Page 3 of Finding Romance
“You’re the doctor,” I remember with a smile as we get into the small space of the elevator and I hope it makes it up to the fourth floor. I press the button and silently pray to the elevator gods.
“I am,” he replies with a grin.
“I’m Piper,” I say.
“I heard Cornelia fell. I wasn’t working when she came into the ER. I’ll stop in with you and see how she is. If she needs anything, I’m just a floor below her,” he says.
“Thanks, that’s really nice of you,” I say as the doors open and we step out into the small hallway.
I knock on the door to number seven and Margie opens it.
“I’m so glad you’re here. Your aunt needs to use the bathroom and I can’t lift her,” she says as she ushers us both inside.
“We got it,” Brayden says as we walk into the back hallway and find my aunt lying on the sofa with her casted leg on an ottoman.
“Hey, we’re here,” I announce as I walk over to her.
“Let’s get you to the bathroom,” Brayden says as we each take an arm and help her up. Brayden gets one of those walkers with a seat from the corner of the room and we set her on it and wheel her down the hall to the bathroom. I’m not exactly a big person, but my aunt is teeny tiny. And right now as she’s assuring Brayden we are good, I’m glad she’s so small. I can easily help lift her to the toilet.
Once she’s settled, I step outside to give her privacy.
“I’ll help you get her settled. Are you sure you got this? I know a good nurse service if you need help,” Brayden offers.
“I appreciate it. I think she turned one down already,” I whisper. “But I used to volunteer at a nursing home, so this is a piece of cake. Plus, Aunt Cornelia is a lightweight.” I flex my bicep and Brayden chuckles.
“OK, just make sure to let me know if you change your mind,” he urges.
I nod and a moment later Aunt Cornelia calls me back into the bathroom. I help sponge bathe her with some wipes and then we go get her settled in her room. Brayden gives me his phone number and leaves after making sure we all know we should call if we need anything.
Aunt Cornelia suddenly yells out for me and I run back into her room. “My necklace is gone. Can you go check the hallway outside? Maybe it fell off when the ambulance came.”
I want to groan and tell her it’s a lost cause, but I know it’s the necklace from her late husband that she always wears. I hope she didn’t lose it at the hospital.
I look around the apartment and then step into the hallway. I turn around and stare at their door, looking down at the ground. I bend over and start to scoot back when I hear something and then feel a wall of human bump my ass.
“Whoa!” a deep voice says from behind and I start to sway forward. Giant hands grip my hips and I realize we must look…well, thank God no one else is here.
I get my bearings and stand, turning slowly. My eyes find a wide chest as they continue looking up, and up until they meet a bearded chin and then dark eyes. Holy shit, is this their neighbor? He’s enormous. And he looks…grumpy. Fabulous, just what I need. A hot-as-hell, grumpy neighbor.
CHAPTER THREE
Kasen
“You OK?” I mutter as I step back and take in this pixie of a woman. She’s probably of average height, but the only person I know taller than me is Hutch. I tend to think everyone is small, but she’s truly a wisp of a human. I could bench-press her. Her dark hair is pulled up into some sort of bun on her head. Strands are sticking in every direction. She’s wearing some kind of dress with leggings. Her face is, well…she’s gorgeous. Giant eyes look up at me and I study them. One is most definitely green and the other blue. There’s a name for that but it fails me at the moment.
She runs her hands over her dress. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, I was looking for my aunt’s necklace.” She motions to the ground and my eyes follow her long slender finger.
My brows furrow as I try to figure out what she means. Is she related to Margie or Cornelia?
“Who’s your aunt?”
“Cornelia. Well, she’s my great-aunt…I mean my grandmother’s sister. Anyhow, she hurt her ankle and I’m here to help for a bit. I guess in all the excitement earlier she lost her necklace. It was from her husband. It means so much to her. I thought I might find it out here but so far no luck,” she explains as she clasps her hands together and rocks on her heels. I look down and find her wearing Converse sneakers. They have little cats drawn all over them. The drawings are pretty good.
“I didn’t know she had a niece,” I state as I look past her to the door. “Cornelia is injured?”
I just got home a bit ago. I had a client with a server issue and I ended up having to go to the office to fix it, which of course took the whole damn night.
“Yeah, she broke her ankle and has to get surgery,” she explains. “I’m Piper by the way.”
