He ducked his head. “I’m not worried about you suing me. I’m worried about you.” His gaze heated.
This wasn’t fair. Being this close to him did a number on me every damn time. My skin heated where his hand was braced against the wall and brushed against my shoulder. What the hell was wrong with me?
Hunter was the human version of a faulty shower. One second you were being bathed in steamy, glorious heat massaging every muscle in your body, and the next it was a full ice-cube spray to the face.
“No need. I’m feeling good. Your doctor friend will be here soon, right?” I added extra pep to my voice.
See, you’re not affecting me at all. My stomach wasn’t flip-flopping, and my breathing wasn’t shallower than the kiddie pool.
A knock at the front door broke the irresistible pulse between us.
Jameson called out from the living room. “Hunter, Sabrina, the doctor’s here.”
I stepped back and dropped my gaze to the floor, trying to get my heart rate under control.
That was exactly what I needed right now. The doctor taking my blood pressure and pulse and rushing me to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack. No, it was just the kind of effect Hunter had on women.
Damn him.
Hunter hesitantly dropped his arm and stepped aside.
I scurried past.
Behind me, the water in the sink turned on. “I’ll be right there. Just let me clean up.”
I rushed into the room where others were present and I wasn’t in danger of melting into Hunter’s body under his avid gaze like I’d never been the focus of this much male attention in my life.
In the living room, an older man with black hair with salt-and-pepper streaks at the temples stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Was every guy Hunter knew hot? He gave off some serious Sean Connery in Entrapment vibes.
“And you must be Sabrina.” The accent. Holy shit. He had a Scottish accent.
Over his shoulder, Zara’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open. She mouthed the words, holy hotness. It appeared even the engaged woman noticed his stately-older-gentleman looks.
I slapped on a smile and extended my hand. “Yes, I’m Sabrina. So nice to meet you, Dr…”
Good thing he was holding on because I was almost on the ground.
He smiled. “Dr. Sean.” He pumped my hand in a firm, but not too firm, grip and released it. “Hunter tells me you had a fall and were having some dizziness and nausea.”
“Only a few minutes after I bit it. By the time we left the apartment, I was feeling fine, but he wanted to be sure.” I glanced at Hunter, who’d emerged from the bathroom. Yes, I was wholeheartedly shifting the blame onto Hunter. But the joke was on me. My cheeks heated at the intensity of his gaze.
Dr. Sean chuckled, and the corners of his eyes creased. “With a lady like you on his arm, I can’t blame him.”
I opened my mouth to correct him but snapped it shut. No sense in explaining our now-complicated situation to a stranger.
Hunter didn’t jump in to clarify either.
At least for once, we were on the same page.
“Are you okay with me checking you over out here?”
“You’re not going to need me to get naked or anything?”
A laugh burst free from his lips, and he shook his head emphatically. “It’s not that kind of exam.”
“Then I’m good out here.”
Zara hopped up and walked past me mouthing, oh my god, before going into the kitchen leaving me, Hunter and Dr. Sean in the living room.
Hunter perched on the arm of the couch beside the chair where I sat. His gaze was trained on me like I might spontaneously combust at any moment.
I hated how having his full attention made me feel. It annoyed me that he’d gone into full protection mode. And I hated how warm and fuzzy it made me to know he cared.
Dr. Sean sat on the coffee table beside his bag.
He checked my pulse, which had felt like the blood in my veins was trying to escape with each beat. Next was my blood pressure before he got out the blinding light tool and tracked the movements of my eyes.
I pressed my lips together, letting him do his work.
“Where was it you bumped your head?”
I reached back and touched the spot on the back of my head that was only slightly tender.
The doc leaned forward and felt around, looking up at the ceiling. He dropped his hand. “Right, everything here looks good. No signs of a concussion or other issues. If you start experiencing any nausea or dizziness, you should call me.” He looked between me and Hunter.
“I will,” Hunter blurted out from his spot on the edge of the seat.
The flustered flutters were back, the ones that happened when Hunter looked at me with an intensity that didn’t make me feel like a piece of furniture in the apartment we shared or a person he kept around for pity. Those were dangerous feelings. “I’m sure it won’t be necessary. It’s been over an hour, and I’m feeling fine now.”
The doctor nodded. “As long as it stays that way, you’ll be just fine.” He stood.
Hunter’s hand shot out. “Thanks for coming out here, Sean.”
Dr. Sean shook it. “No problem, especially after you got me those tee times. I swear, I’ve been trying for months.”
“Always happy to help.”
“How much do I owe you?” I winced, doing my mental tally. Every dollar counted, especially if Zara worked her magic for the expo.
Owing Hunter wasn’t a game I wanted to play. Feeling indebted to him when I had nothing to offer in return—I’d been down that path before, which was how I’d ended up with my whole life packed into my car and sharing an apartment with him in the first place.
Dr. Sean made a noise halfway between dismissal and offense. “Nothing. Of course not.”
“But you came all the way here.” I refused to look at Hunter.
“It wasn’t that far, plus it never hurts to be owed a favor by this guy.” He jerked his thumb in Hunter’s direction and winked, packing up his stethoscope into his bag.
The front door opened, and a harried woman rushed through.
She stopped short once it registered there were two people she obviously didn’t know in her living room. Her head rocked back, and her eyes widened. “Sean?”
Okay, maybe it was just me then.
“Rachel?”
She set her keys down on the bench beside the front door. “What are you doing here?”
“Hunter had a friend who needed a once-over.” He gestured vaguely in my direction.
She tucked her hair behind her ear with a playful smile. “Since when do you make house calls?”
“I make special exceptions for special people.” He leaned in closer like he was letting her in on a secret.
Holy flirting. Was it getting hot in here or was that my not-concussion?
Hunter stepped forward. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.” He looked back and forth between the two of them.
Jameson’s mom touched the side of her neck. “We work together.”
Dr. Sean cleared his throat. “Sometimes I’m on her floor.” The tension between these two was off the charts. Well, at least this diverted some of the heat and attention from the Hunter Situation. Get some, Rachel.
“Mom?” Jameson walked out of the kitchen with a bowl in hand, a towel over his shoulder, and colored flecks of fondant clinging to his hair. “Who’s this?”