“It’s just a little graze; I would have told you later. I’m fine,” she insisted, and nearly shrank under his scrutiny as he advanced, not stopping until he was bent over her body. He cupped the side of her face.
“You should have called me. If not for Lottie, I wouldn’t know you were here.”
“I only just woke up!” she defended, leaning her cheek into his palm. “Don’t be angry,” Lisa said softly, holding Ryan’s wrist. She felt every pulse of his life through his skin, and that’s when she heard him exhale like a giant gust of wind. He folded his massive body onto the edge of the bed, then he completely engulfed Lisa with his arms, cushioning her. “Are you okay, baby? Where are you hurt?”
She quickly relayed the answers.
Lisa hadn’t realized how much she’d crave human contact until Ryan came back into her life; now she hungered for his casual touches like she craved chocolate when her period came. She latched her arms around his middle and held on, her face pressed into his so-good-smelling chest. Ryan softly cupped the back of her head in his full palm; though the touch hurt her scalp, she didn’t pull away. Not when she was content right there.
It was in that moment, when she felt Ryan’s vast frame practically bristling yet holding her like she was a broken kitten, that she knew she was going to give in to everything he was asking her for.
The accident wasn’t life or death, but she realized how close a person came every day to taking their last breath just because they crossed the street at the wrong time.
And if that had happened, if Lisa were standing at the pearly gates, none of her other life decisions would have mattered except regretting not being with Ryan when she had the chance.
If he wanted to date her, be in a relationship with her, or commit to her for life, she would open her heart to this man again.
Unsure if it had ever closed to him. Because right now, the door to her heart was swinging wide open, beckoning him inside.
Life was not about the moments you missed; it was about the ones you lived to the fullest, however long you had. She knew in that moment that she wanted every second with Ryan.
It appeared her heart belonged to Ryan then and still does.
“I was so fucking worried,” he gruffed, his fingers stroking gently. “I never want to get another call like that again, sweetheart.”
In his place, she would feel the same way.
Lottie walked back in with Lisa still wrapped in Ryan’s arms, who didn’t appear to be in any rush to let her go. Lottie grinned. “Let’s get you up to the diagnostic department, Lisa. If all is clear, you’ll be able to go home.”
“I’m staying.” Ryan all but growled in warning, but Lisa hadn’t even thought about sending him home first. She clung to his hand, wanting him to stay with her.
And after Lottie got done telling him what care Lisa would need for a head injury, he spoke again. “I’ll be with her.”
Lisa’s head might ache, and she could be experiencing concussion symptoms, but her heart felt lighter, almost as if being clipped by a speeding truck had lowered all of her principles and relationship fears. Because for the first time in a long while, she wasn’t listening to her head. Her heart had taken the wheel, and she was racing ahead toward the man with the worried gray eyes who refused to let go of her hand.
TWENTY
Splice
Wiping the sweat off his face with a hand towel from his back pocket, Splice tossed the screwdriver back into his tool kit at his feet. Lisa’s new security cameras were now strategically placed out front and back of her house. If any bastard messed with her car again, he’d know about it. Then he kicked off his unlaced boots in Lisa’s mudroom before finding her in the kitchen, sitting at the island with her iPad.
He scowled and bent his face over her shoulder.
“Remember, Lottie suggested you take a break from your devices for a few days because you’re still having headaches.”
“I’m completely fine,” she insisted, “and if I don’t check emails, there will be five hundred by the end of the week. Are you going to sift through them, hmm?”
“Yeah, if you want me to. But all I’ll do is delete them.” He smirked, palming her nape lightly.
She’d been allowing him skin contact for the two days he’d been taking care of her, and Splice was like a hog in shit, kind of happy for it.
He hated that the only way he’d gotten access to her house and her was because of the road accident, but he was a man of opportunity and had insisted he be the one to look after her, having to fight Nina for the position.
“How’s your head?” he asked, catching how she moaned as he rolled his thumb and finger on her nape.
“Just a little achy, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“You don’t need to handle it, sweetheart. Any dizziness or sickness?”
