Thank God. “It’s after midnight. You’ve slept more than twelve hours.”
She ran a hand over her throat and pointed toward the water. “Please.”
Quickly, he poured her a glass. The ice cubes clinked against the side as he returned to the bed, scooping an arm behind her shoulders to help position her to drink.
She tipped the glass back, chugging down every cool drop. “More. Please.”
He stood and refilled the glass.
Again, she drained it dry. When she’d finished, Kyle crossed to the other side of the room to make her a plate. She needed to eat so that her body had enough calories to heal. She was too thin already. He picked up a strawberry, noticed a small bruise, and tossed it back on the tray. Another strawberry passed inspection and made it to the plate along with several slices of cheese, deli meats, and Gerty’s fresh-baked bread. He returned to her side and held a perfect strawberry to her lips, relieved when she took a bite.
“You made a plate just for me.” The tone of the statement sounded a lot like “aww,” and he couldn’t help but preen under her appreciative gaze.
She bit into another strawberry, savoring the fruit’s perfection before licking the tips of his fingers. Fuck. His dick jumped in his pants, and he swore silently at himself. Until she healed, he wasn’t going to do anything to put her at risk. He used his thumb to wipe a bit of juice from her lip.
“Can I ask you something, Laina?” He built a simple sandwich from the bread, meat, and cheese, and held it out for her.
She took a bite and nodded, although he saw hesitancy behind her eyes. Undoubtedly, she had secrets. Big family secrets. He knew there were questions she might not be able to answer. So, he tried to keep things simple.
“Why did you throw yourself in front of me?”
Her eyes widened. She wasn’t expecting that one. “I didn’t. I was walking slightly in front of you and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He shook his head. “You were right beside me. I know because Milo was heeling between us as he always does. Somehow, you saw the gun and pushed me out of the way. You took a bullet for me.” He frowned. “I think I deserve to know why.”
She chewed another bite and swallowed. “I couldn’t bear to see you shot.”
“Why?”
“Because I care for you.” Her voice cracked.
“Care for me enough to risk death and potentially revealing your identity.”
“Yes,” she said honestly.
He fed her another bite, stroking her hair back from her face while she ate it. “That kind of caring… A person could mistake a thing like that for love.”
She swallowed and looked down at her hands, and he felt his stomach turn over with yearning. “Do you love me, Laina?”
Her throat bobbed again. Maybe he was wrong about this. Shit. But there was no turning back. Not for him. “BecauseIloveyou,” he added. Her eyes snapped to his. “I think I loved you from the moment you walked into Milo’s exam room. There was something about you, something otherworldly. You were nothing like any woman I’d ever met, but all I could think about, all I’ve thought about since that day, was what I could do to get closer to you.”
“You can’t love me.” She pressed a hand to the center of her chest. “Trust me on this. It will never work.”
He set down the plate and leaned over her, one hand on each side of her body. “I love you, Laina. Whatever this secret is, this thing with your family, it’s okay. Absolutely nothing you can tell me will undo what has already been done. Something deep within me, something I never knew existed, woke up when I met you. It’s yours. Completely yours. I love you. I will always love you.”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her, long and hard. By the time they came up for air, he’d decided that if she didn’t feel what he did by now, she never would.
Her voice trembled as she said, “I love you too, Kyle. I took the bullet because I couldn’t bear to see you hurt…because I love you.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, he embraced her, kissing her harder and squeezing her against his chest. Until, horrified, he remembered her shoulder and released her. “Did I hurt you?”
“It’s fine,” she said.
He pulled aside the neck of her T-shirt to expose the blood-soaked gauze. “We should change the bandage. Let me have a look. I’m still not convinced I shouldn’t call the doc over here.” He dug his fingers under the tape.
“Really, Kyle. It’s fine.” She brushed his hands away, but he already had hold of the corner, and he took the gauze with him. What he saw underneath was nothing short of a miracle.
He studied the bandage in his hand and then her shoulder again. Although the gauze was bloodstained, the wound underneath was almost completely healed. The stitches came away in pieces with a brush of her hand, as if her flesh had already dissolved the parts inside her.
