“Okay, Ma. Whatever. I gotta go. The soup’s almost ready.” I headed for the kitchen.
“Fine. We’ll talk about this more when you get home. You can drop Frankie off on your way—I’ll be home. Uncle Dom is doing well, not that you asked.”
Guilt. Yeah, that was what I needed now. “Sorry. Glad he’s okay. I’ll call you when we head out tomorrow.”
“You do that.” She hesitated, and when she spoke again, her tone was softer. “I love you, son. Be careful.”
“Will do. Love you, too, Ma.”
By that evening, Amanda’s head was feeling somewhat better, and her temperature had dropped to a hundred degrees. She’d kept down some chicken soup, too. I was vigilant about making her take the pain killers every four hours, and she’d drunk endless glasses of ginger ale.
“Is Frankie okay?” She lifted her head from the pillows as I entered her bedroom. “Did you find the extra sheets and pillows?”
I dropped onto the bed and stretched out next to Amanda. “Yep. I made up a bed for her on the sofa, and she’s already asleep. All the cooking and excitement knocked her out, I guess.”
“Mmmm.” She reached over to touch the side of my face. “Did you make up a bed for you, too?”
I shook my head. “No. Not yet. I was thinking maybe I should stay in here with you, in case you need me in the middle of the night.”
Amanda was quiet for a second. “I would love that, but what would your mother say? I don’t want to piss her off. When she knows about ... us, I mean. Frankie will tell her when she gets home, and your mother might ask where Uncle Vincent spent the night. I care about what your mother thinks of me, Vincent. I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot with her. I don’t want her to think I’m a big ‘ho.”
I smiled and rolled to my side, resting my head on my hand as I studied the beautiful woman lying next to me. “Ma knows where we are. I called to let her know. She was worried about you, but she said I was doing all the right things.”
Amanda’s eyes widened. “She knows you’re staying over here?”
“She does.” I tapped her nose. “And don’t worry. I’ll be awake and up before Frankie opens her eyes in the morning. But she’s not going to care either way. We’re not in here getting down and dirty. I’m sleeping close to make sure you’re okay. And because ...” I shrugged. “I want to sleep with you next to me. We don’t get weekends like this often enough for me to throw away the chance to have you close.”
To my astonishment, tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” She swiped madly at the drops. “I cry when I’m sick. It’s stupid. But I do. And I really ...” Her voice trailed off. “I’m so grateful you’re here, Vincent. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t come to my rescue. I was kind of scared. I don’t get sick much. But when I do, it freaks me out.”
“Where else would I be?” I gathered her close to me and tucked her face into the crook of my neck, rubbing her back. “I was worried, babe. I couldn’t get here fast enough.”
She snuggled against me, and I noted that although she was still undeniably warm and slightly feverish, she was no longer radiating heat the way she had when I’d first arrived.
“But still ...” She sighed. “Thank you for coming. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I stilled, waiting for the inevitable wave of panic to sweep over me. Those words would usually send me running in the opposite direction of any woman who dared to speak them. But instead, I felt a sense of rightness, of knowing I was where I was meant to be, holding the woman who had somehow become essential to my life. Tangling my fingers in her hair, I pressed a kiss against her ear.
“There’s no place else I would rather be, babe. And you’re never going to have to find out what you’d do without me. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
