“You sure? I was thinking we could head out again tomorrow, maybe just strap you to the board and push you out. You can paddle with your toes.”
The door creaked open and Riley spun around to see a large, angry-looking nurse standing in the doorway. “What’s going on here?” said the nurse sternly. “Visiting hours ended at nine. You need to leave. You’re disturbing patients in the other rooms.”
Matt looked up at Riley apologetically. “Thanks for coming, sis. Really means a lot to me.”
“We’ll be back again tomorrow to take you surfing,” said Riley and pecked him on the cheek.
“You take care of my sister,” said Matt as the fuming nurse escorted them out. “And hands off.”
Outside in the hall, Riley looked at her watch. “Oh my gosh,” she said. “It’s like five in the morning in London right now. My body is telling me I should only be waking up around now.”
“Yeah, it’s already midnight here. We should probably get some sleep.”
“Is there a motel somewhere around here I can book into?”
“No way,” said Nick. “I couldn’t let you spend the night in some dodgy hotel. I promised your brother I’d look after you. I’ve got a spare bedroom at my place. Come on, I’ll drive you back.”
“I would’ve settled for a couch to be honest,” said Riley. “But okay. Only if you let me make you breakfast in the morning.”
Nick grinned, a broad and honest smile. “I think you have yourself a deal.”
3.
The hospital parking lot was all but deserted and the night was warm and thick with humidity. Riley wasn’t sure if it was her relief that Matt was going to be okay, the joy of being home again, or — though she couldn’t believe she was thinking this — the thrill of being in Nick’s presence, but the night seemed electric with possibilities.
She’d missed nights like these. She loved London and the friends she had made there, but the constant gloom and cold always made her feel a little homesick.
Suddenly she felt very little like sleeping at all, and her awareness of Nick’s body beside her became almost unbearable. She could feel the fine hairs of her arm standing on end as if the man exuded some sort of electrical field. His solid frame, cavalier stride and quiet strength in the face of the crisis gave him an almost preternatural aura of calm and magnetism.
Whatever you’re thinking, she told herself, just stop it. He’s your brother’s best friend and Matt’s in hospital. Not to mention he’s ten years older than you. It would all be so wrong!
But as they walked across the parking lot, Riley couldn’t help stealing glances at Nick’s square, stubble-lined jaw and the muscles of his shoulders and chest stretching taut the fabric of his shirt.
She’d been so distracted by her errant thoughts of Nick that she hadn’t paid any attention to the car they’d been walking towards.
“There’s my baby,” said Nick. “It’s a little garish, I know, but I wanted to get to the hospital as fast as I could.”
Riley glanced ahead to finally take it in — a matte black Lamborghini parked in a spot beside a palm tree, giving off the impression of a sleeping black panther.
“Are you kidding me? It looks like the freaking Batmobile! Is this really your car?”
Nick shrugged. “Yeah. What can I say? The last few years have been good for your brother and me at the company. Things really took off in the tech industry since we started.”
Nick pushed a button on his keychain and the two doors slid up into the air, enhancing the illusion of a panther, now flicking up its ears as it roused, ready to attack.
“I’m a little less practical than your brother when it comes to cars. Sort of a weakness of mine.” He grinned, almost apologetically, noting the expression of shock on Riley’s face. “I’ll take the drive home easy, promise.”
“That seems a bit of a waste,” said Riley. “I want to see what this thing can do!”
“Get in,” said Nick, his face now becoming mischievous and determined. “I’ll show you.”
Riley squealed with delight as the engine roared to life. The car’s deep resonance vibrated through her entire body like the crash of thunder. Nick eased the car onto the street far enough away from the hospital before giving the car the power that it seemed to crave. The empty streets provided the perfect track for the beast.
Riley could feel her entire body being forced back into the leather bucket seats as the car accelerated. Her heart thumped in her chest, but all she could hear was the deep power of the engine.
She glanced from the streetlights streaking past to see Nick grinning devilishly. She couldn’t help chuckling at his boyish enjoyment.
Matt and Nick were cut from the same cloth, both thrill chasers and risk takers. Matt was always planning his next great adventure or daring expedition: skydiving in Texas, bungee jumping in Alabama, sailing from Miami to the Bahamas — and Nick’s name had been a constant in all of his stories. Their fearlessness had served them well in business, but it had also got Matt into the trouble that he was now in. While they had been chasing thrills, it seemed, the devil had been chasing them, and had finally caught up.
Finally, the straight roads and skyscrapers gave way to winding roads and plush luxury homes on one side and the moon hanging full and high over the ocean on the other.
Nick slowed the car and eased it around the bends. The engine became a low, soothing thrum and the adrenaline that had initially coursed through her body evaporated, leaving her eyelids feeling heavy and her body weak and tired. She watched the reflection of the moon drifting on the ocean as she nestled into the deep, comfortable seat.
Sleep crept up on her suddenly and within moments she was snoring lightly in time with the ocean.
4.
Riley dreamed of the first moment she had ever met Nick. Now unfiltered by waking consciousness, the memory came back with surreal clarity.
She was sitting in the living room of Matt’s apartment, reading a magazine in the sunshine coming in through the window. When the doorbell rang, she got up to answer it, thinking it was the pizza they had just ordered.
Nick stood in the doorway, three years younger, wearing a black and red checkered shirt and a beard, his hair long and sun bleached. His eyes were a bright blue and they lit up when he saw her. “Hi!” he said. “Matt didn’t say he had a girl over.”
“I’m his sister, Riley.”
“Nice to meet you, Riley,” he said shaking her hand. “Matt’s told me a lot about you. I’m Nick. I went to college with your bro. Is he around?”
“Sure, he’s just in the shower. He’ll be out in a minute. He said you might come around.”
“Yeah, I have this idea for a start-up that I wanted to talk to him about. I figured your brother’s the kind of guy to really run with the idea and make it work. I hope I can convince him to be as excited about it as I am.”
“Is that Nick?” called Matt from the bedroom.
“The one and only,” returned Nick. “You better hurry up before I bore your sister to death. Or tell her all of your embarrassing stories.”
Riley giggled, hoping Matt would take his time so she could spend more time with this funny, charismatic stranger.
“Don’t you dare! I’ll be right out.”
While Matt finished up, Nick told her stories about adventures the two of them had had and trouble they’d been in together. Their lives sounded so exciting, always trying out new business ideas and although none of them had quite worked out, they had always managed to cover their losses and had some fun doing it.
“I think this is the big one though,” said Nick.
“I hope you’re right,” said Riley. “I can’t wait to hear about it.”
When Matt came through, Nick launched straight into it and while he spoke, Riley could barely keep her eyes off him, his bright eyes shining from his face, his strong hands gesturing enthusiastically, his rock star hair waving ever so slightly in the breeze coming in through the window. H
e would catch her eye every now and again and grin and her heart would flutter.
Nick’s enthusiasm seemed to rub off on Matt and soon the two of them were scribbling down the first steps of how they were going to make their dreams come true.
“Let’s do it!” declared Matt.
“Awesome!” said Nick, “I knew I could count you in.”
They stood up and shook hands like they had just concluded a formal business deal, even though it had been anything but. Then Nick, in his excitement, planted a kiss on Riley’s cheek, his beard hairs tickling her and made her blush.
“Okay,” said Nick. “I gotta go make some calls to get the show on the road. I’ll let you know later how it goes.” And just like that he left again, leaving Riley still feeling hot in the face and smiling to herself every time she thought about him.
5.
Riley woke up to the smell of bacon and the summer sunshine streaming in through the huge windows of a strange room. It took her a moment to piece together how she had come to be tucked into an enormous bed in a strange house, still fully clothed.
The room had an en-suite bathroom and she quickly undressed and showered. She guessed her backpack with all her clothes inside must’ve still been in Nick’s car, but she found a t-shirt in the closet and pulled it on.
The spare room she found herself in was on the second floor, which meant that Nick had carried her all the way up a flight of stairs. She couldn’t help feeling a blush of embarrassment at the thought: her snoring away while he slogged her limp body upstairs like an overgrown child.
The house was bright and spacious, with large portions of the walls consisting of glass looking out at the ocean. Downstairs she found Nick cooking bacon and eggs.
“Morning, Riley! Did you sleep well?”
“I’m so embarrassed,” she said rubbing her eyes. “Did you have to carry me to bed?”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Nick, grinning, “you’re light as a feather. I tried waking you, but you must’ve been all tuckered out from all the excitement.”
“Oh, gosh,” said Riley blushing.
“Here you go, grubs up,” he said and scraped a big pile of bacon and eggs onto a plate in front of her.
“But I promised I’d make you breakfast.”
“Well, technically this is more like lunch, so it kind of cancels out. Eat up and we can go visit your brother.”
“What time is it?”
“Twelve-thirty.”
“Oh, geez, I was out for the count.”
Past the open living room, was a sliding door leading onto a deck and an infinity pool overlooking the beach.
“This is a really great place you have here,” said Riley, shoving a big forkful of bacon into her mouth. Her stomach rumbled with gratitude. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten. “Definitely better than a motel.”
“I’ll give you the full tour later. You know, I owe a lot of it to your brother. I mean, without his help I would never have been able to get my idea off the ground.”
“Well, you kind of saved his life, so I guess you guys are about even now.”
Nick shrugged. “He would have done the same for me. He’s like family to me. So I guess that makes you family too.”
And don’t you forget it, Riley told herself. Still, she couldn’t help remembering the dream she had had about the first time they had met. Nor could she help noticing how the sunlight shone golden through his now short his hair, or how small the fork looked in his big strong hands.
6.
Matt was propped up in bed watching television when they arrived at his hospital room. He tried to turn to greet them, but groaned when he remembered his neck brace.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” he said. “I need someone to change the channel. It’s been stuck on Ricki Lake for the last three hours. I’m just about ready to throw my IV bag at her.”
Riley laughed. It was good to see that Matt had kept up his high spirits despite the accident.
“When are you getting out of here, buddy?” asked Nick.
“What you mean getting out? I thought you were taking me surfing. I got the nurse to help me get my wetsuit on and everything.” Matt cleared his throat with a pained expression on his face. “Jokes aside, it looks like I might be in here a while. They did some tests this morning so I guess I’ll know for sure soon. Doctors say it could be another couple weeks, depending. And that’s if I don’t die of a daytime television overdose before then.”
“You can borrow my tablet, if you promise to stick to Angry Birds,” said Riley. “No work until you get better.”
Matt pulled a face of mock disgust which was made even funnier by the neck brace pushing up the skin around his chin.
“Still, I suppose I’d rather be here than babysitting you,” said Matt, teasing.
Riley stuck her tongue out at him, playfully. Humor had always been their family’s way of dealing with things. I felt good to be around people again who understood that.
“I’m just kidding. I missed you, sis.”
“I know you did. You slammed yourself up against some rocks just to get me here.”
“Speaking of which,” said Nick, “I’m going to leave you guys to catch up for a bit, while I get some of that delicious hospital coffee. Can I get you guys anything?”
Matt did his best to shake his head.
“I’m good,” said Riley and watched him leave. “So how’re you feeling really?” she asked Matt.
“To be honest, I’m just glad to be alive. I mean it sucks being out of commission and not being able to work, but I have to tell you, sis, that was a close one. If it hadn’t been for Nick saving my skin…”
“He’s a good guy,” said Riley.
“One of the best. Hell, if it wasn’t for him, I’d probably be cleaning pools for a living. The company was all his idea.”
“You know, he said the same thing. That he owed it all to you.”
Matt waved away the idea.
“Just goes to show how quickly life takes a turn,” said Matt, his voice growing sombre. “How quickly you can get on top of things. And then how quick it can be over. All you can do is enjoy it while lasts, right?”
Nick returned a little while later and the conversation turned to lighter subjects. They stayed with Matt for the afternoon, chatting and telling jokes until the angry looking nurse came back with his dinner. “Alright, folks,” she said. “Visiting time’s up.”
7.
Back in the car — Riley had chosen to ride in the Lamborghini again, though Nick had a more practical Land Rover Sport for everyday use — Nick turned left out of the parking lot instead of right.
“Where are we going?” asked Riley.
“I thought I could persuade you to let me take you out to dinner.”
“You mean like a date?” she said, but then regretted it the moment the words were out of her mouth. No, you idiot, not a date, she told herself. He just wants food. Stop being weird.
“If you want to call it that,” said Nick.
Riley blushed. “I don’t know, I’m not really dressed for a restaurant.”
“Don’t be silly,” said Nick, “you look amazing. You could fit into Miami’s finest wearing just a T-shirt and jeans with your face.”
Riley blushed harder.
“Okay,” said Nick, “Nothing fancy. I know this great restaurant on the beach. They do the best burgers in town.”
“Okay,” said Riley. “Sounds good.” Actually, a dinner date with Nick sounded amazing, but she dared not say that out loud.
* * *
At the restaurant, a rustic but quaint surfer’s shack with walls lined with rock and roll memorabilia, Nick and Riley took a seat out on the deck to watch the waves and breathe the fresh sea air.
“I love this place,” said Nick. “It reminds me of when Matt and I tried to start a band. We even got our first gig here.”
“Really? I didn’t know Matt played an instrument.”
&
nbsp; Nick laughed. “He doesn’t. Neither do I. I had a bongo drum and Matt had a microphone. They took one look at us and told us to take a hike. We managed to sweet talk our way into playing a couple songs. We told the manager that our instruments had been stolen and our bass player had quit, but that we could pull it off with our voices like a barbershop quartet.”
“Oh my gosh,” she cried. “Then what happened?”
“Well, we did what we said we were going to do and we brought down the house…in hysterics. They kicked us off the stage after song number two. But the customers got a good laugh out of us and bought us beer for the rest of the night. Good times.”
“You guys are so crazy,” said Riley. “I’d never have the guts to go up there and make a fool of myself like that.”
“We were always trying to see how far we could push things before people went, ‘somebody get these clowns out of here.’ It’s weird how much that kind of thing has actually helped us in business. Whenever we start taking things too seriously, we just start treating it like that kind of game and say, ‘What’s the craziest thing we can push for right now?’ If it doesn’t happen we don’t get too upset, but sometimes it pays off.”
ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance Page 89
