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Balancing him against my chest, I pull her phone from the front pocket of her backpack and glance at the screen as I walk over to the bed.
“Here,” I say, laying it on her lap. “It’s Helena.”
She rubs her eyes with the backs of her bandaged hands, wincing before her attention immediately finds her son. “How long has he been awake?”
“About an hour. I already gave him the bottle that was in the fridge and changed him.” I act like it was no big deal, but the truth is, those press-stud buttons on the tiny rompers he wears are clearly not designed for a bloke with hands as big as mine.
An appreciative smile tugs at the corners of her mouth as she answers the call and places it on speaker.
“Helena,” she says as her eyes find me again, and fuck me, that raspy morning voice of hers is sexy as hell. There’s a husky warmth to it, and I find myself listening to the sound of her more than the words she’s saying.
As soon as Jonah hears his mother’s voice, his eyes seek her out.
“I’m checking in to see how you’re doing. I feel awful about what happened to you last night. How are your hands this morning?” Helena asks.
Those words send a wave of guilt twisting through me. This is all my fault. If only I’d grown a spine and told Amanda to fuck off instead of dragging Daisy into my drama, none of this would have happened.
“Sore,” she answers, and that makes me feel even shittier. “I have multiple stitches in both hands, and I’m afraid I’ll be out of action for at least a week.” Daisy bites down on her quivering bottom lip. “I hope I’m not going to lose my job over this.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. None of this was your fault. I heard everything the witnesses told the police last night. I’m glad you chose to have that woman charged.” Daisy’s brown eyes widen as they flick back to me. “I’ll make sure she never sets foot inside The Meridian again. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to one of my staff, but I want you to know that, from this moment forward, I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re safe in the workplace.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m going to lodge an incident report and notify the insurer. Do you have an email address where I can send the workers’ compensation paperwork? You’ll continue to get paid while you’re off work.”
“I will?” The relief in her voice is palpable.
“Of course. I want you to focus on recovering.”
“I appreciate that, but I … umm … don’t have an email address,” Daisy replies.
“I do,” I whisper as I balance Jonah in one arm and reach into my back pocket for my wallet. I pull it out and place it carefully on the edge of the bed so I can open it with my free hand and retrieve my business card, holding it out to her.
“Thank you,” she mouths, her eyes meeting mine for a moment before dropping back to the card. Her brows pinch together as she reads my email address out loud. “Help at Sinclair dot com.”
When Daisy ends the call, she holds out both arms, silently asking for her son. I carefully place Jonah in her embrace, mindful of her injured hands and making sure she has a secure hold on him before I let go.
A huge smile spreads across her face as she stares down at Jonah. The love radiating from her is impossible to miss. “Morning, my sweet pea,” she whispers, leaning in to pepper kisses all over his face.
When she’s done showering her son with affection, her eyes move back to me. “Why does your email address say help? Do you help people for a living?” Her cute nose crinkles as she asks the next question, “And why does Helena think I’m pressing charges against your ex? I never agreed to that.”
I grimace. “I kind of told my brother you wanted to press charges. Amanda needs to pay for what she did to you. And helping people is just one of my many specialties, darlin’.”
“So that’s your job? Helping people?”
“I dabble in a lot of things.”
“Dabble? That sounds shady.”
I chuckle. “All above board, Dais, I promise.”
“What exactly do you do for a living, Nolan?”
“As in a paying job?”
“Obviously.”
“I don’t exactly have one.”