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“I will,” she vowed—and only hoped she would get the chance.
* * *
Hours later, after he’d had surgery to repair the torn muscles of his shoulder and some stitches for the cuts he’d sustained when the window had shattered, Noah was taken to a private room.
Remmi had given her formal statement to the police and was waiting for him to wake up. Then she made good on her promise.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” she said as he woke up.
“What?” He still looked bad, his face bruised, a cut over one eye. And he didn’t seem the least bit surprised by what she’d told him.
“It’s twenty minutes after midnight. Thanksgiving.”
“Oh . . . yeah . . . I hadn’t given it a thought.”
“Me neither. Guess we had a lot on our minds.” She grabbed his hand and twined her fingers with his. “I have something to say.” Gathering her courage, she said, “I love you, Noah Scott.”
He squinted at her a long moment, and her courage nosedived. Too soon . . . she shouldn’t have said it!
But then he drawled, “Is that so?”
She nearly gasped with relief. “Yes.”
One side of his mouth curved beneath the stubble that covered his jaw.
In for a penny, in for a pound . . . “You know, usually when someone says ‘I love you,’ there’s an equal response, and it’s a lot better than ‘Is that so?’”
“I guess you’re right.” For a person who was lying in a hospital bed, he showed incredible strength in tightening his fingers and pulling her close, so that her face was mere inches away. “Let’s do this.”
“What? How?”
“By climbing into this bed with me and showing me just how much you love me.”
At that moment, outside his door, a nurse wheeled a cart.
“You’re crazy,” Remmi told him.
“Maybe. Come on . . .”
Still close enough to feel his breath upon her face, she narrowed her eyes and said, “I thought you were different from the boy I met all those years ago, but I was wrong. You’re still as incorrigible as ever.”
“Incorrigible. Love that word.”
She laughed.
He gave another tug on her hand, dragging her even closer, so he could brush his lips over hers. “By the way,” he said, “I love you, too. And as soon as I get out of here, I’m going to prove it to you.”
“Promises, promises.”
“You bet.” He got serious then. “Enough for a lifetime.”
“A lifetime? That must be the anesthesia talking.” But she saw in his eyes that he meant what he’d said.
“We’ll see.” His eyes sparkled, and he inclined his chin toward the window. “We’re in Vegas. It’s pretty easy to get hitched here.”
“Now I know you’re still under the influence.”
“Think about it. We’re not getting any younger, and we’ve waited a long time.”
