Winning Whitney, page 8
part #3 of Alaska Blizzard Series
“J-jack?” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.
“Yeah, honey?”
“W-will y-you hold me? I’m s-so c-cold.”
“Sure.” He slid beneath the covers and pulled her slight form against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and held her tightly, pressing as much of his torso as he could against hers. She was soft, pliable, and her body molded to his like they were made for each other. He wasn’t thinking about sex, though, since his only desire right now was to get her to stop shivering so she could rest.
“So warm…” she murmured. Within a few minutes her deep, steady breathing told him she’d fallen asleep and before he knew it, he’d joined her.
Chapter Eleven
Whitney woke slowly, vaguely aware that she was hot. Why was she so hot? She kicked at the blankets and came in contact with something hard, making her turn in confusion.
“Ow.” Jack opened one blue eye and arched his brow. “What was that for?”
She pushed at the blankets. “I’m so hot. I think my fever’s back. Were you asleep the whole time?”
He shook his head. “Kane and I were up with the twins around five thirty but they went back to sleep so we did, too.”
“What time is it?”
“Almost eight.” He touched her cheek. “You’re burning up, Whit. You’d better see a doctor.”
She shook her head. “I’ll be okay. Would you get me some more Nyquil?”
“Sure, but—”
“Hey, you up?” Kane stood in the doorway.
“You call the pediatrician?” Jake asked.
He nodded. “I got an appointment at ten thirty. You want to stay here with the girls while I take them?”
“Sure.”
“I brought your bag in from your truck,” he said. “Why don’t you take a shower before I go?”
“Let me get Whitney something for her fever and I’ll do that.” Jake swung his legs over the side of the bed, pausing to brush a hand over her leg. “Hang tight, hon.”
* * *
Hailey and Whitney slept on and off most of the day. When Kane came back from the pediatrician with the news the twins just had bad colds, Jake left to go pick up lunch for all of them. No one had the time or energy to cook, so he went to a local place he loved and brought home old-fashioned chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for the girls, chili and cornbread for himself and Kane, and a lasagna that could be warmed up later for dinner.
Whitney was still too weak to get out of bed, so he brought lunch up to her, setting it on a towel on her lap. She could barely lift her head so he fed her, gently bringing spoonful after spoonful to her mouth. Her big blue eyes followed his movements, and though she didn’t say anything, he saw emotions in those eyes he hadn’t seen from her before. Surprise. Appreciation. Warmth. Even a touch of desire, in spite of how awful she felt.
She only ate half the sandwich and a little more than half of the soup before she pushed his hand away.
“I can’t eat anymore,” she whispered.
“Okay.” He helped her settle under the blankets again, making sure she was warm and comfortable. She fell asleep almost instantly and he paused to take in her lovely face. Even sick, pale, and flushed with fever, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. She seemed so young and vulnerable laying there and he wondered if she was reluctant to go to the doctor because she didn’t have health insurance. Surely Kane and Hailey would take care of that for her, wouldn’t they? He’d have to ask Kane.
* * *
He and Kane napped that afternoon when the twins did, aware they would be tired tomorrow at practice. After having a day off, Coach Sylvester would probably work them hard and they were both exhausted after caring for the girls and the twins most of the night and morning.
It was late afternoon when he woke up and saw Kane rocking both twins in the recliner.
“Hey.” He sat up.
“Shh.” Kane smiled, motioning with his head. Both babies were fast asleep.
“You want me to take one?” he whispered.
Kane shook his head. “I’m gonna take them upstairs. You want to put that lasagna in the oven? I’m starving.”
“Sure.” Jake bustled around the kitchen, oblivious to how tired he was or how desperately he wanted to sleep in his own bed. His friends needed him and he wasn’t going anywhere until he had to. It had been a long time since anyone needed him and it was a nice feeling, one he hadn’t been expecting to find here in Alaska. This team had been hard to bring together. It had taken him more than two years to get them behaving like a unit, and sometimes being the captain felt more like being a parent than a professional athlete. Except with Aaron and Sergei, of course, since Sergei was older and Aaron was his best friend. Kane had needed more of a big brother, but now that he was with Hailey he’d grown up a lot and it had impacted his game in the best way.
The others were coming around and he was beginning to enjoy his life here. Now that Addy was gone and all the pressure she’d taken with her, he liked Alaska and everything it had to offer. Summers took a little getting used to with the many hours of daylight, but winters included hockey and a lot of travel, which was familiar. His only issue had been a touch of loneliness, because he and Addy had been emotionally distant for years, long before this last separation. If he was honest, they’d been mismatched from the start, but she was pretty, and had been a lot of fun in college. He’d thought they would have a nice life together, but she’d been so wrapped up in having children she seemed to stop maturing. She’d never cared if she fit in, if the other wives liked her, or even if she embarrassed him or not. She’d been self-absorbed, but it was more than that. His sole purpose in her life had been her pleasure, her needs, her desires. Everything she said and did revolved around having a baby and eventually he’d tuned out, both physically and emotionally, though less the former than the latter.
“Thanks for all your help today,” Kane came into the room yawning. “The nap helped, but I don’t know how I’m going to function if we don’t get a good night’s sleep.”
“We may have to trade off,” Jake suggested. “You get a good night’s sleep tomorrow night and I sleep the next night, or vice versa. Whitney can barely lift her head and I don’t think Hailey’s much better.”
“Sara’s taking the day off from her internship tomorrow and coming to take care of the babies so the girls can sleep, but she can’t take a night shift and be up all day, too.”
“You need reinforcements,” Jake said after a moment. “Can you call a service that can send a night nurse of some kind? Just for a couple of days until the girls are back on their feet?”
Kane met his gaze with excitement. “Shit, I didn’t think of that. I’m going to call now.”
* * *
The next time Whitney woke up her throat was on fire and she was hot again. God, she hated being sick. More than that, she hated Jack seeing her this sick, but Hailey was sick, too, and Kane couldn’t take care of all of them. In a weird way, she was both delighted and horrified that Jack had been taking care of her. He was such a good guy, so gentle and tender with her, she probably would have thrown herself into his arms had she had enough energy to do it. Instead, she was burning up again and too tired to get up. Her bladder was screaming for release, but the minute she sat up the room started to spin and she sank back down again. Damn.
“Hey, hon, you hungry?” Jake came into the room with a tray of food and she just shook her head.
“I really have to pee,” she rasped.
He set down the tray and looked at her. “You need help?”
If she’d had any strength at all, she would have been mortified, but all she could do was nod. If she didn’t let him help her, she was going to pee her pants and that would be much, much worse.
“Okay.” He lifted her easily and carried her to the bathroom, setting her down in front of the toilet. “You won’t fall, will you?”
“I’ll yell if I do,” she said softly.
He walked out, shutting the door behind him and she sank onto the toilet gratefully. Woman’s intuition told her he was right outside the door, but she couldn’t be bothered to be embarrassed. He’d seen—and touched—every inch of her in the past, so listening to her pee was nothing in the grand scheme of things. If he hadn’t been here, she would’ve had to let Kane do it, which would have been even more embarrassing.
She managed to get to her feet and flush the toilet but had to lean on the counter to keep her balance.
“Ready?” he called out.
“Yes.” Her voice was more of a croak but he heard her and came in.
Without a word he lifted her into his arms and carried her back to bed, gently setting her down. “Hungry?”
She shook her head. “My throat’s on fire. I can barely swallow.”
He frowned. “I’m going to make you another hot toddy and see if there’s any more soup. You have to eat.”
“I just want to sleep.”
“I know, hon, but you’ve got to keep your strength up.”
Since she didn’t have the strength to argue, she merely nodded and let her head fall back on the pillows. God, she truly felt like shit. It had been years since she’d been this sick and with Hailey sick, too, she didn’t know how they would take care of the twins tomorrow.
There was a step in the hall but instead of Jake, Kane came into the room. Lines of worry etched his handsome face and he sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on her forehead.
“I think you need to go to the doctor tomorrow,” he said softly.
She shook her head. “I’ll be okay. It’s a cold.”
“Your fever isn’t going down, you’ve lost your voice, and Jake said your throat hurts so much you don’t want to eat.”
“Yeah.”
“There’s a walk-in clinic by the mall. I’m going to take you first thing in the morning, before practice.”
“You need to rest—” She started to protest but he shook his head.
“We’ve got a nurse coming to take care of the twins tonight. She’ll be here by ten and won’t leave until seven in the morning. She’s available tomorrow night, too, so we’ll all get some sleep tonight and I’ll get you to the clinic right when they open at eight. No arguments.”
She managed a weak smile. “Thank you. I’m sorry to be so much trouble.”
“It’s not trouble. You’re part of our family.”
“What about Hailey?”
“If she still feels crappy in the morning, she’ll go, too. We have doctors here but she can go to the walk-in clinic with you since she said you don’t have a regular doctor.”
* * *
Strep throat. Whitney wanted to cry when the swab came back positive. It wasn’t serious, and a quick course of antibiotics would take care of it, but it was highly contagious and that meant Jake and Kane had been exposed. Hailey had it, too, though it seemed to have hit Whitney harder. The good news was that infants rarely got strep, and when they did it usually resolved itself without antibiotics, so there was a good chance the twins wouldn’t get it. The adults, however, needed a few days before they felt better.
“I don’t have time to pick up the prescriptions before practice,” Kane said on the way home. “But I texted Dave and he said Renata would be happy to pick them up and drop them off, though she won’t come inside—can’t afford for her to be sick, too.”
“We should send Sara home,” Whitney croaked. “If she gets it, she’ll give it to Niko and then everyone will have it.”
“Jake and I will have to be on the lookout for any symptoms,” Kane said. “But we need Sara today. You two should probably stay upstairs and she’ll stay downstairs with the twins. I wiped down everything in the kitchen with bleach, but that’s all I had time to do.”
“I’ll tell her to wipe down everything else with those disinfectant wipes,” Hailey murmured, linking her fingers with Kane’s. He gave her a sweet smile.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. “It’s just strep. Don’t look so sad.”
“I don’t want you to get sick.”
“Come on, a few years ago the mumps went through the league.” He laughed. “Shit happens. We can’t do anything about germs.”
“Where did we get it?” Hailey mused. “Usually kids bring it home from school, but Niko doesn’t have it and the twins don’t seem to either.”
“Could be from anywhere,” he said with a shrug. “Don’t worry about it now.”
* * *
Crawling back into bed, Whitney slept for the rest of the day. It wasn’t until the bed dipped beside her later that night that she stirred. Jack was sitting on the edge of the mattress with a bowl of soup.
“Jack, you shouldn’t—”
“Shush. You need to eat and Sara’s gone, Kane’s busy with Hailey, and the nurse is taking care of the twins. So that leaves me to take care of you.”
Tears pricked her eyelids. “But you’ll get sick.”
“It’s strep throat, not the bubonic plague.”
“Still.”
“I’ve already been exposed. Do you need to go to the bathroom?” He didn’t seem the least bit concerned.
* * *
Sleeping beside Whitney was natural, even after just two nights, and when Jake opened his eyes the next morning, her face was the first thing he saw. She wasn’t flushed anymore and a quick hand against her cheek told him her fever had broken. The antibiotics were working, which came as a huge relief because he had a morning skate this morning and a game tonight. So far, he felt fine, but he wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her, which worried him.
He slid out of bed as quietly as he could, slipping into the bathroom and changing into the clothes he’d brought. He brushed his teeth and pulled a baseball cap on his head. He’d been planning to leave her a note, but when he came out of the bathroom she was awake, sitting up with a soft smile on her face.
“You look better,” he said.
“I feel better. Thanks to you.”
“I think the antibiotics are more responsible than me, but you’re welcome. It was my pleasure.”
“You kept me warm,” she whispered, her eyes meeting his. “You took me to the bathroom. You fed me. You’re…amazing.”
He walked over to her slowly. “Wouldn’t you have done the same for me?”
“Of course, but… I mean, you have hockey and…everything.”
“Kane needed help and that’s what friends do. Especially when it involved you. You’re special to me, Whitney, and when the time is right I’m going to show you how much.”
She blinked away tears and held out her hand. No one had ever looked at her the way he had. No one had ever touched her like he had, either. In fact, she’d never experienced anything like what she’d experienced with Jack. Jake, she reminded herself sternly. Everyone here knew him as Jake and she shouldn’t single herself out by calling him Jack. Except, he was Jack to her. When he’d made love to her, she’d called him Jack. When she thought of him, he was Jack. Late at night, when her body ached for his touch, it was Jackson. It was hard to reconcile her distrust for the pseudo-married man she’d had an affair with, with the tender, attentive man who’d cared for her the last few days. They were the same, though, and his loving ministrations while she was sick were exactly why she’d never been able to forget him.
When he put his hand in hers she stared down at where they were linked, biting her lips as she tried to form coherent thoughts she could speak aloud. It was all just snapshots of memories and feelings, things she was struggling to articulate, and she finally raised her eyes to his.
“You’re special to me, too,” was all she managed to whisper.
He leaned over and pressed a soft, light kiss on her forehead. “I have to go to practice. Promise you’ll rest while I’m gone?”
“Promise.”
“We have plenty of time to talk when you’re feeling better.”
“Okay.”
Chapter Twelve
It was another two days before Whitney was back on her feet, but Hailey was almost back to normal so she was still taking it easy. They’d had the whole house disinfected, washing sheets, towels, and everything they’d worn, as well as having the cleaning service come and clean every visible surface again. Whitney was anxious to get back to her old routine but it was taking a little time and she was reluctantly getting as much rest as possible. With the Blizzard at home for another week, they needed to take advantage of having Kane at home. They’d agreed to keep the nurse for a full week and Whitney had forgotten how nice it was to sleep through the night. She loved taking care of the twins, but she’d missed sleeping for a solid seven or eight hours.
Her phone buzzed and she smiled at the text from Jack.
Dinner tomorrow night at my place? We’ll make it an early, mellow night. If that sounds good, Italian or Chinese?
Though her knee-jerk reaction was to say no, things had shifted between them while she’d been sick and there was no way she’d refuse to spend an evening with him.
Chinese, please.
I’ll pick you up at six.
Play good tonight!
The team had another game, but she and Hailey were staying home and watching on TV. Whitney didn’t usually go anyway and Hailey still wasn’t up to it, so they’d planned to snuggle on the couch with the twins, hot tea, and popcorn. She fell asleep on the couch but woke up in her own bed, surmising that Kane had carried her to bed. She would have been embarrassed but after how sick she’d been, she was okay with letting her friends help her, though she missed having Jack beside her at night. He’d slept over twice and she was already used to it. What on earth would she do if they became intimate again?
