The Billionaire's Second Chance (5 page)

Forcing his attention back to the present Nick heard himself admonish maybe a bit more sternly than intended, “Be still Shannon and stop wiggling while I see if you’re injured elsewhere.  These hands are pretty scraped up and will need to be cleaned thoroughly and bandaged.” this last said as he gently released those trembling hands into her lap while his own continued a cursory journey down her legs as his assessment continued.

Did he just accuse her of wiggling? She didn’t wiggle. Certainly not!  Okay, maybe just a little but not so much as he’d know. “I do not wiggle.” she announced somewhat defensively as she fixed him with a dismissive glare or what she hoped would seem dismissive. 

No way was he going to get the satisfaction of knowing he was unnerving her. She’d gladly take that knowledge to the grave although deep inside she suspected that it wouldn’t take much for her to throw herself into his arms so he could make it all better. Apparently, once a fool, always a fool, she mused. Had nothing been learned she groaned in silent desperation?

Right at that moment his hands, which had been leaving a trail of warmth along her legs, connected with the injured ankle wrenching a deep cry of complete distress from her. Pain shot up her leg right into her brain causing Shannon to immediately lose all efforts to remain in control as the tears she’d been fighting erupted in earnest.

“Oh no!” she cried in anguish as twin rivulets of tears began streaming down her face. “That hurts.” she hiccupped in pained distress.  It was all suddenly just too much.

At the first sign of those tears and her obvious distress, Nick swallowed hard to keep his own emotions in check.  She was really hurt; as he cradled her injured foot in one hand his eyes searched her face while his free hand swept her long tresses back over her shoulder so he could see her more directly.

That action
revealed a
bruise gathering strength at her hairline, a nasty looking bump which was turning an angry reddish purple right before his eyes.

A pithy swear rolled off his tongue in frustration as his brain took in the bigger picture.  Scraped palms, a twisted and perhaps broken ankle, and now a contusion on her head. 
What else, what else?
his mind chanted as he segued instantly into emergency mode.

It was Shannon who uncovered the next injury when she winced out another distressed “Ow!”
when
she tried to help with gathering her wildly disarrayed hair. Touching a small tear in her cowgirl shirt right at her shoulder, she pulled her fingers back detecting as she did a smudge of blood and knew she’d also somehow gotten a gash as she’d scraped along the old wagon wheel on her way to being sprawled on the ground.

Okay, that was it thought Nick.  This was way more serious than first thought and he needed to take fast action.  After all, that’s what he did.  Action Man.  The guy everyone else went to when all hell broke loose only right now the hell breaking loose was happening inside him and he seriously doubted his action man status at this second.  Not when Shannon was in pain and hurt.

“You’re hurt Shannon. Let me get a read on where the problems are so I can get you some help. Is it your shoulder where you found
blood
?” he asked as she finally got control, somewhat, of the river of tears which had overtaken her and shook her head in assent.

“Yes.” she whispered quietly, “There’s a tear in my shirt you should check.” He did so in short order making note of the small bleeding gash which from his visual inspection did not seem as deep or worrisome as to add much more anxiety to the situation.  It was the growing bump on her forehead and the painful ankle which needed immediate attention.

Oh so gently continuing to cradle her injured foot, Nick quickly located a phone from his pants and pressed a few buttons before sliding the latest in fancy technology back into his pocket.

“Let’s remove this boot Shannon.  Your ankle is likely swelling and if we don’t take it off now it will have to be cut off to get at the injury.”

She mewled in alarm
when
his warm and capable hands began the task of peeling off the soft suede ankle boots she’d worn. “Stop! Nick, please, I can’t …” she cried out but he just ground his teeth and continued on; focusing on getting the footwear off with economy and a minimum of movement.

Thankfully the suede boot came off quickly because Nick seriously doubted his composure would stay fast if he hurt her any more. “Trust me little one.” he said using one of the affectionate terms for her he used all those years ago
as
she sagged against
him in
relief.  Hearing his calming voice Shannon reached out and wrapped her fingers around his wrist in a reflexive move only to quickly snatch back the unbidden gesture before she took it any further.

Looking into her turquoise eyes shrouded with pain Nick husked
quietly and with deliberation, “Please trust me Shannon.”  It was a measure of the surreal situation they found themselves in that he used the word please because the man she had known never said please to anyone for anything
.

She suddenly realized that he seemed vulnerable somehow. 
She knew him so well was her next thought as she considered that the serious businessman before her was just as rattled by what was happening as she was.
Still, she couldn’t forget that he’d left a tsunami of pain, regret and loss in the wake of his leaving her quite literally in the African dust.  Could she trust him?  What was he really asking? Did he mean could she trust him not to injure her further right this second or could she tru
st him again in a broader sense?

Shannon didn’t have a clue about the later.  She’d had to shut it all out or she’d have gone mad. She knew however deep in her heart of hearts that she could in fact trust him in this emergency so she let herself ease off a bit of the rigid tension that had overtaken her physically the moment his hands had started touching her all over. Sensing her
consent
, as slight as it was, energized his actions so he continued on assessing her condition.

Her ankle was swelling pretty fast and while it didn’t look broken he knew a full medical exam and an x-ray were called for. As he considered the puffy ankle resting on his kneeling thigh Nick was momentarily swept away by the incredibly soft feel of her skin.  It was then that he noticed the tiny silver chain she wore around her ankle. Looking closer he noticed a small oval with the word “Goddess” engraved in a romantic flourish. Um
yeah
, he was in trouble.

Suddenly the idea that she hadn’t been waiting all nun-like and celibate for his majestic return rushed with bitterness into his brain.
 
Goddess? Really?
  Was she somebody else’s goddess? Had she found someone to share her life with?  Someone who was not him?

That bitterness turned into regret as bottomless as his soul when he remembered that’s exactly what he had thought would happen when he’d turned away from her years ago.  He’d fed himself a steady diet of bullshit then and all through the long years which followed
,
believing that he’d acted on what was best for her.  Imagined what he’d done had been noble or admirable when he brutally denied her any hope of his changing his mind so she could then move on with her life, without him.  Find happiness. Always without him.

The silence which surrounded them as he held her injured foot and stared at that simple ankle chain was loud.  If silence could be loud that is.  Beyond the muffled sounds of children’s laughter and adult chatter coming from the forgotten birthday event happening just a few hundred steps further down the path, Shannon could hear nothing but her own wildly thumping heartbeat and their mingled breathing.

If she wasn’t in so much pain she’d be thinking a lot clearer she castigated herself.  Only she really couldn’t clear her head, not with Nick so close, touching her so gently, awakening so many feelings and memories
that she was swamped
with emotion and confusion.  That she was in over her head was in no doubt and she didn’t mean from her injuries.  This man was trouble for her and she needed to make that her mantra lest she forget herself and succumb to her wildest fantasies. Her rapidly beating heart and the way her entire being seemed to be suddenly cranking on all cylinders in ever deepening response to his nearness was shattering whatever composure she hoped to cling to.

He was gently removing the ankle bracelet from her rapidly swelling foot
before it cut into her flesh
when she heard people approaching. “Oh my heavens, Shannon!” a shocked voice cried in alarm when the sound of approaching footsteps materialized into a confused Ned and Jules appearing at their side.

“What the hell happened?” Jules went on. “You look as pale as death.  Nicky tell me what’s going on!” Jules cried out sharply as she dropped down to her knees to look at Shannon’s injured leg pushing her brother aside in the process.

“Oh honey,” she groaned clearly ala
rmed at what she was seeing. “T
hat looks painful Shannon.”

Straightening Jules looked from the face of her very confused big brother now standing next to her equally confused husband and realized when the time came she had some explaining to do.  Whatever romantic fantasies she’d been harboring about her adored big brother re-discovering the only woman, as far as Jules could tell, that he’d
EVER
been serious about right under his nose were quickly dismissed by the scene before her.

Jules’ panic when the text had come to her phone from Nick saying someone had gotten injured along the path propelled her toward the commotion fearing that one of the children had been hurt only to find Shannon instead down on the ground with Nick hovering over her.  This was not quite the way she envisioned her matchmaking efforts to pan out.  She’d imagined something much more foolishly romantic and joyful than the tearful, bloodied and bruised scenario that greeted her as she and Ned had zoomed down the path in search of the reported incident. 
Damn
.

Despite being completely rattled and feeling as though she were operating from an out of body experience Shannon tried to calm Jules down while the woman fluttered about her in signs of clear stress with frantic panic written all over her face while Nick stood nearby speaking with Ned.

That Jules knew Nick was evident in the familiar way she cried out to him a second earlier; at least that much was clear. Beyond that Shannon couldn’t quite wrap her mind around what all this meant.

Struggling to regain some control Shannon, with a breathy tight voice, tried to choke out “I’m okay Jules, just a little shook up.
I’m worried about the party. I want Dom’s birthday to be perfect. Everything you and Ned dreamed of.”

“Please don’t worry about that Shannon. Rory will have this all under control in five minutes. We have to get you some help. You’re injured honey. Just relax and we’ll take care of everything.”

With her hand on Shannon’s shoulder to offer reassurance Jules’ head snapped around in search of her husband. He had moved a few yards up the path with her brother Nicky who had a frozen stunned expression on his face. His body language pretty much screamed of someone who was in deep and total shock as he just stood there
,
arms down by his side
,
looking completely lost while Ned was speaking to him.  Whether he heard anything her husband said or not was in serious doubt, judging by what she saw.

“Ned, come over here and help us. Shannon’s hurt.” Jules quietly urged as she put out a hand in a clear summons for her husband to come to her side. Hearing his wife’s worried voice Ned turned his attention from his uncharacteristically shocked friend and turned to look over his shoulder at his wife who was attending to the still prone Shannon.

Ned entered the address and GPS information necessary for Nick to find his way to the clinic where Shannon could be checked and pressed the cell phone back into his friend’s obviously numb hands.  Ned then hurried back down the path to see what assistance he could offer to the two women.

Taking charge of the situation Ned, ever the lawyer, leaned down and said “Shannon, tell me
exactly
where you’re injured
.
Don’t leave anything out.”

While her husband attended her friend Jules turned her attention back to the brother who continued to remain standing nearby, impossibly still. She couldn’t understand why he remained removed from the unfolding drama. Couldn’t understand why he wasn’t helping, why he wasn’t moving. Then she looked a little closer and noticed he was so clearly in a state of shock that he couldn’t possibly move if he wanted to. Suddenly Jules worried that her grand plan had been woefully ill advised.

As if willing Nicky to get in the game, to get involved, to engage with what was going on, maybe even be the handsome hero swooping in to make the situation
better, Jules stared with intense
focus in his direction
,
a silent wishful prayer on the tip of her tongue.

Watching the scene unfold in front of him Nick was numb, frozen to the spot.  So knocked for a six was he at having run across Shannon that he had lost his self-assured and in charge manner.  He watched mutely as Ned took that role now leaning over
her,
quietly asking questions; comforting her as she sat up on a hay bale, rather than sprawled on the hard ground.  She was in clear distress and it was that realization which zapped his brain back into gear.