When in Rome(30)

“Only one.” I can’t physically stay awake any longer. I feel the claws of sleep sinking into me and pulling me under.

Laying my head on the table, I crack my eyes open one more time to look at Noah. He’s fuzzy and swimming in my vision but he doesn’t look stormy anymore. He’s got that wrinkle between his eyes. Worried Noah is cute. Worried Noah looks nice. Cozy.

And that’s the last thought I have before everything goes black.





Chapter 12


    Noah


Well, that escalated quickly.

Guess who’s in my truck, loopy out of her mind and fresh from a checkup at our local doctor’s office where I begged Dr. Macky to come in after hours? I’ll give you two hints: (1) She promised I’d not even notice her around; and (2) She’s been nothing but noticeably around since I met her.

This woman has only been in my life for a few days and she’s going to be the end of me. The moment I saw her tonight I could tell something wasn’t right. Her eyes were glassy and her normal sparkle was absent. She looked horrified and out of it all at once. For a split second, I thought someone slipped something in her drink and I was about to flip every table in that bar until I figured out who did it.

But then I saw her pull those pills out of her purse and stare at them and it all clicked. The relief I felt that she wasn’t maliciously drugged was immediately replaced with terror. I checked the pill container only to find that she accidentally took a sleeping pill. I’m not a doctor, but even I know that mixing sleeping pills and alcohol is not a good thing.

Annie came back over to the table when she realized something was up, and I had her help me discreetly get Amelia to the truck. Luckily, everyone in the bar was so rowdy and dancing that no one seemed to notice us. I got her into the front seat of my truck and told Annie what was going on.

I sat with Amelia in the truck while Annie went inside and used the bar’s phone to call Dr. Macky. I’ve never driven so fast in my life, and I’ve never been more thankful to show up late to the bar before. If I had been there an hour earlier, I would have been blocked in just like my sister’s truck.

Anyway, we made it to the clinic and Dr. Macky did a quick evaluation of Amelia. Her blood pressure was fine, her oxygen levels were fine, and although she’s loopy as shit, the doctor said she’ll be okay and just needs to sleep it off.

Right now, she’s passed out across the bench seat of my truck, and I’m standing outside the door with my sister trying to find a way out of this responsibility I didn’t want in the first place. But even as I think it, I know there’s no way I’m leaving her like this tonight. I want to, but I just can’t.

Annie looks toward the open door of my truck where we can see Amelia with her dark hair fanned out around her and her cheek squished against the leather, mouth breathing to her fullest. “She kinda reminds me of a puppy. All lost and sad. Please will you keep her, Noah? Pleeeeease,” says Annie, putting her hands under her chin and blinking a hundred times.

See, the thing about Annie is, she’s quiet until she’s alone with me. And then she has no problem speaking her mind.

I roll my eyes, not allowing myself to ask why my sister thinks Amelia is sad. I’ve gotten that feeling, too, but…it doesn’t matter. I don’t need to know. In fact, the less I get to know that woman, the better.

“No. And all I’m saying is you and the other girls shouldn’t get attached. You can’t trust a woman like her.” I give her a stern look to drive the point home. I can already tell each of my sisters are falling in love with Amelia and there’s absolutely no good that will come from it. We’re no one to her. She won’t even look over her shoulder when she leaves town on Monday, and they’d do well to remember it.

“Oooh, stern look. You must really mean business,” she says with a deadpan delivery. “You know what? I bet she’s not actually a pop star but an undercover agent, sent to this small town to scout out a base for her new assassin agency.” She’s nodding thoughtfully. “You’re right, we better keep our distance.”

I narrow my eyes at her and try not to smile. “Smart-ass. I’m just trying to keep y’all from getting your hearts broken when your new friend leaves you high and dry.”

“Keep us from getting our hearts broken, or keep you from getting your heart broken? Again.”

It’s annoying having siblings who know me so well. I refuse to play right into her hand, though. “Knock it off, and hop in the back.”

“Fine. Are we going back to your place?”

“Nope,” I say, closing the tailgate behind Annie after she’s settled. “She’s gonna take your bed tonight.”

Annie gives me a horrified look. “Why? You’re the one with the spare bed!”

“I may not like her, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want her to feel safe when she wakes up in the morning feeling like crap. She’s sleeping it off at your place tonight where she’ll be surrounded by women and not in a house alone with a man she hardly knows.”

I can tell she wants to grumble but has too much of a soft heart to decline. “All right, I see your point. She can have my bed. I forget other people don’t know you’re a saintly old man like we do.”

“Not so saintly according to your cussing chart.”