“I’m going to put you down on the bed, so you can lie down.”

“I don’t need to lie down,” she protested as he laid her down on top of the covers, resting her head on the fluffy pillows.

“Yes, you do. We need to elevate your foot above heart level,” he said, lifting her injured foot and layering pillows underneath it. He studied her for a second, then added one more pillow. “It can’t be helped. I’m keeping you on your back all night.”

She gasped, happily scandalized, the same time Seth cringed.

“I didn’t mean…” Were his ears red? Yup, he was definitely blushing.

“I knew what you meant.” She did, but she’d been hoping he meant other, dirtier options.

“And you’ll get to sit up when room service comes,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Ooh, room service. But wait. “Did you already order?”

“Of course not. You haven’t even looked at the menu yet. I wasn’t going to pick your food for you.”

“Oh, good.” She nodded in approval, and eagerly grabbed the menu he handed her. “I was starting to worry that you might be a caveman with all the carrying me around you’ve been doing.”

Tara reached for the phone on her nightstand when she made her decision. A chicken club with steak fries. “You know what you want, right?”

“I’ll have the bacon cheeseburger with a side of shoestring fries. Thanks.”

“Ooh, perfect.” Her mouth watered with all this talk of food and fries. “I’m getting steak fries. Can we share?”

“Hell, yeah.” He grinned happily at her.

“Yay,” she said, smiling back at him. Nothing was sexier than a man who shared his fries. “I’m going to order.”

“Go right ahead.” He walked away from her and rummaged around the plastic bag they’d brought back from the ER.

After she ordered, she leaned back on her pillow. “I hope they hurry. I’m starving.”

“I’ll make you some hot chocolate to hold you over once I’ve bandaged your ankle,” he said, coming to sit by her feet with a fresh roll of elastic bandages.

“I can do that.” She pushed herself up on her elbows. He’d been taking care of her all day.

“Lay back down, Tara. I want to do this, okay? I still feel like shit that you got hurt.”

“Okay. If it makes you feel better,” she said, holding back a smile.

If she were honest with herself, she quite enjoyed having him take care of her like this. It felt like a big warm hug, and made her heart ache a little. She liked it a lot. Hmm. This should worry her. Warm and fuzzy feelings had no part in the dating dare. Well, she was hurt, dammit. She deserved to be pampered a little, and she might as well enjoy it. Just for tonight.

“See. That wasn’t so hard.” He’d bandaged her ankle, not too loose, not too tight, and it felt worlds better.

“Thank you.” Her smile felt more than a little sappy.