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“Do you need something for the pain?”
“I’m good.” She bit her lip between her teeth.
He didn’t buy it. This must’ve reflected in his face because her expression hardened.
“Will, serious.” She untangled her fingers and patted the edge of the bed. “I’m fine.”
He still wasn’t buying it. She couldn’t be fine.
He stood and leaned a hip against the bed.
The expression that passed across her face punched him in the gut.
“Luce. I’m so sorry. About what happened with the picture, and the name, and the story. I am so, so sorry.”
God, he could suffocate in her and not even care. The woman was in a hospital bed, had been through hell, and he wanted nothing more than to ravage her senseless.
She fidgeted with the blanket covering her legs, unable or unwilling to meet his gaze.
He gestured to her arm. “Does it hurt?”
Stupid question. Of course it hurt.
She shook her head and scrunched her nose. “Stings mostly.”
His throat worked against the convulsions of a cough building in his chest. The coughing fit overwhelmed him.
“Will?”
“I’m okay.” His vocal cords felt like they’d been scoured with nails.
Her gaze finally caught his. “I never told you thank you. Last night. For everything you did.”
He would throw himself in front of a train for her, just to have her look at him like she did before he’d found the photo. Used the horrible nickname.
He was so far gone for her. “I’d do it all again for you. But I’d do it better.” Hello, cheesy. A dash of carbon monoxide poisoning clearly fried his brain.
“You shouldn’t be sweet to me,” she whispered.
“Why’s that?”
“We need to talk.” She glanced at her hands on the bed.
He tensed. Four words that held a promise that he absolutely wouldn’t like what came next. “About what?”
“Before you got home, before the fire…” Her hands shook. Not a good sign. “I got a call from an affiliate in Ohio…” She moved her gaze to meet his. “They have a job opening, and they want me. I…I’m going to take it.”
A weight pressed against his chest, and it had nothing to do with the smoke from the night before.
“You know this thing between us can’t be permanent,” she whispered. All the fight seemed to drain out of her.
He could not accept that.
Arms crossed, he blew out a breath. “It started to feel pretty permanent when I fell in love with you.”
When I fell in love with you… The words were an anchor holding them in place. Hanging in the oxygen. Ready to devastate.
“People don’t love me, Will. I’m not that kind of person.” She glanced away because apparently the floor tiles were suddenly interesting.
