“I’m sorry, Doc.”
I didn’t know why, but Roc saying that helped. “I never really talked to anyone about this. It’s crazy how everyone at the hospital knows what happened but I wasn’t the one to tell them. They knew because they were all part of why my marriage was a sham. No one told me because why should they?” I shook my head. “But then, you really don’t need to hear me bitch and moan about it.”
Time to zip my lips. I didn’t need to lay all of that out on Roc. I was going to scare him before I even figured out if I wanted to stick around.
“Real shitty.”
I grabbed my burger and held it up. “And that is where I stop talking. That’s enough spilling my guts for tonight.” I took a huge bite to keep my mouth shut.
Roc chuckled. “I hear you.”
We ate in silence ‘til I was so full, I thought I was going to bust. I started clearing the dishes while Roc finished his food.
“I’m going to be lazy and leave the dishes ‘til tomorrow.”
Rock wheeled over with his plate in his lap. “Don’t bother me none, Doc. I’m lazy to the point where I normally don’t do the dishes ‘til the end of the week.”
I grabbed his plate from him and dropped it in the sink. “Well, I can’t be too lazy or I won’t earn my pay.”
Roc shifted in his chair and nodded. “Right.”
He backed away from the sink and headed into the living room.
The mood had changed, and it wasn’t for the better. I didn’t think joking about being paid was wrong, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I shouldn’t have said them. It didn’t feel like I was actually working, and the conversation I just had with Roc definitely wasn’t work.
“Did you want to watch a movie?” I called.
I couldn’t read Roc right now. I couldn’t tell if he was his normal indifferent self or if he felt the shift in the room too.
“Planned on it,” he called.
I finished rinsing off the dishes and left them in the sink to deal with tomorrow. “Another beer?”
“Pain pill.”
“Are you okay?”
“Just a bit achy. Between the two beers and the pain pill, I should be fine.”
I laughed and walked into the bathroom. I grabbed his pain pill and a glass of water.
“Thanks, Doc.” He grabbed the cup and pill from me. “I just can’t handle heavy machinery now, right?”
He downed the pill and handed the cup back to me.
“Yeah. No backhoes or bulldozers ‘til tomorrow.”
Roc raised his eyebrow at me.
“My brain always goes to tractors and what not when the label says not to handle heavy machinery. I know it means a car.”
Roc shook his head. “You got a little bit of crazy in you.” He nodded toward the couch. “Help me get on the couch and then we can watch a movie.”
We finally had somewhat of a system down to get him out of his chair so it wasn’t too hard anymore. I still laughed now and then about the first time he got home and Susan and Harlyn had to help.
“What’s with the smile?” he asked.
I sat down on the couch next to him and spread a blanket over me. “I was thinking about Susan manhandling you out of the truck.”
Rock humphed. “Bossy woman,” he mumbled under his breath.
She was, but she definitely got the job done. If I ever needed to have a personal home health nurse, she would be my first choice. I could say confidently that Roc was going to be the first and last person I was a nurse for.
“I figure if you start getting mouthy with me, I’ll just have Susan come over to set you straight.”
“Rather have you.” He tugged on the blanket. “You gonna share this with me?”
I looked down at his hand. “You want under my blanket?”
“To start with. Not gonna bite, Doc.” He tugged again on the blanket.
I scooted over until the blanket covered one of his legs. “There.”
I wasn’t sure what was going on. Roc had left the kitchen abruptly, and now, he was trying to get under the blanket with me.
“Now do that again ‘til I can cover my other leg,” he ordered.
“I could just go get another blanket,” I countered.
“What’s the point in that when the blanket you have is more than big enough for the two of us?”
I cleared my throat and decided to just be straight forward like he was. “Because I’m not quite sure what you are up to right now.”
He nodded toward the TV. “Just trying to watch a movie and keep warm. Rather innocent, don’t you think?”
I rolled my eyes. “There is absolutely nothing innocent about you, Roc.”
He clutched his hand to his chest. “You wound me, Doc. I like to think I’m the Mother Teresa of crew chiefs.”
I blew a raspberry and scooted over the rest of the way. “You’re so full of shit, it’s no wonder that your eyes are brown.”
He tugged the blanket over his legs and shrugged. “You’re the one who’s sharing a blanket with me.”
He put his arm across my shoulders and pulled me close against him. I took a deep breath and tried not to focus on the weight of his arm around me and the smell of his cologne. A hard feat.
Here I thought Roc was put off by the fact I had brought up money, and now, it seemed like he was flirting with me. I wasn’t good at the whole flirting and dating thing. I was on about half a dozen dating sites or apps, and each time I got a message, a swipe, or a heart, I would analyze every little thing and figure the guy really didn’t like me.
There was one who I actually messaged back and forth with, but he was so sporadic answering because he was busy with work that it didn’t really seem to be going anywhere. Although, I hadn’t checked the app since before I came to stay with Roc.
“There isn’t shit on tonight.” Roc flipped through the channels and sighed.
I held out my hand. “Let me have a look.”
“No chick shit,” he growled. He slapped the remote into my hand.
“We can watch Netflix. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before. With you laid up, it’s the perfect time to binge watch.”
“Do what?” he asked.
I glanced over at him. “Watch all the seasons of a TV show in a couple of sittings.”
Hell, I had finished series in a couple of days when I wasn’t working. With Roc being laid up, it was the perfect time to do that with him.
“I can’t tell you the last time I actually watched a TV show. I tend to stick to movies because I can watch them in one sitting.”
I flipped the TV to Netflix, logged into my account and scrolled through ‘til I found something Roc would want to watch. “You’ll like this.”
He side eyed me. “You think you know me now, Doc?”
I shrugged and tossed the remote to the TV. “Learning each day that goes by.”
Roc’s arm came around me again, and he rested his hand on my collar bone. So it wasn’t a fluke the first time when he had done it. He wanted me close, and I wasn’t going to be an idiot and pull away.
Roc grunted and focused on the TV. “Designated Survivor?” he asked as the title flashed across the screen.