Page 21 of Finding Forever

She grins. “I want to know about the ‘mostly’ part.”

I shake my head. “Nope, not gonna talk about that. What I will tell you is that he kissed me, I mean really kissed me. And told me I’m it for him.”

Wren squeals and puts Penny down so she can strangle me with a hug. “I’m so happy for you. Now we can marry our hot boyfriends because I’m positive Luke is hot. Then we’ll have kids at the same time and raise them together so they can be besties.”

She takes a breath, and something in my expression has her narrowing her eyes.

“I really jumped ahead there, didn’t I?” At my nod, she says, “Tell me how you feel about him.”

If I can’t talk about him to my best friend, who can I talk to about him? So I spill. “I fell for him the moment I saw him, and it scares me to death.”

Wren sighs. “Love at first sight is so romantic, and loving someone, trusting him with your heart, is damn scary. No getting around it. But if he loves you too? Nothing is better in this life. Give yourselves time to get to know each other and it won’t be so scary.”

“That’s sound advice. I need to go before Beckett leaves me behind.”

“Go. Penny will be fine.” She walks with me to the door. “But call me if you need anything.”

“I will,” I promise.

I head back out into the snow, following Beckett toward town.

Toward Luke.

CHAPTER NINE

Luke

I blink open my eyes in a dim room, the air heavy with antiseptic and the low hum of machines. Surgery. The shoulder. I remember waking in recovery, the world swimming in and out before going dark again.

This time I’m in a regular hospital room.

There’s a tap on the door before it opens. For half a second, hope spikes sharp and fast.

It’s Seth. Not Kit.

“Don’t look so disappointed.”

“Fuck off,” I growl. Boss or not, my shoulder feels like someone’s driving a burning poker straight through the joint, and all I want is Kit. Where the hell is she?

Seth flashes a rare smile. “Guess you were hoping for your new girlfriend.”

“You bet your ass I was.”

“We let her stay while you were out,” he says. “I had to ask her to leave about fifteen minutes ago.”

“What the hell, man.” My head feels thick, fuzzy at the edges. The drugs are still pulling me back to sleep. The thought of her being sent away cuts through the haze.

“Kit’s a witness,” Seth continues evenly. “You’re not to be in communication with her until we’ve taken formal statements from both of you.”

“I want to see her.”

He shrugs like it’s nothing. Like he didn’t just tell me the one person I need right now was close enough to touch and then gone. I’m out of it enough that punching him in the face seems reasonable.

“Once you’re released and the paperwork’s done,” he says, “you can see your girl all you want.”

She was here. She came. That boded well. But they sent her away before I could tell her anything that mattered.

***