Unexpected Lovers (4 page)

“What?”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea, Whit?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Your husband left you for dead in the middle of the Grand Canyon. What if he realizes he wasn’t successful and tries again?”

“What do you expect me to do, Ryan, stay here with you? I don’t know anyone in Flagstaff. My father can protect me from Eric.”

“Why not?” Ryan asked, and she noticed the frown Brett gave him.

“What? Stay with you? You can’t be serious.”

“He wouldn’t know to look there since you’ve never met me before now. You’d be safe, Whitney, and that’s the important thing. At least stay with me until you can get in touch with your family and they can make arrangements to have him arrested.”

“Arrested for what? There’s no proof. My word against his.”

“How can he explain returning to L.A. without you when you came together?”

“He can just say we had a huge fight and he left me at the hotel or something.” She threw up her hands in exasperation. “We aren’t having this conversation.” With a serious glance at Brett, she said, “Tell him. Tell him this is crazy.”

“It’s crazy, Ryan.”

“Whatever. Mind your own business. You just don’t want her in your house.”

“Your house?” she asked, the question aimed at Brett.

“Yeah. Ryan and I share my house, or should I say, he rents the apartment over my garage.”

Her focus returned to Ryan. “See. You would have to have his okay, anyway.”

“You need somewhere to recuperate, Whitney, and Eric won’t find you there. You can call your parents from my place.”

She rolled her eyes. High-handed behavior usually pissed her off, but Ryan’s only made her want to let him pull her close and take care of her and she didn’t understand why.

“I’m not going anywhere for several days, right?”

“True,” Brett answered.

“Then we can discuss this later. I need to call my father and tell him what happened. He’ll be worried since I haven’t been in contact with him in several days.” She looked around the room until her gaze landed on Ryan again. “By the way, where is my cell?”

“In the drawer.”

“Can I have it please?” she asked, glancing at Brett, who sat closest to the nightstand.

He reached into the drawer and handed it to her. Flipping it open, she scrolled through the contacts and hit talk.

It rang twice before a female voice picked it up saying, “Morris, Armstrong and Collins, Attorneys-At-Law. Can I help you?”

“Can I speak with Aaron Morris, please?”

“May I ask who is calling?”

“His daughter.”

“One moment, please.”

Elevator music came on the line as a few moments ticked by. “Whitney?”

“Daddy?”

“Where are you, sweetheart? I haven’t heard from you.”

“I’m at the hospital in Flagstaff, Dad.”

“In the hospital? What the hell is going on there?”

“I had an accident.” She fought the sob in her throat, and the tears threatened to blur her vision.

“Let me talk to Eric.”

“Eric isn’t here.”

“Where is he? He should be by your side.”

“Daddy…”

Brett took the phone from her hand.

“Hello?”

“Hello? Who’s this?”

“My name is Doctor Brett Novak. I treated Whitney in the emergency room when she was brought in.”

“Tell me what’s going on, son.”

“She took a pretty good tumble in the canyon. Her left femur is broken, and she’ll need to be monitored for a few more days here.”

Whitney wiggled her fingers, trying to tell Brett to give her the phone back now that her tears were under control, but he only frowned and handed it back.

“Daddy?”

“I’ll have the jet fueled, and your mother and I will be there within a few hours.”

“No. Dad, you and Mom don’t need to come here. There isn’t anything you can do.”

“What aren’t you telling me, Whitney?”

Biting her lip, she held her silence for a moment as her gaze met Ryan’s and then Brett’s.

“If Eric calls you or comes by, please don’t tell him where I am or that I’m okay.”

“Whitney…”

“Daddy, please listen. I can’t explain right now, just don’t tell him anything. Act like you haven’t talked to me at all, and I’ll call you when they get ready to release me from the hospital. I’m fine. Ryan and Brett are taking good care of me.”

“Ryan? Who the hell is Ryan?”

She sighed and closed her eyes. “Ryan is the guy who helped me out of the canyon. He’s a rescue paramedic. Brett is the doctor who treated me in the emergency room, but they are cousins and they’re both sitting here with me. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“All right, but I don’t like this at all. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I do. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“I love you, Whitney.”

“I know, Dad. I love you, too. Talk to you soon.”

The phone shut with a click.

“How soon can you get me out of here, Brett?”

“I can talk to the physician who is seeing you here on the floor, but I don’t understand. Why?”

“I could hear someone listening on the phone, and I’m afraid there might be another party working with Eric. If so, they know I’m here at the hospital.”

Ryan took her hand in his again. “Whit, I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect you. I hope you know that.”

“I can’t ask that of you, Ryan. It’s not fair to you. You don’t even know me.”

“It doesn’t matter. What Eric did was wrong on so many levels.”

A tear slipped down her cheek as a sob escaped her lips. “I thought he loved me, but he only wanted the insurance money. He’s been sleeping with one of my best friends!”

Ryan stood and slid onto the mattress next to her, pulling her close. She buried her face in his chest and cried.

“Shh. It’ll be okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Brett moved closer and took her hand, rubbing the top of it with his fingers. When she lifted her head from Ryan’s chest, the look in Brett’s brown eyes said everything would be okay.

“Neither of us will.”

* * * *

“You live here?” Whitney asked with awe, looking up at the expansive front of his house.

Brett chuckled softly as they pulled into his garage. “Yeah. I bought it a few years ago.” He checked the rearview mirror for Ryan, watching as he pulled his Harley in behind them.

“Is it just you and Ryan here?”

“Yep. No wife or girlfriend.”

A pretty pink flush splashed across her cheeks. “I didn’t mean…”

“It’s fine, Whitney. You’re the first woman to stay here for any length of time.” He pushed open the driver’s side and moved around to open her door, holding out his hand to help her.

“I don’t believe you’ve never had a woman here before.”

He cocked an eyebrow, and a smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I didn’t say that.”

She sighed. “Good.”

“Good?”

“Yeah. I was beginning to wonder about you, Doctor Novak.”

Roaring laughter rolled from his mouth. “I’m not gay, Whit. I appreciate a beautiful woman just like Ryan does.” He skimmed over her face with his gaze and then settled it on her mouth. Kissing her would be a really bad idea.
Then why do I want to so badly? I know Ryan wants her. Sharing her wouldn’t be right, would it?

Moving to the back of the car, he grabbed the wheelchair and positioned it next to the side of the car. “Wrap your arms around my shoulders and I’ll lift you into the chair.”

When their eyes met, she inhaled sharply, and he knew she was attracted to him, too. With a shift of her hips, she swung her legs out of the door. Straddling her knees with his legs, he held out his arms and waited for her to make the next move.

Capturing her bottom lip between her teeth, she hesitated momentarily before she lifted her hands and laid them gingerly on his shoulders. He wondered if she felt the shiver roll down his back at her touch.

Wanting nothing more than to take her lips in a soul-searing kiss, he cleared his throat to dislodge the lump forming there and said, “Hold on tight so I don’t drop you.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” she whispered, her warm breath caressing his neck when he pulled her up and held on for a moment before swinging her around to the chair.

“Are we good, Brett?” Ryan asked, coming up behind them.

Once she was settled, he stepped back. “Yeah.”

“Well, move your ass so we can get her inside and settled, then.”

Ryan shot him a confused look and pushed Whitney into the house.

Brett stayed in the garage a moment, trying to bring his raging desire under control. He thought for sure she had felt his cock spring to life when her breath swept across his neck. Dropping his head back, he stared at the wooden beams above him as he exhaled.

How could she not? I practically jabbed her with it when I swung her around. Then again, her nipples were doing some poking of their own when I held her. That little tank top she has on does nothing to hide the pink nipples beneath it.

He smiled for the first time since he agreed to keep her safe by bringing her here.
Maybe this won’t be so bad after all, once she’s healed.

A saucy whistle left his lips as he followed the other two inside.

The kitchen sat off to his right, and he could see Ryan getting Whitney settled on the couch when he headed for the refrigerator.

“You two want something to drink?”

“How about a beer?” Whitney called.

“You shouldn’t be drinking alcohol with those pain killers.”

She rolled her eyes, and he had to smile.

“Quit being the doctor. It’s not going to hurt to drink just one. I’ll probably fall asleep right here on the couch after one. I’m a lightweight when it comes to alcohol anyway.”

Ryan grinned from his spot next to her.

Brett ground his teeth together when Ryan dropped his arm across her shoulder and pulled her close. He wanted to rip his cousin’s arm from around Whitney, pick her up in his arms, and rush down the hall to his bedroom.

Shaking his head, he retrieved three beers from the refrigerator and headed in their direction, handing each of them one before he dropped into the chair on the other side of the couch.

“So what’s the plan?” Ryan asked.