Judy Hubbard - Take Me in Your Arms

“Alesha, it’s Angela.”

“Hi, Angie.” Alesha tucked her legs underneath her. “What’s up?”

“I want you to remain calm.” At Angela’s words, the hair on the back of Alesha’s neck stood up.

“I was calm until you said that.” Alesha sat up a little straighter. “What’s going on?”

“What’s wrong?” Derrick glanced at her, and she shrugged.

“I don’t want you and Derrick to worry,” Angela began. “He’s stable, and I’m sure he’s going to be fine.”

“Who’s going to be fine, Angie?”

“Cam, he was in a car accident.”

“Cam?” Alesha’s worried eyes found Derrick, who immediately tensed at the mention of his best friend. “How bad?”

“What’s happened to Cam?” Derrick asked. Alesha could feel the apprehension rolling off her husband.

“Just a minute, babe.” Alesha touched his cheek reassuringly and continued talking to Angela. “How long has he been there?”

“Not long. He was brought into the E.R. by EMS about an hour and a half ago. I was part of the team working on him. He’s unconscious.” Angela seemed reluctant to admit this, and then hurriedly added, “But his vitals are strong and stable.”

“We’ll be right down, Angie. Thanks for calling.” Alesha hung up the phone without waiting for a response. “Cam was in a car accident. Angie says he’s stable...but unconscious.”

“Damn,” Derrick swore softly and stood.

“Let me take D.J. upstairs, and then we can head out.” She took their still-sleeping son from his arms.

“You don’t have to come with me.”

“Of course I do. Cam is family.” She kissed him softly. “He’ll be all right, babe,” she promised before heading for the stairs. “If you leave without me, I’ll have your head.”

“I won’t.” He managed a slight smile. “Hurry.”

“I’ll just tell Emma we’re going and be right back,” she said, referring to their housekeeper as she hurried up the stairs.

* * *

“Jeez,” Cam groaned, eyes closed. “Why does my head hurt so much?”

“You have a concussion.” Angela’s fingers touched his badly bruised temple gently. His eyes sprang open at the sound of her voice, and his frowning eyes focused on her.

“Angela?”

“In the flesh.” She smiled, relieved he recognized her.

“Where am I?” He glanced around the stark white room before returning his confused eyes to her.

“In the hospital.” She took out a penlight and shone it into each of his eyes.

“What happened?” He shooed the annoying light away from his eyes. “How did I get a concussion?”

She studied him closely. “Don’t you remember?”

Cam seemed to think for a few minutes before responding, “Some idiot ran a red light and plowed right into me.”

“That’s right.” She glanced at the monitors over his bed to check his vitals, which thankfully were normal.

“Oh, my poor baby,” Cam groaned in misery. “She’s totaled. I know it.”

Angela chuckled at his obvious angst. He looked so comically forlorn over an inanimate object that she couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

“I would think you’d be more concerned with your own welfare instead of your car’s.”

“I’m fine.” He pressed a button to raise the head of the bed into a sitting position. “But my poor Yvette.” He dramatically brought both hands to his bald head. “She’s toast.”

Angela tilted her head thoughtfully and asked, “Why do men insist on referring to their vehicles as female?”

His frown quickly turned into a wicked smile. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“Of course.” She wanted to keep him talking to make sure he had all his faculties about him.

“Okay.” His smile widened. “On the perfect car, like a good woman, the first thing we notice is the body—the sleek, appealing curves and pleasing aesthetics. If those attributes grab and hold our attention, we can’t wait to see what’s on the inside to make sure she’s not just another pretty face. We check under the hood to see if her engine and inner workings are powerful, well tuned and, more importantly, turn us on. If they do, we have to step inside and sit down to ascertain if her soft curves will cradle us in all the right places—maddeningly caressing us every second we’re inside her, making us feel right at home.” Angela’s breathing was arrested, and she was certain her pupils dilated, judging by Cam’s sexy grin before he continued, “If she’s the right one, she’s responsive to our every whim, caress and desire. She heightens all of our senses and gives us the ride of our lives until we can’t wait to get back inside of her again and again.”

Angela was breathing hard when his soft, sexy voice finally ended the most erotic description of a car she had ever heard. Mercy, she needed a cold glass of water.

“I see.” She purposefully averted her eyes on the pretense of removing the blood pressure cuff from his muscled upper arm.

“You asked.” Cam’s voice held a hint of laughter.

“I did.” She turned away from his intense gaze to pour him some water.

“Are you all right?”

She took a moment to compose herself before turning around to face him again. “The question is, are you all right?” Thankfully, she sounded coolly professional when she felt anything but.

“I told you, I’m good.” She agreed he certainly was good enough to tease her. “How long have I been here?”

She glanced at her watch. “A few hours. Here, drink this.” He took the glass and downed the contents before returning it to her. “More?”

“No, thanks.” A smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “You know, when the accident happened, I was on my way to see you.”

“You were?” Her eyes widened in shock. “Why?”

“I was going to ask you to dinner.”

“Why?”

“Why?” He echoed, laughed and answered, “Because I want to spend time with you.” He scratched his hair-covered chin thoughtfully with his free hand and said, “We should have gotten together last year.”

“Things happen for a reason.” Angela shrugged. “You were busy with Derrick’s campaign. I was very busy with my new promotion to head nurse, and—”

“All true,” he interrupted, his thumb caressing the back of her hand. “What about now?”

“What about now?” Lord, she wished he would stop stroking her fingers with his. It felt too good. What was it about this man that sent her pulse racing?

“Is the time right for us to get to know each other better now?” At her silence he continued. “I meant what I said a few nights ago. I really want to get to know you better. Don’t you want that, too?”

“Cam, this isn’t the time or the place for this.” She tried to retrieve her hand, which he refused to release. “I meant what I said, too. I really don’t have time...”

Thankfully, Derrick and Alesha chose that moment to enter the room, allowing Angela the diversion she needed to retrieve her hand and move to the foot of the bed out of Cam’s physical reach, though his eyes stared straight through her, silently promising they weren’t finished with their conversation.

Derrick walked over and squeezed Cam’s shoulder. “Thank God, you’re awake.”

“Don’t tell me you were worried about me.” Cam smiled at his best friend.

“We both were.” Alesha squeezed his hand. “How do you feel?”

“I’m fine.” He gingerly touched his temple. “Just a few aches.”

“Consider yourself lucky.” Derrick heaved a sigh of relief.

“I do.” Cam grinned at Angela and then glanced around the room as if searching for something. He returned his attention to Angela and asked, “Hey, where are my clothes?”