“I had a meeting prior with a large group. I stayed in the room. After Neena, I would have met marketing in there.” He frowned at me. “You don’t have anything to worry about. You know that.”
“I know that you have four different companies to run, and there’s plenty of other people who could take her to the hospital. Me. Maria. A friend, if she even has one.”
“Cat, I—”
“Look. Matt is your friend. I understand that. And I want to be here to support them. But you’ve just been so busy lately, I feel like I haven’t gotten any time with you. And yet, now you can ditch everything to go sit in a hospital? You know it’s going to be hours, right?”
“I can call—”
“I already called the hospital. They’re ready for him, and they’ll get him right in. Best and quickest of everything. But still, it’s going to take time.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him on the lips. “Just ... be good.”
“I’m always good,” he said against my mouth.
I pulled away from him and wished I could believe it.
CHAPTER 28
NEENA
I fastened the seat belt, straining to hear Will’s conversation with Cat, one that involved lots of frowns and head shakes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. I watched as her hand curled into his hair and fought the wave of jealousy that ripped at my chest. He shouldn’t be kissing her. Not when he’d kissedmejust an hour ago. Not when my husband was in the ambulance and the attention should be focused on gettingmeto the hospital. He lifted his mouth from hers but stayed in place, their heads close, words quiet.
Looking for a distraction, I reached forward and quietly opened the glove box, snooping through the contents. I spotted some eye drops and grabbed them, glancing back out while I twisted open the top. They were still in place, her body clinging to his. Lifting the small vial, I tilted back my head and dripped the saline solution in both eyes, then pocketed the container, flipping the glove box closed. They turned to me, and I managed a pained smile, hoping that they could see the faux tears. I blinked, and a drop dribbled down my cheek.
He kissed the top of her head and left her side, rounding the front of the vehicle and opening the door. “You okay?” He settled into the seat and closed the door, starting the car.
“Yeah.” I wanted to reach over and hug his arm, lace my fingers through his, and lean into his warmth—but I didn’t. I faced forward, lifting a limp hand in parting as we pulled past Cat. This was an odd part to play—the emotional almost-widow. I tried to think of a take that would endear him to me, one that would make him jealous of Matt. It wasn’t a clear path to navigate, especially given the powerful one we’d already been on—the one that had been going so well untilthisinterruption of it. What could have happened in the next fifteen minutes of that meeting? Would I have straddled his hips, his hands roaming underneath my sweater? Just the thought of it made me a little light-headed, and I pinched my knees together, shifting on the seat.
“Did they tell you about his injuries?”
I needed to decide what to do when he mentioned the kiss. With our abrupt halt, I wasn’t able to follow the plan—one where I would reluctantly tell him that we shouldn’t keep this up, all while spurring him on. At the end, I had planned to focus the conversation on keeping the secret versus what we had done. I could probably still follow that plan, but it would be less effective with his mind clear.
“Neena?”
I looked at him. “Yes?”
“Do you know how Matt is? How badly he’s injured?”
“Oh.” I swallowed and turned a little in the seat to face him, hoping he saw the moisture on my cheeks. I should have been a little more aggressive with the drops. “They said a broken arm and probably some fractured ribs.”
“Thank God Cat heard him screaming.”
“Yeah.” Thank God for Cat. What would I do without her? Oh, let’s all praise Cat and her ability to swim laps in her million-dollar pool and hear my husband’s cries. I bet she lay all over him when she was helping him out. She probably loosened the tie on her robe and let it fall open, revealing her bikini-clad body. Had he looked at her? I dug my nails into the seat belt, imagining it was her throat. I didn’t have much in this life, but Matt was one of the few things that was solidly mine. It was out of line for another woman to lounge all over him during an injured moment when he couldn’t move away.
And besides, it wasn’t like she saved his life. Chances were, I would have come home after my meeting with William and found him. And if I hadn’t—it was a broken arm and some ribs. He could have eventually crawled inside and called his own ambulance. Or, heaven forbid, driven himself to the hospital. Honestly, I don’t know why she took it upon herself to call 9-1-1 instead of just calling me.
William paused. “Cat’s close with the head of the hospital. She called her already, so they’ll take good care of Matt.”
I hadn’t been aware, until Cat rubbed my face in it, that the Winthorpes had paid for the new east wing of the hospital. She’d assured me that the staff would bend over backward for Matt if they knew “our connection.”
She had no idea of connections. No idea of what was growing between her husband and me. William was on the hook. I just needed time—without her or Matt—to reel him in.
“Look ...” And here it came—the mention of the kiss. I could already hear regret coating his words, an apology hovering on his lips.
I cut him off at the pass. “Don’t worry about it.” I watched him turn at the light, storefronts and street signs passing, the morning sun streaming through the front windshield. I flipped down the visor and resisted the urge to raise the seat, the height set for Cat’s long legs and torso. “It’s between us. No one has to know about it.”
He said nothing, his eyes on the road. As he made the turn into the hospital, I unclipped the seat belt and leaned forward, grabbing my purse off the floorboard. “Mind dropping me off up front? I’ll let the reception desk know we’re here.”
He nodded, pulling up to the grand front entrance and stopping at the curb. He shifted the vehicle into park, and I leaned toward him, half crawling over the center console as I wrapped my arms around his neck in a hug. “Thank you,” I whispered, hoping he could smell the scent of my new perfume.