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“I mean...” Jason began pushing him down on the bed.
“Go!” Charlie giggled and pushed her towards the door. Taking a shuddering breath, Lindsay walked into the room.
“I’m here,” she said softly, waiting for Blake to look at her.
His head swiveled in her direction, brown eyes met hers, and her heart sighed. He was okay—pale, his hair standing on end, a sling on his arm, but his eyes were warm, he was breathing, he was okay.
“Please tell me you’re Lindsay?” someone asked. Lindsay turned her head. A clearly fed-up nurse was looking her up and down.
“She is,” grinned Jason.
“Well, thank goodness. This one hasn’t stop jabbering about you since they’ve brought him in. Even unconscious, all he kept repeating was your name. Good luck to you, missy—you’ve got your work cut out for you.” And with a sniff, she stormed out of the room.
Charlie, Logan, and Eric also entered the room, but Blake didn’t take his eyes off her. Even when they talked to him, he answered them, but kept looking at her.
“Okay, well. I don’t know about the rest of you, but the baby and I need food,” Charlie announced.
Logan smiled. “The two of you are always hungry. Come on. Jason? Eric?”
And within seconds, only she and Blake were left in the room.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she got out.
“I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I had to see if you were okay. FBI, huh?”
Smiling, he held out his hand. “Yes, but that’s over now. Come here, you’re very far away.”
She moved forward and he caught her hand, pulling her closer.
Worried, she touched his arm. “What about this?”
“I don’t need my arm to kiss you,” he said and drew her closer so that she was sitting next to him on the bed. “And I really, really need to kiss you right now.” His hands cupped her face. “Do you have any idea how I’ve missed you?” he murmured before his lips captured hers.
There were so many questions, but there would be time for all of that later. Right now, she was enjoying kissing the man she loved.
When he finally lifted his head, his eyes were molten chocolate. With an unsteady hand, he stroked her face. “I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. When I was shot, all I could think about was I wasn’t going to get the chance to tell you that.” And with his lopsided grin, he motioned to the room. “Not the most romantic place to declare one’s love, but I’m not waiting any longer. But...”
Lindsay’s heart had just begun to soar, when she registered the “but.” Of course, there would be a “but.” There always was one. This was real life, not a movie.
He inhaled shakily. “I’ve mentioned Miss Betty before, but I want to tell you about her and Will, then you’ll understand why there is a ‘but.’” And taking her hand in his, he told her about the woman who had saved him all those years ago when he’d only been twelve.
“She wouldn’t give up on me.” He smiled. “I tried my usual stunts but she never returned me to the system like the other foster parents did. She kept loving me until I had no choice but to love her back. And then...she died. She didn’t tell me she was ill, and for a long time, I blamed myself for not noticing, for not being able to protect her.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Lindsay said.
“I finally realized that. I also couldn’t protect Will. He was my partner while I worked for the FBI.”
“Tell me about him?” she asked, and listened as he described the friend he’d made after he’d joined the FBI.
“We were more like brothers, you know? Which was why I’ve blamed myself for his death for such a long time. He was supposed to wait for me and for backup while I chased down one of the other fleeing gang members, but instead, he went into the building anyway. And I’ve been living with the guilt that I shouldn’t have left him on his own. We were partners. I should’ve been there to protect him.”
“But surely it’s not your fault if he didn’t wait for you?”
He nodded. “I know that now. But it’s taken me a long time to come to grips with his death and to stop blaming myself. This is why I couldn’t tell you before how I feel about you.”
“But...”
