Page 54 of Single Girl in the City
“You going to let me check on that?” He placed his hand over hers, but she moved back, sidestepping his offer.
“It just smarts a little sometimes.”
“How often is sometimes?”
“More than I like.” She put her feet on the ground and closed her eyes as if trying to find her sea legs. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. My head was just hurting so I laid down.” She stood, then straightened her clothes. “I’ll get back out there. Nora must be running her ass off handling things on her own.”
“Nora handled business.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have left her high and dry.” She smoothed a hand through her hair as if it would help. The only thing it accomplished was to make it stick further on end, in an adorable and enduring way. “I just need a minute to collect myself and I’m good to go.”
He noticed she was holding her injured arm to her stomach as if afraid to jar it. Proof that she’d pushed herself too hard. And that was on him. He shouldn’t have left her alone to man the place until he had another bartender on the payroll. Hell, he should have sent her home the moment he learned she’d pulled a double shift next door. He couldn’t even imagine how her wrist must hurt.
Or her ribs and whatever other injuries she had. She must have suffered severe injuries if they were still giving her problems all this time later. Then there was the argument with her sister, which would have had most employees asking to go home. Not Abi. She was going to push forward so as not to leave anyone in the lurch.
“You don’t need to go anywhere except to bed,” he said. “A real bed.”
“Seriously, after that power nap, I feel so much better. Even my headache is gone.”
She turned to leave but he cupped her elbow. “Abi, it’s three in the morning.”
It was as if his words didn’t compute. “That can’t be.” She looked at the clock over his desk, her eyes squinting in disbelief, then going as wide as kegs. “Oh my god, why didn’t you wake me?”
“You looked like you needed the sleep.”
“And I also need to pull my weight,” she said. “Tonight was supposed to be your night off. Owen Time, remember? I’m really so sorry, this has never happened to me before. I’ll just call Dotti to come get me and … oh.” Her cheeks burned with what he suspected was remembrance. Then she swallowed hard, and he knew she remembered every hurtful thing that had been said. “I mean I’ll, uh, call …”
That was the first time Owen realized that while she was friends with everyone, Abi didn’t have any friends of her own. At least none close enough to bail her out in the middle of the night. And that tore him up inside.
“The studio is empty. I even put clean sheets on the bed.”
She dropped her gaze to his chest, something he’d come to realize she did when she was embarrassed. “You didn’t have to do that.”
He put a finger under her chin and brought her face back to his. “I wanted to. You need to sleep in an actual bed, not on someone’s couch.” He could see her considering this. Even though she didn’t have another option, her gaze went to the exit. “If you decide to walk to your sister’s place, I’ll walk with you and I really would rather not spend my night in the rain.”
That earned him a small smile. “Just for tonight. And I insist on paying you.”
He wouldn’t take a penny from her, but that was an argument for another time. Right then, his only goal was to convince her to stay for as long as she needed.
“It’s there for anyone who works for me and needs a place to stay. Nora’s slept there a couple times when she was too tired to drive, and Jake crashed there for a few months when he and his girlfriend broke up. I don’t see how this is any different.”
What he could see was the worry building up. “Are you saying that my sister and I broke up? Is that what it sounded like to you? Because I just thought it was Dot being pregnant and overwhelmed.”
He thought it was Dot being a self-centered bitch, but he wasn’t going to say that. It was one thing to complain about a family member, it was another to have someone else do it. One of thoseprotect what’s mineinstincts.
“I think she’ll …”What? Come around?He didn’t want to lie to her but there had been a finality to her sister’s tone. “I think she regretted what she said the moment she drove off.”
Abi’s chest fell with relief. “Me too.”
God, he wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her. Tell her everything would work out. But he had a sinking feeling that in Abi’s family things rarely worked out for her. Take her parents for example. Where the hell were they in the equation?
And why was he feeling as if this were one of thoseprotect what’s minesituations between him and Abi?
Chapter Nineteen
Happy Things:
Midnight snacks
