I'll Take A Chance (Running Into Love Book 2) Read online

  I’ll Take A Chance

  Book two in the

  Running Into Love Series

  By Annalisa Nicole

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright © 2014 by Annalisa Nicole

  This book is a written act of fiction. Any and all names, places, or similarities are coincidental. No part of this book may be used without written permission except for brief quotations for reviews or blogs. This book may only be distributed by Annalisa Nicole, the owner and Author of this series.

  To my sister-in-law Julie F.

  Sisters by chance

  Best friends by choice

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  Amelia

  I can’t believe how long it took for the fire department to wrap up the fire drill at work. If I miss the birth of my first niece or nephew, I will scream so loud eardrums will shatter. Ava and I have been planning on being with Willow through every step of the birth. Asher is there too, of course, since he is the father. Willow’s water broke at work and she was so mortified that it had looked like she peed herself. Asher, who is the CEO of Wellington Corp., had a brilliant idea of putting together a fire drill.

  It’s a good thing Asher has connections and could quickly arrange a fire drill with the fire department. We sent out an urgent memo to all the employees informing them there will be a fire drill, and then we pulled the fire alarm. Everyone exited the building in an orderly fashion thinking it was a regularly scheduled fire drill. As everyone met at their designated meeting places, Asher and Willow snuck out an unused exit.

  Their driver Simon was waiting with the door open to their Town Car to whisk them to the hospital. That left me here to deal with the fire department and the employees, which took forever.

  After dealing with things at work, I think I have enough time to stop at the florist to get her an arrangement of flowers. I explain to the florist that I am in a huge rush and that I want the biggest arrangement of flowers in a beautiful crystal vase.

  “Make sure you put plenty of pink roses in there, please. They’re her favorite,” I say. I just want things to be perfect for Willow. I anxiously pace back and forth while the florist works on the bouquet.

  This is going to be the first niece or nephew to be born in the Wellington family, which is shocking seeing as I have three brothers and a sister all in their late twenties and thirties.

  After the florist made the arrangement and I saw just how big it was, I begin to wonder if I went just a little bit overboard. I’m not even sure if it’ll fit in my car. I fight with the arrangement and try not to break any of the flowers. I twist and turn it in several different directions in the front passenger seat, but it just won’t fit. After wasting way too much time, I say fuck it and plop it on the floor behind my seat. If a few flowers get broken, oh well, I need to get to the hospital.

  This is Willow’s first pregnancy so I think labor usually takes some time, well, at least that’s what I hear. At any rate, I rush through traffic like a bat out of hell. Parking at the hospital has turned out to be a nightmare. Is it a full moon or something tonight? Is everyone in Seattle in labor? I find a parking spot ten miles away in a parking structure. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it feels like its ten miles away. In my work heels and with this enormous arrangement, it might as well be that far.

  I have bumped into three people just trying to get to the elevator. Every other word out of my mouth is excuse me or I’m sorry. I can’t see over the vase so I’m trying to look through the stems to see where I’m going, but not with a lot of success, obviously.

  Willow better really enjoy these flowers for all this trouble I’ve gone through. But I know she will. She’s not only my sister-in-law, but the best assistant I have ever had and one of my best friends. After she started dating Asher, I was worried she would get a more prominent position at Wellington Corp., seeing that she was dating the owner of the company. Willow surprised us all and said she wouldn’t dream of taking a different position, that she loved working for me. Willow and I have a wonderful relationship, and I can’t wait to meet my new niece or nephew.

  Barging off the elevator on the maternity floor I quickly find out what room they are in from the nurses’ station. Still trying to see through the flowers so I don’t take anyone out on the way, I rush into their room. I can hear a baby crying. No, please don’t let that be Asher and Willow’s baby.

  “Please don’t tell me I missed it,” I say as I enter the room.

  Just as the last word slips out of my mouth, I crash into someone. The vase slips out of my hand and crashes to the floor, shattering into large pieces. The water splashes up from the floor all over me and the person I ran into.

  Mumbling my apologies, I immediately get down on my hands and knees to pick up the broken glass. I can hear people telling me it’s OK, that they will call a team in to clean it up, but I’m just so upset that I have ruined it. I went through so much trouble to get this here, and at the last second it’s destroyed. I still can’t look the person in the eye who is covered in as much water as I am. I can tell it’s a male, his pants and shoes are soaked, he immediately squats down to help me pick up flowers and glass.

  “I am so sorry about getting your pants wet,” I say completely embarrassed and unable to look at him in the face.

  “Here, let me help you with that,” a soothing, sexy voice says.

  Noticing his voice, I slowly gather the courage to look up at his face, he is gorgeous. He has dark brown hair that is almost black, framing his perfectly chiseled nose, chin, and cheek bones. His beautiful milk chocolate eyes take my breath away. I shake my head and close my opened mouth and try to bring my racing heart beat under control.

  After what I went through with my last boyfriend, I threw myself into my work and gave up dating for good. My reaction to this man comes as a surprise to me. I’m so mesmerized I’m not paying attention to what I’m doing. Try as I may, I just can’t stop looking at this man. Blindly, I reach for a large piece of glass and it stabs me right into my palm. I quickly pull my hand to my chest and hold it closed with my other hand. It’s one of those things where you know it’s bad, but you just can’t bring yourself to look at it just yet, and you hope it’s not as bad as you think it is.

  I can’t believe I cut myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I really hope he didn’t see what I just did. The man, who has a name tag that reads Dr. Peters, is kneeled in front of me in a white coat and blue scrubs with his hand held out to me. With his eyes he looks from my hand to his. Nope, he definitely saw. We both stand, and I hesitantly place my hand in his and slowly open my hand. Blood pools in my palm and drips to the floor, I quickly close it and pull it out of his hand. I can’t believe how much blood there is. Ugh, this is bad.

  “That looks deep, let me walk you down to the ER. I think it’s going to need a few stitches,” he purrs. Do men even purr? Well, it sure sounded like purring to my ears. Crap, I’m in trouble.

  He grabs some gauze from the work space, takes my hand back and wraps it applying firm pressure.

  “Oh, I couldn’t, I just got here and I haven’t even seen the baby ye
t,” I say unwillingly.

  “Amelia, you need to have that looked at. You’re bleeding all over the floor. We’ll be here when you’re done. Go get your hand taken care of. You are not holding my baby with a bloody hand,” Willow insists.

  Dr. Peters is still holding my hand and the gauze is quickly turning red with blood. Looking from my hand to Dr. Peters, I nod my head. He turns to a nurse and tells her that he is taking me down to the emergency room and he will be back later. He gently lets go of my hand with one of his hands and indicates that I should walk out of the room. He still has his left hand on my injured hand holding steady pressure while his other hand goes around to the small of my back guiding me to the ER.

  “You really don’t have to do this, I’m sure you are extremely busy,” I tell him.

  “It’s not a problem. I was doing a colleague a favor delivering Willow’s baby, she was in her car trying to get here, but Willow progressed faster than we expected. It’s a girl, by the way, a beautiful, healthy baby girl. I’m off duty now that she’s made her arrival.”

  Tears instantly form in my eyes and spill down my cheek. I’m so happy for Asher and Willow. Asher has been through so much these past three years. I couldn’t be happier for him.

  “I’m sorry, does your hand hurt? Am I applying too much pressure?” he asks with a concerned look in his eyes.

  “No, it’s nothing like that. I was just thinking, how happy I am for my brother and his wife. This is the first baby to be born into our family.” I wipe my tears with my other hand.

  “So that was your brother? I can see the resemblance, was the other woman in the room your sister?”

  “Yes, that was Ava, my brother Asher, is the proud daddy. I have two other brothers Aiden and Adrian, who were probably waiting in the waiting room with our parents.”

  “I’m detecting a pattern with the A names. Does your name start with an A as well?” he asks.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Yes, my name is Amelia,” I reply.

  “My name is Dr. Kyle Peters, it’s nice to meet you. I would shake your hand, but it seems that I’m already holding it,” he says with a devilish smirk.

  We take the elevator all the way down to the first floor where the emergency room is, he is still holding my hand, applying pressure. He talks to another doctor, and I am immediately put into a curtained room. I take a seat on the bed and Dr. Peters sits next to me which is a good idea, seeing that if he lets go of my hand I might just bleed to death. Alright, another exaggeration. I wouldn’t bleed to death, I know.

  “Amelia, this is my good friend Dr. Spencer Matthews, I call him Spence, we went to medical school together. He’ll be looking at your hand,” he tells me.

  I nod at the two doctors as I catch a slight grin on Dr. Matthews’ face. He puts on a pair of rubber gloves and Dr. Peters lets go of my hand allowing Dr. Matthews to look at it. As he lets go there is a huge rush of feeling that comes back into my hand. He removes the gauze layer by layer until the cut is exposed. Blood instantly runs down my hand. Dr. Matthews grabs fresh gauze and covers the wound applying pressure.

  “Looks like we have ourselves a gusher here,” Dr. Matthews says and gives my hand back to Dr. Peters to hold.

  “I’ll have a nurse get everything ready, you’re going to need some stitches. I’ll be back in just a little bit. Dr. Peters will continue to apply pressure while we’re waiting for everything to get all set up.” He takes off his rubber gloves and flings them like a sling shot into a garbage can and leaves the room.

  Now that the other doctor left there is an awkward silence between us. Looking up into his eyes I whisper, “Dr. Peters, you don’t have to stay, thank you for walking me to the ER. I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’m sorry.”

  “Please, call me Kyle, and I couldn’t leave you now, if I let go of your hand you just might bleed to death,” he says, seriously. Oh my God, I was just thinking that.

  I know he’s joking because he can’t hold the serious expression and it turns into a sweet smile. Damn it all to hell, I don’t want him to leave either. But men are scum, except for my brothers and dad of course. I can’t let myself be fooled again by a sweet smile and a good looking man.

  “Kyle.” I test out his name on my tongue, it’s a nice name and feels good to say out loud. No, men are scum, stick to your plan, it’s a good plan. Plain and simple, no men! Men are scum.

  “Is your hand hurting? I can get Spence to get you something for the pain. It looks like it really hurts.”

  “No, it’s not that bad, really,” I say out loud. Inside my head I say, oh man, my hand hurts like a son of a bitch. If he holds it any tighter I think I may lose some fingers from lack of circulation.

  “It shouldn’t be too much longer. Tell me about your family?”

  I know what he’s doing. He’s trying to keep my mind off my hand by keeping me talking. It’s really sweet what he’s trying to do though.

  “Well, Adrian is the oldest. He owns his own construction company, Wellington Construction. Then comes Aiden, he’s a lawyer at my brothers company, Wellington Corp. Then Asher, he’s the CEO of Wellington Corp. Then, there’s me, I’m the VP of Marketing at Wellington Corp. Last, but not least, there is Ava, she is the youngest. She is also a lawyer, but works for a firm just outside of town. Both of my parents are retired and we all live within a five mile radius of each other. We’re a close family. What about you?”

  “My parents are divorced, and I have a sister, Chloe,” he states sadly and looks to the floor.

  Just then, Dr. Matthews comes in with a nurse, but I can tell that Kyle was reluctant to talk about his parents or it could have been his sister. I’m not sure which. He seems relieved to not have to discuss it anymore. He gives me a warm smile to hide what looks like sadness then looks at what his friend is doing. My eye’s travel to where he’s looking and I see Dr. Matthews getting a shot ready to numb my hand. I instantly tense up knowing exactly where that needle is about to go. Kyle senses my unease and rubs my back in small circles. Instantly his touch relaxes me.

  Kyle

  Spence had good timing. I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel comfortable lying to Amelia about my sister. Going into details about my family, though, wasn’t a good idea either. Usually, I just tell people that I’m an only child to avoid all the unwanted questions about my family. It’s just easier that way. I don’t know why I told her I have a sister. It just came out. I just couldn’t lie to her.

  There is something special about this woman. I sensed it from the first moment I saw her come into that room with those ridiculous flowers. I just couldn’t take my eyes off of her. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion when she collided with me and dropped the flowers. When I saw that she cut her hand on the glass, my heart sunk. I don’t know why I felt so drawn to her. An overwhelming urge to help her coursed through me, which was ridiculous. She’s a stranger. As a doctor, I see injuries far worse than this all the time, and I never get this worked up inside. I could have just as easily wrapped it up for her and told her how to get to the emergency room, but for some unknown reason I felt the need to take her there myself.

  The past two years of my life have been a living hell. Between finishing the residency program at the hospital and everything that happened with my family, I haven’t had time to have a relationship or even date for that matter.

  When I saw Amelia though, I couldn’t help but think there was something special about her. I didn’t want to let go of her hand. When Spence came in to numb her hand, she tensed up. I don’t know what had come over me, but I found my hand on her back soothing her.

  “Alright, this will only hurt for a second. Then when your all numbed up, we’ll stitch you up, and you’ll be as good as new,” Spence tells her.

  If Amelia thinks she is fooling anyone she needs to think again. I can see it written all over her face. I know that cut has to hurt. It is pretty deep. I let go of her hand again to let the nurse prep her. Spence steps up with
a needle, and Amelia takes a deep breath and holds it.

  “Hey, just look at me,” I say.

  She looks at me with those soulful blue eyes while Spence quickly administers the shot. She didn’t even flinch. Spence puts six stitches in her palm then wraps it with gauze.

  “OK, Amelia, you’re all set. Keep it dry for a few days, and if you have any problems you can give Dr. Peters here a call,” Spence says with grin.

  “Oh, I don’t really know Dr. Peters. We just met up in maternity. My sister-in-law just had a baby girl. Speaking of which, I really do need to get back up there. I haven’t met my new niece yet,” Amelia says as she grabs her hand and stands to leave.

  “I’ll walk you back up there. I need to close up a few cases and see to some paper work,” I say, hoping I can spend just a little bit more time with her.

  “OK, thank you, that’s very kind of you.”

  “How’s your hand? Does it feel OK?” I ask her.

  “Yes, it’s a little sore, but it will be fine. Thank you for asking.”

  Riding back up to maternity in the elevator, I come up with a brilliant idea to spend some more time with her. Reaching in my pocket I pull out a business card and write my cell phone number on the back of it.

  Handing it to her I say, “Here, this is my personal number if Spence didn’t do a good job or if you have any problems with your hand, give me a call.” Her cheeks turn the cutest shade of pink as she takes the card.

  “Thank you. Do you always give such wonderful patient care?” she asks.

  “Only to the ones as cute as you.” Where in the hell did that come from? I am such an idiot. Her cheeks deepen to a new shade of deep pink.

  The elevator dings and stops at the maternity floor, as my heart plummets to my feet. We both step off and she walks toward her brother’s room as I walk to the nurses’ station. She turns and walks backwards and says, “Thank you for taking such good care of me and personally seeing to my hand. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”