AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh. Wow.” Her good arm clasped around him harder than the other. “This feels really weird.”
“How’s your head?”
“I’m dizzy, but it’s fading. Still, I feel terrible.”
Her stance seemed stable enough, so he eased back a little, giving her a chance to take her own weight. “What’s your full name?”
Her brow twisted in an Are you joking? sort of expression, but she answered, anyway. “Emilia Bonacci.”
He shifted behind her and slipped his fingers around the hem of her shirt, tugging the sodden material up, a hard task since it insisted on clinging to her. And even as he kept his promise not to look, his blood stirred at having his lips poised so close to her neck, a soft lavender scent breaking past the damp and earthiness on her skin.
“What town do you live in now?” Even as he spoke, his voice took on a raspy edge, one he hoped he hid well.
“Harlow.” The abrupt softness in her reply hinted a change in her too, though he refused to analyze what that change might be.
He finally slipped the shirt over her head, trying in vain to not think about how he was slowly undressing her, diverting his focus to asking another question that might confirm her state of mind. “Am I a penguin?”
She broke out with a laugh. “Given how cold I am, I’d say I’m the penguin.”
He chuckled, getting down on his knees to help with her shorts. Enough questions. She clearly hadn’t lost her marbles in the fall. His fingers skimmed her hips, and it was his turn to squeeze his eyes shut.
She jolted out of his hold again. “You better not be looking at me.”
“Trust me.” He reached for her again, albeit blindly. “I’m not.”
He tugged her shorts over the curve of her hip. “These should be loose enough to shimmy out of. Need any help getting into the shower?”
“No.” She shimmied as suggested. Again, he looked away. “I’ll use my good hand to hold on to the wall.”
“Good.” He turned his back to her and pried his phone from his pocket. “I’ll stay to make sure you don’t pass out again, and in the meantime, I’ll see if Dr. Richards can drive over and take a look at you.”
She didn’t answer, but he heard the flow of the shower change, a sign she’d gotten in.
He waited for the doctor to pick up, all while his heart hammered and his fingers trembled. That tremble extended to his voice once the doctor picked up and asked for a summary of the situation.
What if Blaine hadn’t walked by when he had? What if no one had seen her fall? And seeing her unconscious. Being here now… Every moment of that slow uncertainty finally caught up to him, burrowing deep into his core with two inalienable truths. She’d scared him. And this incident changed everything.
He didn’t want to give Miss Bonacci more space. He didn’t want to continue his caution in order to spare his heart. He’d spent years separated from her and wanting her all the same. No matter where either one resided, the pain of not having her followed him, anyway.
So why not try to figure out her missing pieces? To fill in the blanks in her story? He’d seen enough today to know he didn’t want to leave Emilia to survive alone.
