Page 58 of The Beachside Rental

She approached his side of the couch, not wanting to bother Gus.She gently nudged Simon’s shoulder.“Here take these.”

His eyes opened, but he was definitely groggy from sleep.Without a word, he took the pills and chased them down with the water she’d given him.

His gaze met hers.“Thank you for everything.”

“There’s no need to thank me.This is what neighbors are for.”In that moment, she wanted him to tell her that they were more than neighbors.But how much more?

He reached out and touched her hand.“You went above and beyond.I won’t forget it.”

As he stared into her eyes, her heart started to pound.In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but she didn’t risk it.The thought of bumping his now-purple nose was too great of a risk.And their kiss should not be associated with pain.Far from it.

“I’m just going to head next door and grab some things.I’ll be back.”

“No.”He went to shake his head and grimaced.“I’m fine.You need to go home and get some rest.And go to work tomorrow.”

“But—”

He held up his hand, stopping her from speaking.“I’m fine.The doctor didn’t say anything about me needing someone to watch over me.”

“But—”

This time it was the ringing of his phone that interrupted her.She moved to the coffee table and picked it up for him.The caller ID said it was Gwen.She wondered who Gwen was, but she didn’t ask.She merely held the phone out to him.

He glanced at the name on the screen before his gaze met hers once more.“I need to take this.Thank you so much for everything today.I’ll see you tomorrow.”

That was her cue to go.She didn’t want to go.She was still worried about him, which was ridiculous.He’d been cleared by the doctor to go home so that meant he’d be fine.

But as she walked out the door, she heard him say, “Hey, Gwen, sorry I didn’t get a chance to call you.Things have been hectic here...”

Jenna closed the door.Well, whoever Gwen was, he knew her well.Maybe it was his mother.But would he call her by her first name?Maybe a sister.But then she recalled that he was an only child.She had no idea, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

On her way to her door, she realized that not only was Simon’s porch furniture back outside, but so was hers.Aww...That was so thoughtful of her family.It was times like this that she really appreciated them.

Speaking of her family, she had a proposal to work on.Simon had gotten her excited about this visual approach, and she wanted to get started on it right away.

Chapter Seventeen

Everythinghurt.

The next morning, Simon felt like he’d been hit by a truck.And then said truck backed over him again and again.

When he looked in the bathroom mirror, he didn’t even recognize himself.He had two black eyes.And his nose, well, it was huge.And then there was a purplish, black bruise all over it.

And just to add a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster look to it, he had ugly stitches across the bridge of his nose as well as on his arm.There were scrapes down one side of his face.Ugh!What a mess.

He moved his right arm to reach for his toothbrush and pain flowed from his wrist to the tips of his fingers.He’d taken off the brace while he showered.If this is what a sprain felt like, he didn’t want to know what a broken bone felt like.

It took him longer than normal to finish his morning process.Dressed in a T-shirt and basketball shorts, he headed downstairs.

He was still on the stairs when there was a soft knock on the door.He didn’t have to open the door to know it was Jenna.A smile automatically pulled at the corners of his mouth.Gus barreled down the steps, almost knocking Simon over in his hurry to get to the door.Gus’s tail swished back and forth.It looked like his dog was crushing hard on Jenna.He wasn’t the only one.

Simon opened the door to find Jenna standing there with a big smile on her face and a covered plate in her hands.

Before he could say a word, she said, “Good morning.I saw you take Gus out this morning, so I knew you were up.Can I come in?”

“Uh, sure.”He couldn’t help but think that she was awfully bubbly and full of energy that morning.

He backed up and let her inside.She strode past him.A whiff of strawberries teased his nose.He followed her to the couch.When he caught up to her, he inhaled deeply.There was that fruity scent again.