Page 3 of Pretend Wife (Angels of the Secret Order #4)

THREE

Hayden

Everything hurt. It felt like I’d been run over by a truck or maybe struck by lightning.

My eyelids were heavy, and just the idea of moving was exhausting.

I groaned, and a hand squeezed mine.

“It’s okay,” a voice murmured. A female voice. Had I spent the night with someone? Was there alcohol involved—was that why I felt like shit? In my twenty-eight years, I’d never had a hangover that felt like this, but I’d also heard they got worse as you got older.

I forced my eyes open and was instantly blinded by sunlight. I blinked several times, trying to get my vision to adjust to the brightness, and turned toward the woman holding my hand.

For a second I wondered if I’d died and gone to Heaven.

Because I was sure this woman was an angel.

She was too beautiful to be human—whisky-colored eyes framed by long lashes, waves of long copper-brown hair that fell over her shoulders and around an exotically gorgeous face, plump lips that were practically begging to be kissed.

The soft light pouring through the windows behind her literally created a halo around her head.

I’d dated my share of models and celebrities—I wasn’t a stranger to attractive women. But their beauty was fake, all makeup and glamor. Very few people could pull off natural like this.

“Hayden?”

“Am I dead?” I asked. “Is this Heaven?” I’d thought Heaven would hurt less, to be honest, but if I got to look at her all day, I wasn’t going to complain.

She chuckled. “No, you’re not dead. You’re in the hospital.” That was when my brain registered the scrubs she was wearing. She probably wasn’t an angel then. “How do you feel?”

“Like I lost a fight with a Mack truck.”

“More like a tree,” she said with an amused half smile.

I groaned. “What happened?”

“What do you remember?”

It came back in flashes. The drive home from New York. The rain. Calling Sierra to find me a place to spend the night. My car spinning. Pain.

“I lost control of the car. You said I hit a tree?”

“That’s what I was told. You were brought in by a concerned citizen, and he didn’t give me many details about the accident. ”

Her words triggered another memory. Hands pulling me out of the car and a man telling me to stay with him.

“How bad is it?” I asked.

“A lot of bruising mostly. You’re going to be sore for a while, but overall you were very lucky.”

I wasn’t sure I felt lucky at the moment, but I’d live. “How long do I have to stay here?”

“We’ll have to see. You need to take it easy for a while. Your brother should be back soon. He just went to grab breakfast.”

Miles was here? “My brother came all this way?”

She frowned. “I think it’s worth braving the Boston traffic when your family ends up in the ER.”

“We’re in Boston?” That didn’t make any sense. I was sure I’d been in the middle of the state when I crashed. I was going to find a place to spend the night and wait out the storm. I looked up at the nurse like she’d have the answers I needed.

“It’s okay,” she said softly. “You’ve just been through a traumatic experience and had a lot of pain meds. It’s normal to not remember everything perfectly.”

If this was a result of drugs, I didn’t ever want to take them again. I hated having gaps in my memory. My own mind was one of the few things I was supposed to be able to trust.

“Your brother said the rest of your family is out of town, but is there anyone else you want to call? Do you want me to tell Sierra what happened?”

I jerked at her comment and immediately winced as my body protested. “What? ”

“You’re going to be here for a bit. I’m assuming she’s going to need to rearrange your schedule.”

“How do you know Sierra?” I asked in confusion. Everyone who’d tried to reach me in the past year and a half had talked to Sierra, but her role as my PA wasn’t exactly common knowledge.

The nurse blinked at me. “Hayden, do you have any idea who I am?”

“I thought you were my nurse,” I said slowly, eyeing her scrubs.

“I am. I’m also Sierra’s sister-in-law.”

Record scratch.

There was no way. I would have remembered meeting this woman. She was unforgettable—a goddess among men.

Except it was completely possible given who she was. I wouldn’t have looked at her twice if I’d met her, knowing who her family was. Both for my sanity and my physical safety.

I wasn’t brave or stupid enough to touch the sister of Nathaniel Blue and Samuel Torres. There wasn’t enough money in the world that could save me if they wanted me dead.

I was pretty sure she had a couple more brothers too.

I’d never understood the inner workings of their family.

They obviously weren’t blood related since they looked nothing alike and all had different last names.

They sort of reminded me of the Cullen family in those vampire books my sister loved so much.

Like at some point they’d just kind of decided to be a family .

If I was being honest, that didn’t sound so bad—picking your family.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn they actually were vampires. It would explain a lot about their general attitude.

Entertaining anything with the only girl in the family was practically begging them to murder me.

It was why I’d never let myself look at her before.

But I’d been unprepared today. And holy shit had I looked.

I was pretty sure the image of Danielle Towler had imprinted itself on my brain and I was going to see her every time I closed my eyes for the rest of my life.

And she probably thought I was an asshole who couldn’t be bothered to remember her despite spending multiple holidays with her family.

I opened my mouth to say something—maybe try to blame not recognizing her on my car accident—but Miles chose that moment to walk into the room, a paper bag in his hand.

He grinned. “Look at who finally woke up. Danielle, can he eat bagels or does he need to be on some kind of invalid diet?” He turned his smile on her like they were old friends.

“I’m not an invalid,” I grumbled.

Danielle smiled back at him. “He can eat whatever he wants.”

“What about you? There’s enough for everyone.

” This wasn’t abnormal for Miles. He made friends with almost everyone he met, charmed them into adoring him.

It made him good at dealing with customers in the hotel business.

He could smooth over any problem, and everyone loved him, but something about the way he was looking at Danielle irritated me.

“Isn’t she working?”

“Actually, I’m off the clock right now,” Danielle said, pulling her hand from mine. I’d forgotten she was holding it, but I felt the loss of her warmth immediately. “And I should probably get home.”

“You’re leaving?” Miles’s smile collapsed.

She glanced back at me. “I don’t want to intrude.”

“Please, at least stay for breakfast.” Miles tried again. “I really did get way too much food.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s been a long night, and I need to get to bed.”

“Fine. Rain check then.” His charming grin was back in full force. He pulled his phone out and handed it to her. “Let me get your number?”

I scowled at my little brother. Was hitting on my nurse really necessary?

But Danielle graced him with another bright smile and gave in to him just like every other woman in the world. “It was nice to meet you, Miles.”

“Thanks for staying last night,” he said softly, pulling her into a hug that was too long and friendly for a woman he’d just met.

When Danielle had left the room, I glared at him. “Was that necessary?”

“Was what necessary?” he asked, fishing a bagel out of his bag and tossing it to me.

“Hitting on my nurse.”

“She’s not your nurse,” he said, rolling his eyes. “She just happened to be the one to take care of you when you got here. And I wasn’t hitting on her.”

“What do you call that hug then?”

“A thank-you. She finished her shift hours ago and stayed the rest of the night when she didn’t have to just because I didn’t want to be alone.”

“So… what? You two sat around gossiping all night while you watched me sleep?”

Miles chuckled. “Something like that.”

“And you have no interest in getting in her pants?”

“Well, I never said that. She is hot.”

I growled, and Miles burst out laughing.

“You should see your face right now.”

“Miles.”

“Relax. I asked her to breakfast, not if she wanted to have my babies.”

Nothing about that statement was relaxing . Normally I didn’t worry about what Miles did on his personal time, but this was different. Danielle Towler was off-limits. We’d all be better off if we could just forget this entire encounter ever happened.

I could forget how her hand had felt in mine, how she’d looked when she smiled at my brother.

Maybe.

Okay, forgetting was probably too much to hope for, but I could push the thoughts far away and not act on them. That should be easy enough. I didn’t even do relationships. Not anymore.