Rushing Amy: A Love and Football Novel (22 page)

This called for some serious thought, but she didn’t have much time right now.

They hurried through a silent house and down the walk, and then he helped her into his car.

“We’ll be there before you know it,” Matt said as he pulled on his seatbelt. “Did he say anything else?”

“No. He just told me to come over.” Hot tears raced down her cheeks. “He sounds really upset.”

Matt’s lips formed a solid, bloodless line. “I know she’s going to be okay, Amy.” He squeezed her hand.

The rest of the ride was silent. Amy fidgeted. She glanced out the window, but she saw nothing but pictures in her imagination of Emily lying on an emergency room gurney, bloody and seriously injured.

“I’ll park the car and find you,” he said.

Matt pulled up in front of the Evergreen Hospital emergency entrance shortly afterward.

“Okay. Thank you.”

He stroked her cheek. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“I hope so.” Amy threw the passenger door open and sprinted through the entrance.

E
MILY LAID ON
a bed in one of the emergency room cubicles. Brandon had his arm around her shoulder, and was murmuring into her ear when Amy skidded through the doorway. Her right foot was wrapped in a significant number of bandages and sported an ice pack. A sparkly pair of sky-high Louboutins sat on a rolling table next to the bed.

“Brandon said he called you. You didn’t have to get up and come over here, you weirdo. I’m fine.”

Amy felt like a rock rolled off her back. If her sister was well enough for insults and had put her shoes where she could see them, she was going to live. “What happened?”

“Oh, some doofus drove through a stop sign and hit us. The airbags all went off. Brandon doesn’t have a scratch on him.”

“What happened to your foot, then?”

“My handbag fell on it.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Absolutely not. It’s a bad sprain. Plus, the doctor lectured me about wearing stilettos at this stage of my life.
Excuse me
? I am not old.” She let out a sniff and pointed at the bandages. “I am
not
wearing these for a month.”

“You’re going to have to wear them till the doctor says you can take ’em off, sugar.”

“Brandon McKenna, I love you very much, but no. Maybe I can get something more stylish at—”

“Do you want me to call Mom and Daddy?” Amy interrupted. “Are you in pain?”

“Let’s call them tomorrow. Mom will freak out, and Dad will ask us why we were out driving around at midnight.” Emily let out a sigh. “I wanted a burger. And no, I’m not in pain. They gave me a shot.”

“I’ll say,” Brandon muttered. Amy almost laughed out loud at the expression on his face—tired, stressed, but amused.

“Are they making you stay here tonight?” Amy asked.

“They’re releasing her as soon as the nurse comes in with the paperwork. That Town Car I called should be here too, sugar.”

Amy heard a slight commotion behind her. Matt strolled into the room. She felt his arm slide around her waist. Emily’s eyes got huge as she watched.

“So, Mrs. McKenna, I heard there was a little accident. How are you feeling?” Matt said.

“Matt Stephens, what are you doing here?” Emily said. “It’s a little late for a social call.” She beamed at him. “I
love
the espresso maker you sent us. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

Emily glanced back and forth between Matt and Amy several times. Even under the influence of hospital-grade pharmaceuticals, her eyes narrowed. Matt and Amy were saved from what was sure to be an interrogation by the arrival of a nurse.

“Okay, then, Mrs. McKenna. Let me get you back into your clothes, and you’ll be free to go. I have some discharge information for you as well. The doctor says that you will want to consult with your primary care physician if you need additional medications for pain control tomorrow. Right now, though, you’ll want to keep that foot elevated and stay off it. Ice will help the swelling.” Amy saw her smile at Emily and nod toward the pair of Louboutins. “Those might be off-limits for a while.” She handed her a small white plastic sack, too. “Here’s a souvenir. Congratulations.”

Emily grinned at her. “Thank you.” She stuffed the little plastic bag into her handbag before Amy could figure out what was in it. In the meantime, Brandon was off his chair at the speed of light.

“Sugar, it’s late. Let me see Amy and Matt out,” he said. “I’ll be right back,” he told her.

“What’s going on?” Amy called out as she was propelled from the room by both Matt and Brandon.

Brandon finally slowed almost fifty feet away.

“What’s in the little white plastic bag?” Amy asked him.

Brandon ignored her question. “Okay, squirt. I kept my mouth shut long enough. I know someone who told me you and Matt had been on a couple of dates recently. Your secret is out.”

“Speaking of secrets—”

“You can tell my wife you’re seeing Matt or not, but I’d advise ’fessing up. You’re busted.” He turned toward Matt. “‘Someone else on my radar screen?’ Nice. I don’t know whether to punch you or hug you.”

“I know which one I’d prefer.” Matt slid his arm around Amy’s waist. “Let us know if you or your wife needs anything.”

“Oh, I will.” Brandon hugged Amy, and shook hands with Matt. “Let me get her home, and we’ll catch up with you tomorrow.” He made a shooing motion with his hands. “See ya.”

M
ATT AND
A
MY
climbed back into his car a few minutes later. He relaxed against the seat.

“I’m glad Emily’s going to be just fine. She’s going to hit that doctor with her crutch if he tells her she can’t wear those shoes again.” He reached out to turn the key in the ignition. “Let’s go home and go back to bed.”

“That works for me,” she said. She reached out for his hand. “Should we bet on what’s in the little white bag the nurse handed her?”

Matt shook his head. “We both know what’s in there. Let’s wait till they decide to tell everyone.”

Amy couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. It sounded like she was going to be an auntie a lot sooner than she had anticipated. This was definitely worth getting out of bed in the middle of the night and rushing over to the hospital for. Plus, her little secret was out, too. She and Matt were officially An Item. Speaking of bets, she was willing to bet Emily was texting their mother right now.

In the meantime, Matt brought the back of her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

“I kind of liked being your dirty little secret, Fifi.”

She turned to look at him. “Are you serious?”

“Sneaking around still sounds pretty sexy, don’t you think? We could get trench coats and dark glasses. We could meet up in hotel rooms. We could have a password.” He grinned over at her. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“No.”

“There’s going to be a fourth date, and I want to meet your parents.”

Chapter Sixteen

A
T SEVEN O’CLOCK
the next morning, Amy’s cell phone rang. She reached over to the bedside table, grabbed it, and pulled the blankets around herself as she hit the button to send the call to voice mail. “Unknown caller” could wait. She felt an unfamiliar weight next to her in the bed and heard a sleepy male voice seconds later.

“Good morning, Fifi.”

He rolled over to pin her in his embrace. He planted a kiss on her forehead.

“Good morning.” She trailed her fingertips over the stubble on his cheek. He’d been awake for two minutes, and he looked dazzling, despite being rumpled and sleepy. She wasn’t going to think about how she looked. He reached up to smooth the hair out of her eyes. “You’re still here,” she blurted.

“Where did you think I’d be?”

“Oh, I—you might have wanted to—oh, hell,” she said. She pulled the blankets over her face. It didn’t work. He was bigger, stronger, and took them away from her in a hurry.

“I had to work hard to get here,” he said. “I wasn’t going anywhere.” She watched his lips twitch into a smile. “Staying in bed sounds like a great plan, but I have appointments today, and you have a business to run. How are we going to work this out?”

“Carefully.”

“Good answer,” he said. Morning breath wasn’t sexy, but right now she was willing to overlook it. She felt him against her, hard and ready. She rocked against him. Just a little. She was rewarded with a look that made it clear he got her message.

She could get used to waking up to Aroused Matt every morning.

“I have to be at the airport at ten. I’ll be back from LA tonight, though. What does your day look like?” he said.

“I need to be at the store at 9:00. I’ll be here a little after seven,” she said.

“I’ll meet you here at eight-thirty. We’ll go find some food and maybe a bottle of wine.” He smirked. Just a little. “I’ll bring a toothbrush.”

“Perfect,” she said. Her insides quivered. It was only a toothbrush, though. It wasn’t serious until he asked her to clean out a drawer in the bathroom vanity for his use.

She even braved morning breath for another one of his kisses at the front door. She resisted the impulse to pull him down on the entryway floor and tear his clothes off. Her concern about what was going to happen as a result of their taking things to the next level was fading by the minute. She couldn’t believe her entryway didn’t burst into flame from the sparks flying off the two of them.

“I’ll be back tonight, Fifi.”

“I guess this means I’d better buy more condoms.”

“That’s my girl.”

A
MY DRAGGED HERSELF
out of the shower a short time later to the sound of her phone ringing. Maybe he forgot something on his way out the door. She grabbed the phone to see Emily’s smiling face displayed on the screen. She hit the “speaker” function as she answered.

“Hey, Em. How are you feeling this morning?”

“When did you start seeing Matt Stephens? My husband tells me that you both pretended like you didn’t know each other, and now you’re dating?”

They were also sleeping together, but Amy could only handle one confession at a time before she had some coffee. Normally, she would have been on the phone with Emily since the day Matt walked into her shop and started asking her out, but this time, she wanted to keep things to herself and see where it went before notifying everyone she’d ever met that she—and her heart—was definitely involved.

“It’s kind of a funny story. What’s going on with your ankle? And, oh, by the way, I think I know what was in that little plastic bag the nurse handed you last night. Congratulations, Em. You both must be so excited.”

“You’re trying to distract me, and it won’t work,” her sister informed her. “What’s happening between you and Matt?”

“We’re spending some time together. He asked me out, and I accepted.” She could also mention that Matt spent three weeks asking her out, she finally said yes, and now she was wondering why she’d waited so long.

Her sister let out a sigh. “According to Brandon, this has been going on since our wedding. Why didn’t you tell me? We tell each other everything!”

“You’ve been busy, and I—I wanted to keep this to myself for a little while.”

“What do you mean?” Emily sounded a little breathless. She must have been attempting to move around despite the sprain. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. I’m a little hurt about it, too,” she added.

“I’m sorry that you feel hurt,” Amy said. “I never meant for that to happen. I wasn’t sure what to say to anyone, and I needed some time to work that out for myself.”

“That’s
ridic,
” Emily said. Amy almost laughed. There must have been a teen in the cast of Emily’s latest production. “Why?”

Things were silent for a minute or so.

“I wanted to make sure things were going well before I told anyone else. Kind of like what you’re doing right now.”

Emily ignored that. She must have been taking lessons from Brandon.

“So, here’s a question. Did you know Matt has a daughter from his previous marriage?” Emily asked.

“Yes. I’ve met Samantha. I really like her.”

“How do you feel about being an instant step-parent? If you let this get any further, it’s going to happen. I’m also a little curious about the fact Matt’s older than the guys you’ve dated before. What do you think about that?”

Amy threw herself down on the side of her bed, which still wasn’t made. She’d have to toss the sheets in the wash before she went to work today.

“Em, we’re just dating. It’s pretty early to be speculating on being a step-parent.” She took a deep breath. “Matt isn’t that much older. It doesn’t matter.”

“Ten years is a lot if you’re looking for someone to have a family with.”

Amy shoved her temper down with both hands. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you weren’t happy about this.”

“I
am
happy for you. I’m kind of wondering what you think you’re doing here, though,” Emily said.

“I’m having fun. I’m seeing someone I enjoy. What’s the problem?”

“Why won’t you talk about it, then?”

The next few minutes were more of the same—Amy trying to ask Emily how she was feeling, if her ankle was better, if she got any sleep at all after being at the hospital so late the night before, and oh, by the way, was she experiencing morning sickness yet?

Finally Emily heaved another sigh and said, “Here’s the official position on the item in the white plastic bag. We agreed we’re keeping it a secret from everyone for another month and a half.”

Amy let out a squeal.

“You can’t tell Mom. You can’t tell Dad. Don’t even talk about it in your sleep,” her sister joked. “And just for the record, morning sickness sucks. Back to you, though. When do you think you’re going to trust me with your information?”

“Em, I—I’m trying to figure out how I feel about all of this. I didn’t mean to shut you out. It’s not that at all. I’m more worried about you right now.”

For the first time since Amy and Emily had had a huge fight over Emily’s breaking her engagement to Brandon, Amy heard her sister say, “Let me call you back later. I’ve gotta go.” Her phone clicked as Emily ended the call.