“No one does.” Daniel leaned in and spoke quietly, gently, and Annika tried not to concentrate on how sexy he sounded when all he was doing was trying to take care of her. “I’ll do them myself. You won’t feel a thing.”
“Don’t you have a bag with all that stuff in it?” Annika bit her bottom lip. “Actually, I’ll be fine.” She looked at Nilay. “Maybe Sajan could do it.”
Nilay shook his head like she was an idiot. “You’d still have to go to the hospital.”
“Who’s Sajan?” Was it her imagination, or did Daniel tense up and seem irritated?
“No one. A friend.” She instantly regretted bringing up Sajan’s name. What was wrong with her? Why did it matter?
Daniel studied her for a moment and seemed to relax some. “Okay. We’ll go elsewhere.”
“Not the ER?”
“Not the ER. But we’ll have to take your car. All I have is my bike.” He put his hand out for her car keys.
“I’ll drive,” Nilay spoke up.
She looked from one grim man to the other. “But no ER?”
Nilay looked to Daniel. Daniel raised his hands. “I promise.” He side-eyed Nilay. “How long have you had your license?”
“A week.”
“He passed the squirrel test,” Annika assured Daniel. “And I’m not going without him.”
Daniel sighed, resigned. “Let’s go.”
ITWASDECIDEDthat Nilay would drive and Daniel would direct from the passenger’s side, leaving Annika in the back seat. Nilay kept up a stream of conversation while he drove.
Daniel was suddenly interested in the traffic. “Watch out for that guy.”
Nilay easily maneuvered out of the way. “So I saw you help Phil get rid of Steven.”
Daniel shrugged.
“Could you show me that move sometime?”
Daniel side-eyed Nilay. “We just met. You don’t know anything about me.”
Nilay grinned. “I know people. Trust me.”
Daniel turned his head to Annika in the back, his eyebrows raised. Annika nodded. “It’s true. He’s got some kind of radar or something.”
Daniel shrugged. “Sure, kid.” He nodded at Annika’s hand. “How’s it feel?”
Her hand was pounding, but it was nothing to how the rest of her was shaking from the encounter with Steven. How had she ever thought she loved him? Honestly, if there really was a radar that detected the character of a person, hers was permanently broken. She met Daniel’s concerned gaze, unsure of what her own face revealed.
“It’ll be fine.”
He narrowed his eyes at her as if he wanted to ask her something, but instead he nodded and faced front again. “Almost there.”
Annika studied his profile, enjoying the lines of his face as he spoke to Nilay and laughed at something her brother said. That warm feeling of contentment passed over her again as she watched them. She shook her head of it. No point in going there.Your radar is broken, remember?
But Nilay definitely liked him, and he had great radar. Maybe...
As they approached a small building with a large field, she sat up straight. “You’re taking me to your chopper base, Chopper Guy?” Oh, shit, did she say that out loud?
“What did you call me?” Amusement dripped from his voice, and he turned to face her, his face lit up, green eyes dancing.
