attracted to him, but she was. Despite her rules and the foolishness of getting involved with the guy living upstairs, if he suggested getting naked right that second, she would have stripped in three seconds flat. The need to feel his mouth on hers, his hands on her body, was almost painful in its intensity.
“I should go,” he said as he set down his glass and stood.
Obviously not a mind reader. “Thanks for helping me with my boxes. Let me know if you change your mind about wanting any jewelry. As a gift or something. Or if you get your ear pierced.”
She followed him to the door where he paused and smiled at her.
“Do I look like the ear-piercing type?” he asked, his voice low and sexy enough to make her shiver.
“No, but I’ve been wrong before.”
“Not about that. ’Night, Elissa.”
CHAPTER FIVE
WALKER LOOKED OVER the list of Ashleys he’d made shortly after moving into the apartment. “Damn popular name,” he muttered as he looked at those yet to be crossed off. Ben had gone to four different high schools in four years. Walker had looked ahead two grades and back three to make sure he covered as many of the women as possible.
Several of them had moved out of state. He’d gone to see a couple and had been forced to speak with two by phone. Not his first choice. He had a feeling that whomever Ben had been dating already knew he’d died, but in case she didn’t, Walker wasn’t comfortable passing that information on over the phone. Plus, he had his letter to deliver.
He needed to…
He paused and listened. There was something-
“Hello? Walker?”
He stood and walked to the front of the apartment. After opening the front door, he saw Mrs. Ford standing at the foot of his stairs. She had a dish towel wrapped around her left hand and seemed a little shaky on her feet.
“Sorry to bother you,” she said. “I can’t climb that many stairs. I seem to have cut my hand. It’s silly really. The knife just slipped and-”
He ducked back inside, grabbed his first aid kit and ran downstairs.
“Let’s get you inside,” he said, ushering the old lady into her apartment and out of the sun.
“I wouldn’t normally bother you with something like this,” she said as he took her to the sink and peeled back the towel. “But the bleeding doesn’t seem to want to stop.”
She’d gone deep, slicing the top of her hand and the base of her thumb. Through the pulsing blood, he was pretty sure he saw bone, which was never a good sign.
“You’re going to need stitches,” he said flatly and reached for the first aid kit. “Let me patch you up temporarily and then we’ll drive to the hospital.”
“I’m sorry to be a bother,” she said, barely wincing as he applied a pressure bandage. “I was watching Buffy. You know, Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Anyway, it was the episode where Buffy and Angel kiss for the first time and she finds out he’s really a vampire. So of course you understand why I wasn’t really paying attention to what I was doing.”
“Right.” He guided her to a chair and urged her to sit. “I’m going to run upstairs and grab my keys. You stay here.”
He debated calling for an ambulance, but by the time they arrived, he could be at the hospital. He wasn’t sure how much blood Mrs. Ford had lost, but she was lucid and in decent health for her age. If he kept her calm and hydrated, she should be fine.
In addition to his keys, he took a bottle of water from his refrigerator, then ran back downstairs. He found Mrs. Ford waiting by the front door, her handbag over her arm.
“You don’t believe in following directions,” he said as he helped her outside and locked her door behind them.
“Directions are for sissies.” She stared at his car. “I’ve never been in one of these before.”
He looked at her short legs and sensible shoes, then opened the passenger door, scooped her up in his arms and carefully put her on the passenger seat.
She giggled. “It’s been a long time since a man did that to me. I’d quite forgotten how much I like it.”
Great.
He loosened the top on the bottle, then lowered her seat all the way back. He clicked the seat belt in place.
“Keep your arm up on the armrest,” he told her. “It needs to stay elevated. Sip the water, but only a little at a time and stop if you feel nauseated.”
“You’re very take-charge,” she told him. “Elissa needs that in her life.”
“No thanks.”
She smiled. “I’m an old woman, Walker. How exactly do you plan to stop me from matchmaking?”
Good question.
He closed her door and hurried around to his own. Minutes later, they were on the main street and heading toward the hospital.
“Do you have a cell phone?” Mrs. Walker asked.
“Sure.” He pushed the activation number on his steering wheel. “Who do you want me to call?”
He expected her to say a relative, or her doctor. Instead she said, “My reading group. They’ll be expecting me. Oh, dear. It was my turn to bring wine.”
He held in a groan, then asked for the number. “I’ll put you on speakerphone,” he said.
The sound of a phone ringing filled the vehicle.
“Very impressive,” Mrs. Ford said.
A woman answered. “Hello?”
“Phyllis?”
“Betty? Is that you? Your voice sounds strange.”
“I’m calling from a car. You’re on speakerphone. Isn’t this exciting? So high-tech.” Mrs. Ford giggled. “I’m afraid I won’t make it to book club today. I’ve cut my hand.”
“Betty, no. Are you all right?”
“Walker said I need stitches, so we’re off to the hospital.”
“Hospital?”
“I’ll be fine,” Mrs. Ford assured her.
“I hope so. Is that Walker person there with you?”
“He’s driving the car.”
“I’m here, ma’am,” Walker said, holding in a sigh.
“Are you taking good care of…Betty, did you say Walker?”
Mrs. Ford smiled. “Yes. My new upstairs neighbor.”
“The one as good-looking as Angel?”
“That’s him.”
“Just kill me now,” Walker muttered under his breath.
THREE HOURS, several stitches and some fairly strong pain medication later, Mrs. Ford was released from the emergency room. Walker drove home slowly, trying not to jar the old woman’s swollen hand. Then he wondered if he should bother. In her current condition, he doubted she would notice.
“The doctor was very nice,” she said with a sigh. “And a woman. Pretty. Did you notice?”
“Not really.”
“Is that because of Elissa? I think it’s very sweet. She’s a good girl. So caring and hardworking. She needs a man, you know. Not just to take care of her, but in her bed. A woman can only go without for so long. It’s fine at my age. I don’t expect to get lucky. But Elissa is so young.”
He couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. He’d thought the comment about him looking like some
