Page 32 of The Billionaire Boss and the Barista

He broke off when his phone buzzed again, not meeting her eyes. “He’s here.”

Chapter Thirteen

EMMA

Pedro was right about one thing. Garrett Chapman made things happen. Weird things. Like the MRI. His presence at her side transformed an otherwise routine and taxing medical visit into a surreal experience.

Emma had spent the better part of the last five years in and out of different doctors’ offices and hospitals. She’d had good experiences with professional and sympathetic doctors and nurses. But she’d also had plenty of bad ones with people who treated her as less than human.

To them, Emma wasn’t a person. She was a condition.

Long-term amnesia like hers was rare enough that she was inevitably paraded in front of every medical resident and student in the building. Then she’d be poked and prodded. Tests would be ordered that she was convinced had nothing to do with her condition. Meanwhile, her real issues would be glossed over or outright ignored.

Funny how a hovering millionaire overseeing her appointment made all those issues disappear.

Garrett picked her up and whisked her to the Jacobs Medical Center in La Jolla, where Dr. Saha had medical privileges. Before Emma knew it, she was in a hospital gown, lying on a conveyor belt, being rolled into a big white tube like a bunch of groceries. That wasfollowed by a blood draw, X-rays, and a long consultation about her current medications.

She left with a sack of new ones. Emma was still examining their labels, doing her best to ignore the hypermasculine presence next to her.

That proved to be a poorly thought-out plan when he pulled his shiny Range Rover into the subterranean parking lot of a new high-rise.

Emma shoved the pills back into the white pharmacy bag and craned her neck to examine the sterile half-filled lot.

“Where are we?” she asked. “And if you say,This is where I murder you,I will punch you in the testicles.”

Garrett covered his face, making a sound that was half-snort, half-wheeze. He took a moment to compose himself before turning to her. The impact of his clean-shaven good looks and sharp suit was a visceral push to her senses.

“Home.”

Frowning, she followed him as he got out of the car and led her to an elevator. She didn’t protest until he put his hand on a high-tech black panel. A light went on at the bottom along with an electronic message.

Welcome home, Mr. Chapman.

He pressed the top button, and the car began to rise.

“Wait. This is your place? I thought we were going to look at apartments for me.”

“I thought about it but after that consultation, I think setting you up in your own place might be a bad idea. So, you’ll stay with me instead.”

Her scowl was instant. “Excuse me,what?”

Garrett turned to face her, gesturing to her sack of prescriptions like it was a bag of spiders.

“Em, I was hoping that the consultation would help you cut back on the amount of medication you have to take. But Dr. Saha made it clear you’re not in a place where that’s possible. And a lot of these are heavy-duty. I can’t in good conscience let youlive alone.”

She stared at him in disbelief, refusing to budge when the elevator stopped and the doors opened. “Then why did you run me out of my apartment? Or did you forget I had a place to live until you showed up?”

He didn’t even have the grace to look ashamed of himself. “You and I both know Pedro has enough to deal with on his own. I’m going to find him a great therapist who will help him. But he needs the space, both physical and mental, to tackle his problem.”

“That makes no sense,” Emma snapped. “Me leaving just gives Pedro another bedroom to fill with things!”

Garrett’s sigh was long and drawn out. “I didn’t mean space that way. Pedro has been in denial about his condition for a long time. He’s only now starting to face it. Acknowledging it is a huge step. So is seeking treatment. He’s fragile. And rooming with someone who is fragile in another way…”

“All right. I get it,” she bit out, tears stinging her eyes. “I’m a burden.”

“You’renot,” he said. “You just need a roommate with more emotional bandwidth than Pedro has now. Which is why you are going to let me—the person who owes you—set you up in a new situation.”

His measured, even tone grated on her. Also, why did he have to be both rationalandhandsome, damn it?

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