Page 22 of Love is a Drum Beat
She shook her head. “Don’t you get it, Dax? Nothing is going to be the same. I will forever be Jo Jackson, the drummer who got knocked up by a guy she’s not even allowed to talk about. This is so not rock-and-roll.”
“Forget rock-and-roll. Jo—”
“Can we just go? I need to get out of this room.”
He nodded and stood. “Sure.” Helping her from the bed, he didn’t mention her hospital gown or bare feet. Instead, he slid off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. “Come on. We can exit through the south parking garage. My car is with valet at the front, but I’ll take care of that.”
Jo wobbled on unsteady legs before collapsing into the wheelchair. The Batwoman mask slid down over her face while Dax collected her belongings. Out in the hall, they stopped at the nurses’ station.
“Do you have the number for valet?”
“What are you doing?” Jo asked.
“Solving a problem.” He pressed his phone to his ear after entering the number the nurse read to him. “Hello, I left my car with you not long ago. My ticket is 358921.”
He paused, and Jo assumed the person on the other end of the call was talking.
Dax nodded. “Yes, I need it brought to the south parking garage. I’ll pay whoever brings it five thousand dollars.”
Jo’s breath caught. Five grand to bring his car to them? Jo hadn’t been hurting for money over the past few years, but they all knew Dax was practically swimming in it.
He hung up, his in-charge persona dropping as he glanced down at her. This man was a conundrum. He was a nervous wreck most of the time but could still compel people to do his bidding.
Would the real Dax Nelson please stand up?
He didn’t talk as he pushed Batwoman through the halls to the exit that led into the parking garage. He’d spoken a lot in the last hour, and she wondered if he’d run out of words. It was the most she’d ever heard him say, and it only added to her confusion.
“Why don’t you have the same last name as your mom?” She tilted her head back to look up at him.
He kept walking. “Lawrence is my stepdad’s last name. I have my father’s.”
She wanted to ask about his dad, but the firm set of his jaw told her that wasn’t a good idea. Finally, something about him she understood. She had a family she didn’t speak of either, and it was better that way.
“If I’d have known she was your mom, I wouldn’t have chosen her for my doctor.”
He sighed a deep sigh that told her something else was going on. “My mom is the best doctor in this entire hospital.”
“Totally unbiased opinion, right?”
“I’m glad you have the best.”
He pushed her out into the parking garage, and exhaustion crept over her. Hospitals were awful. Paparazzi were worse.
And Dax? Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
8
Dax
Dax was an uncomfortable companion. He knew that. He liked his quiet, his silence, never feeling the need to fill space with meaningless words.
Jo was the opposite. A chatterer. Sarcasm dripped from many of her words, but Dax learned long ago the sarcasm wasn’t disdain or anger. She simply liked to keep people at arm’s length. He didn’t know what she’d been through in life or if someone had hurt her, but whatever it was, it kept her from getting close to anyone except Noah.
Noah. Finally, a topic came to him. The car had been quiet since they picked up a few of her belongings at her apartment. “So, Noah is coming home.”
“What?” Her eyes snapped to him.
He gave her a sideways glance, confused by the single word. Didn’t she want him to come? “He’s getting on a plane tomorrow. He’s your emergency contact, so they called him.”
