Page 106 of Shallow Remains

There was no way he could let her go now. Could never let her go. Not after today.

Maddy stirred slightly, her lashes fluttering. Her head turned toward him on the pillow, her deep blue eyes focusing on him blearily for a few moments.

“Hi,” she said at last, her voice weak and hoarse. “You’re here.”

He smiled, flooded with tenderness. “Promised I would be.” He leaned forward to kiss her softly, stroked her messy hair back from her face. “How you feelin’?”

She frowned a little. “Woozy. And my wrist still hurts.” She glanced down to look at the fiberglass cast that covered her from elbow to the middle of her hand, leaving her fingers free.

The nurse came to check on her. “Everything looks good and your vitals are perfect,” she announced, then handed Lachlan a cup with a straw in it. “She can have this now.” She raised the head of Maddy’s bed and left.

Lachlan held the cup and adjusted the straw so Maddy could drink. She made a low sound of pleasure, swallowed a few sips and then leaned back against the pillow with a sigh. “That’s good, thanks.”

He set the cup down and slid his hand beneath hers to twine his fingers around it.

“You scared me today,” she said, watching him. “You were floating out there on your back, and you weren’t moving. Even when I got to you, you could barely open your eyes.”

“Yeah, that’s all fuzzy. I don’t remember anything after diving into the water.”

“How did you know about the bomb?”

“Blaine relayed your message to Grey. He called me, told me about my truck⁠—”

“I thought you were in it when she detonated it.”

He made a low sound and kissed her cold fingers. “No, but thank God he warned me that there might be another one on the boat. I found it just as it activated with ten seconds on the timer.”

She squeezed his hand. “Your poor boat.”

“I’ve got good insurance on it.”

“We’re lucky Grey came for us when he did.”

“Yeah. He says hi, by the way. You’re his new favorite person.”

She blushed. “Don’t be silly.”

“You’re my favorite person.”

She stilled, met his gaze.

He swallowed to clear the restriction in his throat. “You jumped into the ocean with no gear or training and a broken wrist, all to save me.” Her bravery still astounded him.

“You were coming to save me. I wasn’t going to let you die because I was afraid and had a broken wrist,” she said with a frown.

Of all the things she could have said, of all the ways she could have phrased it, that was pure Maddy. He grinned but then sobered, his heart thudding painfully against his bruised ribs.

He knew this was all happening fast. Was aware that their emotions were heightened after everything they’d been through. But he’d never dreamed he would feel this way again.

He took her pale face between his hands and stared into those beautiful deep blue eyes. “I love you, Maddy.”

She blinked. “You…love me?”

“Yeah. I know it’s fast, and I don’t want to rush you, but that’s how I feel.”

She kept staring at him. Frowned a bit.

He could tell she was thinking hard. Could see the gears in her head turning as she evaluated everything and tried to make sense of her own feelings before putting them into words.