Page 7 of The Best of Friends

“You’re so not her type.”

“There’s a challenge.”

“I’m hanging up now.”

Two

“THE PAINKILLERS WON’T WORK tonight,” the ER doctor said cheerfully. “Don’t expect to sleep. You’ll try. Everyone tries, but you’ll be up. Tomorrow will be better.”

“You need to work on your bedside manner,” Jayne told him, nearly shifting on the bed, then remembering that any movement would send pain shooting through her arm. She’d already done it twice in the past three minutes and was determined not to face the searing wave again anytime soon.

“Just telling you what you need to know,” the doctor said, patting her uninjured arm, then winking at David. “Give the nurses a few minutes to finish up with the paperwork, then you’ll be free to go.” The thirty-something doctor eyed David again, then left.

“You have a fan,” Jayne said absently, staring at the pink cast that went from her knuckles to about an inch below her elbow. Talk about stupid. She couldn’t even pretend it was just one of those things. It wasn’t. It was just dumb. Idiotic, even. She’d sacrificed herself for a vase. Who did that?

“I get that a lot,” David said.

She looked at him. “Excuse me?”

He shrugged. “I’m irresistible. You should see me around kids and dogs. They go crazy.”

Had she hit her head, along with breaking her wrist? “What did you say?”

“Nothing.” He moved closer to the bed as his smile was replaced by an expression of concern. “How are you feeling?”

“Wonderful. Practically perfect. Look, it was great of you to bring me to the hospital, but you don’t have to stay. You said Rebecca would be here soon and…” She found herself getting lost in his dark blue eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

“Nice try, but no. Rebecca insisted I stand guard. She’s worried about you. Actually, she blames me for the accident.”

“You didn’t have anything to do with it!” She’d been well on her way to tumbling before he’d walked into the house.

“You’re going to have to tell her that,” David said, pulling up a chair and sitting. “She’s out for blood, and she can be vicious.”

He was teasing. She heard it in the tone of his voice, saw it in the humor glinting in his eyes. He was big and muscled and so close to physically perfect that being around him nearly made breathing impossible. Of course that could also have been the throbbing pain in her arm.

“I’m not usually so uncoordinated,” she said, plucking at her shirt, noting that the material was finally dry. There were very attractive stains on her white pants, however. So much for looking classy.

“It was spectacular,” he said, lightly touching the cast. “Too bad you won’t have a scar. Guys really go for scars.”

“And tattoos.” She smiled. “I actually have one of those already.”

“Really?”

“No, not—”

“Are you okay? What happened? Is that acast?”

Jayne managed to jerk her attention away from David’s mesmerizing gaze to see her friend Katie hurrying into the room. Katie, a petite redhead who worked at the breast center with Jayne, came to a stop on the other side of the bed. The visit wasn’t a surprise. All the radiology nurses knew one another, including the nurse who had taken Jayne’s X-rays. No doubt she’d called the breast center to spread the word.

“What happened?” her friend demanded. “You take off for a couple of hours and now this?” Katie glanced at David. “Who are you?”

“Jayne’s ex. We were married in high school. She didn’t mention me?”

Katie’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”

Jayne did her best not to laugh. “No. Don’t be funny,” she pleaded. “Movement of any kind will hurt. Katie, this is David. Rebecca’s brother.”

Katie looked at him, then raised her eyebrows. “Keeping it in the family? You never mentioned him before. He’sverymentionable.”