His Old-Fashioned Love (Old-Fashioned Series) (16 page)

Swallowing heavily, she fought to find her voice. “I-I didn’t want you to feel you have to stick around because of me.”

“You’re the reason I’m here, the reason I want to be here. Do you really think I want to be miles away from you?”

“N-no?”

His eyes narrowed warningl
y and she drew her shoulders back.

“No, you want to be with me
,” she said firmly.

“Damn straight. But
, I have other responsibilities and I have to go. Doesn’t mean you can’t come with me.”

Holly sighed. “I can’t. Derrick’s going away this week and he needs me here.”

Brax brushed her hair back off her face. “Well, what about next week then? Think he’ll give you some time off?”

A slow grin crossed her face. “I know he will.”
Derrick still owed her.

Brax kissed her slowly, sensuously. “I meant what I said, baby. If being with you means I have to move here, I will.”

Holly shook her head. “No. This isn’t where you belong. And Derrick’s just as likely to move in another year’s time as not. Your business is important to you.”

“And D
errick and your job are important to you.”

God, how did she ever luck out and get a man like this?

Holly nodded. “Yes. I can’t just leave him in the lurch. I’d feel like I was abandoning him.”

“I know, baby. I would never ask you to do that. We’ll work something out. I’m going to miss you this week.”

“I’ll miss you too.”

“How about we make some
more memories to get us through?”

“What do you mean?”

He swept her up, holding her in his arms as he stepped into the bedroom.

“Let me show you.”

*****

Brax held her tight, wishing he didn’t have to let her go.

“I wish you’d let me drive you to the airport,” she complained.

He shook his head. “It’s late and you should be in bed,” he
told her gently. She still looked exhausted and he hadn’t helped any, keeping her up late the last two nights. “Besides, I don’t like goodbyes at airports.”

She nibbled her bottom lip. “I hate this.”

“Me too. As soon as you let me know what day you’re coming I’ll book your plane ticket.”

Frown lines appeared in her forehead. “I can book my own ticket, Brax.”

“No way, baby. I will book and pay for it. I will also be there to pick you up. I don’t like you being so far away from me. You have a bad habit of getting into trouble.”

“I do not,” she protested.

He gave her a
look. She sighed, rolling her eyes.

“I won’t get into any trouble. I promise.”

“You’ll also start taking care of yourself. I want you eating properly and getting lots of sleep.”

“Jesus, Brax, I’m not five.” But her eyes showed her pleasure. She liked having him take care of her, almost as much as he enjoyed looking after her. He wished she was coming home with him.

“I can’t believe you made me take a nap this afternoon,” she muttered.

He grinned.
“You were about to fall asleep on your feet.” He pushed her hair back over her ears. “I love you, Holly. I’ll call you once I get home.”

“
I love you, too.” Brax kissed her on the forehead. She threw her arms around him, squeezing tight. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Ditto, baby.”

“You’re in trouble, young lady,” Brax drawled down the phone.

Holly let her head roll forward, resting her forehead on
the palm of her hand.

She didn’t want to talk to anyone
. Didn’t want to do anything but crawl into her bed, take some painkillers for this killer headache and go to sleep for at least twelve hours.

“Why? What did I do?” she replied, trying not to wheeze or sound
like she was all blocked up with a cold.

“You’re at work
when you should be home resting,” he said. “I called the guesthouse, fully expecting you to be in bed like you were told to be, only to get no answer. I thought you might be asleep, so I waited another hour and called again, but there was still no answer. Finally, I thought I’d call here and see if Derrick could check on you. What are you doing at work? And where is Derrick? Well, what do you have to say?”

“
Derrick is in New York. I’m fine, Brax. Like I told you last night, I couldn’t stay at home today. There is too much work to do.”

“You’re not fine, you’re
wheezing.” She could hear the frustration in his voice, and knew he wished he wasn’t miles away. She wished that too. She’d love nothing more than to have him hug her. But Holly was no stranger to chest infections; they were nothing to get concerned about.

Trying to convince Brax of that, though, was a hard task. He seemed to think she should stop everything and collapse into bed for a few days. Even though that sounded heavenly, the world didn’t stop because she had a
little cough.

“I can’t believe Derrick expects you to
work when you’re ill.”

“Derrick has nothing to do with
it. If I’m going leave on Thursday I need to get my work done now.” They had arranged for her to come and visit him for a long weekend. Holly could scarcely believe how much she missed him when they were apart. They’d been going back and forth for the last three months. But neither of them had talked about her moving in with him permanently.

Sugar, h
er head ached too much for these thoughts.

“You won’t be going anywhere if you’re not well.
Have you been to the doctor?” he demanded.

She sighed. “No, Brax, it’s just a cold. The doctor can’t do anything. I’m fine, I promise. I’ll go home early, have some soup and go to bed.”

He growled. She heard some background noise. “You get yourself home now and into bed. I’m going to call you tonight and you better have made an appointment with the doctor. I’m warning you now that a spanking is in your future unless you start taking care of yourself. I’ve got to go, I’ll call you tonight.”

“Love you,” she called.

“Love you too, baby.”

Hanging up the phone, she dropped her head onto the
desk; she really did feel like crap.

*****

“Hello, Brax, how can I help?” Derrick answered his phone.

“
What do you think you’re doing, making Holly work when she’s ill?” he demanded.

There was a long pause. “I haven’t spoken to Holly in a few days, we’re been conversing by email because o
f my long hours. Is she okay?” There was very genuine concern in his voice and Brax knew he meant every word. Brax hated that he wasn’t with her, particularly while she was sick. Perhaps he should just fly out there. No way did he want her flying out here.

“She’s wheezing and coughing and refusing to go to the doctor.”

Derrick sighed. “She’s stubborn. I’ll call her. Order her to take a few days off.”

“We can’t keep going like this, Derrick. I don’t want to ask her to give up her
job. I know how close the two of you are, but I can’t stand being apart from her, especially when she’s ill.”

“I know and I’m working on a plan. I’m going to move to Austin.”

Brax was shocked. Austin was definitely a lot closer.

“Are you sure you want to do that? It’s a big move and Houston is your home.”

“My home is with my family, and Holly is my family. I can work anywhere. I’m not telling Holly until I know for sure so I’d appreciate you keeping this quiet.”

“Of course. Thanks, Derrick.” Brax felt the heavy weight he’d been carrying around start to ease. Having Holly with him had become the most important thing to him.

*****

Holly paid the astronomical taxi fare and took
hold of her bag, thankful it had wheels as she dragged it along the uneven ground to Brax’s porch. Damn, she felt like shit. Her eyes were watering, her lungs laboring as she drew in each breath. Maybe she should have stayed home. But she missed Brax. So she’d disobeyed his order to cancel her flight and remain in Houston.

She should have told him she was still coming, but
she knew he’d just try to talk her out of it. He was going to be furious, but she’d rather be around an angry Brax than no Brax at all. Her butt clenched at his promise to spank her if she didn’t start taking care of herself. She still hadn’t managed that doctor’s appointment.

All
of yesterday, she’d lain in bed alone and miserable. She missed Brax too much to stay away from him, no matter how much her butt was going to pay.

Shivering, she sat on the bench seat by the front door. She hoped Brax wasn’t far away because it was growing cold and dark
. Coughing, she grabbed a tissue out of her bag to blow her nose. Damn, this cold had really gotten hold of her. She’d hoped to feel better by now.

Lying down on her side, she curled her legs up to try and keep herself warm before settling in to wait.

Brax drove down his long driveway
, every muscle in his body aching. He’d been working hellishly long days so he could take some time off. Tonight, he’d book a flight and head out to Houston tomorrow. He needed to see for himself that Holly was all right. He’d felt awful about ordering her to stay in Houston, could still hear the disappointment in her voice.

He knew how
she felt, but he had to think about what was best for Holly and right now he didn’t want her doing anything more strenuous than using the TV remote. Derrick was supposed to be home tonight so at least she wouldn’t be alone.

Pulling
up to the house, his headlights caught something on the porch. Was that a suitcase? As his eyes adjusted he saw a bundle lying on the bench seat.

Jesus Christ.

Aches and pains forgotten, he turned off the truck and jumped out, racing up the stairs.

“Holly! Holly?”

Kneeling beside the bench seat, he shook her gently. She made a soft noise of disgruntlement, before a cough claimed her, shaking her whole body as the harsh sound rattled up from her chest.

Worry had him frowning
fiercely as he fished his key out of his pocket, quickly unlocking the door before scooping her up in his arms and carrying her inside.

Her skin was like ice. He needed to get her warm. Fast.

“Brax?” she asked as he placed her on the sofa.

“Shh, baby, I’m here.”

“I’m sorry. I had to come. I missed you.”

He cupp
ed her face. “I know. I missed you too. Why didn’t you call me when you got here?” He turned up the heating. He kept the house pretty cold, preferring it that way. But Holly didn’t generate as much body heat as he did, plus she was ill.

“I didn’t want to bother you. I know you’ve been
really busy with work.”

He didn’t like how much she was wheezing as she breathed. Scooping her
up once more, he carried her into the bedroom and propped her up on some pillows. Her normally olive skin was gray and there were large, black crescents beneath her eyes.

“Damn it, Holly. Why didn’t you stay in Houston?” He knew his words were harsh and regretted the
m immediately as hurt filled her eyes.

When he
reached down to take her shoes off, she drew her feet back and attempted to roll from the bed. “I’m sorry for bothering you, I’ll just leave.”

“Like hell you w
ill.” He grabbed her hips, easily turning her onto her back once more. “You’ll stay right here where I can look after you. I didn’t mean it like that. You have to know how happy I am to see you. What I’m not happy about is that you travelled while you were ill and then you proceeded to spend God knows how many hours sitting in the cold when you should have called me.”

He took her shoes and jacket off as he s
colded then put her under the covers with her clothes on.

She looked at him through teary eyes. “Sorry. I just missed you
so much.”

Unable to resist
, he placed a kiss on her forehead. “I am glad to see you, Holly. Never doubt how much I miss you and want to be with you. But you’re going to get one hell of a spanking for this.”

*****

Holly woke up coughing. She struggled to sit, rubbing her chest as she fought for a breath. Suddenly, a strong hand helped her sit forward, massaging her back until her coughing fit passed.

She sat back, blinking up at Brax as he held a glass of water to her lips. The fuzziness left her brain as she drank thirstily. Finishing, she turned her face away, looking at the clock
on the bedside table.

“Brax, what are you doing here? It’s half-past ten.” He should have been at work hours ago.

He frowned, sitting back against the headboard and crossing his arms over his chest. “Did you seriously think I would leave you when you’re so ill?”

“I’m feeling much better.
I don’t want to put you behind.” In truth, she thought she actually felt worse, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Don’t you dare lie to me
,” he growled. “You look awful. I’ve made an appointment with the doctor at two and we’ll see what he says. Until then, you’re going to stay in this bed. I’ll go and make you some eggs for breakfast.”

She grabbed his hand. “I’m not hungry. Please go to work, at least until the appointment. I feel awful
that you’re here when you should be working.”

He cupped
her cheek. “You let me worry about that. I’m going to make you some breakfast and you’ll eat a few bites, you didn’t have any dinner last night.”

“I’m not in danger of wasting away.”

His gaze narrowed and she subsided with a sigh. “Okay, okay, I’ll have some scrambled eggs, thank you.”

He stood. “Oh
, and you need to call Derrick. He called her last night, frantic over you.”

“I left him a note.”

Brax nodded. “He found it. That doesn’t mean he worries any less.” He pointed at the phone on the bedside table. “Call him.”

Making sure he was safely turned away
, she stuck her tongue out at him. Bossy bastard.

Reaching over, she picked up the phone and called Derrick.

“Hello,” he answered.

“Derrick, it’s me.”

“Holly.” His voice held so much relief she instantly felt guilty. “I was worried about you, what did you think you were doing leaving when you’re ill?”

She sighed. “Derrick, I’ve already gotten a lecture from Brax, I really don’t want one from you, too.”

“Well, you were the one who said you wanted a man like me. I’d say you’ve gotten your wish.”

“Oh, no,” she told him. “Brax is much, much worse.”

Derrick chuckled. “I wouldn’t be so sure, love. Now that you’re there, though, I want you to take at least three weeks off and rest, you hear me?”

“Derrick, you can’t give me three weeks off.”

“I can’t?” he said incredulously. “Here I thought I was the boss and could do what I liked.”

“Derrick,” she said with a sigh that ended in a cough. “I’ve got work to do.”

“I have it covered. I want you to rest, get better and hopefully I’ll have a surprise for you soon.”

“What sort
of surprise?” she asked, suspiciously.

“You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?
” he teased. “Now, take care of yourself.”

“I don’t think I have much choice,” she said wryly.

Derrick laughed. “I knew he was going to be good for you.” He was still chuckling as they said their goodbyes. Holly put the phone down and pulled back the covers, climbing from the bed.

“Just where do you think you’re
going?” Brax asked as he stepped into the room, a tray held in his hands.

“To the bathroom,” she replied with some exasperation.

“Yell out if you need any help.”

Yeah, like she was really going to ask for his help
to use the toilet. She so didn’t think so. Shuffling to the bathroom, she was surprised by how little energy she had. With a sigh, she tumbled back into bed. She even allowed Brax to feed her without too much complaint.