“Yes. Thank you,” Oscar said, a little reluctantly but certainly less so than a few moments earlier. There was something about this woman that couldn’t help but put a person at ease.
“Of course. Now please don’t get up. I’ll show myself out and see you tomorrow.”
She slipped away, leaving them alone together. Oscar glanced at Imogen as he grabbed his bloody shirt and put one arm through. He struggled with his injured arm, and she stepped up, helping him slide it up the sleeve. He left it unbuttoned for a moment and looked up at her from his seated position. When her gaze darted away, he wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her closer.
She settled down into his lap and sighed as she smoothed her fingers over his face. In that moment there was only her in the whole world. He didn’t want or need anything else but those amber eyes holding his, those slender fingers touching him, the feel of her backside in his lap.
He knew that shouldn’t be all he needed. But it was.
“Do you want to tell me why you’ve struggled to look at me since the club?” he asked.
She stiffened a little, but didn’t pull away. Her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away. “I ruined everything,” she said softly.
His brow wrinkled. “And how did you do that? Were you the one shooting from below? If so, that is a wicked feat, because I seem to recall dragging you under me.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re being glib, but we both know the role I’ve played in this. I’ve brought down hell on you, Oscar, since the moment you met me.”
“Imogen—”
She shook her head and continued, “For weeks I’ve invaded your house and thrown off your schedule. You’ve been very kind and never mentioned it to me, but I know I’ve been an unwelcome burden.”
“Not unwelcome,” he insisted.
“And today,” she continued, not even acknowledging what he’d said. “Today your club was ruined because of me. The physical damage and the fact that it was…shot up in public. I know that will hurt you.”
He ducked his head because there was no arguing that. Certainly there might be repercussions if his members decided they didn’t want to be linked to such notoriety. And he’d spent a lifetime building the reputation of the place. Yet he couldn’t manage to care about it in this moment.
“Plus, there is the bonus horror that because of me you were forced to come in contact with two of your siblings.” She sighed. “I know you didn’t want that. But I swear to you, I didn’t know. I didn’t know.”
He pressed a finger to her lips, stopping her from talking for a moment. “First off, I realize you didn’t know. In that initial moment when I turned and saw Nicholas and Selina standing there in my parlor, I…”
He trailed off as he thought of that startling moment. He’d been angry to see them, even if neither of them had ever done anything to him directly. He’d been thrilled to see them, too. He might have banned them all from his life, but he’d still followed them. He still…cared in some way, even if he didn’t want to do that.
A weakness, surely.
“They were both very kind,” she said softly. “And Aurora has loved Nicholas her whole life. I knew that, though I didn’t know his connection to Roseford.”
“He looked happy with her,” Oscar mused. “And he has suffered greatly, so I cannot be anything but happy for him. Butthisis a change of the subject. You said that you destroyed everything, but do you know what I thought when those bullets started to fly?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
He cupped her neck, letting his thumb trace the fluttering line of her pulse. “All I thought about was protecting you. And when I got up and looked at the carnage, all I could think was how lucky I was that you weren’t injured.”
“Butyouwere,” she said, pointing at the bloody shirt and the bandaged arm beneath it. “All because of me.”
“Not because of you,” he insisted. “Great God, Imogen. This is because of Roddenbury and this Maggie woman. This is because oftheirhorrible plan. None of this is your fault. I don’t blame you. I couldn’t blame you because I—”
He stopped himself. Staring up at her, seeing her lower lip tremble, her gaze hold his, feeling her whole and safe in his arms, it had forced a thought into his mind. One he had very nearly spoken without deliberation into the consequences.
He loved her.
Looking up at her, that fact was perfectly clear. Not even surprising, despite all his attempts to keep himself from surrendering to such a dangerous emotion. Despite all his attempts to distance himself from her in any way beyond the physical. She had never allowed that, finding her way over and under and through all the barriers he’d erected. Wedging herself firmly in his heart.
He had never let himself love someone like this. And now it terrified him. He wanted to push it away. But not her away.
“You what?” she whispered.
He leaned up, drawing her down at the same time, and kissed her. She shifted in his lap, and he groaned at the way that little wiggle woke up a body that should have been happily sleeping after the trying events of the day. But she did that to him. Regularly.
