Didn’t she? If she hadn’t gotten hurt, would Kam even still be with her? Glory’s heart said yes, but her head questioned everything. The automatic sigh caused a twinge in her ribs.
He stopped, stepped around to the front of her, and then carefully settled his hands on her backside. “Okay?”
Um...“What are you doing?”
“This.” Warm and gentle, his hands carefully massaged her. “Tell me if I hurt you.”
Oh,heaven. Needing the support, she rested her forehead on his chest. “That’s wonderful.”
“Fantasy-inspiring?”
With a grin, she said, “Most definitely.”
His lips touched the side of her neck. “No reason for jealousy, okay? This? With you? It’s enough for me.”
So many internal battles left her weary. “How can that be?”
“Because it’s you. With me. And you’re alive and getting better, and I won’t ever take that for granted, not after almost losing you.”
Those blasted tears filled her eyes again. She didn’t know if it was the new life growing inside her, the low-level pain that never quite left her, or the uncertainty of the coming months that kept her emotions rioting, but to her, that almost sounded like a vow. “I wish I could put both arms around you and squeeze you real tight.”
“We’ll get there, babe. I promise.”
She’d hold him to that. “Your magic fingers are both making me sleepy and making me wish I could do more.”
“For me, too.” Moving his hands to safer ground, he coaxed her out of the kitchen.
Allowing it, she sighed. “I have a lot to figure out.”
“Like?”
“Many things, actually.” When should she spell it out to Kam? Soon... but not tonight. “For now, there’s something I want to do.” When they reached the couch, she hesitated. “I want to call Mike.”
First blank-faced, then irate, Kam stated, “Fuck that.”
“Your language is deteriorating.”
“I want to deteriorate that prick with my bare hands, so yeah, the language is sure to follow.”
Understanding how he felt, Glory stared up at him. “My life is currently on hold. I’ve been working on myself for a long while, doing my best to be independent, to not rely so much on Liz’s approval, and just when I think I’m making progress, I’m supposed to let Mike slow me down again?”
“You were in a bad wreck.”
“I’m well aware. It took me a long time to get comfortable in a car after the first one, but I overcame that fear once and I’ll do it again. I’ve lived for years with self-conscious dread over my scars—”
“Glory,” he said tenderly, helping her into her seat.
She’d have to tell him about the baby soon. Keeping it bottled up inside was too difficult. “You helped me get over that. Sort of. I’m still uncomfortable with them, but since I’ll now have scars on my face, too, I guess people seeing them is unavoidable. I’m not about to do more surgery... of any kind.”
He positioned the pillow behind her, then lifted her feet to another pillow on the coffee table. “Your shoulder might need it.”
“Around endless TV, books, and a surplus of visitors, I’ve done my research on that. A tear in my rotator cuff might not heal, but if I could build up the muscles around it, I should be able to get by with only occasional pinches of pain. I could live with that. It’s not like I’m a super-physical person, anyway.”
“You’re physical with me. We’ll get physical again as soon as you’re up for it.”
Her heart softened to mush. “I’m counting on it, anticipating it, too, but that’ll happen sooner if I don’t get shoulder surgery.”
He held up his hands, not to give up, she was sure, but to put off the discussion for a while.
