“But—”
He held up a hand. The tight lines around his mouth and deep creases on his forehead made her press her lips together. She’d never seen this side of him, but keeping quiet was probably a good idea.
“You heard what the doctor said. This isn’t up for negotiation.” His voice was steady and low. As he came closer, he never broke eye contact. “You need to rest. I have room at my house and people to make sure you do that.”
People.
Something inside her shifted.
Blaise meant staff. Employees.
Whoever took care of his house.
He wouldn’t be the one looking after her.
A steel band squeezed her chest tightly. The pneumonia, except she couldn’t ignore the flash of disappointment.
Silly.
Blaise wasn’t her boyfriend. He had a company to run. His priorities didn’t include taking care of someone he’d hired. But he needed to keep up appearances for his friends. His “girlfriend” wouldn’t stay in a hotel when he had a huge house.
“Th-thanks,” she said.
“Let’s get you feeling better, then we’ll figure things out.”
Not trusting her voice, she nodded.
Because she wasn’t part of a “we,” but for the first time in a long while, a part of her wished she was.
* * *
Adrenaline pounded through Blaise—the way it had since leaving the restaurant with Hadley. Memories of his times at the hospital with Wes, his mom, and his dad crashed into Blaise like an avalanche. Deep breaths hadn’t helped calm the suffocating emotions, so he pinpointed his attention on Hadley, pushing everything else on his mind aside.
That had worked and got him through the long hours in the ER with her. Now that they were home and Hadley had barely eaten dinner after a nap, an impending dread of something else going wrong overtook him. He hadn’t felt this way in years.
“You sure you don’t want me to stick around,” Rizzo said from the second floor landing.
A part of Blaise wanted to say yes, but his bodyguard had done so much already, including getting Hadley’s prescription filled. “You’ve been up all night. When was the last time you slept? Thirty-six hours ago?”
“Lex is on tomorrow, so I plan to sleep my Monday away.” Rizzo motioned to the closed door of Hadley’s bedroom. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.” Blaise fought the urge to yawn. He was tired, but he doubted he would sleep much or well. He may have ignored the memories, but they were still there, lurking inside him, waiting for their time to resurface. “If I need help tonight, I’ll call you.”
“Sounds good, boss.” Rizzo glanced at the door again. “Get some sleep, too.”
As Rizzo went downstairs, Blaise’s phone buzzed. He didn’t look at the screen. He’d received messages from everyone at the dinner, plus Wes, Dash, Brett, and Henry. Word had spread like wildfire. Blaise sent updates via their group text with a promise to message them again if there were any changes on Monday morning.
He eyed the guest bedroom’s closed door. On the other side, Hadley was changing into her pajamas. He hated leaving her alone, even for a few minutes, but she hadn’t wanted him to help her undress.
Yeah, he’d asked.
She’d said no.
It was taking her a long time. He knocked. “Hadley?”
“Almost finished.” Two minutes later, the door opened. Her eyes remained glassy, but her face wasn’t as flushed. “Sorry, I had to brush my teeth.”
That didn’t surprise him. She probably had a nighttime checkoff list so no task was forgotten. “No need to apologize.”
