Free Falling Into You (Geek to Chic) by Nikki Brinks

have the government contacts he does, but we do ok.”  
    “I
offered to buy his company.   He laughed
at me.   So not cool dude.”   Derek deadpanned then at the last second
laughed.  
    “Make
me a real offer, you know more than a pitcher of beer, and we’ll talk.”   Collin quipped, turning his attention back to
her. “I thought your clumsiness only set its destructive forces on this dip
wad? What’s with the stitches in your hand?”
    Roni
had to laugh. “Oh, this is far from the first time I have done myself in.   My clumsiness has left me in stitches, a few
concussions, too many bruises to count and a couple broken ribs.   That bubble idea of Alex’s might be a good
one.”  
    “Luckily
for you Rocco is an engineer. I’ll have him start working on one for you. Maybe
something with air bags.”   With that, he
went back to trash talking those playing the game.  
    Derek
shifted slightly accidently bumping the leg, she had her injured hand resting
on.   “Ouch!”  
    “Ok,
that is my queue to get you ready for bed and give you your pain pill.”   Derek declared, lifting her into his
arms.   “Bedroom?”
    With a
shy smile on her face, Roni pointed toward her room.   Leaning her head onto his shoulder.   Once there, he gently laid her in bed.   He went to her dresser, without asking, and
began pulling open drawers.   When he
opened her underwear drawer he gave her a wicked smile. “I like this drawer.”
She blushed, earning her a chuckle from him. He continues to rifle through her
stuff until he found her some pajamas.   Handing her, her favorite most comfortable pair.   “I am going to go grab you a glass of water
while you change and get ready for bed.”   He placed a small kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.
    When
was the last time a guy she was dating had taken care of her when she was
injured or sick?   Roni thought for a
minute and realized the sad truth was never.   This was the first time, any guy had ever taken the time to care for
her.   With that warm thought in her mind,
she quickly changed and went to the bathroom to do her nightly routine.   Returning to her room, she found Derek sits
on the bed waiting for her, with a glass of water in one hand and her bottle of
pills in the other.  
    “Do you
want to watch a little TV?”   He asked
quietly as he handed her the pill and glass.  
    She
took the pill, lay the glass on the night stand before crawling into bed.   “Yes, that would be nice.   Although I am not sure how long I’ll be able
to stay awake once the pill kicks in.”   She patted the space next to her.   Derek quickly kicked off his shoes and claimed his spot on her bed.   Wrapping his arm around her, pulling her
close to him. He turned on the TV with the remote.   
    After
flipping for a bit they settled on a rerun of The Big Bang Theory .   “This
episode is one of my favorites.”    Derek
mumbled as he rubbed her back gently with his large hand.   After the show he asked. “How are you
feeling?”
    “Mmmm,
nice.”   Roni said in a small drug induced
voice.  
    “Well,
it looks like you are about to fall asleep.   I will let myself out and call you in the morning.”   Gently pulling away from her, he started to
leave.
    Panic
suddenly slammed through her system, nullifying the effects of the pain
medication.   Roni did not want to be away
from him.   “No, stay.   Just a little longer…. until I fall asleep. Please.”
Ok, she knew she sounded pathetic, but she couldn’t let him go, not yet.  
    Without
a word or even a pause, Derek slid his arm back around her bringing her even
closer than she was before.   He kissed
her forehead again, and she could have sworn he sniffed her hair. Roni felt so
calm and safe now that he was staying.   She burrowed closer to him.   She
felt like she couldn’t get close enough.   It was her turn to smell him, his cologne was a blend of pine and fresh
air. “Hmm” Escaped her