As soon as Reese pulled the Jag into a space in the emergency parking lot, Kenzie opened the car door, jumped out, and ran for the entrance, praying all the way that Griff would be all right. He was only nine years old, his life just beginning. The thought that something terrible might have happened to him clogged her chest with fear.
Reese’s long strides caught up with her before she reached the glass doors. He was tall, his expensive suits custom tailored to his broad shoulders and narrow hips. She knew he enjoyed sports, played tennis, and worked out with a martial arts trainer three times week. As his personal assistant, Kenzie knew a lot about Reese Garrett.
He held the door as she hurried into a scene of organized chaos: nurses and doctors in scrubs, carts rattling by pushed by lab technicians, worried family members huddled together. The hospital smells of antiseptic and ammonia made her stomach roll. Vaguely, she wondered if Reese’s recent hospital stay had left him feeling equally unsettled.
He steered her directly to the nurses’ station, identified himself, and introduced Kenzie as Griffin Haines’s mother.
“We’d like to see the boy and speak to the doctor,” Reese said. “As soon as possible.”
Kenzie was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Reese Garrett had driven her to the hospital and instead of leaving was staying to lend his support. Reese had never met her son, yet she could sense his concern. It steadied her, kept her from sliding into total panic.
A petite, redheaded nurse behind the counter took one look at Reese and couldn’t move fast enough to help him. “I’ll find the doctor for you.” She took off at a run, and as they waited, Kenzie’s heart continued to pound.
Where was Griff? How badly was he injured?
“He’s just a boy,” she said, unconsciously speaking her thoughts. “He’s got to be okay.”
Reese caught her shoulders, turning her to face him. It was the first time he had ever touched her, she realized. In today’s business climate, there could be no hint of impropriety. As her boss, Reese had been scrupulous in his treatment of her. Never once had he stepped out of line.
“He’s going to be okay,” he said firmly. “You need to believe that unless you learn something different. If that happens, you can deal with it then. I learned that lesson a long time ago.”
She swallowed. “You’re right. I need to be strong for Griff.” But it wasn’t that easy to do.
THREE
Kenzie paced the hallway, willing her son to be okay. She glanced up to see a small, white-coated doctor striding toward her, a stethoscope and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses on a short silver chain around his neck.
“Mrs. Haines?”
She hated to be called that. She would have gone back to her maiden name after her divorce if it hadn’t been for Griff.
“I’m McKenzie Haines.”
“Dr. Marshall. Your son suffered a concussion when he fell off his bicycle and struck his head on the pavement. He was unconscious for a few seconds, so we’re doing a CT scan to be sure there are no complications.”
Her stomach quivered. “Is he...is he going to be all right?”
“He’s scraped and bruised and he’s got a nasty headache. We’ll want to keep him a couple of hours for observation, but if the test results are clear, you can take him home. By tomorrow he should be feeling better.”
Kenzie’s legs went weak and she felt Reese’s hand at her waist to help keep her upright.
“I think you’d better sit down.” After guiding her the few feet to a row of hard plastic chairs, he settled her in the seat.
“I’ll let you know the test results as soon as they’re available,” the doctor said. Turning, he headed back the way he had come.
Kenzie looked up at Reese. She hadn’t realized how terrified she had been until now. “He’s going to be okay.”
Reese smiled. He didn’t do it often and it made him even more handsome. “Like I said, best not to worry until it becomes necessary. Something I learned on the job.”
Kenzie felt that smile all the way to her toes. Just four years older than she was, Reese posed a dangerous attraction she had carefully avoided since her first day as his executive assistant, a job that paid a handsome six-figure salary, money she needed to take care of her family.
As her worry receded, she heard a commotion and looked up to see a tall, lean, sandy-haired man marching toward the nurses’ station. Lee Haines, her ex-husband. A shiver of dread moved down her spine.
“I want to see my son!” Lee demanded, overbearing and condescending in a way Reese never was. When she’d first met him, she’d been attracted to his good looks, Harvard education, and upper-crust social status. Coming from working-class parents who constantly worried about bills and occasionally where the next meal was coming from, she had craved the kind of security Lee’s family represented.
Still, she wondered how she ever could have fallen for the man’s phony charm.
She rose as he approached.
“The police called,” he said. “What the hell is going on?”
“Griff’s going to be all right. They’re doing a CT scan to be sure, but it looks like he’ll be okay.”
“Where was Florence? I thought your grandmother was supposed to be taking care of him.”
“Gran had a doctor’s appointment. She was only supposed to be gone a little over an hour.” Kenzie and her grandmother, seventy-year-old Florence Spencer, were Griff’s primary caregivers. Kenzie’s job demanded long hours and an occasional business trip with Reese. Her grandmother took care of Griff during the workday and whenever Kenzie was gone. Gran loved him and he loved her.
“This is your fault,” Lee said. “You should be home taking care of him yourself. If Griffin lived with me, this never would have happened.”
Anger slipped through her. “He was riding his bike. He isn’t supposed to go into the street unless one of us is out there with him. He’s a kid. He doesn’t always follow the rules. He fell off his bike and hit his head. Things like that happen.”
“Why wasn’t he wearing his helmet? That’s the reason I bought it. It’s your job to make sure he’s safe.”
She didn’t bother to answer. Instead, feeling Reese’s presence beside her and accepting the inevitable, she turned to introduce him. “Reese, this is my ex-husband, Lee Haines. Lee, this is Reese Garrett, my employer. He was kind enough to drive me to the hospital.”
Lee looked Reese up and down, his gaze moving between the two of them as if he knew some dirty secret.
“Garrett. I’ve seen you and your brothers at charity events over the years.” Lee didn’t offer to shake hands and neither did Reese, who seemed to understand exactly the kind of man Lee was.