“Come on. I’ll take you home.”
She’d gotten to her feet without a problem, but then she’d sagged against him. “I can’t go home. My mama will have a fit. I don’t do things like this and...”
He had helped her into his room. “Call your mom and tell her you’re spending the night.” Her mother, Doris, was known to be vocal and opinionated, and she would put Angie through the ringer. This wasn’t Angie’s fault. He hadn’t seen the need to punish her.
Afterward, she’d stretched out on the bed and gone to sleep. He had started to wake her and tell her to go to Rachel’s room, but she was sleeping so peacefully. After grabbing his toothbrush, he’d gone to a guest bedroom.
Sometime toward morning, he’d awakened and decided to check on her. Since she wasn’t used to liquor, he was worried.
She had been sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Are you sick?” he’d asked from the doorway.
“No. I just feel like a fool.”
He’d sat beside her in nothing but his pajama bottoms. He had realized later that he shouldn’t have done that. “Most kids have tasted liquor before their eighteenth birthday, so consider it a rite of passage. You’re now an adult.”
She’d brushed her sandy-brown hair back from her face and smiled at him. Even with the room in semidarkness, her smile was contagious. “Do you see me as an adult?”
“You’re my sister’s friend.” He hadn’t been sure how else to answer the question.
“That’s it?”
“Angie...”
Before he could stop her, she’d reached over and kissed his cheek. He had breathed in the scent of her and should have pulled away. But he hadn’t. She’d gently placed her lips on his and he was lost. He had wanted her in the worst way. He had wanted her the whole summer. Ignoring all the voices in his head, he’d kissed her back.
What had happened next was forever imprinted on his mind and on his heart. He’d taken her innocence.
There was no redemption for that.
Chapter Two
The ambulance wheeled into the emergency area of the hospital, and Erin was whisked inside. Angie climbed out without a glance at Hardy. She left him standing outside in the warm evening air. Pushing him to the back of her mind, she followed the stretcher.
She waited to the side as they examined Erin, her stomach a tangled mass of jittery nerves. Her baby looked so pale on the E.R. table. A nurse slit the new bathing suit with a pair of scissors and removed it. The doctor did a quick examination, calling out orders for tests that went over Angie’s head. Her eyes were focused on her unconscious baby.
An X-ray had been done quickly, and the doctor put it up on a screen. “She has a fractured femur, a possible concussion and we have to check for internal bleeding and rib fractures. Let’s get her up to the surgical ward. Notify Dr. Lawson and Dr. Robbins. Now.” The man in the blue scrubs turned to Angie. “Are you the mother?”
Angie had to swallow twice before she could answer. “Yes.”
“We’re taking her for tests and then to surgery. Her left leg is badly fractured and will require surgery. The surgeon will talk to you before he operates. You’ll have to sign papers.”
“I need to be with her. She’ll want her mama when she wakes up.”
The doctor gave her a compassionate look. “I understand that, but she’s not going to be awake for a long time.” The doctor looked over her shoulder and asked, “Are you the father?”
Angie swung around to see Hardy standing there. Her pulse pounded in her ears as panic gripped her. She couldn’t handle this now. Before words could leave her throat, Hardy stepped forward.
“I’m Hardy Hollister. The girl ran out in front of my truck and I hit her. Please do whatever you can to help her.”
“We will.”
Two nurses came in and pushed Erin’s bed toward the elevator. Angie was one step behind. She didn’t know why Hardy was still there. She wanted him to leave.
A nurse pointed to a door. “You can wait in there. After the tests, the surgeon will talk to you.”
“Thank you.” She took a deep breath and walked inside feeling empty, alone and scared out of her mind. Her baby had to be okay.
Without even having to look, she knew Hardy was behind her. His presence was strong and undeniable. But she was strong, too. He’d made her that way.
She faced him. “Would you please leave?”
“I have to know that she’s okay.”
“Wyatt will call you.”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving, Angie. You don’t need to be here alone.”
Alone? Is he kidding?
“My family is on the way. You’re just a stranger to me, and I don’t want you here.”
His tanned skin paled. “I’m not a stranger.” Her words might have stung, but being an attorney he was used to brushing away barbs as no more than pesky flies. Just like he did women.
As a teenager, Angie had been so naive and in love with the fantasy of Hardison Hollister: tall, handsome, older and a little mysterious. She used to dream about her friend’s brother. It had to be love, because she thought about him all the time.
Suffering through the remnants of a hangover, she’d gained the courage to show him she was an adult. To maintain her sanity, she’d closed her mind to what had happened next.
It was a mistake, he’d said. He was sorry, but she was his sister’s friend and she could never be anything else to him. So she’d taken her mangled pride and did the best she could with a broken heart. Even now when she saw him around town or with one of his many women, she’d have the oddest moments where she thought she still had those feelings for him. Maybe some fantasies never died.
But she was older, mature and Hardy wasn’t going to mess with her mind again. She wanted him to leave so she could deal with her injured child. Later, she’d have to divulge her innermost secret. Not now, though.
She looked him straight in the eye. “It was an accident. I don’t hold you responsible. Is that what you’re waiting to hear?”
His eyebrows knotted together. “No. I’m genuinely concerned for her.”
“Really? What’s her name?”
“Uh...what?”
“You’ve avoided me for two years. Let’s don’t change things now.”
“You look at me as if I’m a leper or something. I can’t go back
