Page 16 of One Kind Soul

“Thank you.” Nicole shook the doctor’s hand as did Christian then the doctor left.

And it was just the two of them in that tiny room.

Christian stood and Nicole had a little trouble swallowing. For a man who had glass yanked from his leg and had admitted to being tired, he still looked . . . healthy. He was about six inches taller than she was and standing this close to him instantly brought back how it had felt to have his big, strong body covering hers as vehicles collided on that street. Yes, she’d been scared because she hadn’t been sure what was happening, but she’d also been extremely aware of the hard planes of Christian’s form. The muscles all tensed to protect her. The heat of his nearness as he pressed up against her.

Nicole wanted all that again. Minus possible death this time.

“I owe you cheese curls,” she blurted.

Christian rasped out a laugh. “I want the licorice too.”

“You definitely deserve it.” She motioned to his bandaged leg. “You’re really okay?”

“Totally. All I lost was some blood which is fine. I like to get rid of some every now and then.”

“Okay.” She took a step back because wild ideas cycled through her mind the longer she stood this close to him. “Let’s see about hotel rooms. Then I’ll pop out for cheese curls and licorice.”

Nodding once, Christian angled his arm toward the door. “After you, Nicki.”

She paused in heading for the door.

“I know, I know,” Christian said. “Don’t call you that.”

Nicole turned around, stumbling back a bit when she found Christian so close behind her. She craned her head back to look up at him. “Maybe it isn’t so awful when you call me that. My sister used to call me Nicki and I hate my sister, but I . . . I don’t hate you.”

He reached out and squeezed her bicep. “I’m happy to hear that.” His eyebrow arched over one blue eye. “So I can call you Nicki?”

“Sure, Chrissy. Why not?”

Christian tugged on her hair. “Excellent.”

“You were going to call me that whether I gave you permission to or not, weren’t you?”

“Pretty much.”

Shouldn’t that annoy her? Why didn’t that annoy her? It probably had something to do with the way his mouth displayed a sexy half smile. Man, a half smile shouldn’t have that much power.

Christian followed her out of the room and toward the hospital’s exit after Nicole grabbed her suitcase from the waiting room.

They found the hotel across the street and entered, Nicole leading them to the front desk area. She wasn’t used to having a hot guy trailing after her, but she definitely liked it. Probably a little too much. Tessa was no doubt right that doing anything more than sleeping in this hotel tonight would be a huge mistake. Nicole’s track record with men wasn’t the best either. She attempted to make connections, but whenever things got serious, they inevitably fell apart shortly thereafter because who could actually want her?

It was like her sister, Lynda, had always told her every damn day when they were kids.

You’re ugly, Nicki. You’re disgusting and nobody loves you. Nobody will ever love you. You’ll always be alone, Princess Uggers.

They were just words, but Lynda had said them so often they’d become ingrained in Nicole’s psyche. She wasn’t ugly. She knew that, but something felt ugly inside her. Something she could never quite be rid of. Something that made her incapable of a true relationship.

And why was she worried about a true relationship right now? She and Christian were stranded in Boston together. Nothing more. Her head had to get back to reality. He may have given her that sexy half smile, but that absolutely did not mean he wanted her. It was the flirt in him. He probably couldn’t help it.

“We’d like two rooms,” Nicole told the man behind the front desk.

Christian leaned against the desk beside her, but didn’t say anything. Didn’t object to two rooms which supplied more proof to stop thinking about anything besides sleep happening tonight. For God’s sake, the man was injured. He deserved some rest, dammit.

After taking the two room keycards, Nicole led Christian to the elevator. “I’m assuming no stairs tonight?”

“Good assumption,” Christian said. “I mean I could do it, but if you’re not opposed to elevators, I’d prefer that.”

“Not opposed. It’s escalators that I don’t do.” Nicole stepped into the elevator when the doors opened and Christian followed.