and when I broke things off, it…broke her.”
A quick glance to his right showed her staring out the passenger-side window, but then she looked over at him, her big brown eyes filled with a chest-tightening array of emotions as she quietly said, “So that’s why you dropped me.”
Even though she’d voiced it as more of a statement than a question, Paul responded with a tight nod.
He turned his attention back to the road, but could feel the vibrant force of her gaze burning against the side of his face. “You know it’s not your fault, right?”
Hah! Like hell did he know that. He hadn’t been aware of Jenna’s issues with depression, but he’d known she was getting serious about him. She’d started complaining that they didn’t spend enough time together, constantly accusing him of only caring about his job, just like she’d complained to her family. That’s why he’d ended things when he had, unwilling to go down that road with her.
But he appreciated Karin not thinking the worst of him. “Thanks,” he grated.
“Well, thanks for helping me tonight. You were a lifesaver.”
A husky, humorless laugh rumbled up from his chest. “I thought you thought I was a shit.”
Pushing His Luck (Surf, Sun & Sex Book 3) Page 5
