Too innocently?
“A nurse named Amy Hollowell called.” Gabe’s deep voice rumbled through the tense air. “Told me you’d been in a car accident.”
Ellena knew Amy. She was a good nurse and a sweet girl. Still…
I’ll have to have a little talk with Miss Hollowell.
“She shouldn’t have bothered you.” Ellena forced herself to look back at him. The fingers on her good hand fidgeted with the sheet covering her lower body. “I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing.”
“She didn’t bother me, Elle, and you’re sure as hell not ‘nothing’.” His Adam’s apple bobbed with a hard swallow. “I’m glad the nurse called me.”
A familiar fluttering swirled inside her lower belly, but she ignored it. “Why is that?”
His dark brows turned inward. “Why am I glad?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t like he’d cared enough to check up on her before now.
The wrinkles in his forehead deepened even further as he inched closer. “The nurse said the wreck was bad.”
“I’m fine.”
“You were unconscious.”
“I said I’mfine,” she repeated herself sternly, praying he’d believe her and go away.
These past few years without him had been hard. Almost unbearable, at times.
But what Ellena hadn’t realized—what she had no way of knowing until this exact moment—was that seeing him again would be so much worse.
Gabe crossed his muscular arms, the American Flag tattoo covering the upper half of his left arm bulging with the movement. Raising an arrogant brow, he stared down at her but remained silent.
Memories of the way she used to lazily trace that tattoo with her fingertips flashed through her mind’s eye. As quickly as the images formed, Elle was blinking them away and focusing instead on the look he was still giving her.
It was the same one he’d always gotten when he knew he was right. And just like when they were still together, Ellena found herself defenseless against it.
She sighed loudly. “I have a mild concussion and my shoulder will be sore for a few days. But that’s all.”
“That’sall?” Both of his brows arched high.
“Yes, Gabriel. That’s all.” She shifted on the uncomfortable mattress, refusing to wince when she accidentally tweaked her bad shoulder. “Look, I appreciate you coming all this way to check on me, but unless there’s another reason you’re here, there’s really no need for you to—”
“There is,” he cut her off. “Another reason.”
A sliver of hope left her heart thumping, but it was almost instantly replaced with a mound of disappointment that shouldn’t exist. After all, she was the one who filed for divorce.
Finally making it official was a good thing. Thebestthing, really.
At least that’s what she’d been telling herself ever since she’d first spoken with her lawyer.
“Right. Of course.” Pushing away the confusing onslaught of emotions, Ellena lifted her chin and forced herself to appear aloof. “If you just want to leave the papers with me, I’ll make sure everything is taken care of.”
A look she couldn’t decipher crossed over him briefly. “This isn’t about the papers.”
“You didn’t bring them with you?”
“Nope.”
The same blasted hope returned, creating a sudden sense of anger. Damn it, she wastryingto move the hell on, already. He clearly wanted nothing to do with her, so…
