When he stepped closer and kissed me again, I wound my hands into his hair, murmuring against his lips. “How about we do it right next time, and this time, we just give ourselves a free pass? Think of it as a quickie in a supply closet and not a secret affair.”
He let out a soft moan. His hips arched into me where he stood between my legs, but just when I thought we were actually going to do it, his phone rang, the sound shrill and piercing in the silence. Nate muttered a curse and reached into the pocket of his jacket I was still wearing.
He frowned. “It’s Alex. I should take it.”
I nodded, worry shoving past the haze of lust in my brain. We’d left Jane and Alex in their suite at the hotel, but they knew we were here and I doubted he’d be calling just to find out how it was going. He didn’t seem like the type to micromanage a night out when his wife was under the weather.
Nate flashed me an apologetic look as he swiped on the screen to take the call. “Alex, what’s going on?”
His face went completely blank, then pale, all the tight restraint and wanting hunger in his eyes vanishing in an instant. “Shit. We’re leaving right now. I’ll meet you there. Is she okay?”
I blinked hard, my heart suddenly hammering against my ribs for a whole different reason. Already climbing off the box, I smoothed out my dress and followed him out of the closet before he’d even finished the call.
Whatever was going on, Jane was in trouble.
CHAPTER 29
NATE
The scent of antiseptic and burnt coffee wafted through the air in the hospital. The air-conditioning was cranked too high, like they were trying to freeze out germs by sheer force. I was glad I had insisted on getting Kate back to the hotel first. She didn’t need to be standing around here in her heels and wine-stained dress.
She had only agreed after I had promised to text her with regular updates.
I leaned back against the wall beside the row of plastic chairs, watching my brother pace a track into the linoleum while Jane slept behind the half-closed door. Alex rarely paced. He planned and then he executed those plans, solving problems before they even truly existed.
Seeing him like this, his cheeks gray and his hair wrecked from running his hands through it a hundred times, was like looking at a stranger wearing my brother’s face.
“They said she’ll be fine,” I reiterated calmly, mostly because if he didn’t take a breath, he was going to end up in a bed right next to hers. “You heard the doctor.”
Alex stopped pacing but didn’t sit. He just stood there with his hands on his hips, staring at the floor like it could save him. “I know what they said. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“To be fair, no one likes hospitals or having someone they love admitted to one, but this is the best place for her to be right now.”
“Yeah, but it’s not the hospital,” he said, rubbing the side of his neck as his features contorted into a mask of pain. “It’s that she’s this sick and I brought her all the way to New York anyway.”
“You didn’tbringher. Jane does what Jane wants, and shewantedto be here. She wanted to go to the party and be part of the transition. You couldn’t have stopped her even if you wanted to.”
“That’s true, but still.”
“And New York also has amazing hospitals. She’s in good hands here.”
He looked at me again but he didn’t argue. Normally, he would’ve. On any other day, we would already be three rounds into it, but tonight—or this morning, technically—he just sighed. “I know she wanted to come, but I knew she wasn’t feeling great. I should’ve pushed back harder when she told me she could handle it.”
“You can’t exactly ground your wife, Alex. You can’t send her to her room and tell her she’s only coming out for school or work.”
“Sure, but I could’ve insisted.”
“Even if you had, she would’ve come anyway. Just to prove a point.” I took a step forward and clapped him on the shoulder. “This isn’t your fault or hers. No one could’ve foreseen it would get this bad, and you brought her to the hospital fast enough.”
“Yeah,” he admitted. “Probably. I just can’t relax until she’s back on her feet.”
We stood there for another minute before he finally sat down in one of the waiting room chairs. I took a seat next to him, my feet spread apart and my elbows on my knees.
“They said HG?” I asked. “What’s exactly is that?”
“Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Basically, it’s a severe, debilitating form of morning sickness. Apparently, it can last weeks.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Months, sometimes.”
My stomach clenched. “Shit.”
