Hot for Love (Bachelor Billionaire #2) (9 page)

“
I
need you to talk to me. I'm not going to touch you, don't worry about
that,” she snapped.

“
I'm
not worried,” he snapped back.

“
What
did you mean?” she asked. “When you said you don't want
to lose anyone, again?”

“
I
don't want to talk about it,” he said.

“
Who
did you lose, Josh?” she asked.

He
looked at her for a bit. Josh walked over and helped her back onto
the bed.

“
My
dad,” he answered. “I lost my dad. I saw what it was like
for my mom to lose the love of her life. I don't ever want to do that
to anyone, and I don't ever want that to happen to me. I don't want
love.”

She
looked up at him and stared into his eyes.

“
How
did you lose your dad, Josh?” she asked.

He
looked down at the floor as the beep noise sounded.

“
Shit!”
he groaned, as he shook his head. “Will you be okay for a
little bit? Do you need anything before I go?”

He
grabbed his shoes and put them on.

“
No,
I'm fine,” she said. “Please, be careful.”

“
Call
me if you need anything,” he shouted from the other room. “Do
you still have my number?”

“
Yes,
I do. Josh, please be careful,” he heard her shout as he shut
the front door.

***

After
about an hour, Lisa was nervous. Where was he? How long would it take
him to get back? She could not imagine every being with Josh. It
scared her and he was only gone for an hour. What if he had been gone
for hours? Would she always be worried every time he left? How did
wives or husbands of firefighters do it? She pulled out her phone and
text him.

“
Are
you okay?”

She
sat with her phone next to her and waited. After about a half an
hour, her phone beeped. She hurried to read the text.

“
Yes,
I will be there in a little bit. We just got back to the station. I
have to do a couple things before I can leave. Are you okay? Do you
need something right now?”

“
No,
I was just checking. See you in a bit.”

Lisa
put her phone back on the bed. She felt bad that Josh lost his
father. It wasn't about not wanting to be with her. He didn't want to
be with anyone. She wondered how Josh had lost his father. She was
surprised Heath had never mentioned it. Heath, oh crap, she thought.
He never mentioned Josh to her. Things were starting to make sense to
her. Anytime she mentioned Josh to Heath, he would get irritated. She
just thought he was tired of her asking about him. Heath was
protective of her. She thought he liked her as a sister. Did he
really like her as more than that? She could not imagine ever being
with Heath. He knew way to much about her. They were close, but she
had never felt an attraction to him. He was gorgeous. His body was
amazing. She had seen all of him at one point or another. No matter
how much she thought about it, she still could not see herself with
him. She loved him very much, but not in that way.

Lisa
decided she wasn't going to push Josh to talk to her about his
father. She asked him and it would be up to him to tell her what
happened. When he was ready, he would. She knew he was hurting and
was afraid of losing the people he loved. Lisa wanted to be friends
with him. She was not going to push him into anything more. What
happened between them the day before was amazing, but she would make
sure it didn't happen again. She wanted their friendship to grow and
hoped that one day he would let her into his life. Lisa really liked
him. He helped her so much and saved her life. She would always be
there for anything he ever needed.

When
the front door opened, she felt all of her muscles relax.

“
Josh,”
she called out.

He
stood in the doorway of her bedroom. She felt her eyes widen and a
scared look cross her face as she gasped. His hair was flat against
his head and she could smell smoke. He looked at her and she could
see ash on his face.

“
Are
you okay?” she asked.

“
I'm
fine. I need to take a shower. Do you need anything before I take
one? I will hurry. I brought back lunch. If you want I can get yours
before I shower,” he said.

“
Take
a shower. I'm fine waiting,” she said. “Are you sure
you're okay?”

“
I
will probably come back like this a lot. You are going to ask that
question so many times. How about I just tell you if I'm not okay?”
he asked, as he laughed. “I'll be out in a few minutes.”

He
walked away and she took a deep breath. How was she going to be
around him for another six days and not feel anything for him? He was
amazing and perfect. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hug
him. He was the man of her dreams. She dreamt about him all the time.
He would never know that he was the one she saw when she pleasured
herself. She knew she was in trouble. A whole week of seeing him was
not going to be easy.

She
saw him walk past her door with a towel hanging from his waist. Fall,
she willed the towel. When he walked past again, he had on shorts and
a t-shirt. He brought her lunch into her room and put it on the bed
next to her. She looked up at him.

“
What?”
he asked.

“
Would
you please stay in here and watch television with me and eat. I'm
sorry about earlier. I promise I'll behave.”

He
rolled his eyes and went to grab his food.

“
Stay
on your own side,” he said laughing.

“
Shut
up,” she joked.

They
ate their lunch. Neither of them spoke while they watched television.
She was just happy he was there with her. When Becky and Gavin got
home, Josh left.

The
next six days went by quickly. Josh took care of Lisa during the day.
He left a few times on calls. She enjoyed seeing him during the day
and missed him in the evening. Lisa stayed in her room at night so
Becky and Gavin could have time to themselves. Heath stopped by to
visit a few times. She was happy to see him. Lisa still did not
believe he liked her. He did ask a lot of questions about Josh taking
care of her. When Josh was over each day, they spent time playing
games or watching television in her room. Everything seemed friendly
between them. Lisa didn't want to push him to talk about things with
her. She told him he did not have to stay all day. Lisa had gotten
better and using her walker and was careful not to bump her leg.

It
was morning and Josh had just walked into Becky and Gavin's. He
walked to Lisa's room. She was excited. Finally, she was getting a
cast on and would be able to graduate to crutches. She had never used
them before, but they had to be better than a walker. At least she
would be able to move around the house by herself. Josh gave her a
strange look and laughed.

“
You
look like a kid who's about to get a present,” he said.

“
I
feel like it. I will be able to move around without help,” she
said.

“
Hey,
I did the best I could to help you. I wasn't so bad.”

“
You
were great,” she laughed. “I could get used to having
someone bring me all my food and clean up after I was done eating.
You can still do all of that. I just want to be able to move around.”

“
You
can make me food and clean up after me, if you're all better,”
he joked.

She
was dressed and ready to go. Josh helped her hobble to his Camaro and
put her walker in the back. When they got to the doctor, he got a
wheel chair and brought it to his car. He helped her get inside,
before he parked the car. They called her name and he wheeled her
back to the room. She had an x-ray done of her ankle and then waited
for the doctor.

Josh
joked around with her about the staple remover they would use to take
her staples out. She told him to shut up, because she was nervous. He
told her he was going to leave the room, but she asked him to stay.
If the doctor said something important, he would be there to hear it.

The
doctor took off the temporary cast on her leg and looked at her
staples. She was grossed out by the way her ankle looked. There were
staples running in a straight line on both sides. They looked weird
like they were holding her together. Josh laughed when he saw the
look on her face. She had her nose scrunched up and her eyes slightly
closed, as if she had eaten some sour candy.

“
Is
it going to hurt when you take those out?” she asked the
doctor.

“
It
might pinch, but it won't be that bad,” the doctor answered.

She
was nervous and could feel her hands shake. Josh walked up and took
her hand in his.

“
Don't
look at it,” she told him. “Go wait out in the hall.”

The
doctor was getting the stuff he needed ready.

“
I
can feel your hand shaking. I am not leaving you by yourself.”

“
It
looks gross. There is dried blood, and the staples look weird. The
cuts look bad. Stop looking at it,” she scolded him.

“
I'm
a firefighter. You don't think I have seen things that look way worse
than your ankle?” he asked.

“
I
don't know.”

“
I'm
not going to think any different of you because you have staples
holding you together,” he laughed.

“
Shut
up,” she snapped, as she punched his arm. “I'm going to
have some big scars.”

“
That's
okay. When you look at your scars, you will think of my big, strong
arms carrying you to safety,” he said, as he flexed his muscles
and winked.

The
doctor sat down and started to get close to her ankle. Her hand
squeezed Josh's and she kept her eyes shut. She felt a pinch and
jumped slightly. Josh laughed.

“
Don't
be a wimp,” he laughed.

She
gave him a dirty look.

“
I'm
right here,” he said. “I was just joking. Look at my face
and not your foot.”

She
looked up at him.

“
See,
that's better,” he said. “Just keep looking into my sexy,
brown eyes.”

“
Stop
trying to make me laugh while he is taking them out,” she said.
“What happened to that sweet voice telling me that everything
is going to be okay?”

“
It's
going to be fine. Just talk to me and it will be over before you know
it. What color cast are you going to get?” he asked.

“
What
color cast? I'm not a child. I don't think adults get the cool
colors.”

“
If
you could have a cool color, what color would it be?” he asked.

“
Purple”

“
Hey
doc, can we get her a purple cast?” Josh asked.

The
doctor shook his head and laughed.

“
See,
you get to be a cool kid,” Josh joked. “Can I be the
first to sign it?”

“
Of
course you can,” she said, as she looked into his eyes and
squeezed his hand.

A
couple of staples later, the doctor was done. They cleaned her leg
off and made sure that everything was okay before they put on her
purple cast. She would have to go back in six weeks to make sure she
could have the cast taken off. Then she would move on to therapy.