“She will be,” Harley said casually.
“I have a life,” Piper reminded him. “And it doesn’t include playing nursemaid to a man who has refused stitches more times than I can count.”
“Don’t make me come over there.” Harley sat up and shifted his legs over the edge of the bed, swaying a little.
“Whoa, slow down.” Felicity put a hand on his arm as another hospital worker pushed a wheelchair into the curtained room. Then the woman left the room, returning a minute later with a walking boot and crutches.
“Thank you,” Felicity said as the other woman walked away.
Harley pointed to the wheelchair. “Who’s that thing for?”
“That’s for you,” Felicity said. “The doctor doesn’t want you putting any pressure on your ankle for a few days.” She looked at Piper and said, “He has a splint on under the wrap.”
“I hate the splint,” Harley said like a rebellious boy.
“You need it for stability,” Felicity said sternly. “You can use the walking boot when you feel more stable, but you shouldn’t try to use the crutches while taking the heavier pain medications over the next couple of days. I’d like to show you how to use the crutches.”
“I know how to use them. I had a football injury or two back in the day.”
“Okay. If you have any trouble, you can see your primary care doctor for a follow-up appointment.” She went over instructions with Piper for his medications and how to care for his injury.
Harley looked pleadingly at Piper and said, “See, Pipe? I can’t walk Jiggs. Not only do I need you now more than ever, but he needs you, too.”
Piper had a soft place in her heart for the pit bull Harley had rescued three years earlier. Harley spoiled Jiggs rotten, and Piper swore he was needier than her six-month-old niece, Emerson. “I’ll walk Jiggs, but you can take care of yourself. Can we please stop wasting Felicity’s time and get on with this? I have to get back to work.”
“She means she has to take me to pick up my nieces,” Harley said a little groggily.
“Shoot. I forgot you were taking care of Delaney’s girls.” He’d been taking care of Jolie, who was twelve, and Sophie, who was ten, since Delaney’s surgery. Piper glanced at the clock and said, “If we leave now, I’ll have just enough time to get you home and then pick the girls up and get your prescription.”
“Let me help you get him into the wheelchair,” Felicity said, moving to Harley’s other side. As they helped him into the wheelchair, which was like putting an enormous, floppy bear into a high chair, she said, “Before he took the pain meds, Harley and I were talking and he said you know my brother, Porter Lawton.”
“That delicious-looking man is your brother? I met him through my friend Remi Divine.” Remi was an actress and had recently gotten engaged. She and her fiancé, Mason Swift, had just purchased a home in Harmony Pointe. Mason owned the private security and investigation company Porter worked for as a bodyguard. Porter had looked after Remi last year when she’d had issues with a stalker. He was also Mason’s best friend—and insanely hot.
“He’s a great guy, and he’s single,” Felicity said softly. “He’s great with my son, Lucas, too.”
“Um, hello. Bad ankle here. This isn’t an episode of Love Connection,” Harley said a little drunkenly.
Piper patted his shoulder, grinning at Felicity. “Don’t you love my built-in cockblocker? Even drugged up, he tries to protect my virtue.”
Felicity chuckled.
“Your brother is gorgeous, and Lucas is so sweet. I met him at the birthday bash for foster children Remi and Mason held in January—”
“We have to go,” Harley interrupted. He grabbed the wheels of his chair and tried to spin around but ran directly into the bed. He uttered a curse.
Piper folded the papers Felicity had given her and shoved them in the back pocket of her jeans. She grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and said, “I think I’d better drive. Thanks for thinking about me for Porter—”
“You’re going to be way too busy for a while with me and the girls to even think about him.” Harley pointed to his ankle and said, “I can’t drive, and we really have to go. Thanks for everything, Felicity.”
“The man thinks he owns me,” Piper said. “Thanks again for helping him.”
Felicity handed Harley the crutches and walking boot and said, “My pleasure.”
As Felicity pushed the wheelchair out of the curtained area, Harley flashed a cheesy grin over his shoulder at Felicity and said, “Told you she’d take care of me.”
Felicity stopped in the waiting room to say something to the woman behind the desk. When she walked away, Piper lowered her voice and said, “Why are you such a pain? Do you know how hot Porter is?”
“I know the man is built like he treats his body like a castle and you’d last about one night feeding him nachos or pizza.”
As Felicity headed back toward them, Piper said, “Then it’s a good thing one night is all I’m looking for.”
Harley was so loopy from the pain medication, he couldn’t help but chuckle as Piper, and all of her buck-ten pounds, tried to wrangle his six-three, two-forty body from the wheelchair into her double-cab truck. She’d excused Felicity the second she’d brought the truck around with a curt, Thanks for wheeling him out, but I’ve got him.
As always, the front seat of her truck was covered with what looked like remnants of a fast-food party.
“Wait,” Piper said as he used her as a crutch. She reached into the truck and swept a pile of empty food wrappers and cups onto the floor.
“You know, if you learned to cook, you’d save loads of money.” He was only giving her shit. He knew damn well that if cooking were the only way to eat, Piper would find a way to survive on air. She was that determined.
She glowered at him as she put the crutches and boot in the truck. “Get your ass on the seat and be careful of your ankle.”
“Really? My ass? Is that how you sit in a vehicle?”
“Okay, smart-mouth. Get yourself in the truck. I’m going to bring the wheelchair back inside.” In true Piper style, she ducked from beneath his arm and stalked away, leaving him to wobble like a drunken flamingo.
He grabbed the door and climbed into the truck.
Piper walked out of the hospital like she was on a mission, which was the only way she knew how to move. Only Piper could look as hot as sin in dirty jeans with tears in the knees that she’d probably been wearing for a decade, a Dalton Contracting T-shirt, and tan work boots. Her light blond hair was pulled back from her gorgeous face in a ponytail, and as she climbed into the driver’s seat, Harley fantasized about tugging that ponytail back and devouring her sass-talking, sexy mouth. His medication-addled mind ran down a dark and dirty path, playing with thoughts he was usually much better at pushing aside. He imagined how incredible her soft, supple body would feel lying naked beneath him and the sinful sounds she’d make as he touched and tasted every inch of her, driving her out of her mind. He got hot all over thinking about how it would feel to have her feminine yet strong hand wrapped around his—