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“Sam hates baths and will go to any lengths to avoid them,” Allison said with a chuckle. “Don’t let him con you.”
Sherry started to worry. What other idiosyncrasies did this family have, and what would they forget to tell her? She’d never done private-practice nursing before. She’d always worked in a hospital or doctor’s office, where there were plenty of people around if she had any questions or problems.
“Why doesn’t everybody stay for dinner?” Sherry asked. “I can make a Frito-chili pie that’s out of this world.”
JONATHAN COULDN’T BELIEVE his ears. The woman had been in his house for, what, fifteen minutes? And already she acted like she owned the place, inviting people to dinner. He wanted everyone to go home. He was in no shape to entertain guests.
At least he wouldn’t have to go to the table. He planned to take his meals right here on a TV tray.
But the aggravating woman messed up those plans, too. Realizing Jonathan would have to eat his dinner alone if everyone else sat in the dining room, she announced she would serve dinner in the living room. “The kids can sit on the floor in front of the coffee table and everyone else can eat on TV trays. You have TV trays, right?” She looked at Jonathan.
He was forced to smile and tell her where the trays were kept.
Frito-chili pie. Jonathan knew it was a Texas tradition, but he wasn’t fond of Mexican food of any kind. He liked his meat and potatoes. But the smell coming from the kitchen as Sherry cooked wasn’t too bad.
Allison got out the trays, and Kristin helped her set places for everyone. Anne put some lively zydeco music on the CD player, while Sally turned on every light and lamp in the house. Pretty soon it was like a party.
A party was the last thing Jonathan needed. Couldn’t his family see that? And Sherry—didn’t she know injured people needed peace and quiet? What kind of nurse was she?
In less than an hour she had dinner ready. He had to give her credit for efficiency. The steaming square of casserole on his plate didn’t cheer him, though. He would have preferred a nice pork chop.
“Do you normally have a blessing?” Sherry asked as everyone got settled in with their plates and drinks.
“Usually only when my father’s here,” Allison said. “I think I told you before, he’s a minister. I suppose we should bless the meal. Would you like to do it, Sherry?”
“Oh, um, sure.” She bowed her head. Jonathan would have done the same, but he was too entranced watching how Sherry’s curls fell over one shoulder and breast, the very end teasing her cleavage. “Thank you, Lord, for this food,” she said, “and for giving me a temporary job so the credit card companies don’t come get me, and for Jonathan being on the road to a full recovery.”
“Amen.”
“Let’s eat!” Sam said, picking up his fork and digging in. Everyone else followed suit.
From his first bite, Jonathan thought his mouth had caught fire. He somehow managed to swallow, chasing the bite down with a gulp of milk, but he coughed afterward. Looking around, he noticed he wasn’t the only one experiencing difficulty with the meal. Jeff’s eyes were watering, Edward had covered his mouth with his hand and his eyes were bulging, and Anne was gasping for breath.
Kristin was less polite. She spit out her first bite. “This is too hot!” she announced.
“No kidding,” Sam said, staring at his food as if it were a poisonous snake.
Sherry looked at the children with concern. “Is it? I put peppers in the pie—I found them in the fridge, so I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
Pete chuckled. “Those’re my peppers. I put ’em on everything, but these other tenderfoots don’t like ’em.” Pete took a second bite of the casserole, obviously not bothered by the piquant flavor.
“Daddy, can I have a peanut butter sandwich?” Kristin asked.
One by one everyone except Pete and Sherry found an alternate dinner. They tried to tell Sherry it wasn’t her fault, but she was obviously embarrassed.
“What about you, Jonathan?” she asked. “Can I fix you something else?”
“I’m really not hungry,” he announced. “I think I’ll just go to bed.”
Sherry dropped the sponge she was using to clean spills off the coffee table. “I’ll help you.”
He held up a hand to halt her approach. “I can manage, thanks.” But, to his humiliation, he couldn’t. He was stuck in the recliner.
Ignoring his objections, Sherry went to work levering him out of the chair, helping him balance on his good leg while he situated the crutches.
“I’ve got it now, thanks.”
But the infernal woman hovered over him as he limped toward his room. “It’s always hardest the first day on crutches,” she said. “You’ll get the hang of using them soon. Of course, you shouldn’t walk much at all these first few days.”
“I don’t plan to—what in the name of all that’s holy is that thing?” Jonathan stopped at the doorway to his bedroom, staring at this monstrous flowered balloon-looking thing on his bed.
“It’s an inflatable bed-chair,” Sherry said cheerfully, sliding into the room ahead of him. “It’s great for bolstering yourself up while confined to a bed. Because you don’t want to lie flat all the—”
“I’m not confined to a bed,” he grated out. “I am not an invalid.”
She plucked the offending object off the bed and shoved it aside. “I like to use it when I sit up reading at night,” she said, still cheerful despite his rebuff. “Now then, where do you keep your pajamas?”
She started opening and closing the dresser drawers as if she had the perfect right.
“I don’t wear pajamas.”
“Oh. All right, then.” She pulled the covers back on his double bed. “Sit down, and I’ll help you—”
“Damn it, woman,” he roared, “can’t you see I don’t want any help?”
She stared at him a moment, then looked down at the floor. “Yes,” she said softly, “that’s been obvious since I got here. It’s also obvious to me that whether you want it or not you need some assistance.”
“In case I haven’t made myself clear yet, let me try again. You are to confine yourself to cooking, cleaning and caring for my children. I can take care of myself.”
She picked up the bed-chair and pulled its plug. It made an awful noise as she squeezed the air out of it. “If that’s what you wish.” She didn’t seem perturbed at all. “I’m only here to make things easier. If you need anything, call.”
Jonathan could still smell her perfume after she left. Damn. He hadn’t meant to be so rude. He knew she was only trying to do the job she’d been hired for. But the sight of her in his bedroom had made him snap. Having a woman like her anywhere near his bed was asking for trouble.
Besides, if she’d helped him undress, she’d have discovered exactly the effect she had on him. It would be highly embarrassing for Sherry to know she could turn him on just by walking across the room.
He allowed himself a brief fantasy—Sherry undressing him, cool, detached, her elegant hands touching him with a nurse’s practical manner, those long nails lightly raking his skin. He let out an involuntary groan and hoped everyone in the house hadn’t heard.
“I’M SORRY JONATHAN’S being such a bear,” Allison said as she helped Sherry in the kitchen. “He’s normally very nice, just reserved. But he’s not used to being so helpless.”
“Can you blame him, after I just about poisoned the whole family?”
“It was an honest mistake.”
“Well, I’ll remember from now on. No spicy food for the Hardisons.” Sherry smiled, trying to get over the humiliation of ruining her very first meal here. “Listen, I know how some men are when they’re injured. They feel weak, powerless, and they compensate by bullying everybody that crosses their paths. I’m used to it. It doesn’t bother me.” Although it did, a little. It was always important to her to do a good job, but she also wanted her patients to like her. Jonathan, she suspected, couldn’t stand the sight of her.
Well, she’d always enjoyed a challenge.
“Maybe when the rest of us go, he’ll simmer down some,” Allison said.
“You’re leaving now?” Sherry knew his whole family wouldn’t be spending the night, but she was a little nervous about assuming full responsibility, especially for the children.
“Pete will be here one more night, but he and Sally are getting married tomorrow morning and taking off on their cruise.”
“Does Jonathan expect to attend the wedding?” Sherry asked, concerned.
“He’d like to, but Jeff said no way.”
“What about the children?”
“Yes. Pete will take them to the church, but if you could get them ready, that would be a big help.”
“Okay.” Sherry thought for a moment. “Where’s the reception?”
“We’re just having punch and cake at the church hall. It’ll be a very small wedding. Why?”
“I don’t mean to interfere, but I was just thinking, what if they moved the reception here? Then we could include Jonathan in the celebration.”
Allison’s eyes lit up. “That’s a terrific idea! Let’s run it past Pete and Sally and see what they think.”
The older couple was enthusiastic about the suggestion. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it myself,” Sally said. “We haven’t invited that many guests, so space isn’t an issue, and I’ve always thought that church hall was ugly, anyway. I’ll just call Gussie and Reenie and tell them to bring the refreshments and decorations here. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Who, me?” Sherry laughed. “I love a party, any kind of party.” She couldn’t wait to tell Jonathan the good news—if he didn’t throw something at her first.
JONATHAN WAS rudely awakened the next morning by a blast of sunlight. He opened his bleary eyes to find Sherry in his room, whisking curtains open.
“Good morning.” Whisk! Another curtain open. But the bright sun could hardly compete with the woman herself. Wearing black leggings and a hot-pink, clingy shirt, her outrageous mountain of blond curls piled carelessly atop her head, she was an erotic fantasy come to life.
“Would you like breakfast in bed?” she asked cheerfully. “Or would you like to bathe and dress first and sit in your chair?”
He was aghast at her audacity. “You…you can’t just barge in here without knocking!” he sputtered. “This isn’t a hospital, it’s my home, and my room.”
He expected her to murmur an apology and slink away. But she didn’t. He was quickly learning to expect the unexpected where his nursemaid was concerned.
“I did knock. You didn’t answer. I had to check on you. Once I saw you were breathing—”
“You should have just left me in peace!”
“But it’s late and you need to get up.”
“Why, in God’s name? Do I have an appointment with the President?”
She smiled, as if she had a secret. “You have a wedding reception to attend.”
“Are you crazy? I can’t go to Pete’s wedding.”
“You don’t have to. The wedding’s coming to you. Or at least, part of it. Pete and Sally have relocated the reception here, so you don’t have to miss out on everything.”
Jonathan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “All those people are coming here?” Great, just what he needed, for the whole town to witness his infirmity. “Forget it. It’s not happening.”
“You’re not pleased?”
“I’m in no shape to entertain!”
“You won’t have to lift a finger, I promise.”
He sighed. The woman hadn’t been here twenty-four hours and already she was driving him mad. He’d told Pete he regretted missing the wedding, but in reality, weddings weren’t his cup of tea. They only served to remind him that his own marriage had been a dismal failure. All that lovey-dovey, till-death-do-us-part stuff made his divorced status that much more noticeable.
“Fine,” he said through clenched teeth, since she seemed to be waiting for a decision from him. “I’ll get dressed first, then have breakfast.”
She beamed. “Great. I’ll get your bathwater. Do you have a plastic tub somewhere I can use?”
“A plastic—” Suddenly he realized her intentions. “Oh, no, you don’t. You and your sponge just keep away from me. I can manage on my own, thank you very much.”
“Jonathan. You’re in a full-leg cast. You can’t take a regular bath or shower. Now, you don’t have to be embarrassed. I’ve given hundreds of sponge baths—”
“No. If you’re dying to bathe someone, bathe the kids. That ought to be enough challenge for you.”
“They’ve already had their baths.”
“Really?” He was impressed. Kristin didn’t fight it too hard, if she had plenty of bubbles. But it took an act of Congress to get Sam in the tub.
“Well, Pete helped,” she admitted.
He softened a bit toward Sherry. “Why don’t you run along and see about breakfast? I’ll be there shortly.”
She shrugged. “All right. But before I go, I need to check you over.”
Her words had a profound effect on him—unintended, he was sure. “What’s to check?” he said gruffly. “The leg’s in a cast.”
But he saw by her implacable expression that she wouldn’t take no for an answer. This was one fight he wasn’t going to win. Jeff and Ed had both warned him about the complications that could arise from his injuries, especially his concussion. With a sigh, he allowed her to shine a flashlight in his face to see if his pupils would contract appropriately. She pointed a finger into the air and made him follow it with his eyes.
When she tried to pull the blankets off his cast he resisted—he was otherwise naked. But he finally relented and she was careful to keep the rest of his body modestly covered.
He lay back, closed his eyes and tried not to think about her touching him. She was gentler than any of the nurses at the hospital had been. She checked his toes for swelling and signs of poor circulation. Then she took his temperature to be sure he wasn’t running a fever. He actually found himself enjoying Sherry’s ministrations.
“All done.”
He opened his eyes. She had that brilliant smile on her face again.
“You enjoy your work?” he asked.
“Oh, yes. Yes, I really do. And if there’s anything I can do better, please tell me.”
“There’s just one thing.”
“What?” She blinked her big green eyes at him, eyes that were enhanced with soft brown shadow, dark eyeliner and lashes that were so long and curly they should have been outlawed.
“Do you have to be so relentlessly cheerful?”
