STAY

Four

I quietly walked into his room the next morning. As soon as I got close to the bed his eyes opened lazily and he grinned. "Morning" I said softly. "Morning" He said sleepily, beckoning me over with his hand. It was strangely intimate, he was still sleepy lying in bed, the room dark and quiet. I had to remember where I was for a moment. I sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling today? Did you sleep okay?" I asked him. He shrugged, "not great, but it was okay" he murmured. "How about you?" He said. "Yeah, fine" I said, which was a lie! I had tossed and turned all night. My head swimming with thoughts of him! He raised an eyebrow as though doubting me, "maybe we can snuggle up together later and take a nap" he said waggling his eyebrows. I laughed, "I'm flattered, I usually get propositioned by little old men" I said. "Yeah? Well I am old" he said. I giggled, "sure you are" I said in a doubtful tone. He was about to speak when there came a knock at the door. I turned around to see who it was, one of his visitors from the other night. My heart sank for a moment. A pretty blonde haired, petite woman. Probably around my age, I was betting it was his girlfriend. She was holding a stack of papers. "Good morning" she said to Jared, smiling briefly at me. I nodded. "Genevieve, this is Emma" said Jared, "did you bring what I asked?" He said to her. She nodded, waving the paperwork and placing it on the table. "Emma is my assistant, so I have a proposition for you, would you consider coming and working for me?" He asked politely, my mouth must have dropped open because he immediately followed his statement with a grin, then continued talking. "Let me explain, I'm going to need a nurse, when I get home, to help me with my physical therapy, to look after me, give me my medications, until I'm feeling better. I interviewed a lot of nurses before I came into hospital, I disliked every one of them. But I like you" he said simply. "Jared, you interviewed two, you kicked them out after five minutes" she said to me grinning, her phone rang just then, she excused herself to answer it in the corridor. "Me? But, but, you barely know me ..." I said trailing off. "Genevieve, I've been naked in the shower with you, I feel like I know you well enough" he said with a smirk. I tried to suppress a grin, unsuccessfully. I was surprised, I'd never in a million years expected this offer. I needed to consider it seriously. "Uh, well, can I think about it?" I asked nervously. He frowned and in that moment, I knew he was used to getting his own way. "You can have until the end of your shift, I need to know" he said, he was annoyed. I could hear it in his tone. I nodded feeling slightly intimidated. "So are we signing?" said Emma coming back in. "Sorry, What?" I was super confused. "Not yet, she's thinking about it" snapped Jared, then turning to me he said, "it's an NDA, standard, I get everyone who works for me to sign one" he said in explanation to her question. I nodded. "I need to see if I can get time off, that's all ..." I said, which was a lie. I could get time off no problem, but I needed to think about it. He nodded and turned his attention to Emma. "That's all, thanks for coming so early" he said. "Sure thing, I'm out of here, I have a million things to do" she said nodding her head and with that she headed out the door. "So, are we getting out of bed?" I said to him. He let his head fall back on the pillow with a groan, "ah, I guess I have to" he said. I nodded grinning, "good, you know, if I came to work for you, I wouldn't cut you any slack 'cause you're at home" I warned him. He looked up at me surprised, the look quickly turned to amusement and he nodded. "I have to have a shower, if I call you, can you please, wash my hair again?" He asked tentatively. I waited a beat before nodding. I'd do it, had done it, for any other patient without a thought, he just happened to set my heart racing. "Of course you just call out, I'll be here changing your bed" I said reassuringly. He nodded in thanks. I helped him slowly get into a sitting position. He was struggling with the pain but defiantly battled through it. He was wearing a T-shirt and track pants and I watched with bated breath as he reached down and slowly pulled off the tee. "How does it look?" He asked interrupting my thoughts, "hmm? Sorry, what?" I said flustered by the sight of his naked torso. He smirked, "my back, the dressing, how does it look?" he asked again. "Oh, hang on, I'll have a look" I said quickly. I went around to the other side of the bed. I gently ran my fingers on his skin around the dressing, I heard him exhale. "It looks fine, I'll change it after your done" I said patting him on the shoulder. I walked back and stood in front of him, he held out his hands and I placed my hands in his holding them firmly helping him stand up. "You're tiny" He said with a grin looking down at me. "Good things come in small packages" I said poking out my tongue at him. "I'll have to remember that and see if it's true" he said with a laugh. "Genevieve, what do your friends call you?" He asked curiously. "Uh, usually just Genevieve or Ginny, but my mom calls me Gigi" I said smiling. "Gigi it is" He said, I nodded smiling, usually I hated anyone else but her calling me that, but I found I didn't mind if he did. I gently tugged his hands to start walking and he groaned taking small deliberate steps. I finally got him in the bathroom and told him to call out when he needed me. I made quick work of changing his sheets and making the bed up neatly, ready for him to get back in when he was done. I heard him call my name and I took a deep breath and knocked. "I'm coming in" I said trying not to sound as breathless as I felt. He was sitting in the shower seat, naked, save for the washer he held over his groin. He was grimacing, "Are you okay?" I asked, he nodded. "I just get tired and sore standing up for so long" He said. I nodded and I exhaled as quietly as I could at the sight. "Okay, head back" I said and he obeyed, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back. I gently started washing his long hair, pulling the shampoo through the long tresses, then massaging his scalp. His lips were slightly open and I heard him exhale gently. "This okay?" I murmured. "Yes, it feels great" he said. Once again his pink, perfect lips were wet and I was tempted to give them a light kiss. Jesus!! How was I going to work for him if I couldn't stop fantasizing about kissing him?! Would it be so bad if I did? A tiny little ... "are you done?" his voice broke through my musings. "Yes, yes, you're all clean ... your hair I mean" I said quickly. "Thanks, could you pass me those towels please?" He said, a ghost of a smile crossing his face. God!! Did he know I was ogling him and resisting the urge to pounce?!! I turned off the taps and reached for the towels passing them to him. He thanked me and I nodded, leaving him to dry himself without another word. I was sitting at the desk writing some notes, totally embarrassed at the way I had acted. How could I even contemplate going to work for him, when I couldn't keep my hands and eyes off him? I should probably refuse, I could see myself making a total fool of myself. I heard the bell start and I got up warily, praying I wouldn't do anything stupid again.
**
"Genevieve, have you thought about my offer?" He said looking at the clock on the wall. We were back to being formal again. It was almost three and he knew that was the time I went home. I nodded. "I have ..." I said slowly. "And?" He said curtly. I'd thought about nothing but, I'd even messaged my mom. I didn't tell her who he was, just that I'd had an offer and briefly explained what. In her usual crazy style, she urged me to go for it, 'do something different for a change' she'd written. "Yes, I'll do it, Sure" I said smiling. His face broke into a grin, I almost fell over at the sight of it. "Great! Take these home and read them .." he started saying passing me the papers Emma had given him in the morning. I took them from him and flipped to the last page signing them with a flourish. He frowned looking confused, "wait, don't you even want to read it?" He asked. "No, it's for privacy, exactly what I do here, no different, I'm not taking the job for the gossip Jared" I said pushing the papers to him. He nodded slightly, "Okay, thank you, I'll have Emma email you a copy" I nodded waving the suggestion away. He smiled widely once again. "So I'd like you settled in by the time I get there, Emma will give you all the details, if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend I'd prefer that you didn't invite them over while you're living with me ... " he said, I held up a hand to stop him mid sentence. "I have neither, so that won't be an issue" I said firmly. "Really?" He asked curiously. I shrugged, "nope" I said. "Not even a ... friend?" He asked, I knew what he meant. I shook my head, "no" I said simply. He nodded, suddenly looking quite pleased, which confused me no end. "Well, great, hang around until Emma comes back, I mean she can call you, but I'd rather you see her in person" he said. "I've got no place to be" I said nodding. "Ah yeah you do, my house" he said raising an eyebrow and giving me a sexy smile. I exhaled as quietly as I could and nodded. Oh boy, what had I got myself into.
Jared's POV:
I really liked her, I wanted to keep her around a little longer, luckily enough I really did have a legitimate excuse for asking her to come work for me. I could hear her little exhales as she washed my hair and changed my dressing. Her pink cheeks were a dead giveaway, I knew I was having an effect on her. Hard to believe since I looked and felt like complete shit. But she was a tiny little bundle of fun. I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye.