Tension bloomed once more. It broke when I reached out, surprising everyone in the room—maybe even myself—when I wrapped my hand around Neal’s elbow.
“Neal is a hero, my hero, and we are assisting him in getting back onto his feet. I think that’s clear enough. Don’t you?”
Will hesitated, his attention now on where I gripped Neal’s arm, where the warmth of his skin steadied me. Then slowly, begrudgingly, he agreed. “Make the statement, exactly what you said. And take some pictures together. Here is fine. That way we don’t look like you’ve kidnapped the poor man.”
Neal grunted, and I thought for a moment it might have been the beginnings of a laugh, but my brother continued on.
“Do you have anything else you can wear?”
Silently I let my eyes trail down Neal’s form. It was true. I hadn’t seen him in anything but sweatpants and loose fitted tees since he’d woken up. And his other clothes had been ruined by the blood and wear. My mouth opened, ready to assure Will that he could wear whatever he liked, when Neal answered for me.
“Miss Dougherty…” His eyes found mine. “The younger Miss Dougherty wanted to take me shopping tomorrow—or rather, today. I’m sure we can manage to find some things suitable.”
Will looked relieved. “Perfect. Madeline to the rescue.”
I frowned at him, releasing Neal and stepping around him. “Don’t you think you’ve gone a little overboard, Will? Thiscould’ve easily been a conversation at a reasonable hour, or maybe even a text.”
“Reasonable hour?”
I gestured down at my robe. “You woke us all up for a non-event.”
Will blinked, his cheeks looking a little pink. “Sorry, Pen. I… I haven’t even been to bed yet.”
My heart squeezed.
“I was up anyway,” Neal offered casually from behind me, and to my shock, my brother huffed a short laugh and stepped up, holding out a hand.
“Sorry for being such a dick all the time,” Will said, shaking Neal’s hand.
I snorted, rolling my eyes. “No, he’s not.”
Will sighed, “No, I’m not, but I’m sorry you had to deal with it. Usually I save my meltdowns for special occasions.”
Neal shrugged the comment off, releasing my brother's hand as Will marched back to the front door, flinging it open just in time to see our head of media, Tia, and an assembly of other Madeline Media employees staring back at us.
Will looked back at me, and I frowned. “Absolutely not. You called them all here. You can deal with getting them all out.”
“Great.” Will squared his shoulders and, arms held wide to shoo people ahead of him, left the apartment, taking the crowd with him.
I immediately flipped the locks closed and turned to lean against the back of the door.
“What a mess.”
Neal’s footsteps were soft, so much so that I didn’t realize how close he was until I opened my eyes. My heart raced as he stopped just a step away from me. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you.” His tone was gruff.
“You have to stop apologizing. You saved me, remember?” I reached out, placing a hand against his chest briefly. “I can handle this.”
I could feel his gaze hot on my face as I ducked my chin and snatched my hand back, muttering a brief apology.
“I’m no hero, Penelope.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Crowe,” I said, moving towards the kitchen. “You’re the best kind of hero.”
Chapter Five
Neal
After Will charged out, Penelope and I were both restless. It was a day off, but I knew that wouldn’t really apply to someone in her position, and I was right. We sat on the L-shaped sofa in her living room, meaningless TV droning on as she scrolled her phone, answering messages left and right. One or two episodes into a medical drama, I could feel her attention on me.
