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The doctor smiled. “That will be ideal. We still don’t have a bed for her upstairs, so we can’t admit her yet, but let me take you back to where we have her set up in the ER.”

Brax nodded and followed the woman.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

He had no idea how Jenny was going to take his unilateral decision that she was going to move in with him. As he passed by the closed ER doors where other patients were, he realized he didn’t give a damn. He should have demanded that Jenny stay at his house as soon as she was released from the hospital five-and-a-half weeks ago. He had no idea where things were headed between the two of them, but goddammit, it sure as hell wasn’t just friends, that was for damn sure.

“Miss Rivers, we have a visitor. It’s your fiancé.”

Jenny looked up. For a split second she looked confused, then she saw Brax over her doctor’s shoulder.

“Well, it’s about time my fiancé showed up. I’ve been wondering where you were.”

She was magnificent. She might have just been hit by a car. Still scared to go out alone. But her mind was a steel trap.

“They’ve been keeping me away while they’ve been checking you out, Darling.”

“Darling, huh?”

The doctor laughed. “I’ll leave you two alone. Someone will come and get you when there is a room available. I’m glad to hear that you’re moving out of the hotel and in with your fiancé.” She walked out of the little room and slid the door closed.

Brax stepped up to the head of the bed and put his knuckles underneath her chin so he could tip her head up and get a good look at her injury. He winced. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a car.”

“Stop it. I’m serious.” He studied her green eyes, trying to gauge her level of pain. But like she had in Bangladesh, she was hiding it.

“I hurt. My head hurts, but my ribs feel like they’re on fire. Same old, same old.” Her husky laugh brushed across his nerves, soothing him after his panic. “So, you’re my fiancé and I’m moving in with you. You move fast, Walker.”

“I’m a SEAL, it’s in the job description.” She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything foolish like protest, he continued. “Jada is positive someone deliberately pushed you into the car. I don’t like that. I don’t like that at all. I want you with me, where I can watch over you. It’s either you stay with me, or I sleep on the floor of your hotel. Are you really going to do that to me?”

She sucked in her lip and looked up at him with a pensive stare. “I don’t want to put you out.”

“You won’t be. I promise.”

“You told me that you like having your space. You admitted that on one of our first phone calls. You said that was one of the reasons you never had a long-term relationship.”

“You’re different. You don’t get on my nerves. As a matter of fact, I like talking to you, and the few times that we’ve spent time together face-to-face, I’ve enjoyed the hell out of it. I relish the idea of having you in my space. But maybe you don’t. You’ve been a loner all of your life. Maybe you don’t want to stay at my place for a while.”

“You make me feel safe. But can I be honest?”

He watched as she tried to sit up and winced.

“Hold on, let me lift the bed.”

She winced some more as he lifted the head of the bed. “Do I need to call the doc for some pain meds?” he asked.

“That’s the last thing I need right now. God knows what I would be saying.”

“Are you saying that you would be even more honest?” he teased.

“Shut up and let me talk. All I was going to say is that you’ve come to mean a lot to me. I’ve been trying to work things through in my head. If it is because you were my rescuer, or if it is because you are who you are. Are you sure you want someone who has their feelings tangled up about you, hanging around?” The last part she asked in a husky whisper, and Brax felt the words down to his toes.

Fuck. How could he get so lucky? But she was right, he wanted to make sure that how she was feeling was truly about him, Brax, and not some guy who helped to rescue her. Was she seeing the difference between them?

“Say something,” she pleaded.

“Then I think you living with me is the perfect thing for you to work things out. If you still feel like you care about me when you see me sitting on my couch for hours at a time in my underwear playing video games, then we’ll know it’s the real thing.”