Kyle must not have noticed it, but that wasn’t surprising. He only had eyes for his sister. They looked a lot alike, and it wasn’t difficult for me to read him now that I knew her so well.
His eyes were a shade or two darker than Addy’s, but there was no hiding the fear and concern in them. In fact, a lot of his body exhibited similar signs as hers had the day before when she’d heard the news about him.
God, has it really been less than twenty-four hours since I walked into her office? It was almost impossible to believe, but time worked in mysterious ways. Especially when you traveled back in it like we had.
“How are you feeling, princess?” He’d walked around to the other side of her bed and was tenderly brushing her hair out of her face.
“I’m fine.” She smiled up at him with an expression so sweet, even I melted and it wasn’t directed at me. “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”
He wiggled the arm with his IV in it. “I brought my own party. Don’t worry. I’m not here to steal some of yours.”
“What a sorry fucking pair we make.” She motioned around the room with a small shake of her head. “How did it happen that we’re taking up two rooms in this here fine establishment? When I woke up yesterday, or at least I think it was yesterday, we were both completely healthy.”
“Yeah, well, maybe our hearts just missed each other too much.”
And she called me cheesy? Really?
But when Addy burst out laughing, I knew it had been a joke. “That was terrible. Your heart didn’t literally break because of me. Also, it’s way too soon. We’re not even out of the hospital yet.”
“Maybe not, but we will be soon. When are the prison wardens coming round to see you?”
I frowned. Prison wardens?
Addy laughed again. “They’ll be by soon with my test results.”
Doctors. Right. The lack of sleep was messing with my brain. Then again, I’d gotten three hours at most on the plane. Now we were on Saturday afternoon in my time, and it hadn’t exactly been a relaxing day.
“Yeah, they’re expecting my doc to come back during rounds at some ungodly hour,” Kyle said, his voice snapping me out of the exhaustion that had been trying to drag me under.
For a hospital chair, the one I was on was actually pretty comfy. My head rested back against it, and I caught the edge of a small smile Addy sent to me. “You should go get some sleep, Marco. I’ll be fine here. Go to the hotel. I’ll call you when I get discharged, or you just let me know which hotel and I’ll get a cab.”
My spine jerked straight. “No. Nope. I’m fine.” I cleared the scratchiness out of my voice. “I’ll wait for you here. We can go to the hotel together.”
“It’s okay, man,” Kyle said. “You’ve already gone above and beyond as a boss. I’ve got it from here. There’s also no way my sister is staying in a hotel while she’s in town. She’s coming home with me.”
Addy’s hand shot out to me, but she stopped it when she realized what she was doing. “It’s fine, Kyle. I don’t want to intrude on you. I’m sure you’ve got a lot going on. You’ll be more comfortable if I stay at a hotel.”
“Bullshit.” He flashed her a lopsided grin. “You have to come home with me. Who else is going to make sure I eat all my leafy greens?”
“Uh, you?” she suggested just as the door opened again.
A scowling nurse came in and wagged her finger at Kyle. “You really shouldn’t be out of bed, Mr. Tidwell. It’s a serious violation of hospital policy for you to be walking around in your condition. I thought you’d been rushed off for some emergency.”
“I’m sorry if I scared you,” he said, chagrined but charming. Aldo had the same gift. I’d watched it in action plenty of times but never on anybody else. It was mildly fascinating.
I suddenly got a horrible flash of what might happen if the two of them ever met, but I banished it from my mind. Whatever city said meeting occurred in would have to be warned to lock up their single women in advance. I could only imagine the havoc they would wreak together. Light and dark, both of them oozing charm along with that easygoing manner and lightning-fast smiles? It would be a disaster for the women but fucking entertaining for me to witness.
On the other hand, maybe I should introduce them. Lord knew I could have used something to lighten my mood a little.
In the meantime, Kyle by himself would have to do. He flashed the nurse a disarming smile. “Honestly, I didn’t mean to make you think I had to be rushed off. This is my sister. She came all the way from Italy to be with me, but then she collapsed in my room.”
The woman flushed under his deep blue gaze. “That’s so sweet of you. I suppose I can let it slide this one time. Just let me know if you need to move from your room to hers next time, okay? I’ll walk with you to make sure you’re okay.”
I very nearly snorted out loud, but I had to give it to the guy. He was good. He was wearing a hospital gown with his ass hanging out, for God’s sake. It was covered in a pair of boxers, but still.
“My name’s Nancy,” the nurse added. “Let me know when I can get you back to bed.”
This time, I did snort. But so did Addy.
Kyle smirked, and Nancy seemed to catch up when his blue eyes shone at her. She stammered out an apology, tried to clear up what she had meant, but got her ass out of the room before she dug the hole too deep.
Addy punched Kyle’s bicep, rolling her eyes in a way that made me think
