Running Into Love - The Complete Box Set Read online

  Handing my insurance card to the receptionist, she punches it in the computer and says, “OK, you’re all checked in. Zoey will be your nurse today. Just take a seat and she will call you back in a few minutes.”

  Isn’t that just wonderful. Are you freaking kidding me? Can I just get a break for once in my life? Cursing under my breath, I take out my e-reader and find a seat. Sure enough, the door opens, and nurse Zoey calls my name with that look on her face.

  “Ms. Emery, where is your driver? I was serious last time when I said not to pull this little stunt again.”

  “Um . . . in the bathroom?” I say, but it sounds more like a question than a statement.

  “Ms. Emery, I will not allow you to have another treatment without someone with you. You know this is for your own good. I must insist you call someone right now. We will not start until I see them with my own eyes.”

  “But, you don’t understand . . .”

  “Here I am.” Gorgeous Eyes, the man that I ran into and puked all over comes jogging up to the two of us.

  “Gorgeous Eyes,” I whisper, and then hope no one heard that as my eyes bulge out of my head.

  “Sorry, what was that?” he questions, turns his head, and looks me straight in the eyes.

  “Nothing.” Oh, my gosh, you have GOT to be kidding me!

  What is he doing here? This can’t be happening. I threw up all over this man’s shoes, and he’s standing in front of me looking just as amazing as he did last time, I might add.

  Today he’s wearing another three piece suit, this one gray, but equally devastatingly handsome, if not more. I look at him, and I’m both angry and mortified at the same time. What right does he have to be here? This is insane; he must be crazy! He doesn’t even know me; I don’t even know him. What if he’s some crazy stalker ax murderer? OK, a handsome crazy stalker ax murderer. But I don’t get to finish the little tantrum in my head.

  Nurse Zoey has a daydream look in her eye and a smirk on her face as she takes in the man standing next to us.

  “Very well, this way, let’s get you hooked up, Willow,” Zoey says.

  “Um . . . hang on a sec. But I don’t . . .”

  “You heard the woman, Willow. Let’s get started, shall we?”

  He holds out his hand for me to go in front of him, with a warm smile on his face.

  Did I wake up in an alternate universe this morning? These things just don’t happen, especially to me. Who is this handsome man and where did my crappy luck go?

  Zoey gets me in my chair, tells Gorgeous Eyes where he can sit, which is directly in front of me, just off to the side with a full view my body. She starts to reach for my port just under the collar of my shirt, and I freeze.

  “Is there something wrong Ms. Emery?” Zoey asks, stopping what she’s doing to study the dazed look on my face. “Are you feeling OK this morning?” I’m stunned speechless still staring at the gorgeous man in front of me. “Willow, did you hear me, is everything OK?” she repeats.

  “Oh, uh, sorry, sure,” I finally answer.

  Snapping back into reality, I try to look anywhere but at the man who is staring into my eyes. He hasn’t taken his eyes off of mine to look at the port or at what Zoey is doing. Thank God.

  We continue to just look into each other’s eyes in silence while Zoey goes about hooking me up. It wasn’t weird or strange. He made me feel comfortable in an otherwise awkward situation.

  Before I know it, she’s done and says, “If you need anything, just let me know? You know the drill, Willow.”

  “Yes, thank you, I do,” I assure her.

  “I’ll be back to check on you later, and Willow, I’m glad you finally listened to me and have company. No one should have to do this alone. If you came here alone again, I was going to take the rest of the day off and take you home myself.”

  Now why did she have to go and say that? I was perfectly happy thinking she was evil and only wanted to torture me. Now I think I might have to change my mind and actually like her.

  I cover up my chest with a blanket and turn my attention back to Gorgeous Eyes.

  “Look, I don’t know who you are, but thank you for showing up when you did. You can probably go now. I think she’ll believe you’re in the bathroom or something.”

  He looks at me with those amazing blue eyes and says, “My name is Asher. Now that you know who I am, I don’t have anything planned for the rest of the day and I don’t mind staying.”

  “I couldn’t ask that. I’ll be fine and I’ll be here for a few hours. You look like you have something important to get to.”

  “You didn’t ask, but I’d like to stay all the same.”

  Who is this man? At least I have a name to the eyes now. He starts to take out his laptop, so I guess it looks like he really does intend to stay. I pull out my e-reader and start reading. It’s quiet between the two of us for about twenty minutes, I’ve read the same sentence over and over, and I still can’t tell you what I just read. This is just crazy. Why he would want to sit with me, a complete stranger is beyond thinkable. I can’t take this silence anymore.

  “I’m sorry for throwing up on your shoes. They’re probably ruined. I feel really bad about that. Can I buy you another pair?” I ask.

  Please say no! Please say no! I don’t even want to begin to think how much they cost. I could take out a second mortgage on my condo, I suppose.

  “No, don’t worry about them. You ran off so fast. I was more worried about you and I wanted to make sure that you were alright.”

  Oh, thank God, my condo is safe. But why would a stranger care about how I was feeling? What is it about this guy?

  “You don’t look like a stalker or an ax murderer,” I say out loud.

  Oh crap, please tell me I said that in my head and not out loud!

  “Well, thanks, I think. No, I’m not a stalker or an ax murderer. What about you, you’re not, are you?” he asks.

  “No, oh my gosh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Sometimes my brain to mouth filter doesn’t work,” I say embarrassed.

  He laughs to himself as he types something on his laptop. “So, let’s just address the elephant in the room here, you have cancer?”

  “Yes, breast cancer. Although, I don’t really think that’s any of your business,” I snap. Man, could I have been any ruder? What’s wrong with me? There’s this gorgeous man sitting with me, willingly, and I can’t even be civil. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so harsh, I’m not used to people sitting with me.” He continues to type on his computer.

  “Look, it’s obvious you have more important things to do, I hate to keep you from them.”

  “Don’t worry about it, I have a flexible schedule,” he says, putting his laptop back in the bag on the floor.

  Then he directs all his attention at me. Man, I should have kept my mouth shut, now he’s looking at me again the way he did when I ran into him.

  He makes small talk for the rest of the appointment. I’m surprised how easy the conversation is going. We talk about nothing of importance. The weather, sports, celebrities, and the latest movies out. The time flies by and I’m almost done. I can’t wait to get home and have this weird day over with.

  Nurse Zoey comes in to unhook me. She hands me my next appointment on a card. She goes over real quick what to watch out for, blah, blah, blah. I’ve heard it all before. I think she’s saying it more for Asher’s benefit than mine. She eyes Asher and tells him to pull the car around to the front of the building.

  “No! You don’t have to do that; I can manage. I feel fine,” I say.

  Once I say that I start to feel sick to my stomach. As I go to stand up, I get lightheaded and have to sit back down. Asher grabs my arm and helps me back into my seat with a worried look on his face.

  “I’ll just have the car pulled around,” he says, grabs his bag and heads out of the room.

  I sit for a few more minutes, trying to get myself back together with every intention of leaving b
efore he comes back, but it’s too late. He comes back into the room before I can even stand up.

  “All set. Do you feel well enough to try and stand up again?” he asks concerned.

  Just shoot me now, please someone, anyone shoot me. I won’t press charges, I swear. Zoey insists on taking me out front in a wheelchair. This is completely mortifying.

  Waiting at the curb is a sleek black Town Car with a man holding the back door open. Between Zoey and Asher on either side of me, they practically pick me up and shove me into the car. I don’t even have time to protest, to say I can just take a cab home. Although, once in the car, I relax in the comfortable seat and close my eyes. I don’t think I could have taken another step; I’m just so tired.

  Asher closes the door softly and for a second I think I’m in the clear. The driver will just take me home, and I don’t have to deal with Asher again. Unfortunately the door re-opens and Asher gets in next to me. Again with my luck.

  Asher

  Willow doesn’t look good again. In fact, she looks worse than the last time I saw her. After I put her in the car, I close the door so I can talk to Zoey.

  “When is her next appointment?” I ask.

  Zoey rattles off the next appointment then hands me Willow’s purse and e-reader. She says goodbye and that she’ll see me at her next appointment. I hadn’t thought of there being a next time, but there’s no other place I can think of at the moment that I’d rather be.

  Opening the car door, I look inside, and it looks like Willow’s sleeping. She looks like she could use the rest, so I open her purse, find her wallet, take out her driver’s license, and hand it to Simon. “Here, this is where we need to go.”

  “Yes, sir,” he says, takes the license, and then heads back to the driver’s seat.

  As I climb into the back seat next to Willow, she looks so peaceful, and I can’t help but take her hand in mine. She doesn’t move, so I just continue to hold her hand the short drive to her house.

  As we pull up in front of a newer condo development, I squeeze her hand to get her to wake up, but she doesn’t open her eyes. She must be exhausted. I can’t leave her alone in this condition.

  Simon opens my door, I step out and go around to her side. She looks so frail and weak. How could she have been doing this all on her own? Where is her family? Where are her friends?

  I put my arm under her knees, the other one around her upper back and easily lift her out of the car. Simon carries her purse and e-reader. Digging in her purse, he takes out her keys and heads to the front door. Inserting the key, he opens the door and a little brown rat looking thing is barking up at us nipping at my pant legs. I’m trying to get Willow in the door without tripping and dropping her or stepping on the dog. The little dog is doing some bouncing bark thing that, under different circumstances, I would have been laughing my ass off.

  I place Willow on the couch and cover her with an afghan from the back of the couch. It’s a small condo, just a kitchen, a family room, a dining room, and a bathroom downstairs. There is upstairs which I assume has the bedrooms. Simon sets her things down on the kitchen counter. I tell him he can take the car back to my house and take the rest of the day off. The little yappy thing has stopped trying to shred my pants, and is curled up next to Willow on the couch, with its head resting on her chest. The dog must know she’s not feeling well. I take a seat in the lazy boy next to the couch, dig out my laptop and check my e-mail. I haven’t taken a business day off work since my wife died. I’m sure there are some issues to deal with.

  After working for a few hours, Willow is still sleeping, and that damn dog still has not moved. I’m not a dog person, but it seems like it should have to go outside or something. As I stand up to see if I can get it to go outside, it lifts its head and shows me its teeth. What the hell?

  “Come on doggie, you want to go outside?” I whisper.

  I don’t even know if it’s a boy or girl; I’m reduced to calling it doggie. Maybe if I open the back door to the little backyard, it will just go out on its own. Heading through the family room to the kitchen, I notice there are no family photos anywhere. I open the back door, and then the little terror jumps down and heads outside. Thank God. As soon as I shut the sliding glass door, it’s back standing at the glass. A little puddle is on the patio and it’s pawing at the glass. Shouldn’t it want to stay outside a little longer? It starts to whine so I let it back in, and sure enough, it climbs back on Willow in the exact same position it was just in. Except this time Willow makes a moaning noise, like she’s in pain. I quickly make my way over to her, her eyes are open and she looks confused.

  “It’s OK; you’re home. You kind of had a rough day. You’ve been sleeping for a few hours now. How are you feeling? You look a little pale. Can I get you anything?”

  She rolls her eyes and says, “Thanks, I just love that I look like crap and Gorgeous Eyes is standing over me, looking at me.”

  “What did you call me? That’s the second time you’ve called me that,” I ask.

  “Nothing, never mind. How did I get here?” Just then the furry rat thing licks her face. “Oh hey, Lucy. How’s my girl?” she asks, cracking a smile.

  “Ah, so it’s a girl. That little terror tried to take my leg off. You should have a beware of the dog sign on your front door.”

  “Are you kidding me? She weighs like five pounds. She’s harmless.”

  “Ah yes, well tell that to my shins next time I carry you into the house.”

  “Oh God, please tell me you didn’t! Wait, I don’t remember anything from the time I left chemo. Please tell me I at least didn’t throw up on you again.”

  “No, you didn’t, and really, it’s OK. It wasn’t a problem. You didn’t look like you should be left alone. I didn’t feel right just leaving you. I’ve just been sitting here working. Are you hungry? I don’t think you’ve eaten all day.”

  “You don’t have to feed me too, you’ve done so much for me already and I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

  “Again with the asking. You didn’t ask; I’m offering. What do you feel like eating? I looked in the fridge earlier and all that’s in there is water and ketchup. What do you eat? I can call in an order and have it delivered, do you like Chinese? I know a great place.”

  “What on earth did I do right, how did I get a knight in shining armor? Ugh, I said that out loud again, didn’t I?”

  Ignoring my comment he grins. “OK, so Chinese it is. I’ll just phone it in. Do you need anything else?”

  Chapter 4

  Willow

  I must have fallen asleep again because now it’s dark. I hear a faint snoring sound and giggle, thinking Lucy is snoring again. But this is a different noise, it’s deeper. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, my whole day comes crashing back in my head. Asher is sleeping in the lazy boy with his head cocked to the side and his mouth slightly open. Man, he’s going to have a kink in his neck tomorrow. I better wake him. I can’t believe he’s still here.

  “Asher. Asher, wake up.”

  He slowly opens his eyes, still in the same position. “Please tell me you weren’t watching me sleep with my mouth open.”

  “Sorry, you looked so peaceful, but you’re going to have a massive neck cramp in the morning. I want to thank you for everything you did today. I don’t know how I would have gotten through the day without your help. It’s never been a problem before these last two treatments. I feel much better. You can go home now.”

  As soon as the words came out of my mouth I regret it. It was really nice having him here, having someone taking care of me. He’s done so much for me today, and I’m practically kicking him out.

  He gets up, packs up his laptop and dials a phone number.

  “Simon, it’s Asher, can you come back to that last address and pick me up? Thanks, see you in a few.”

  He hangs up the phone and tells me his ride will be here in about twenty minutes.

  Who is this guy? He has a driver, he wears expensive suits,
and it seems like he can do whatever he wants.

  I’m glad tomorrow is Saturday, so I can get my head on straight and back to reality. Having nice things like this in my life just isn’t what being me is all about. Soon enough his cell rings; it must be his driver.

  “You look like you’re feeling better, I’m glad to see it. I didn’t want to leave you if you weren’t feeling better. It was a little touch and go there for a while,” he says.

  “Really, thank you so much. I’m feeling much better; I don’t know how to repay you for your kindness. I don’t think I could have made it through today without you.”

  As I walk him to the front door, he stops and turns around, and I almost bump into him. We stand just inches away from each other, and he looks into my eyes.

  “Is that your real eye color? Crap, I said that out loud too, didn’t I?” I ask as I close my eyes.

  I wish my mouth didn’t feel the need to say everything my brain thinks out loud.

  “Yes, you did, and yes, this is my real eye color. It’s cute that you say what’s on your mind. Refreshing, actually. Good night, Ms. Emery.”

  “Night,” I say softly.

  As I closed the door, my entire day washes over me, and I have a smile on my face. It feels nice. It’s something that hasn’t been there too often in my life.

  “Come on, Lucy, time for bed,” I say, patting my thigh.

  After locking up, I head upstairs and snuggle in my nice warm bed with my favorite furry friend.

  The next morning I’m woken up by a knocking on my door. Who the hell can be knocking on my door at . . . what time is it anyway? Checking my alarm clock, it reads ten. Wow, I haven’t slept that late in forever. I head down the stairs and check the peephole to see what looks like a delivery man at my door. I open the door, and the man produces the most beautiful arrangement of flowers I’ve ever seen.

  “Sign here, please,” he says.

  I sign for the delivery, and then he hands me a card.

  “Oh wait, let me get you a tip.”

  “No need, ma’am. It’s been taken care of,” he says with a smile.