Married Or Not?: Married or Not? / Ian's Ultimate Gamble

He shrugged and walked out of the room. Hoo-boy. His powers of persuasion better kick in really fast or he was going to be in bigger trouble than he already was.

He’d finally had to face his real motive in helping her. The fact that she had no family was part of the reason, but the hard fact was that he was in still in love with her. He was supposed to be completely over her by now. Instead, he hadn’t wanted to leave her side since the accident. Once he realized that his feelings for her had never changed, he knew that he would provide whatever she needed to heal, whether or not she was comfortable with his help.

After signing her release papers, Sherri was placed in a wheelchair and taken to the lobby. When she looked outside, she didn’t see her cab. Well, it should be here soon.

“You can leave me here by the door while I wait for my taxi,” she said to the nurse.

The woman looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. “I don’t think so,” the nurse replied. As the automatic doors opened for them, the nurse continued, “You aren’t going home in a taxi, honey. Your husband is taking you home.”

The doors closed behind them as Sherri whipped her head around. She saw Greg, leaning against a black sports car parked at the front entrance, his arms folded over his chest, his ankles crossed. At the moment he was in profile, gazing across the parking lot.

Panic set in. “He’s not my husband!”

The nurse chuckled. “Well, that’s good to know. Then can I have him? Whoever he is, he’s here to take you home, according to your discharge papers.” She continued to push Sherri’s chair toward Greg.

Greg saw them and straightened. He wore wrap-around sunglasses and still had on the dazzling white T-shirt and snug-fitting jeans he’d worn earlier. He’d finished off his haute couture ensemble with sneakers that might have been white in a far-distant past.

“What are you doing here?” she said.

“I am here to whisk you away in my chariot, milady,” he said with a bow.

“That really isn’t necessary,” she said, looking over her shoulder at the nurse, intending to ask the woman to take her back to the lobby. The only problem was that the nurse was staring at Greg with a dazed grin on her face.

Sherri quickly ran through her options and realized that she had been outmaneuvered. She rubbed her forehead where an ache began to throb. “Great,” she muttered, and said nothing more while Greg and the man-hungry nurse helped her into his car.

Once inside, she stared straight ahead pretending he wasn’t there, which was a little difficult to do when he leaned over and carefully fastened her seat belt. “I know you’re glad to be out of the hospital. No one can sleep well with all the activity going on.”

She didn’t reply. There was no way she could interact with him and keep her distance, and it was essential that she remain distant.

They’d been driving for about ten minutes when she broke her silence. “Wait!”

“For what?”

“This isn’t the way to my apartment.”

“I know.”

“What are you doing, kidnapping me?”

“Nothing so dramatic. I thought you might like to go to Barton Springs and enjoy the sunshine.”

“Greg, it’s a hundred degrees today.”

“We’ll park in the shade.”

The pounding in her head intensified.

He found shade and pulled beneath one of the huge live oak trees. He left the engine and air conditioning running while he removed his seat belt and turned to her.

“I know I’m the very last person you want in your life, now or at any other time. I get that. I just want to give you a chance to look over your options.”

She sighed. “They’re extremely limited.”

“Not necessarily.” He paused, cleared his throat and finally continued. “Please hear me out before you say anything. Okay?”

She just looked at him.

“I spoke to Joan a couple of days ago about your situation. We agreed that you can’t stay at the apartment. With no elevator you would be trapped up there. It isn’t safe and it could be quite dangerous.”

She lowered her head, not wanting to look at him. “Then why didn’t Joan tell me herself? I’ve talked to her every day.”

“I asked her to let me talk to you about everything.”

“You mean there’s more?” she asked, wishing her voice didn’t sound as though she were on the edge of hysteria.

“Yeah. There is. Joan will be leaving in a few weeks—”

“I know that! She’s been planning this trip for two years!”

“Yes, well, then you probably don’t want her to cancel the trip,” he replied smoothly.

“Of course I don’t. I don’t need her to look after me.”

“That isn’t the point. Without your paying half the bills on the apartment, she’ll need the money she set aside for her holiday to pay all of them.”

Sherri slumped in her seat and closed her eyes.

“My suggestion was that she get another roommate, which she has done.”

Her eyes flew open. “You did what? Are you out of your mind? I no longer have a job. I no longer have a car. And, thanks to you, I don’t even have a place to live? Gee, thanks, Greg. You’ve certainly made my day. Maybe you’d better drop me off at the Salvation Army. I understand they look after the homeless with no jobs.”

She hadn’t realized how loud she’d gotten until she stopped. Her voice still rang around them. She took several deep breaths. I can get through this. Somehow, some way, I can do this. I’ve got friends. I’ve got…what, exactly? A broken arm and leg and I’m presently recovering from surgery. Oh, yeah. I’m in really great shape.

After a silence that stretched between them for several minutes, he asked, “Are you through?”

Oh, how she’d love to brain him over the head with her cast. With her luck, she’d probably break her arm again.

“Yes,” she muttered, looking out the side window so he wouldn’t see the tears that filled her eyes.

“What I think would work out best for you is to stay with me until, quite literally, you get back on your feet.”

She whipped her head around to stare at him so fast she’d probably added whiplash to her other injuries.

Horrified by the suggestion, she could only stare at him. So many thoughts raced through her mind that her head was spinning. The whole world had gone mad. Or at least her tiny part of it. Didn’t he know it would be impossible for her to live with him again? Was he so insensitive to her feelings that he didn’t understand how painful being around him would be for her?

She settled on one major objection that she’d already heard him explain about her apartment. “You live in a second-story apartment, too.”

“I’ve moved.”