Frenemies With Benefits (Geek To Chic Book 2) (25 page)

“Oh Alex and Mrs.
Porter are here once a month. Have been coming for years.
 
Such a good boy to spend time with his mother
like that.
 
This is the first time he has
brought anyone else.
 
Is your mom going
to be mad you didn’t call her?”
 
The nail
technician massaging Alex’s feet answered for him.
 

“Mom will be fine, she
will be happy I brought Izzy.
 
Now the
deal is I’ll treat for this but you can’t tell the guys I do this.”
 
He shot Izzy a look that was far too serious,
so she laughed.

“Right wouldn’t want
your man card to be taken away.”
 

“Damn right!”
 

For a few minutes they
simply sat there in silence and allowed the women to work their magic on their
feet.
 
She had to admit this was a great
idea.
 
“Thanks Alex, this is great.”
 
She pulled his hand into hers.
 

“After this we will go
get some dinner.”
 

“We better check in
with Phin, make sure the girls left him alive.”
 
She joked.
 

“Oh, trust me I’m sure
he is just fine.”

“Why did you say it
like that?”
 
Her brows scrunched together
in confusion.
 

“I just think as long
as Jemma is around he will be just fine.
 
She may kick his ass a little for being an overt asshole, but in the end
she won’t let Gracey kill him.”
 

“Jemma and Phin,
really?”
 

“Watch them together
sometime.
 
They may play the ‘we are like
brother and sister’ bullshit, but I think there is something there.”
 
He shrugged.
 

Izzy dumbfounded at his
insight, thought back over the past few times they had all been together.
 
Every time, Phin and Jemma had arrived
together, joked about picking up other people but ultimately left together.
 
Although, she knew for a fact that Phin had
been hooking up with random women on the sly.
 

“Now that you mention
it, I can see them together.”
 
Her female
mind started working overtime on how to make that happen.

A squeeze of her hand
brought her attention away from her plotting to Alex.
 
“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”
 
She blinked, trying to pull off
innocence.
 

“I know that look,
you’re plotting.
 
This time instead of
plotting my murder, which I thank you for, you are plotting on how to get the
two of them together.
 
Stay out of it,
let them find each other.”
 
He implored
her.
 

“Fine.
 
For now.”
 

“Fine, back to us.
 
With Roni and Derek gone, that mean two less
people to hide from.
 
Which means we can
go out on the town.”

“What about our other
nosy friends?”
 

“As I just pointed out
a few of them have their own love lives to figure out, so they are not paying
attention to us like Roni and Derek would be.
 
So while they are gone I plan to take advantage.”
 

Finishing the pedicure
they made their way back to his place, where the exhaustion of the day, finally
caught up with her.
 
He kissed her cheek
and tucked her into bed, telling her their big date plans could wait until the
next day when she actually had some energy to enjoy everything.
 

Snuggling into him, she
felt content and happy.
 
Maybe they could
make it work.
 
Time to put her big girl
panties on and tell the man how she felt.
 

Alex had been pacing his penthouse for the last three
hours.
 
He had called, text, and stop
ped
by Izzy’s
place
.
 
Nothing. No Izzy.
 
Alex was damn near frantic.
 
It was no
w
one in the morning, where could she be and why the hell wasn’t she picking up
her cell?
 

Izzy always answered, she was always home by seven – at the
latest – unless she was out with their group of friends. He knew that wasn’t
the case because everyone was either traveling or busy tonight.
 

Fuck!
He had a very bad feeling.
 
She had no
reason not to be talking to him.
 
He
didn’t think. He thought back over the last few days of their time together and
smiled.
 
Nope, nothing in the last few
days that would have made her mad, if anything she should be breaking down his
door for more.
 

Alex grabbed his phone off the counter and hit redial.
 
Again, nothing.
 
“Mother Fucker!” He yelled across the
kitchen, barely refraining from throwing his phone into the wall.
 
Another hour, and another hundred or so
attempts to get hold of her and still nothing.
 
Alex ran his hands through his hair, pulling
at
it
in pure frustration.
 

He was about to grab his keys and go look for her when his
phone rang.
 
He looked at the caller id
and his heart dropped.
 
Roni would never
be calling him at one in the morning while in France if something wasn’t
wrong.
  
He took a deep breath and
answered the phone.
 
“Hello?” He was
praying his voice sounded level, but knew it shook.
 

“Oh, thank God, Alex.
 
I need your help.
 
I can’t be
there.
 
I can’t even get a flight out you
have to help.”
 
Roni’s voice was beyond
hysterical.
 
He could barely understand
her rambling between her crying breaths.
 

“Roni, honey, what’s going on?”
 
He was so desperate for answers, but knew he
needed to be calm for her.
 

He heard rustling and Derek’s voice was suddenly on the
line. “Sorry Alex, she is too shaken up to even talk.
 
We are trying to get a flight out, but can’t
get one, commercial or private, until
tomorrow
afternoon.”
 

Derek was calmer but still rambling and not getting to the
point.
 
His nerves were frazzled and he
needed someone to tell him what the fuck was going on.
 
“Derek, what happened?”

Derek paused; long enough for Alex to send a quick prayer
asking that whatever it was that had these two shaken have nothing to do with
Izzy’s random disappearance.
 
His prayers
were crushed when Derek spoke. “Roni got a call from Swedish Hospital.
 
Izzy was in a car accident.
 
Apparently Roni is listed as her emergency
contact so they called her.
 
They
wouldn’t give her any information on the phone other than to say the Izzy was stable.
 
Roni, being Roni, thought quickly and well,
dude she told them you were her husband and she would give you a call.
 
Since your name is on a wing of the hospital,
Roni figured they would give you the answers, let you
see
her with minimal questions.”
 

Alex had already grabbed his keys and was heading to his car
the minute Derek had informed him that Izzy was hurt.
 
Thankfully Roni had thought ahead and made it
possible for Alex to gain information.
 
“I am already out the door.
 
I
will call you when I get to the hospital.”
 
He hung up and ran for his car.
 

Fifteen minutes, and a few broken traffic laws, later, Alex
burst through the doors of the emergency room, walking directly to the nurse’s
station.
 
“I am looking for Isabella
Newport, I’m her husband.”
 
Alex wished
that was true with all of his heart. “She was in a car accident.”

“What is your name?”
 

“Alex Porter.”
 

“Her friend mentioned you when we called her.
 
We apologize for not calling you first; your
wife has not updated her information.”
 
The nurse typed more.

“Yes, well our marriage is fairly new, hence her name is
still Newport. Now can you please tell me where she is?
 
I am a little desperate to see that my wife
is ok with my own eyes.”
 
The lies rolled
off his tongue with little effort.
 

“Yes of course Mr. Porter.
 
When we found out she was
your
wife and she was stable, we moved
her to a private room.
 
Room 522, if you
take the elevator…”
 

He took off running for the elevators before the nurse could
finish the directions.
 
Once the elevator
hit the fifth floor, he barreled out of it, looking both ways for the room.
 
A nurse’s desk sat in front of him.
 
“Room 522, please.”
 
He was practically shaking with the need for
information.
 

The older woman smiled at him.
 
“Yes Mr. Porter the nurse in the ER called up
said you were on your way up.
 
Let me
take you to see your wife.”

If Izzy was fine, he was going to buy the hospital another
wing or anything else they needed. “Is she ok?
 
All I was told was that she was in a car accident and was stable.
 
Please tell me she is going to be fine?”
 
His heart was in his throat.
 
His emotional need to verify Izzy was fine
was be
yond
friends, but he already knew he had
passed that point.
 

The gray
haired
nurse
smiled and nodded.
 
“It is so nice to see
a man so in love.
 
Your wife is going to
be fine.
 
When the other car hit her, it
appears she hit her head against her window.
 
She has a concussion and is unconscious.”
 

“The car hit her? She’s unconscious?
 
Has a specialist seen her?”
 
He raddled off the questions fast and
furious.
 

The nurse smiled again, placing
a
calming
hand on his shoulder.
 
“Mr. Porter, your wife was t-boned by a truck.
 
She hit her head, and the airbag hit her wrist.
The doctors did a scan.
 
She is fine and
so is the baby.”
 

Oh, thank God, she was going to be
fine. Wait, what?
His brain must have short circuited
from worry.
 
“I’m sorry can you repeat
that last part, please?”

“Your wife, she’s pregnant.
 
Did she not tell you?”
 
She looked
worried, like he was going to freak out.
 

Alex fell into the nearest chair, he saw and placing his
head in his hands. “No, I don’t even think she knew. How… how far along…… is
she?” He looked at the nurse after she didn’t answer for a few beats.
 

“Mrs. Porter is 12 weeks along.”
 

Alex swallowed hard.
 
“And you’re sure the baby is ok too?
 
If you need to call an out of state specialist or hell a specialist from
another country to be sure I’ll pay whatever to make sure the two of them are
ok.”
 
The
two of them.
 
The statement caught
him.
 

“You’re being a typical father, ready to go to the ends of
the earth for your child.” She smiled, soft wrinkles crinkling around her
eyes.
 

“I’m going to be a father.”
 
A slow smile spread across his face.
 

“Now Mr. Porter, would you like to sit with your wife?”
 
She nodded her head toward a door marked,
522.
 

Alex leapt out of his chair and through the door.
 
Looking entirely to still and pale, Izzy lay
in the middle of the hospital bed. A steady beeping sound met his ears, along
with a low whooshing sound.
  
He looked
around the room for the source of the odd sound.
 

“That sound is your baby’s very strong heartbeat.
 
Your little one is safe and happy inside his
mommy.
 
I need to check on a few
patients.
 
I will be back to check on her
in a little while.”
 
With a last pat on
his back
in a
sign of support, she was gone.
 

Alex pulled up a chair next to Izzy, taking her hand.
 
He took in the bruises on her face and the soft
cast on her right wrist.
 
He stroked her
hand with his thumb.
 
Unable to help
himself, he pulled the blanket off of her to see her stomach.
 
Lying across her stomach was a monitor of
some sort.
 
He was assuming that was the
source of the whooshing noise. He placed his hand, gently, below the monitor on
her belly, wanting to feel some connection to his child.
 

His eye
s
went from her
belly to her soft face.
 
He wondered if
she had known she was pregnant and just didn’t tell him.
 
Perhaps she didn’t trust he would stick
around.
 
 
He hoped she knew him better than that.
 
“I’m not going anywhere Izzy.
 
Ever.”
 

His phone rang, pulling him from his thoughts of happily
ever after and toys scattered around his pristine living room.
 
“Yes, Roni.
 
She’s fine.
 
I promise to take
care of her, stay in France. I’ve got his.”
 
With that, he hung up and focused his attention back on the unconscious
pixie lying in bed and his child.

~*~*~*~

Izzy groaned when she slightly moved her head.
 
The pain was so intense for such simple
movement.
 
She tried to open her eyes but
they felt as though they had been glued shut.
 
She groaned again.
 
She could hear
the murmurs of people speaking, but could not make out the words.
 
She also heard a whooshing sound.
 
Almost like the sound of waves, but faster.
 

“Izzy, baby, can you open your eyes for me?
 
Please, baby you’ve been out for an entire
day now.”

 
She could feel Alex
squeezing her hand.

What is Alex doing in my house and
what the hell is he talking about being out for a day?
 
She concentrated and peeled her eyes
open.
 
She blinked and looked around the
room.
 
“Where am I?”
 

“Oh, Izzy.
 
You have
no idea how happy I am to see those big brown eyes of yours.
 
You’re in the hospital, honey; you were in a
car accident.
 
Do you remember any of
it?”
 
Alex explained.
 

She thought back through her foggy memory.
 
She was driving home from her book club.
 
She had turned left on Broadway and
everything had gone black after that point.
 
“No, nothing. Why does my head hurt?”
 
She looked down her body to access the damage.
 
Lifting her right arm, she took in the
cast.
 
“Was the accident my fault? Is the
other driver ok?” She hoped she had not hurt anyone.

“No, honey, the guy ran the light and hit you.
 
He is fine, he only had a bump on his head.”
Alex’s voice sounded tired, exhausted even.
 

Izzy took a moment to take in his appearance.
 
His hair was going every which way, his eyes
had large circles under them, his clo
thes
were
wrinkled and he had much more than a simple five o’clock shadow going.
 
“How long have you been sitting with me?”

He smiled and brushed a wayward strand of hair from her
face.
 
“From the moment I heard you were
here, a little shy of 24 hours.”

“Thank you, Alex.” She whispered, not knowing what else to
say.
 
“Can you call the doctor, I am
hearing a weird noise.
 
I think they need
to check me out again.” His smile grew wide and brightened a hundred fold.
 
Confusing her beyond belief.