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Dead silence, and I cautiously opened my eyes. He was still sitting beside me, a dry towel in his hands. “So you got a boob job?” he said.
I wished I could remember some of the curses he’d come out with when we’d hit that tree. “Of course not!” I shot back, incensed.
“Well, all my life you’ve been exposing a rather minimal B cup, and now suddenly you’re a generous C. I would have thought you’d go a lot larger if you were going for implants, but I have to say this is a nice improvement.”
I slammed my arms over my breasts. “I don’t have implants,” I said through clenched teeth. “No one gets implants for a thirty-six C.”
If Ian had a sense of humor, I might almost think he was smiling. “Then nature has been extremely generous in the last five years.”
It took me a moment to realize what his words meant. He was comparing me to Bella and complimenting me, whether he realized it or not. “Thank you,” I said stiffly. “I think.”
“Oh, you don’t need me falling at your feet like everyone else, Bella-Beast.”
What would Bella Do? “No, you’ve never been susceptible, have you?” I managed Bella’s husky drawl.
“Only once,” he replied.
And my stomach dropped.
He rose then, scooping up the soiled towels and dumping them in the hallway. When he came back, he had a crumpled paper bag in his hand, and he tossed it on the bed. “These should be a lot more comfortable than your usual designer clothes,” he said. “There’s blood on the bag, but the dresses inside are fine.”
I could have kissed him. And then he ruined everything. “I’ll be more than happy to take your pants off for you.”
“Go away, Ian,” I said wearily. “I can take care of the rest.”
“Maybe you’d like me to send Marcus back up. He was never very good at a sickbed, but I’m certain he’d love to strip you down and enjoy those new breasts of yours.”
“Don’t you dare!” I snapped. For some reason, the very thought of Marcus putting those big hands on me made me feel uncomfortable. That was ridiculous—I’d dreamed about those hands, about the body attached to them, for half my life. “I just want to be left alone.”
“’Fraid I can’t do that, Bella-Beast. We have orders to check on you hourly. For now you can rest, but I’ll be back with food before long and you’re going to need to eat something.”
I wanted to protest but my stomach suddenly perked up at the thought of food. “Do what you must,” I said in resigned tones, and without a backward glance, he headed for the door. I waited until he’d reached it, then my damnable conscience once more reared its ugly head. “And Ian?”
He turned. “What?”
“Thank you for helping me clean up. And for that matter, thank you for saving my life.”
He simply stared at me for a long moment. “Will wonders never cease?” he marveled. “Bella being grateful! Amazing.”
A moment later he was gone.
There is absolutely nothing worse than being ripped from a deep, comforting sleep, hour after hour. First, Marcus did the honors, trying to engage my sleepy brain in conversation, then Maldonado took over, and I counted my blessings. Valerie appeared sometime in the dead of night, all brisk efficiency, and even Mary Alice wafted in, took a cursory glance, and wafted out. They must have tired of it, because I gratefully sank into a deeper sleep around three in the morning, according to my obnoxiously bright bedside clock, and I didn’t even dream.
It was still dark when I awoke next, this time of my own volition, with just the faintest tendrils of light spearing into the cavernous bedroom, but I knew I was no longer alone.
“Ian,” I said in a sleep-croaked voice, knowing it was him.
“Go back to sleep,” he said. “You’re doing okay.”
I shifted in the bed. “Then why are you here?”
“Someone needed to look after you. Marcus was ready to bed down beside you, but I decided you didn’t need the distraction.”
My instinctive relief was a surprise, but I said nothing. “I thought someone was supposed to wake me every hour?”
“We all did. Even Mary Alice deigned to take her turn. The rest of the time it’s been me making sure you didn’t slip into a coma or something equally gruesome.”
“I’m surprised you bothered. Given how much you hate me, I’d think you’d prefer if I never woke up.”
