“I don’t like the idea of you being alone after that. What if it happened again and I wasn’t around?”
She gnawed her bottom lip. “I could have knocked on my neighbor’s door.”
I planted her with a look. “Mara, there are a lot of what ifs in there that I don’t like the answer to.” I swallowed the lump in my throat, scared to even think of what might have happened if I hadn’t made it to her in time. “I’m glad you called me. You can always call me.”
I looked down at her hand in mine. It looked so small and fragile against my inked-up hand, but I didn’t want to pull away. She barely touched me when we did sexual stuff, and that was torture, so what did it mean when she touched me in not sexy times? “I know. I appreciate that. You can call me too.”
I brushed my thumb over the IV in her hand. “Does this hurt?”
“I’m okay, Jack.”
“But does it hurt?” I repeated.
I could tell she was getting tired. She blinked slowly. “It’s sore, yeah.”
I could have chosen to be a tough guy. I could have chosen to act like this didn’t affect me. But I hated it. I felt protective of her before this happened, and now that sentiment was times fifteen and plus a hundred. “I don’t want anything to hurt you.”
She smirked, her lips still swollen from either the meds or the reaction itself. “I hurt sometimes. It’s my life.”
“It’s not fair,” I said.
Her eyes sparkled. “You’ll have to take out a complaint with Mother Nature, then.”
I shook my head and snorted. “You know I’d try.”
“Shaking your fists at the sky,” she laughed. “But hey, don’t assault medical staff anymore.”
“No guarantees,” I said. “Why aren’t they back yet?”
“Because you scared the piss out of them, Jacques. They’re probably talking shit about you right now.”
“Please don’t call me that,” I said, my voice going harsher than I intended. How did she even know my real name? I even made the League call me Jack in all official settings. Mara recoiled at my tone, and I softened. “Sorry. I just . . . I’d do anything to get you what you need.”
Mara looked upset suddenly, her gaze going to her lap where her other hand smoothed her blanket. “I need to tell you something. You have to promise not to freak out.”
“I won’t freak out. I’m done. What’s wrong?”
Her cheeks drew in where she chewed on them. “I got fired yesterday.”
“Oh my god.” A hand clamped over my mouth. “Mara, I’m so sorry. Why?”
She was biting her lower lip so hard it went white. “Because I brought the kids in. Too many times I guess.”
Silence fell between us. This would have been the perfect reason for her to marry me. She nowneededa job. She wouldn’t be able to support herself and her kids for long on her own without a job. Plus, there was insurance to consider. You can pay for it on your own, but I imagined that was more expensive than what she could afford.
But I assumed she’d already thought about that.
“The offer still stands.”
She nodded, her lower lip trembling. I ran my thumb under it and she squeezed her eyes shut, a tear dripping out.
“Hey. Look at me, sweetheart.”
With a shaky sniff, she opened her eyes, pressing the heel of her hand to her cheek to dry the tear. I waited for her eyes to focus on mine.
“If you decide to marry me, I want it to be your choice. Not because your back’s against a wall. I’m not going to pressure you to take the offer. You’ve told me what you need, and I’ve told you what I can give you and what I can’t.”
“I know,” she squeaked. “It’s just all so much. Everything’s on hard mode right now.”
